2. Stakeholders

3. Moral Discernment

Determine which three ethical values, principles or rules are most relevant to your ethical question and explain why. Use examples from the list below, or come up with your own.

4. Creating Alternatives

Identify three possible solutions to the ethical question/problem(s)

For each solution:

5. Moral Justification

Identify your preferred solution and justify your selection. The questions you should consider: Does your solution respect a broad range of values? Does it respect a broad range of different stakeholder interests? Are the costs and benefits fairly spread among the stakeholders? Does this solution do the least harm? Is the solution practical?

 

6. Conclusion/Summary

Write a clear and concise statement of your final solution.

Explain why this is the preferred solution.

Research Paper Requirements (Draft = 10, Final = 30)

One per person

Draft Paper due November 30 (minimum of 4 pages, should include all 6 parts shown above)

Final Paper due January 15

6-8 pages

12 font, single-spaced, front and back, margins a maximum of 1" on each side  

Minimum number of references is five (5)

References should follow APA format (including Internet sources)

Reference page not included in the counting of 6-8 pages

No title page  

PowerPoint

8-10 minutes long

Must include important concepts and facts, clearly stated controversy, your solution and the justification for your chosen solution.

Suggestions For Choosing a Topic

1. Choose a topic you’re interested in.  Papers are simply a lot easier to do if you’re interested in the topic you’re working on, and, all other things being equal, you will do a better paper as a result.

2. Choose a topic that you’ll get something out of.  Your time is too valuable to do things that are not worth your while.  If, for example, you are already clear about your position on a particular moral issue and have already thought through the arguments on both sides, you will probably learn more by doing a paper on some other moral issue that you are still perplexed or uncertain about.

3. Choose a topic that you can cover within the time you have available and space limits of the assignment.  Don’t, in other words, bite off more than you can chew.

4. If you choose a topic that we have covered in class, make sure that you focus on new material. Please avoid repeating information that we have already studied.

Sample Topics

1. Drilling in the Alaska Wildlife Refuge

2. Hunting, fishing, or trapping in any wildlife refuge or national park

3. Snowmobiles in Yellowstone

4. Opening more land to drilling, mining, logging

5. Offshore drilling

6. Factory farming

7. The use of bottom trawling 

8. Ratification of/participation in Kyoto Protocol

9. Animals in research, entertainment, sports

10. Animals for food, clothing

11. Genetically modified organisms

12. Endangered species

13. Eco-tourism

14. Human population growth

15. Increasing coal production/using "liquid coal"

16. Increasing the use of biofuels

 

 

Writing Reminders

1. Whenever you directly use the words of another person, those words must be enclosed in quotation marks and a reference to the source must be made.  To fail to do this is to plagiarize! 

Tip: When you are making notes on your readings, be sure to use quotes for any passages where you take the words directly from someone else.  Otherwise, you may use your notes as part of your final draft and forget that they are composed in part of direct quotations.

2. Quote as little as possible.  In general, when instructors are reading your paper, they are trying (among other things) to reach as informed a judgment as possible about how well you have mastered the material under consideration.  If you are able to accurately paraphrase difficult ideas instead of quoting them directly, this is much stronger evidence that you have mastered the material.  If you give a long quote, the evidence that you understand it (especially if you don’t then discuss the interpretation of the quote after you give it) is very weak.  The longer the quote, and the shorter your discussion of it, the less likely it is that you will convince anyone that you understand it.

3. Quote when it is important to draw the reader’s attention to the exact language of the text.  Sometimes, especially when there is a controversy over exactly what a particular philosopher believes, it is necessary to quote the philosopher’s exact words.  Usually such quotes will be immediately followed by a discussion of specific points in the actual wording of the quote.

4. Whenever you are using some else’s ideas (but not their exact words), indicate this through a footnote or reference of some kind.  Again, to fail to do this is plagiarism. 

Tip:  It is easy to acknowledge your debts to other authors in passing with such simple phrases as, “As Williams has pointed out …”, “Nozik has shown that …”, or “In light of Rorty’s claim that…”

5. Avoid rhetorical questions.  Often we use rhetorical questions as a way of dismissing an idea.  If the question is worth asking, it is worth answering.  If you find yourself asking a question such as, “Who’s to say what is moral?” try to answer the question.  This transforms it from a question into an assertion which can then be assessed on its merits.

6. Avoid clichés.  Sometimes we resort to stock phrases that we have heard time and again, but perhaps not really thought about.  How often have you heard someone reject an idea by claiming that “it's like saying that the end justifies the means.”  If you think about it for a minute, you will see that the end often justifies the means.  

7. Be aware of exact meanings of words.  Do not use big words in order to sound impressive. 

8. Be specific and concise. 

9. A spell-checker is not enough!  If you prepare your paper on a computer, use a spell-checker and, if available, a grammar checker.  However, after you have done that, check the text yourself.  A spell checker cannot differentiate between “there” and “their” or between “effect” and “affect.”  

10. Use gender-neutral language.  In recent years, we have become increasingly conscious of the ways in which our language gives the (sometimes unintended) impression that we are referring just to men when it is more appropriate to refer to both men and women.  Try to avoid this.  Some authors use constructions like “he/she” or “her or him;” others alternate, sometimes using feminine pronouns and at other times using masculine ones; and still others use plural forms whenever appropriate or constructions that avoid the need to employ gender-specific pronouns.

11. State what you’re omitting.  It is usually impossible in a paper, or even a book, to cover all the relevant issues.    There's nothing wrong with admitting this.  In fact, it's often advisable to let your reader know that you are aware of important issues that you have chosen not to treat in that context.  Often, this can be accomplished in a sentence or even a clause.  Here is an example:

“Many thinkers have offered important insights into the nature of courage in a wide range of situations, but here I will be concerned only with instances of courage within a military context.”

12. If you’re undecided about an issue, say so.  It's OK to say that you're undecided about an issue.  Sometimes you have reflected on an issue and see strong arguments on both sides of the question and have not yet decided where you stand.  It's often appropriate to admit this as long as you show a critical awareness of the arguments on both sides and give some indication of how you have progressed in your thinking on the issue.

13. When you make a mistake, learn from it.  Keep a list of the spelling and grammatical mistakes that you make in each of your papers, along with the appropriate corrections.  Review it before you submit the final draft of your current paper and then proof read your current paper in light of the mistakes you typically make.