Logic Writing Assignment #3

In this assignment you will write an argument with a controversial conclusion, attempting to make the argument as strong as possible.

1. Select a controversial claim for your conclusion that hasn’t been argued for yet in class or in the textbook (though you may argue for the opposite conclusion if it is controversial and hasn’t been used). A claim is only controversial if it is an issue of concern for many people, and there should be a significant number of them who would disagree with or are uncertain about your conclusion.

2. Brainstorm, and come up with as many good reasons to believe the conclusion as you can. You allowed to do research to come up with a few ideas, but most of the argument should be your own original ideas. Also, all premises and conclusions in the argument should be stated in your own words. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If any sources that influenced your argument, list them in a Works Cited page, using any citation style you want but including all of the relevant information (including exact page numbers or URL). Sample: Augustine, “On the Free Choice of the Will,” in Medieval Philosophy, 4^th edition, ed. Forrest E. Baird and Walter Kaufmann (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003), p. 81.

3. Make the argument as strong as possible, using multiple independent lines of argument for the same conclusion if possible, and supporting controversial premises with additional arguments.

A. Group these ideas into independent arguments with the same conclusion. At the end of each conclusion, state the line numbers of the premises in parentheses, and the type of argument you used if you know what it is.

B. Identify controversial premises and support them with additional arguments. Ideally, you should keep doing this until none of the premises in your argument are controversial.

C. In each independent line of argument for your conclusion, number the premises and conclusions in the same way as the arguments about God’s existence we discussed in class.

4. Each of the statements in the argument should be clearly phrased, and any concepts that would be unfamiliar to your classmates need to be carefully defined.

Format: 12 point type, number and staple pages if more than one page.