PROMPT:

Consider the following two claims: (1) Morality is relative to the majority view of your culture; there are no objective moral truths. (2) All humans have rights that include life, liberty, and security of person, regardless of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual preference, and national origin.

I. Explain why these two statements could be seen as incompatible.

II. Do you think they are compatible?

III. If so, explain how. If not, which one should be rejected, and why?

REQUIREMENTS:

I. Target length – 1500-2000 words (about 5-6 pages in normal formating).

II. Sources – at least three are required, at least one should come from outside of the provided readings on Blackboard.

III. Should be submitted as a DOCX or PDF file.  If you use Google Docs or Pages, be sure to save and export your document to one of these file formats.

IV. The final paper is due on December 9th.

ADVICE:

There is much that could be covered in your paper.  This could include cultural relativism, moral realism, the universality of rights, the relationship between human rights and morality, and cross-cultural agreement and/or disagreement about rights.  We have had several readings in this course on these topics, in addition to my lectures.

Have a clear thesis in your paper; make clear what your own position is.  Perhaps you might not settle on what that position is until you start writing at least a bit of the paper out.  But make sure you present a clear thesis at the outset in your final submitted draft.  It will be helpful to go back and review the lecture and readings about writing a philosophy paper to help you with all of this.

It should be clear to me that you:
1. Can clearly explain the issues and the terminology involved.
2. Take a clear position on the philosophical issues at hand.
3. Use, correctly cite, and understand the sources that you cite.
4. Are capable of philosophically engaging with the sources that you choose.
5. Are capable of supporting your claims with clear and thoughtful reasoning.
Though the paper is due on the 9th, you are welcome to submit it before that point!