Philosophy

Write an essay that focuses on one of the arguments found in the reading, Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section VI & VII ( see attached reading)

The primary goal is to offer your own argument in response to one of the arguments from the reading, Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section VI & VII

Do not use outside sources—only use the readings that were assigned for the course—do not go out
on the internet and look up sources. Your essay must follow this format:
1. Begin with an introductory paragraph that a) presents your thesis, b) identifies which text and author you will discuss, and c) prepares the reader for the organization of your paper. Your THESIS is a clear and exact statement of the claim you will support in your essay.
a. Thesis Statement: You must tell the reader specifically what position you will defend.

2. The body of the paper should consist in a focused discussion on the author’s argument from your chosen reading. Your paper should provide a clear exposition of one of the arguments offered by the specific author from the text you focus on. Following the exposition, give one or two objections to the author’s claims. Discuss your objection(s) carefully. Provide the strongest possible counter-argument or counterexample. Be sure that your objection(s) are specifically linked to the arguments given by the author whose work you have exposited. Next, offer possible responses to your objections. In other words, examine and discuss possible responses/issues/problems with your objections/argument.

3. The conclusion should not simply repeat what you have already said in the body of the paper. The concluding remarks may reiterate briefly the structure of your foregoing argument and the conclusion(s) you have reached. But, crucially, concluding remarks should say something more than this. Are there still further, related questions that you have not addressed? Does your discussion have an important implication for the topic, for philosophical theory, for life in general? In other words, try to show how your work in this particular essay reaches out to other topics of interest or paves the way for further argument or analysis. Remember that philosophy papers rarely solve problems once and for all time, so resist the temptation to overstate or exaggerate your conclusions. It is reasonable, even admirable, to acknowledge the limitations of your discussion in your concluding remarks.

4. Quote and cite the text to support your discussion (Footnotes or parenthetical citations are preferred). All verbatim quotation must use quotation marks. Citations are also required for paraphrases of the text. The goal is to point the reader to the appropriate passages of text where the claims are made. Use quotations selectively; most of the paper should be written in your own words. Use a works cited page.
In a nutshell:
1. Tell the reader what text you will discuss, identify the specific author you will address, offer a thesis statement (the position you will defend), and give a brief overview of how the essay will proceed.
2. Explicate the specific author’s argument from the text you have chosen—explain the argument in detail, walk the reader through the argument step by step.
3. Offer objections to the argument—point out problems with the author’s argument, and offer your own argument in an effort to justify your claim that the author’s argument contains these problems. Do not ignore the author’s counter arguments—for example, if the author addresses a particular objection in their piece, and offers (a response) a reason to think these objections are not problematic for their position, then be sure that you do not simply offer that very same objection without addressing why their response does not work.
4. Examine possible responses to your objections—discuss possible weaknesses/problems with the argument you present in section three. What sorts of issues might one raise against your argument? Note the weaknesses and/or limitations with your original argument.
5. Conclusion (see above)