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3 pages/≈825 words
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APA
Subject:
Social Sciences
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Reaction Paper
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Rational and Philosophical ideas on morality: Social Sciences Reaction Paper

Reaction Paper Instructions:

(1) Please read chapter 1-2 of Kant's Groundwork, and the article to help you understand it
- http://www(dot)earlymoderntexts(dot)com/assets/pdfs/kant1785.pdf
- https://plato(dot)stanford(dot)edu/entries/kant-moral/
(2) Watch the video: https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=GjNrrmQ6X-o
https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=8bIys6JoEDw&t=556s
https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=i_9bu4n5t2A&feature=youtu.be
For this course, you will be writing 5 response papers. These papers will require you to carefully read the assigned text and respond to a prompt. The prompt will sometimes involve multiple texts, so you will need to read all the texts before you can write it. The response papers need to be at least three full pages.
For these papers, you need to engage in independent thinking and write something original. Do not just summarize the text, but provide your own thoughtful analysis of it (based on the prompt). If you slightly veer away from what the prompt is asking you to write, that is okay; the purpose of the prompt is to get you thinking about the text critically.
What I am looking for in these response papers is not whether you understood the text, but whether you gave it some thought. Philosophy can be quite difficult sometimes, and I understand that not everyone will fully grasp the text.
What I suggest you do is the following:
(1) Read the assigned texts
(2) It is very likely that you won't understand what the concepts and terms mean, and even after you watch the lecture, you may still be puzzled. Often, terms in philosophy have a very loose meaning, so it is okay if you don't get it totally right. I suggest that you just try to use them and act as if you understand the terms. If you're having trouble understanding some of the jargon, then ask yourself the following question: if I was using this kind of language, what would I mean? Then, try to write something and you will do fine. It may sound odd, but it is okay for you to make something up, as much of philosophy is pure speculation. I generally grade easy so long as you put some effort into your writing.
(3) After you do the reading, write down whatever you're thinking about, even if it doesn't have any apparent relationship to the text. For example, you may just have finished reading a text by Plato on Love. Instead of writing about the text, jot down whatever comes into your mind, regardless of how removed it is from the text. This is called free associations, a process invented by the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. When you start doing this, you will find that eventually, you're writing about and analyzing the text.
(4) Give an example in order to explain your thesis. You are free to philosophize about movies, tv shows, novels, or personal experiences. Feel free to write in the first person and write in an informal, non-academic style. I would like you to write in the way YOU are comfortable, not in the way that the MLA handbook tells you to write.
Some things that I do not want to see are:
(1) Summaries: do not just read the text and summarize it. This will probably lead to a failing grade for the paper.
(2) Plagiarism: do not copy and paste stuff from Sparknotes, as I most certainly will catch you and fully enforce all of the universities policies pertaining to academic dishonesty. I am very interested in what you have to say, so just let me know what is on your mind. I don't care what Sparknotes says, as it is extremely uninteresting to me and boring. If you're not a good writer, that is okay: so long as I can understand what you're trying to say, that is good enough. I won't harshly penalize you for grammar. I would suggest to do a spellcheck and proof read the text before you turn it in though.
(3) Repetition: don't just say the same thing over because you can't think of anything to write. If you're having trouble, follow the process of free associations layed out above, or write about something totally random.
(4) Make sure to elaborate: do not just go from paragraph to paragraph. If you say something, make sure to elaborate on it and go into detail. This will make for an excellent paper.
(5) Avoid long quotations. I strongly suggest that you DO NOT QUOTE the text at all. Just talk about the text and that will be good enough. I would much rather hear what you have to say about the text than a quote from it.
All papers should be:
12 point font
Double Spaced
Times New Roman Font
Include Only Your Name
Papers will be submitted via the dropbox in the folder in which it was assigned

Reaction Paper Sample Content Preview:

Rational and Philosophical ideas on morality
Name
Institution
Rational and Philosophical ideas on morality
Immanuel Kant introduces his version of the golden rule in exploring the issue of morality in society. He says, whatever action we take, we should put into thought the end rather than use it as a mere means. Hence, our actions towards people should be ruled by the idea of how it would appear if it happened on a universal level or to the ‘doers’ themselves.
Humans are the only beings or entities with free will. Throughout history, we observe actions controlled by the will of humans towards doing right or wrong. In religious texts, especially from the Bible, it is said humans were created in ‘God’s’ image. This idea gives us an insight into how powerful human rationality can be, as likened to ‘godliness’. The concept we have of God, as we grow up is that of supremacy and power. Our actions being controlled by societal norms and values and never did we have free will. Speeches from parents or elder people dictating, ‘don’t grow up to be like this,’ ‘do not do that, it is bad’, ‘do not eat that’ and yadda yadda. This narrows down human development into machines to be controlled or plasticine to be molded according to society. Such experiences deny us the perfect mind to think, or indirectly denies us the mandate to act as we deem fit. Our behaviors have been more contravened that the idea of morality becomes critical.
How do we determine good or bad? Apart from Biblical analogies, we ought to perform certain activities that may be deemed right or wrong. Advancing the whole universal law idea complicates the given actions. Here is a case scenario where a mother, (call her Whitney) with a family of three children, is left by her husband. Whitney is a housewife hence her sole duty is to take care of the children, but her husband leaves without leaving anything to feed the family. Days go by and life gets more difficult, the children become malnourished and the woman is depressed. No one shows up to assist or give goodwill. One of her children suffers a chronic illness that gets severe. As the mother lacks the means to give her child medical aid, she opts for a crime. She...
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