Please submit a short paper (roughly 3 pages) on the following passage from J. S. Mill’s paper “Hedonism”. The passage begins with the paragraph near the top of pg. 13 of the edited volume by Shafer-Landau, “If I am asked what I mean by difference of quality in pleasures…” and continues to pg. 15, ending with “…though many in all ages have broken down in an ineffectual attempt to combine both.”
Your work is due on Monday Oct. 12. The paper must be submitted on Canvas. It should be written in 12pt. Times New Roman. Longer is not better, but please polish your writing. As I mentioned in an earlier announcement, you can book an appointment with the OWLS Student Help Writing Workshop online. Do not submit the first draft! You are welcome to engage with secondary sources, but please cite them appropriately. In case of doubt, adopt a well-known citation format, like MLA or Chicago, for ex. The key is consistency of presentation. A good citation should indicate minimally: Author, Title, Date, Publisher, Place of Publication, as well as other relevant info. if appropriate.
The Paper should achieve two goals:
One is descriptive. You should tell me what is happening in the passage I assign in simple language. Figure out what the author’s views are and describe them to me. What is the context of the discussion, or how does the passage I’ve selected relate to bigger thematic issues from the work? Aim to restate the authors views in two or three sentences before further describing the structure and content of the passage I’ve selected. Not everything in the passage is equally important; there is a lot going on there, and you have latitude in interpreting the text. Thus, you need to tell me about what you think is notable in that passage. Isolate the argument(s) and translate it (or them) into a language that you think makes it clear what the author is getting at. Think about what is at stake in the passage. What is worth describing in detail? What can be helpfully rephrased?
The second goal is evaluative. You should tell me how strong you think the argument(s) is (or are), and why. Is the author persuasive? How compelling is the evidence the author provides for their view(s)? Whether you decide to defend or refute the author, consider possible objections to your own position.
ATTACH IS A COPY OF THE BOOK
