Ph103: LT Formative Essay Questions

Please choose just one of the following essay prompts. Then follow the instructions and write a 1,500 word essay. Please make sure your essay includes the recommended features discussed below the prompts.

Note that you are not being evaluated on the breadth or depth of your scientific or mathematical knowledge. So, you don't have to be a science-whiz to ace this essay. Your job here is rather to construct a valid philosophical argument for a clear thesis.

Prompt 1: Time Travel

We have seen that there are various different possible meanings for "time travel." For example, Lewis proposed one definition, and Arntzenius proposed another. In each case, there are arguments that it is impossible, as well as counter-arguments that it is possible.

Prompt: In a 1,500 word essay, choose one of the definitions of time travel that we have discussed in class, and argue that it is either possible or impossible.

This statement will be the thesis of your essay, which the entire essay is built to argue for. Notice that your thesis will be a single, straightforward sentence. Everything you say in the paper should go toward supporting this thesis, and nothing more.

When you argue for (or against) time travel, you should be sure to include the following considerations.

  1. A sufficient explanation of time travel that introduces the definition you have chosen to the uninitiated reader. You may create a diagram if you find this helpful.
  2. An argument for your thesis, consisting of a set of premises that leads inevitably to your thesis as the conclusion. You may wish to write this argument in concisely numbered "premise-conclusion" form, and then explain it.
  3. A discussion of the relevant counterarguments and objections that someone might have to your thesis. Since we have seen arguments for and against the possibility of time travel in Lecture, be sure to respond to arguments from the other side in your essay.

You may also find it helpful to discuss which sense of "possibility" you have in mind. For example, you may wish to specify whether you mean it in the sense of logical possibility (what is possible according to the rules of logic), physical possibility (what is possible in the physical world), or some other sense altogether.

Prompt 2: Supertasks

We have seen many examples of supertasks, beginning with Zeno's paradoxes in this course. We can sometimes check that certain supertasks are physically possible, such as "moving from one point to another" in Zeno's Dichotomy.

But Zeno (and other philosophers after him like Thomson, Black and Ross) have argued that supertasks are nevertheless "logically" impossible, they seem to lead to contradictions. Others, such as Earman and Norton, have argued that supertasks are not logically impossible, but just incomplete descriptions that are harmless once they are completed.

Prompt: In a 1,500 word essay, choose one supertask (or a couple, if this helps your point) and argue that it is or is not logically possible.

This statement will be the thesis of your essay, which the entire essay is built to argue for. Notice that your thesis will be a single, straightforward sentence. Everything you say in the paper should go toward supporting this thesis, and nothing more.

When you argue for (or against) the supertask of your choice, you should be sure to include the following considerations.

  1. A sufficient explanation of supertasks that introduces the concept as well as your particular example you have chosen to the uninitiated reader.
  2. An argument for your thesis, consisting of a set of premises that leads inevitably to your thesis as the conclusion. You may wish to write this argument in concisely numbered "premise-conclusion" form, and then explain it.
  3. A discussion of the relevant counterarguments and objections that someone might have to your thesis. For example, most of the supertasks we have seen were originally introduced as arguments that supertasks are logically impossible, but we have also seen arguments that are on the contrary logically possible and harmless. Whichever you choose to argue, you should discuss and respond to the opposite side.

Guidelines

The principle thing that you will be evaluated on in this paper is the argument for your thesis. Everything that you write should go toward supporting this argument; nothing more and nothing less. However, some of the particular parameters that you will be evalulated on in this respect include:

  1. Expression and style
  2. Structure and organisation
  3. Understanding and use of literature
  4. Quality of argument
  5. Independence of thought

For details on how to write a philosophy that satisfies these parameters, have a look at my writing guide, 7 Steps to a Better Philosophy Paper. Please also draw on the what you learned in Chris Blunt's PAW writing workshop.