Directions
“The paper should make some sort of argument. It could be an argument for a view you like, or it could be an argument against a view you don’t like. Or it could be an argument that a certain view should be understood a certain way, or it depends on another view, or…Really, there are lots of ways to proceed. I would say read a little bit of some of the relevant texts, then see what jumps out at you as right or wrong, and then see how you might make an argument out of those intuitions.”
In the proposal, responding to criticisms is a good way to proceed if you want to defend Armstrong or Dretske’s views.”
Reading List
Essay Proposal
I plan to write my paper focusing on the laws of nature, a philosophy of science that describes the natural way humans and animals act and react to certain situations. I will be diving into one of the works by Fred I. Dretske called Laws of Nature. I will be discussing what makes the laws of nature valuable and what exactly that value is. Dretske views laws as relations between universals which I will explain in lots of detail as to what exactly that means. I plan on using sources like one written by D. M. Armstrong titled What Is a Law of Nature? With this source I will be able to, in detail, explain exactly what a law of nature is. Some people even consider the laws of nature to be as true as logic. I will spend time discussing some criticisms on this viewpoint which I will then defend. Another part of my paper will be addressing criticisms on the laws of nature as a whole which I will also defend along with answering questions about what some of the laws of nature are. I will have a lot of research that needs to be done analyzing readings from class and making connections with the writings of Dretske on the laws of nature making this a good paper.