Directions: The basic idea here: life meets Asian Philosophy! Specifically, take a set of arguments from the course, and then take an aspect of your life or some episodes in it, and bring them into critical dialogue with each other. So roughly half of the essay should have an autobiographical character and the other half should have substantial philosophical discussion of the relevant personal material. These two aspects of the paper can be presented in any order, including being interwoven seamlessly. Overall, this project simply formalizes what we often do in class discussion.
Here are some general logistical questions to ask yourself: Do elements in your autobiography challenge arguments made by authors we’ve discussed or take their arguments in new directions? Or going the other direction, do some of the arguments of our course readings challenge your autobiographical interpretation? All of the above? Neither? Whatever the case may be, your focus should be on logical argument, not just personal significance. So there should be a thesis, forecast, argument, and a conclusion in your essay. Also, whatever topic you choose to do, you should include concrete discussion of readings from class that are the most philosophically relevant to your thesis.
Word of warning: be careful not to quote too much. I want to see your thoughts more than anyone else’s. So unless it is distinctly appropriate to quote a passage (e.g. the language perfectly makes a point; your criticism is specially clarified by actually quoting the intended target of the criticism, etc.), you should just carefully paraphrase and cite the passage. If you do quote, any quotation over two lines should be block-quoted and single-spaced.
One last note: All submitted work must be a new project for you and must be your own. I take academic dishonesty seriously: an F will be given and a report will be made to the Dean’s Office. So, please, try to avoid even the appearance of dishonesty. A good rule of thumb is: when in doubt, cite (including yourself)!
Topics (Choose one of the following):
- Hinduism (the Gita and to an extent Gandhi) makes identification with one’s Self and certain disciplines of thought and of action central to Moksha in the earthly life (and Gandhi has a distinctly socially engaged variant of this basic idea). If you agree with this central feature of Hinduism, defend it against potential criticisms. If you disagree with it, explain your contrary argument. If you agree partly (where the part is substantially Hindu), explain and defend the hybrid account you endorse.
- 2. Confucianism makes the project of moral self-cultivation central to human living and offers a distinctive account of the nature of the self and of its cultivation (and there are of course differences between the early Confucians). If you agree with this central feature of Confucianism, defend it against potential criticisms. If you disagree with it, explain your contrary argument. If you agree partly (where the part is substantially Confucianist), explain and defend the hybrid account you endorse.
- 3. Daoism makes naturalness and conceptual play central to the transformation of self that is crucial to human living (and there are some differences here between Laozi and Zhuangzi). If you agree with this central feature of Daoism, defend it against potential criticisms. If you disagree with it, defend your contrary argument. If you agree partly (where the part is substantially Daoist), explain and defend the hybrid account you endorse.
- 4. In the pursuit of social justice, is the Confucian account (Confucius, Mencius, and/or Xunzi) or the Gandhian account of a person’s transformation most logically plausible? Explain and defend your answer.
Details: The paper should have a word count of at least 1500 (which is roughly 6-7 pages) and it should not exceed 2000 words. Also, it should be typed in 12 font with reasonable margins. (I will not accept electronic or fax copies.). And it is imperative that you also submit an electronic version of the essay to turnitin.com (see below for how to do this) by the due date. If the turnitin.com website is malfunctioning, email me your paper as either a word or pdf document to verify that you could have submitted the essay on time. When the website is restored, upload your essay.
Grading Criteria:
- Clarity and Organization
- Correct spelling and grammar
- Introductory paragraph: (a) clear statement of thesis in one sentence – e.g. “I shall argue that there is an irresolvable conflict between the argument of the Apology and of the Crito.”; (b) forecast of paper – e.g. “This paper is divided into three parts. I first expound the central claims of the Apology and the Crito. Second, I outline a position that attempts to reconcile the two texts. In the final section, I argue that the positions of the two texts cannot be unified.”
- Structured development or unfolding of ideas.
- Accurate summary of author’s ideas.
- Minimal quoting. Quote only if the author’s words are especially appropriate, and
keep even this to a minimum. In all other cases, paraphrase the author’s words. Also, if you absolutely have to quote more than a few sentences, use single-space block quotation method. Finally, whether you quote or paraphrase, cite the author and work!
- Concise summaries of relevant positions of issues. This ensures that most of the paper
is devoted to critical analysis.
- Quality of critical thinking
- Is there an argument for the thesis? Is it logically persuasive or cogent?
- Are important distinctions collapsed? Are important distinctions formed?
- Is the opposing view constructed as a “straw man”, or is it presented sympathetically?
- Does the critical discussion reveal a grasp of the underlying vision that frames the discussion? Is there a grasp of the anxiety or push-and-pull of the various positions discussed?
- If you are going for gold: Is an objection to the thesis considered? Is that objection persuasively defeated?
- For every assignment, an understanding of and adherence to USF standards of academic honesty is required. Study the Academic Honesty Policy at: http://www.usfca.edu/catalog/policies/honor/. Ignorance of the exact content of this Policy is unacceptable. Among the many elements of academic honesty, note, for example, that all submitted work must be a new project for you and must be your own work. Small parts of your work can borrow from other works so long as they are properly cited (in footnotes, endnotes, or in-text citations with an accompanying bibliography). Here, a good rule of thumb is: when in doubt, cite (including yourself)! Academic dishonesty will be handled easily: an F grade and notification will be given to the Dean’s office. And, again, ignorance is no excuse.
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