Phil 26 Spring 2006
Making Sense of Ourselves
Instructor: Meg Wallace
First Paper Topic

Assignment: Please choose ONE of the following paper topics. Papers should be 3-5 pages in length, due in class Friday, Feb. 10. Rough drafts are strongly encouraged, but not mandatory. I will be accepting rough drafts no later than 11:59 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Please email me or talk to me if you have any questions.

1. Lay out formally, and then put into your own words, the Ontological Argument for the existence of God. Do you think that this is a valid argument? Why or why not? Do you think that all of the premises are true? If not, which ones do you think are false and why? What do you think is the most convincing objection to this argument? Discuss.

2. Lay out formally, and then put into your own words, the Cosmological Argument for the existence of God. Do you think that this is a valid argument? Why or why not? Do you think that all of the premises are true? If not, which ones do you think are false and why? What do you think is the most convincing objection to this argument? Discuss.

3. Lay out formally, and then put into your own words, the Teleological Argument for the existence of God. What kind of argument is this? Do you think that this is a strong argument? Why or why not? Do you think that all of the premises are true? If not, which ones do you think are false and why? What do you think is the most convincing objection to this argument? Discuss.

4. Lay out formally, and then put into your own words, the Problem of Evil. What, exactly, is the problem? Do you think that there is a solution? Explain. What are some of the inadequate ways to 'solve' this problem, and why are they inadequate? Do you think this argument is ultimately convincing? Why or why not?

5. Explain in your own words what the Euthyphro Problem is. Why is it a problem, and who is it a problem for? Explain how the Euthyphro Problem generalizes. Can you think of how one might try to solve the dilemma? Discuss.


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