PHI 101: Introduction to Philosophy

Philosophy in Public Discourse Project

Overview

The project is designed to help us relate current events and public discussions to the subjects and techniques studied in class. Each student will be responsible to locate a contribution to such a debate, write a brief evaluation of its philosophical aspects, and report the results to the class.

Details

Find a published source concerning some current topic, event, or issue of public interest. This may be, for example, a newspaper report, a magazine article, a letter to the editor, an opinion/editorial piece, a speech or statement from a political or business figure, or an online weblog posting, among many other things.

Write a 250-500 word paper in which you:

1. identify your source with a full MLA format bibliographic entry,
2. describe what aspect of the subject is philosophically significant,
3. state how it is significant (including, perhaps, how it relates to some issue or thinker we have discussed in class),
4. evaluate whether and to what extent the issue is treated in a philosophical manner. (Is the author using logic and argument rather than merely rhetorical persuasion? Is the author open to opposing arguments? Is the author balanced and fair in presentation, or simply dogmatic?)

Report your topic and findings in a 5 minute presentation to the class.

Turn in your paper, together with a copy of the source you used, on the day of your presentation.

I will provide a signup sheet for presentations. We will need to do 3 or 4 each class period, beginning May 15.

See the MLA Handbook for citation guidelines. There is a helpful electronic MLA bibliography template, and links to other online MLA guides, at http://www.schoolelection.com/bibliographies/