Reading Response #4

Reading Response #4 is due April 24th for the Thursday night class, and April 30th for the Wednesday night class. The assignment is to write a one- to two-page (250- to 500-word) response on the following:

Explain and critically evaluate the ethical theory of relativism. First, briefly explain the theory in your own words. Then spend most of your response evaluating the theory. Discuss objections to the theory, and tell me your opinion on whether you think it's a good or bad theory. Be sure to defend your opinion with reasons.

Pascal's Wager

Extra Credit

The extra credit assignment is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, April 16th, or Thursday, April 17th, depending on which class you're in. Your assignment is to write a reading response (about 250-500 words) on the following topic:

Explain and evaluate your thoughts on God now that we've gone through the philosophy of religion section of the course. In particular, focus on any changes in your thoughts. Have you changed your beliefs about God? Have you changed your reasons for your beliefs? Why or why not? Ultimately, do you think doing philosophy is a useful method in exploring this topic? Why or why not?

This assignment is potentially worth the value of a reading response (up to 50 points).

Midterm

The midterm is going to be held at the beginning of class on March 26th for the Wednesday class, and April 3rd for the Thursday class. It's worth 25% of your overall grade. You'll have 80 minutes to complete it. It covers everything we've gone over in class so far.

Also, I expect you to stick around after the midterm, because we WILL be learning stuff in class after it's done.

Feel free to insult me in the comments for putting you through the terrible ordeal of learning immediately after a test.

Reading Response #2

Reading Response #2 is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, February 27th, or Thursday, February 28th, depending on what class you're in. Here is the assignment:

Explain your thoughts about God. Do you believe there is a God? If so, what kind of God or Gods? Do you believe that there is no God? Do you not believe one way or the other? Also, explain why you believe whatever it is you believe about God. What reasons do you have for believing what you believe? Do you think these are good reasons, or bad reasons?

The response isn't based on any specific reading from the textbook. Instead, it's more of a chance for you to think about your own opinion before we discuss God stuff in class over the next several weeks. You won't be graded on your opinion. You'll be graded on how well you EXPLAIN and EVALUATE your reasons for your opinion.

Reading Response #1

Reading Response #1 is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, 6th or Thursday, February 7th, depending on which section you're in. In a 250- to 500-word essay response, answer the following question:

What does Descartes say he cannot be certain of? What does Descartes say he can be certain of? What are his arguments for this? Do you agree with Descartes? Why or why not?

The response is based on the Descartes reading from pages 58-71 of the textbook.