Part II

Imagine you’re waiting in line at the grocery store and you crack open a book called A Little History of Ethics to pass the time. Soon the person behind you asks, “What are you reading?”

Now imagine you have to explain to your fellow shopper a little bit about the following topics: philosophy, ethics, and three key philosophers (or their ideas). How can these philosophers (or their ideas) help you to live a better or more reflective life at home, at work, at school, around town, and so on? Here you can offer real life scenarios to make your three points.

The philosophical ideas you’ll discuss can be ethical ones. Or they could deal with topics related to ethics, such as God, good vs. evil, the meaning of life, commitment, compassion, and so on.

Here’s the breakdown of how this assignment should be structured:

Introduction: Here you’ll introduce your topic (the study of philosophy), why the topic of ethics is important (it helps us to live better, more insightful lives), and then list the three philosophers or their ideas that will be the most useful to you in in your day-to-day life.

Body: Here you’ll write a paragraph or two on, say, Aristotle and how he’ll help you in your life, a paragraph or two on Epicurus and how he’ll help you in your life, and a paragraph or two on Kant and how he’ll help you in your life. This is just one way to do it. Only you will know what to put in the Body of your paper as each of us gleaned different insights from our class. Only you will know what you took away from this class and what will be useful to you in your own unique life situation. Write clearly and concisely. Tell the truth. Be you.

Conclusion: Here you can summarize the topic of philosophy, ethics, and the three ideas that are relevant to your life, and then leave your readers with a final thought or a bit of advice, so that they’ll want to learn more after they finish reading your paper. Keep your conclusion short but sweet.

You don’t have to include citations, though you can add them, if you’d like (use the MLA or APA format). Your assignment should be typed, double-spaced, and should be at least 2-4 pages, though it can be longer, if you’d like.