FIRST YEAR SEMINAR IN PHILOSOPHY: RELATIVISM
PHIL 196, Sec. 004: TTh 4pm-5:30pm in G160 Angell Hall
The University of Michigan
Fall 2004
Instructor: James Woodbridge
email address: jwood@umich.edu
Course Webpage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jwood/umich/Phil196.htm
Office Hours: T 2pm-3pm, W 12:30pm-2pm, and by appointment
Office: 2203 Angell Hall
Office Phone: 764-6882
Dept. Phone: 764-6285
RESPONSE ESSAY 1
Write a 2-page paper reacting to the material presented in Chapter 3, Sections 1-10 (pp. 35-46) of Relativism and Reality, by Robert Kirk.
In writing your paper, don't tell how you feel about the reading. Rather, aim to do the following sorts of things:
- Focus on a specific point or issue the author discusses (i.e., don't try to cover the whole selection).
- In your own words, characterize as clearly as you can the issue you are considering (e.g., a particular position the author argues for, or a particular criticism he presents of some view).
- Analyze the point--what is at stake? What alternative views on the matter are available? What reasons does the author offer for holding the view he does? Evaluate those reasons.
Do you think they are persuasive?
- Identify further questions that can be raised about the issue under consideration in light of what the author says about it.
Be sure to look at my Paper Requirements and Policies.
Keep your paper within the 2-page limit!
Your paper is due in my mailbox on Monday, September 13th by 3pm.