Stage 1: Choosing your Philosophical Question The question for this project is taken form “The Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle. The question is, “Which is more important for a person to possess, courage or truthfulness?” Stage 2: Organizing your Philosophical Question (Organizing the Claims and Counterclaims to your Philosophical question) For the second stage of your Final Project in Philosophy 100 you will conduct an analysis of your philosophical question by listing a claim and counter-claim to your question, and organizing arguments, evidence, reasoning, and examples that support them. As an introduction to philosophy, it is important to list and organize the conceptual points of your overall argument, and also to list and organize the conceptual points of any counterclaim in order to refute them. For the Stage Two assignment of your Final Project, list a claim and a counter-claim to your question, then below each one, list the arguments, reasoning, evidence and examples that can be used to support each one. A good philosopher treats both claim and counter-claim with equal importance. A claim positively asserts an answer to a question. For example, to the question "Is it more important for society to be lawful or fair?" one can claim "It is more important for society to be lawful than to be fair." A counter-claim would be "It is more important for society to be fair than lawful." Question: Is it more important for society to be lawful or fair? Claim: It is more important for society to be lawful than fair Counterclaim: It is more important for society to be fair than lawful Once you have dissected your claim and counterclaim, list the arguments you would use to support each. Arguments are the rationale for why someone should believe the evidence. All arguments are based on logic and reasoning whereby the conclusion you want the reader to arrive at comes logically from the premises on which you based your argument. It is not enough to simply provide the rationale of the argument (as above). You must also provide evidence. Evidence can come in many forms but the most common in philosophy is the evidence of the primary texts of the philosopher. Another form of evidence is the evidence of your observations. Find all the evidence you need to support your arguments in your experiences and the primary text. Submit this list of claims, counterclaims and the arguments and evidence you need to support them on a word .docx. You will formalize your philosophical argument in the last step, stage 3. Stage 3: Arguing your Philosophical Claim For the Final Project stage 3 you will present the answer to your philosophical question in the form of a speech. You will write this speech on a Word .docx to submit. You can also supplement your written speech by recording yourself saying it on an .mp3. but this is optional. Your speech will take the form of what is known as the Classical Style: The Classical Style is divided into four (4) parts: (1) The Introduction and Narration: In the first part of the classical style, you, as the speaker, introduce the question that is going to be answered by making the speech relevant to the audience. You can do this by contextualizing the speech and narrating the problem that the question brings. Philosophers often use narration, stories, analogies, and events to introduce problems or controversies that the question elicits. Common devices for introducing philosophical questions to an audience are: "Have you ever asked this question?" or "Many people have debated this topic." The aim of the first part is to make the audience feel comfortable before beginning the argument proper. The more relevant the introduction is to the audience, the better the argument. A very short introduction will not be persuasive, but neither will an overly long one. (2) Arguments supporting your Claim: In the second part of the classical style, you present your arguments and evidence to back up or substantiate the main points of your claim. Your arguments and evidence are connected together in a chain of reasoning that link the facts and examples, and testimony that support the arguments you are making. Remember, it's important to faithfully present the arguments of the philosopher(s) you are studying in order to bolster your claim. When presenting your arguments, it is most persuasive to present your best argument and evidence first, your worst argument and evidence second and your middle argument and evidence third (if you have one). You have already done this step in the Final Project stage 2 assignment. Now, put your arguments and evidence into a convincing speech. (3) Addressing the Counter-Claim: In the third part of the classical style, you concede and/or refute the arguments that support the counter-claim. The aim of the classical style is to persuade, and your persuasion will be more effective if you take into account these arguments: "Some people say this....but they are wrong because of XYZ" etc. You can anticipate and respond to objections before they are stated, or concede a particular point in order to make another point stronger (as long as you don't undercut your main claim). You have already identified the arguments that support the counter claim in your Final Project Stage 2 assignment. Now, address these arguments in your speech; your strongest refutation first, your weakest refutation second, and your middling refutation third (if you have one). (4) Conclusion: In the fourth part of the classical style, you tie everything together, creating a sense of finality or closure to the question, convincing the audience that the question or problem stated in the Introduction has been answered. Often, speakers will include an emotional or ethical appeal in the conclusion in order to help sway the audience to their opinion. Your speech will be graded on the elements of the Classical Style and your speech's overall persuasiveness.
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