For this assignment, you will perform some “philosophical community service.” The service you will provide is demonstrating to some members of your community how to think critically about moral issues using the logical methods we’ve practiced in this class. So, you will model thinking in systematic ways about moral issues, engage some arguments from your audience, and help them evaluate these arguments.

Here’s what to do:

1. You may do this project on your own, or you may do it in a group of 2-3 students. If you do a group, each member must submit the project on their own: not doing this will result in a zero for any student who doesn’t submit the assignment.

2. Pick a “practical” or “applied” topic from the syllabus (not an ethical theory) that we have covered in this course or develop your own with the approval of the instructor. Here are some of the topics we’ve covered: the treatment of disabled newborns, euthanasia and assisted suicide, female genital mutilation, male circumcision, homosexuality, racism in dating, racial preferences in romantic relationships, polyamory and monogamy, abortion, absolute poverty, reparations for slavery, racism, sexism, and speciesism, vegetarianism and the treatment of animals, punishment and the death penalty, drug use and the criminalization of drug use, the ethics of grades and extra credit, and more.

3. Develop at least 5 arguments in logically valid form on this topic. You will want to review the video on syllogisms, to remind yourself how to make arguments in valid form: See Video- https://youtu.be/xw8DJQRYWXg