write, using any one of the particular philosophers’ theories or concepts that you have read, been taught, or that have been discussed throughout the entire semester, a practical and applied use in the real world. Specifically, you are to summarize one philosopher’s most prominent theories, and those theories’ potential for practical application in your area of personal, professional, or academic interest.

Your term paper should take the form of:

1) Introduce your paper. We’re studying the great moral philosophers, and all of our philosophers have been included for very good reasons; your introduction should indicate your understanding of the main reason(s) for your philosopher’s inclusion, as well as what makes them worthy of our attention.

2) Summarize the key concepts (at least one; no more than three) posited and developed by that philosopher – this should include what their philosophy replaced and/or what has replaced it since, if applicable, and should show a well-rounded understanding of their work both in and of itself, as well as within the context of the overall academic study and applied practice of Ethics.

▪ 2A) Included in your summary of their work should be topically accurate citations of and quotations from their written work that support the focus of your summary of their main ideas.

◦ 3) Discuss the possibilities of practically applying your chosen philosopher’s work to a contentious issue within a personal, professional, or academic area of your own choosing, most often the one in which you are working in or toward currently, but it could also be an area or topic of merely casual interest to you.

▪ 3A) Included in your section on practical application should be at least one example of a case study or hypothetical situation in your chosen field in which the philosopher’s work could be applied, as well as a discussion of the means by which it would be applied, and, if applicable, resolved.

◦ 4) You should wrap up your term paper by summarizing and tying together the salient points of what you’ve presented in terms of the philosopher’s key concepts and potential for practical application. In most cases, this will be something of a rehashing of your introduction; in other words, tell me what you’re going to do, do it, then tell me what you just did – this is a helpful way to stretch papers to the required length. Don’t think of it as being redundant – think of it as being thorough.

This is NOT a biographical paper – in fact, I will count off if you include extraneous biographical information, especially considering that it (more often than not) will have come from an online source.

Your term paper should be written from an academic perspective, and should assume that your audience (me) understands the basics of ethical theories and you don’t need to flesh them out, but should instead focus on the “meat” of the philosopher – their key concepts, and their relevance to you and your course of study, profession, or personal interests. To do this, you will most likely need to call on additional information that may not be available in your text – may I suggest you check out the Philosophy section of our campus or local library and consult a few or several of the excellent books that are found therein?

This should be accomplished in approximately 4-6 typed pages – i.e., no fewer than 4; no more than 6.