Please follow this basic outline: Intro paragraph. What is the title of the book, who is the author, what’s the topic? Supposing the reader doesn’t care about the topic, explain why they should care about the topic. What problem would knowledge in this area solve, who would it help, what significance does this have in the grand scope of humanity? PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING LINE VERBATIM: “The main issue discussed in this book is ____________ and it is relevant to Ethics because ____________” (blanks may be filled in by you) Discuss the facts of the situation from a general perspective. Although everyone has an opinion, there are only a certain set of facts about any given issue. Use this paragraph to explain the basic components of the issue that anyone approaching it should be familiar with, and brief us on any terminology involved. Please refrain as much as possible from including your or the author’s perspective in this paragraph. Please include only objective facts that may need to be understood about the issue. THERE IS NO REQUIRED VERBATIM LINE FOR THIS PARAGRAPH, BUT I WILL MARK IT DOWN FOR ANY OPINIONATED, NORMATIVE, OR JUDGMENTAL LANGUAGE. FACTS ONLY! Author’s perspective. What stance is the author taking on this topic? If the book is a collection of essays or otherwise does not offer a single perspective, pick whichever is most convincing and talk about that. Be sure to represent the author’s argument in its strongest form. PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING LINE VERBATIM: “The author’s perspective on (issue) can be summarized as ___________” (fill in blank with your summary, use the rest of the paragraph to add more detail) Rebuttal/other perspectives. Certainly someone disagrees with what your author is saying; perhaps it’s you. What arguments might directly counter what the author is suggesting? Are there any other authors or philosophers who have put forth alternative views? Be sure to also represent the rebuttal in its strongest form. Most of us are rational people and will weigh the evidence presented. PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING LINE VERBATIM: “An alternative viewpoint on (issue) could be that _________” (fill in blank with the alternative viewpoint, and use the rest of the paragraph to go into more detail on that viewpoint) Conclusion. Where do we go from here? The end of ethics is action, not analysis, even though many of us might like to analyze things forever and ever. Make a normative statement. How SHOULD we view this issue? How SHOULD we act to better align with goodness, knowledge, truth, justice, etc? PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING LINE VERBATIM: “Based on the author’s viewpoints, and after considering competing viewpoints, I believe that we should ___________” (fill in blank with what we should believe/do, use the rest of the paragraph to explain why.)
