The Desire and Fearing Death Argument The Philosophy

Proposal instructions:

• For each Paper Proposal assignment, you will submit a single document containing two paper proposals, one for each of the indicated prompts.

Format

• Each paper proposal is a four-sentence summary of a paper that you could write for the class
• Here is the structure:
• You should refer to the author of the different textbook chapters as “The Author”.
• Here is a sample version of what you might submit for the first assignment. You are welcome to use the topics described there in your actual paper, but (needless to say) you cannot submit these exact proposals as your own paper proposal assignment.

The Author says __________.

I will argue that __________, because __________.

One might object that __________.

I would reply that __________.

Proposals for Prompts 1A and 1B

Prompt 1A

The Author says that God couldn’t allow suffering. I will argue that God could allow suffering, because he would want to test our devotion. One might object that God wouldn’t need to test our devotion since he’s all-knowing and would already know how devoted we are. I would reply that even an all-knowing God cannot know what we will freely choose to do.

Prompt 1B

The Author says that believing in God has a higher expected utility than disbelief. I will argue that disbelief also has infinite expected utility, because for all we know God may send everyone to heaven. One might object that God couldn’t send everyone to heaven, since God is perfectly just and it would be unjust to allow wrongdoers into heaven. I would reply that this objection fails, since there is at least some chance that God isn’t perfectly just.

Paper Instructions:

For each paper, you will advance an objection to one of the central arguments from the textbook, chosen from the list below. You should demonstrate comprehension of the argument by explaining the idea behind each of the premises, and by anticipating and addressing likely ways that defenders of the selected argument would respond to your objection. Papers that do not directly engage with the textbook will receive a zero.

– 1000-1400 words

-Include a word count at the beginning of your paper.

– For each paper, choose one of the indicated topics:

(2A) The Desire Argument or the Argument from Determinism, but not both (ch. 3)

(2B) The Against Knowing the Future argument or the Dreaming Argument, but not both (ch. 4)

(2C) One of the following: the Conjoined Twins Argument, the Body Swap Argument, the Blackout Argument, or the Fission Argument (ch. 5)

(2D) The Against Fearing Death argument (ch. 6)

– You are permitted to use outside sources (other than the textbook) when writing your papers, but you don’t need to and I do not recommend doing so. If you choose to consult outside sources, be sure to read the Plagiarism Information Form.

– Your paper topic is not required match what you said in your paper proposal