Students will develop a thesis that asserts to what degree humankind acts out of Free Will, Determinism or a mixture of both. The paper will begin with a definition of both Free Will and Determinism–not a static definition (no, “Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines” framing, I beg you!), but a definition of both concepts as you understand them, as a careful reader/observer of the essayists and the filmmaker you’ve observed. This section of the paper should be around two pages in length and should cite several examples from each of the three in-class sources mentioned above.
This should be followed by a five-to-six-page section in which the writer uses the inductive process to evaluate best answers to the questions involved in the Free Will versus Determinism debate.
Here, I’m looking for students to design at least THREE questions, each of which investigates an element of the Free Will versus Determinism conflict and each of which elicits TWO “answers” in the form of a source that, through the framing of a 6-point summary, represents a different perspective in response to the question. After each “question-with-two-source-answers” section, the writer should use critical evaluation skills (including your knowledge of logical fallacies) in order to choose the best “answer.”
The strategy so far should look like this:
I. Intro, including definitions of Free Will and Determinism.
II. Paragraph introducing a question
Paragraph or two illustrating a source “answer”
Paragraph or two illustrating a different source “answer”
One or two paragraphs developing a justification for the writer’s logical preference for one “answer” over the other.
III. Paragraph introducing a question
Paragraph or two illustrating a source “answer”
Paragraph or two illustrating a different source “answer”
One or two paragraphs developing a justification for the writer’s logical preference for one “answer” over the other.
IV. Paragraph introducing a question
Paragraph or two illustrating a source “answer”
Paragraph or two illustrating a different source “answer”
One or two paragraphs developing a justification for the writer’s logical preference for one “answer” over the other.
The last two pages should conclude with a complex claim in which the student writer stakes his or her own view, based on the evidence the student has developed up to this point: are human events and actions a result of Free Will or Determinism?