Dr. Christian Perring

This paper must be at least four (4) pages long, no more than 5 pages.

Due in my office at noon on Monday May 4. Penalty for unexcused lateness: 10% per day late.

Your draft should be at least 3 pages long. It is due on Tuesday April 28, in class, for peer evaluation. If you miss peer evaluations in class with no excuse, you will get a 5% penalty. You should still hand in a draft to me. Your grade will lose another 5% for each day late. You should hand in your final paper with all drafts that you wrote.

For both the draft and the final version, staple the pages together, with no paper clips, or plastic attachments, and no title page. Do not put your name on your paper. Do put the last four digits of your SSN. Put the number of the question you are answering on the first page. Number your pages. For more information, see "Guidelines for Written Work" in the Class Notes, p. 4. If you want comments from me on your final paper, you must hand it in with a stamped self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage.

Note that these questions do not ask you to explain all the ideas in the articles that you are discussing. You can answer the questions very well by only focusing on some of the ideas of the philosophers concerned, and you would probably be wise to do so. What is important is that you demonstrate a strong understanding of the ideas that you are discussing. You will have to do more than simply reproduce the class discussion, because this paper requires your own original, carefully thought out, ideas about the articles you are discussing. You can do some reading of other sources to give you background information and understanding of the philosophers and issues you are discussing. If you do this, you should add a note saying which books you used. You can form study groups or talk with classmates about your ideas, and you can give each other help with writing. However, your paper must be written by only yourself. If you have trouble expressing your ideas, it would be a good idea to visit the Writing Center for advice.

For each of these questions, your answer to the final part of the question should be at least one third of your paper.

Answer ONE of these questions.

1. William James, in "The Will to Believe" (423), argues that would be irrational to adopt a rule of thinking which would prevent us from acknowledging certain kinds of truths if they were really there (Section X). Briefly explain his argument. Compare it to W.K. Clifford's argument about belief. Explain which philosopher's arguments are the most convincing here.

2. William James, in his "Conclusions" of The Varieties of Religious Experience (703), tries to find the common element in all relegions. Explain what he thinks it is, and then choose one religion and discuss whether his account fits that religion. (You get more credit for choosing a religion other than Christianity.)

3. Philip Kitcher, in "Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism" (523), claims not only that Scientific Creationism is false (which is an empirical claim) but also that it is unscientific (which is a philosophical claim). Explain what Kitcher thinks it takes for a theory to count as scientific, and discuss how plausible is his claim that Scientific Creationism is not scientific.