PHIL 201: Naturalism assignment

Book required:

Lewis, C. S. The complete C.S. Lewis signature classics (paperback ed.). (2007). New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780061208492.

Topic: Naturalism

Prompt: Naturalism, a metaphysical theory held by many secular philosophers, is confronted and critiqued in Lewis, pages 303–334.

In your thread, first summarize Lewis’ main objection to naturalism. Be sure to explain what naturalism would do to “reasoning” according to Lewis. This will take the majority of your 350 words (minimum, not counting lengthy quotes). In your remaining words, state your own position on naturalism vs. supernaturalism (in metaphysical terms), including whether or not it makes any practical difference of if reasoning is just random.

In addition to the general advice that I’ve provided in past directions for DBs, here are some points to help you succeed with DB Forum 3 (“Naturalism”), specifically….

THE THREAD

•         Give yourself adequate time to read Lewis pages 303-334 carefully. Try to capture the logic of his argumentation as you make notes. As I’ve said before, you can’t very well begin to write a DB Thread until you have things clear in your mind.

•         Keep the overall goal in mind. The purpose of this assignment is for you to demonstrate that you understand C. S. Lewis’ view of naturalism and its “cardinal difficulty” (its most fundamental, underlying weakness/problem logically) according to him.  I should be able to tell clearly if you’ve met the goal.

•         Try dividing your Thread into two portions. The first and longest part of what you’ll write will be asummary of Lewis’ main objection to naturalism. (You should use that bold heading for this first part.) This is where you explain what he calls the “cardinal difficulty” with naturalism. During this stage you are not critiquing or defending him, just showing that you accurately understand his positions. Be sure to explain what naturalism, if true, would do to “reasoning,” according to Lewis. I want to see about 200-250 words, minimum, just in this first part of your Thread.

•         Next, state your own position on naturalism vs. supernaturalism. (You should use that bold heading for this second part.)  Important: Understand, up front, that in this context we are not using the term “supernatural” in the way that you may be used to. We are talking about philosophical metaphysics: what “reality” ultimately is. (Is there only material-nature, or is there something beyond-nature such as “mind” which is also real?) That means talking in terms of Worldview, not debating how you think miracles, signs and wonders operate. I am not counting your personal experiences or your mastery of biblical theology here. It is essential that you state a logical case for whether or not it makes any practical difference if reasoning is a random process. Spend 100 words minimum to articulate this clearly and with precision.

•         When you make claims be sure to give your reasons for your conclusions. By reasons I mean evidence presented logically. Present the strongest and tightest argument you can for your conclusions; make sure we know why you think that way. This is a philosophical exercise.

•         In total, you will write at least 350 words for your Thread. But that’s the bare minimum.  There is no maximum.

•         When you are done writing and ready to post inside Forum 3, click “Create Thread.”  Just copy-paste into the text field of your Thread.  DO NOT try to “attach” the file: I will not give credit for attached files. (don’t worr about this)

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument. Assault In The City: Trial, Sentencing And Appeal

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.