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PHL 399: Reasoning and the Law Assignments - Prof. Linda Farmer, Assignments of Introduction to Philosophy

Information about three assignments for the course phl 399: reasoning and the law. Assignment #1 requires students to identify and reconstruct arguments from textbook passages, assignment #2 asks students to identify, reconstruct, and classify arguments from a supreme court opinion, and assignment #3 asks students to present their own argument on a legal case. Each assignment is worth a certain percentage of the final grade and has a specific due date.

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Uploaded on 08/18/2009

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PHL 399: Reasoning and the Law
Assignments
Winter 2004
Assignment #1
Assignment #1 involves identifying and reconstructing arguments. There are
five passages on pp. 28-30 of the textbook. For each of these passages, identify
all the arguments presented and reconstruct them.
Reconstructing an argument involves listing each premise on a separate
line, drawing a line after this list, and placing the conclusion below that
line. It is essential, in reconstructing an argument that all extraneous
material be left out.
For example, the argument in the following passage:
I wish it weren’t true but, alas, all human beings are
mortal. Socrates must, therefore, be mortal as, after all,
he is human.
should be reconstructed as:
All human beings are mortal.
Socrates is a human being.
Socrates is mortal.
Assignment #1 is worth 10% of your final grade and is due on Tuesday, January
20 th
. Late penalties will be applied to your assignment if it is not turned in by
the due date. The grade for your assignment will be reduced by 1 point (out of
the possible 10 points) for each day it is late, including Saturdays and Sundays.
An assignment that is more than 4 days late will receive a grade of 0.
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PHL 399: Reasoning and the Law

Assignments

Winter 2004 Assignment # Assignment #1 involves identifying and reconstructing arguments. There are five passages on pp. 28-30 of the textbook. For each of these passages, identify all the arguments presented and reconstruct them. Reconstructing an argument involves listing each premise on a separate line, drawing a line after this list, and placing the conclusion below that line. It is essential, in reconstructing an argument that all extraneous material be left out. For example, the argument in the following passage: I wish it weren’t true but, alas, all human beings are mortal. Socrates must, therefore, be mortal as, after all, he is human. should be reconstructed as: All human beings are mortal. Socrates is a human being. Socrates is mortal. Assignment #1 is worth 10% of your final grade and is due on Tuesday, January 20 th. Late penalties will be applied to your assignment if it is not turned in by the due date. The grade for your assignment will be reduced by 1 point (out of the possible 10 points) for each day it is late, including Saturdays and Sundays. An assignment that is more than 4 days late will receive a grade of 0.

Assignment # Assignment #2 also involves identifying, reconstructing and classifying arguments. On pp. 92-94 of the textbook there is an excerpt of the Supreme Court’s opinion on the Gregg v. Georgia case. Identify and reconstruct all of the arguments made in that excerpt; and classify each of those arguments according to main focus of the reasoning involved (statutes/past cases/moral principles/etc.). Consult the list of the main criteria used in legal reasoning on the top of p. 92 of the textbook for help classifying the arguments. Assignment #2 is worth 15% of your final grade and is due on Tuesday, February 17th. Late penalties will be applied to your assignment if it is not turned in by the due date. The grade for your assignment will be reduced by 1 point (out of the possible 10 points) for each day it is late, including Saturdays and Sundays. An assignment that is more than 4 days late will receive a grade of

Assignment # Assignment #3 involves analyzing a legal case. You will present your own argument on one of the legal cases listed below. Select a case from the list of cases given below and think through the argument(s) presented in that case. Was the right decision reached? Why or why not? We will be going over how to write this assignment in detail when we cover Appendix I of the textbook. Your assignment should be 1-2 pages long, typed and double-spaced. It is worth 20% of your final grade and is due on Tuesday, March 9th. Late penalties will be applied to your assignment if it is not turned in by the due date. The grade for your assignment will be reduced by 1 point (out of the possible 20 points) for each day it is late, including Saturdays and Sundays. An assignment that is more than 4 days late will receive a grade of 0.