Explain how Kants respect for persons principle would apply to business practices.

1) Explain how Kants respect for persons principle would apply to
business practices. Can a business genuinely embody the ideals of a
Kantian moral community, or are these ideals too demanding? Defend
your answer drawing on the reading by Norman Bowie.
2) In his article, Utilitarianism and Animals, Gaverick Matheny
concludes that we ought to make changes to our institutions and habits,
most immediately, that we become vegetarian or preferably vegan
(p.24). This viewpoint would be shared by the protestors at the Six
Nations deer hunt described in the Globe and Mail newspaper article
available in the Blackboard learning materials on this subject. Explain
how Matheny reaches his conclusion along with how you think the deer
hunt should be evaluated on utilitarian grounds. Do you agree with
Mathenys conclusion in light of your evaluation? Defend your answer.
3) Is medical assistance in dying (voluntary euthanasia) a morally
acceptable practice in at least some circumstances? Drawing on our
course learning materials and discussion of the debate in the present,
Canadian context, along with the readings by James Rachels and
Thomas Sullivan, explain what you take to be the most persuasive
arguments on both sides of this issue and defend a position of your own
with respect to it. (Hint: most persuasive means you shouldnt be
summarizing every point raised in the assigned readings be selective.)
** Please refer to the Essay Writing Checklist appended to this document
for standards associated with grading your essay.
The essay is due on Tuesday, December 7
th at 11:59 p.m. to be submitted
electronically.
Please note: You must make arrangements in advance of the assignments
due date to negotiate any extensions due to illness, or other circumstances
that may prevent you from completing it on time.
Essay Writing Checklist
Summary
All the essay topics require both summary and evaluation. When
summarizing a philosophers argument, focus on conveying the logical
connections between the points you raise in a clear, step by step manner.
Avoid writing lists of what philosophers say or believe, and instead think
about how they are trying to convince you of something. In other words, try
to get at the reasoning behind the claims they advance. Your paper should
be 2/3 argument summary and 1/3 evaluation.
You need to demonstrate that you worked with the assigned course
readings as your primary sources in writing your paper. The learning
materials I have posted are intended to help guide you through these
assigned readings they are not a substitute for them. Do not use any
secondary sources, like summaries of the material that you find on the
internet, as resources for the summary section of your essay. I am interested
in knowing what you learned from our class, not what you learned from the
internet.
Substituting particular words or phrases with different ones is not what it
means to summarize an argument. Do not ever use online tools or other
programs that re-write passages of text for you. You cannot expect a
passing grade if this is your approach to summarizing an argument.
Use your own words to explain philosophical arguments whenever
possible; I cant assess your understanding of the material if you are quoting
the text too much.
You are welcome to discuss your assignment with anyone you choose but
do not share copies of your written work with classmates. I have seen
papers that end up looking very similar to one another and SafeAssign
reports this. You do not want to be accused of academic misconduct or to
have to share a single mark with someone else.
Evaluation
Argument evaluation may be positive or negative in other words, you
may agree or disagree with a philosophers conclusion. But what is
important to remember is that you are not evaluating that conclusion in
isolation from the reasons that back it up. An effective evaluation is one that
addresses a specific premise, assumption, implication, or gap in the
philosophers reasoning that would lead one to reconsider the conclusion
s/he has drawn. (And yes, feel free to use I when presenting your
evaluation).
Keep in mind that evaluation is more than a commentary on how the work
affected you. Attributing praise like everything was well-argued, or the
author is brilliant, is not very informative. After all, you could just as
easily state the opposite in each case.
Style/Organization
Follow the lead of what you have learned in your writing classes. MLA is
the most common documentation style for philosophy papers, but APA is
fine if you prefer it.
Be sure to have a short, general introduction that contains a thesis a
concise statement of what will be your evaluation of the philosophers
position.
Dont commit to dividing your paper into a set number of paragraphs.
Exploring more than one topic in a paragraph can get confusing, so try to
think about the natural breaks in the themes you address and start new
paragraphs accordingly. Not every paper you write in your life will fit into
the standard, 5-paragraph essay format you learned in high school.
It can be helpful to read your paper back to yourself from the perspective
of someone who doesnt know the material at all. Ask yourself: would such
a person understand what Im talking about, despite not being familiar with
the subject matter? Sometimes things might make perfect sense in your own
mind (especially late at night!), but if something you have written is not
clear from an outside perspective, then clarification may be needed

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