- Since you are required to be succinct, focus simply on stating the key ideas directly and simply. You do not need a flowery introduction or any kind of “hook.” You should begin simply by stating directly the conclusion of the argument that you outline in the paper.
- In the remainder of your paper, you should set out clearly and directly the reasons the figure offers in support of that conclusion. You need to focus on stating these reasons themselves, providing sufficient explanation of the ideas on which they rest, and showing how these reasons fit together to form an argument. Your paper need not address any other issues that are not directly relevant to the argument you are asked to restate.
- You should offer an assessment of the argument that you explain. In offering an assessment of the argument, you want to focus on how the author defends the conclusion for which they argue. You might address the following questions: Are the premises on which the conclusion rests true? If the premises are true, do we have to accept the conclusion (does the conclusion follow of necessity from the premises)? Or is there a gap between the argument and the conclusion? In assessing the argument, you want to employ a principle of charity. Make sure that you offer the most charitable or sympathetic account of the figure’s argument that is possible. (If you can still present a justified criticism of the most plausible account of someone’s argument, your criticism will carry even more weight. Otherwise, you are only arguing against a “straw man.”) If you think the argument is strong, you should still consider at least one objection that might be made against it, showing how the objection does not constitute a real challenge to it.
Requirements:
- Your completed paper should be 1400-1600 words in length, double-spaced, in 12-point font, and with standard margin settings.
- Cite the text according to the rules of the Chicago Manual of Style “Notes and Bibliography” style for your references and works cited. (You do not need to worry about other CMS conventions for formatting.) For citation principles and samples, this is a helpful resource: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/turabian/turabian-notes-and-bibliography-citation-quick-guide.htmlLinks to an external site.
- Since this paper aims to assess your ability to read, understand, and explain core ideas in the texts, you should not consult any additional resources. Please do not consult additional web sites, books, or chat bots in completing this paper. Only use Discourse on Method by Descartes and
Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit for your sources.
- A = Work that does not merely reproduce class discussion or the main issues in the reading, but reveals a deeper understanding of the material and shows a real contribution on the part of the student. In such a paper there is a clear thesis that is carefully argued and defended against any counter-arguments or objections. Also, a paper of this caliber will not have any grammatical mistakes or unclear sentences, and all relevant terms will be defined and discussed in the paper.
- Here is the Prompt:
Explain the argument of ¶187 of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit by relating it to the broader ideas of self-sufficiency and non-self-sufficiency at work in the assigned passages from the text. How does the relation of master and servant emerge in Hegel’s account? In arguing that the attempt to achieve self-sufficiency or independence is self-undermining, is Hegel offering a criticism of any position of Descartes’s? Use quotes from both of their texts and Chicago style citations and footnotes.