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The purpose of this assignment is to get you to write a short but substantive essay on a subject from this course. Specifically, you will be attempting to defend a solution to the problems for epistemology raised by Edmund Gettier.
The word count for this assignment is 800?1200 words, not including title page, reference list, or identification information.
2 Assignment Details 2.1 What to Write
Your short essay should be an answer to this question:
What is a good defense of one solution to the Gettier problem?
Essentially, your thesis statement should be a one-sentence answer to this question and the remainder of your essay should support this thesis statement. Clearly, you will have to fill in the details about what the ?one solution? is. In the body of your essay, it will be important to support your thesis statement through briefly explaining one of the solutions to the Gettier problem, briefly explaining a challenge to that solution offered by Crumley (or another academic source), and then developing a response to that challenge.
Alternatively, you can argue that this response, while a good defense, is ultimately fruitless. In this case, your thesis statement will be slightly different, but this is acceptable.
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The primary resources for this paper are:
? The papers of Gettier, Feldman, and Pollock in the Moser and vander Nat volume.
? The papers of Goldman (Causal Theory), Swain (Defeasibility), and Mey- ers & Stern (No False Premise) available through JSTOR (links are on WebCT).
? Chapter 2 of Crumley?s book.
You are free to use whatever other sources that you see fit, though you are not required to do so.
I recommend that you begin the essay with a short introductory paragraph that begins with your thesis statement. The remainder of the introductory paragraph can outline the argument that you are presenting in your essay as it will be presented in your essay.
The body paragraphs of your essay should each address a key point that sup- ports your position or that addresses an important objection to your position that you feel you should address. You may write short paragraphs to explain a position on which you will draw before you apply it to your specific recom- mendation. For each paragraph, you should be able to write out a sentence that explains the key idea of that paragraph. (You may want to make sure that sentence, or something much like it, is in that paragraph.)
You do not need a concluding paragraph and having a concluding paragraph is not recommended. You should structure this short essay so that your reader knows your position and can follow your reasoning clearly throughout the paper.
2.2 Style
Use of a particular style is not required, but a consistent style should be used throughout the paper and it is recommended that you stick to an academic style.
Whatever style that you choose, you must follow the following requirements:
? A title and title page is required.
? Each page, except the title page, must have a page number, there is no specific requirement to include the title page in page numbering.
? Lines of text in the body of the essay should be double spaced; long quotations that are separated from the rest of the text may be single spaced.
? You must provide citations to those sources you draw upon for the essay. Citations should provide specific page numbers where possible. You must provide a reference list (this should include the main readings referenced in the assignment).
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2.3 Information on Title Page
The information on your title page should have the following format (italics not required):
2.4 Writing notes
When writing this assignment, bear the following in mind:
? Your purpose in writing this assignment is to get a good grade, right? However, for the purposes of this assignment, assume that your paper will be used to guide university students in epistemology classes in how to understand responses to the Gettier problem.
? The audience that you should imagine that you are writing for is the rest of the class. You can expect that your audience has access to the readings and has read or soon will read them. You can expect that your audience knows the terminology of the course and has a good vocabulary and can look up any words that they do not understand. (This is not an excuse to use extravagant words unnecessarily; use those words that are specific to the meaning that you need.) Your audience understands the Gettier problem and you do not need to explain it.
? You should write with the appropriate academic/professional tone. If this means that your assignment seems a little boring, so be it; it is best that you clearly communicate your ideas.
? All parts of this assignment should be written using full sentences and paragraphs where possible.
2.5 Submission notes
? A hard copy of this assignment is required. You must submit the hard copy in class or in the Philosophy Department drop box before 3 pm. on day after it is submitted on WebCT.
? You must submit a digital copy of this assignment; this should be done through the course WebCT page. The assignment must be received by
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For Dr. Dylan Gault Philosophy 2500G-001 Short Essay #2
The Title of Your Assignment Your Name Your Student Number Your UWO email address The date submitted
Word count: count
11:59 pm. on a given day to count as being received on that day. If there is any doubt about the digital submission, you can also email the instructor of the course a copy of your assignment.
? The digital copy of your work must be submitted in one of the following formats: plain text, MS Word, Open/LibreOffice, PDF. (Some Apple text applications do not produce a plain text file as a default and the files they produce by default are not acceptable, so be aware of this if you use such applications.)
? Comments on your paper may be emailed to your UWO email address.
? Late assignments?those without some special permission?will be penal- ized 10% of the total value of the assignment per day and will not be accepted after five late days.
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3 Grading
For this assignment, the grading will be broken down according to the following areas for a total of fifteen (15) possible marks:
? Clear style: 3 marks. Assignments default to receiving full marks for this section and lose marks for the following:
? Failure to provide proper citations ? Failure to produce clear/legible page layout, page numbers, fonts, or
other visual element ? Failure to follow specific assignment instructions
? Grammar (including spelling and punctuation): 3 marks. Assignments default to receiving full marks for this section and lose marks for the following:
? Mistakes in spelling or punctuation; other grammar errors ? Exceptionally poor word choice or usage ? Poor sentence construction
? Thesis statement (clarity, brevity, placement): 2 marks. Assignments are graded in this section according to the following criteria:
? Thesis statements should be one sentence ? Thesis statements should be both brief and informative ? Thesis statements should be argumentative rather than topical ? Thesis statements should be easy to locate
? Reasoning and its presentation: 7 marks. Assignments that adequately complete the assignment should get 3 marks out of a possible 7 marks in this section; exceptional reasoning and presentation will grant the possi- bility of receiving a higher grade. Assignments are graded in this section according to the following criteria:
? The reasoning presented should be free from obvious fallacies
? Exceptionally good reasoning is worthy of a higher mark
? The essay should be free from the use of confusing language, from the use of confusing order of presentation, and from other elements that contribute to a confusing presentation.
? The argument in this essay should rely on philosophical reasoning not some other kind of reasoning.
? The positions of readings covered in the class should not be misrep- resented. Exceptionally good use of these readings is worthy of a higher grade.
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