Write a paper on one of the arguments below.
“an individual is responsible for being unjust, because he has cheated, and for being temperate, because he has passed his time in drinking and the like; for each type of activity produces the corresponding sort of person. This is clear from those who train any contest or action, since they continually practice the appropriate activities. Only a totally insensible person would not know that a given type of activity is the source of the corresponding state. Hence, if someone does what he knows will make him unjust, he is willingly unjust. (1114a)”
Your paper should:
Begin with a brief summary of the view argued for/against, as well as a brief summary of the argument.
Reconstruct the argument into standard form: make sure your reconstruction is well-formed.
For each line in your argument, note whether it is a premise or a (sub) conclusion. If it is a conclusion, indicate which premises it follows from.
Give a brief defense of each premise. You should aim for your defense for each premise to be a paragraph of text in length.
Deny one premise: explicitly state which premise you deny and explain why you think it is false.
Turn your own reasoning into a standard form argument. Make sure your reconstruction is valid, and that its conclusion is an explicit denial of the premise in question.
For each line in your argument, note whether it is a premise or a subconclusion. If it is a subconclusion, indicate which premises it follows from.
Give a brief defense of each premise. You should aim for your defense for each premise to be a paragraph of text in length.
Add a concluding paragraph where you address the following question: how would the proponent of the original argument respond to your counter-argument? Which premise would they deny, and how would they do so?
