~ TOPIC euthanasia(pro)
In your final paper for Ethics, you will use both Argument from Moral Principle and Argument from Analogy in a 4-5 page (*DoubleSpace) or 2-2.5 page (*SingleSpace) paper that presents a well-developed Moral Argument on a topic of your choice.
Below you will find more useful details as well as step by step instructions for your final paper.
Step 1: Choose a “topic” you care about for your final paper(~*PRO-EUTHANASIA*~). This could look like something everyday that impacts many people (like whether or not you should let your pet cat outside or whether people should eat animals), it could be political (like whether it is morally right or not for the United States government to mitigate international conflicts or whether Minneapolis should or should not replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety). Your topic could be personal (like should I travel out of state to my grandmother’s funeral even though her wishes were for me to remain home during covid) or it could apply to everyone ( like Peter Singer’s idea that everyone has a moral obligation to donate 1% of their income). Either way, you will write a better paper if it a topic that interests you. I also prefer reading papers where I can tell the writer is interested. I recommend brainstorming 3 possible topics and then trying to find positions and standard form arguments for each of the three. Then, go with the topic that you can more easily brainstorm and write about.
Step 2: Take a position on your topic. This means you should write down a sentence that has the words “should, shouldn’t,” “right, wrong,” or “good, bad” in it that is about your topic idea(s). For example, either “It is morally wrong to let your pet cat go outside” or “We should let our pet cats go outside.”
Step 3: Draft your basic standard form arguments for this position. That means TWO standard form arguments–one is standard form from moral principle and then other is standard form from analogy. Your arguments should follow the general forms for both types of arguments. These standard forms are found in your book, pages 59 and, 111.
**The Form for Argument from Principal::
1. Case of type A have moral status S.
2. Case X is of type A.
3. Therefore, case X has moral Status S.
**The Form of Argument from Analogy
1. Case A has moral Status S.
2. Case Y is relevantly similar to Case X.
3. Therefore, Case Y has moral Status S.
Step 4: Write a narrative explanation and justification for your standard form arguments. This part will look like 3-4 paragraphs for EACH standard form argument talking us (the reader) through your thinking. This is where you will provide supplementary information that helps explain and justify your argumentation.
Step 5: Write an introduction. Your introduction should briefly introduce us to both your topic and position, as well as tell us that “In this paper, I aim to argue that …(put your conclusion/your position here) using both argument from moral principle and argument from analogy.”
Note: Steps 4 and 5 are usually interchangeable and you will most likely have to go back to whichever step you start with to make sure it aligns with the other.
Step 6: Write a conclusion. Make sure you tell us what position you argued and how you argued this.
