Philosophy 1000, Paper Assignment Two

The paper has several parts.
* It will have a thesis. The thesis must have a very specific format. Either it must be from the list below, or I must approve it in writing.
* It will give an argument that your thesis is true.
* It will respond to all the obvious objections to your argument or thesis; these are all the objections that come directly from what we covered in class.
* It will explain a non-obvious objection to your thesis. This is an objection we have not covered in class. You must do your best to make this look like a good objection (even though you don't believe it is a good objection, since you believe your thesis).
* Finally, it will explain why the non-obvious objection does not work, and so why your thesis really is true.

The grading standards are here.

Pre-approved theses

You may not change any aspect of these theses (except to fill in the brackets in each) without my written approval. These theses contain two conditionals; you must argue for both, but only have to give a counterexample to one.


If [conditions] then person A is numerically identical to person B. If [those conditions are not met] then person A is not numerically identical to B. (When I say "person A and B" I am not implying that A and B are different people; A and B are just variables, and they could refer to the same person)

If [conditions] then a corporation's belief B is justified. If [those conditions are not met] then B is not justified. (Ask if you want to write on another sort of group; you cannot write on this if you don't think corporations have beliefs) (You can also argue that corporate beliefs are never justified)

If [conditions] then corporation A (at one time) is numerically identical to corporation B (at a later time). If [those conditions are not met] then corporation A is not numerically identical to B). (Ask if you want to write about another sort of group) (When I say "corporation A and B" I am not implying that A and B are different corporations; A and B are just variables, and they could refer to the same corporations)


Non-pre-approved theses
I'm open to you writing about something not on the above list. However, if you write on a non-pre-approved topic, your thesis needs my (Brian's) approval in writing. Non-pre-approved theses should take the same form as pre-approved ones (If x then y, if x is not true, then y is not true). Here are some suggested topics. I'd be happy to approve theses on other topics as well:

Assuming that a person's body survives college, what does it take for the person to survive college? Or to survive some other transformative experience? You can either pick a particular kind of transformative experience, or address identity and transformative experiences more generally. Note: I will probably only approve theses on this topic if you are going to argue that in some cases people do not survive these experiences even though their body does; that's because papers need to be somewhat challenging for you to learn something.

What justifies beliefs about particular people's identity? That is, what makes our beliefs that A is identical to B justified or unjustified? (This is not straightforward, since we probably can't directly experience the stuff that explains personal identity)

What justifies our beliefs about other peoples' mental states?

What sorts of groups can have mental states? What kinds of mental states can groups have?


Deadlines
Thesis proposal due: Nov 15, 8pm. Turn in by email, in the body of your email, not as an attachment. Subject line 1000 OUTLINE PAPER 2.
Draft due: Dec 8, 8pm, email it to your partner (as an attachment) and cc Brian. Subject line 1000 DRAFT PAPER 2.
Comments due: Dec 10, 8pm, email to your partner and cc Brian. Subject line 1000 COMMENTS PAPER 2
Paper Due: Dec 14, 8pm by email; subject line 1000 PAPER 2 FINAL.