Directions: Reconstruct and evaluate the main arguments in the two essays on gay marriage on pp. 29-35 of the Barnet and Bedau anthology. In the week prior to Dec. 5, we will discuss examples in class that will illustrate how to do this assignment. (See schedule below.) Assignments are due on Monday, Dec. 5 in class. Severe penalties will imposed on assignments that are turned in late.

 

Your response should contain properly formulated reconstructions of the central arguments under discussion and careful evaluations of those arguments. As has been explained in class, the arguments you discuss may be stated and defended in the essays under discussion, or they may be arguments that the authors are talking about (often to criticize) without stating them precisely.

 

There are a couple of different ways in which you may organize your response. a) You may first state and then discuss one author’s arguments, and then state and discuss the second author’s arguments. b) You may state all the arguments first, and then discuss them. If you find that the arguments are really independent of one another, then follow (a). If you find that the arguments are similar in some way that makes discussing them together useful, then follow (b).

 

Your evaluation should be careful and precise. You do not have to defend any overall position on the issue these authors are discussing. Your assignment is to analyze, using the methods developed in the course, the arguments they present. Your analysis should bring out which arguments are strong or weak, and, with respect to the weak ones, where they go wrong. Try to maximize the extent to which you bring out the points of conflict between the two authors. For example, if one of them presents an argument and the other presents an objection to that argument, then you can reconstruct the argument, formulate the objection, and then assess the merits of the objection. The final paragraphs of your discussion should include an explanation of what the state of the debate is after assessing the arguments in these essays.

 

The general guidelines from the first homework assignment also apply to this one. (The assignment page containing those guidelines is available on the course web page.)

 

Schedule

Mon. Nov. 28: Cell Phones (pp. 20-23)

Wed. Nov. 30: Censorship (pp. 24-28)

Fri. Dec. 2: Gun Control (pp. 36-52)

 

Note: There will be few, if any, lecture notes posted on the web site for these class meetings.