instructions are copy and pasted from the asssignment below
For your first paper, write a response to one of the following questions. Papers should be 350-400 words each (roughly a page and a half, double spaced). This is not rigid but your paper should be near this length. Use the tips on Canvas for how to construct your paper, keeping in mind that it needs an argumentative thesis (a statement someone could reasonably disagree with) and clear reasons for support. You need not quote the textbook at any length in a short paper, but your paper should the relevant text and demonstrate clear understanding.
Your paper should be uploaded to Canvas, where it will also be assessed via Turnitin, a plagiarism detection database. Assignments turned in late without prior arrangement with you GTA may not be graded in a timely manner or receive full comments.
Holmstrom argues that our actions are not always free any time they are the result of our choice, but rather they are only free when we are in control of our actions, which includes our being in control of our beliefs and desires. She says that freedom comes in degrees, and that much of the time most of our actions are not in our control because of the degree to which our social environment dictates our beliefs and desires. Using as an example an important choice you have made—such as choosing to go to KU, or choosing whether to join a sorority/fraternity, or choosing your major— analyze how free this choice was, according to Holmstrom’s account. In your answer, make careful reference to her text to show that you understand her position.
Saul argues that facts about implicit bias pose a new and dangerous skeptical challenge. She argues that this skepticism can be overcome, “but we cannot do this through rational and critical reflection alone” (p.260). Why not? What else does she think is required, and what does this tell us about the relationship between our powers of reason and the rest of our mental activity?
Descartes suggested that we have reason to remain skeptical as to whether the world we experience and the knowledge we have reflects reality. This can be cast in various ways, whether we think of the universe as a simulation, of ourselves as a brain in a vat under the control of a scientist, or whether we exist within some other form of a virtual reality. Choosing whatever version of this question you prefer, argue for why we either should or should not care whether we are experiencing the real world. Your argument should make use of at least one text that we’ve read in relation to this question (Descartes, Grau, or Moore).
