Philosophy 10200 Eric V. Tracy
Fall 2019
FIRST GRADED PAPER TOPICS
**Papers are due electronically by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, October 9th to Turnitin via
Blackboard and via hard copy at the beginning of class on October 10th or in Professor
Tracy’s mailbox by 3:00p.m. on that day. Both modes of submission are required and the
submissions must match one another exactly.
Instructions: Write a 3-4 page, double-spaced paper on ONE of the following topics. Be sure to
answer every question and to present your answers in a structured, coherent essay. Cite all
sources.
1) In Meditation I, Descartes offers a ground for doubt based on the possibility that he is
dreaming. He then seems to believe that this ground for doubt leaves open a response
according to which a certain class judgments might be undisturbed by the doubt. His next
ground for doubt seems to cover a wider class of judgments. What is this ground for
doubt? Do you think it justifies the claim that we do not have knowledge of the world
external to our minds? In the course of answering this question, provide a precise
formulation of the argument one might give for this claim on the basis of this ground for
doubt and evaluate it.
2) What is Machine Functionalism, of the sort that Putnam offers in “The Nature of Mental
States”? How does Putnam argue for the theory? What do you view as its primary
drawbacks? Do these defeat the theory?
3) What is Jenkins’ account of the nature of flirting? Present two accounts of the precise
nature of the intention relevant to flirting that Jenkins rejects and explain why she rejects
them. Is her account plausible? Be sure to discuss at least one concrete objection to her
account.
4) Explain the idea of a brain in a vat as it occurs in Putnam’s discussion. What does
Putnam think about the philosophical significance of this kind of situation? Should the
possibility that we are brains in vats lead us to skepticism? Why or why not? Is this
possibility relevantly similar to the possibility that we are being deceived by an evil
demon or the possibility that we have always been dreaming? Why or why not?
Fall 2019
FIRST GRADED PAPER TOPICS
**Papers are due electronically by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, October 9th to Turnitin via
Blackboard and via hard copy at the beginning of class on October 10th or in Professor
Tracy’s mailbox by 3:00p.m. on that day. Both modes of submission are required and the
submissions must match one another exactly.
Instructions: Write a 3-4 page, double-spaced paper on ONE of the following topics. Be sure to
answer every question and to present your answers in a structured, coherent essay. Cite all
sources.
1) In Meditation I, Descartes offers a ground for doubt based on the possibility that he is
dreaming. He then seems to believe that this ground for doubt leaves open a response
according to which a certain class judgments might be undisturbed by the doubt. His next
ground for doubt seems to cover a wider class of judgments. What is this ground for
doubt? Do you think it justifies the claim that we do not have knowledge of the world
external to our minds? In the course of answering this question, provide a precise
formulation of the argument one might give for this claim on the basis of this ground for
doubt and evaluate it.
2) What is Machine Functionalism, of the sort that Putnam offers in “The Nature of Mental
States”? How does Putnam argue for the theory? What do you view as its primary
drawbacks? Do these defeat the theory?
3) What is Jenkins’ account of the nature of flirting? Present two accounts of the precise
nature of the intention relevant to flirting that Jenkins rejects and explain why she rejects
them. Is her account plausible? Be sure to discuss at least one concrete objection to her
account.
4) Explain the idea of a brain in a vat as it occurs in Putnam’s discussion. What does
Putnam think about the philosophical significance of this kind of situation? Should the
possibility that we are brains in vats lead us to skepticism? Why or why not? Is this
possibility relevantly similar to the possibility that we are being deceived by an evil
demon or the possibility that we have always been dreaming? Why or why not?
