Select a claim (opinion) you feel very strongly about

I’m working on a Management question and need guidance to help me study.

Problem #1

Select a claim (opinion) you feel very strongly about and write a short essay (2-3 pages) explaining what you take to be the best reasons for that claim. The claim can be on any topic.

Some examples:

• “I support the right to bear arms.”
• “Pepsi is better than Coca Cola.”
• “Stem cell research is morally wrong.”
• “Consumption of junk food leads to obesity.”

Problem #2

Find an example from the news (magazine, television, internet article) of a zealot (political, religious, ideological or other) attempting to win converts to their fervently held beliefs. Write a short essay (1-2 pages) about this speaker describing the speech and its context in detail and assessing it critically in light of what you have learned about rational acceptability. Include a discussion of the dangers of uncritical acceptance of these speaker’s messages.

Problem #3

Consider the passage below, from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

“I can’t believe that!” said Alice.

“Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.”

Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”

“I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes, I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Write a discussion of Alice’s refusal to believe impossible things (1-2 pages). You may invoke the virtue of conservatism, explaining what it is and how it sometimes leads to refusing to believe things that one “sees.”

Problem #4

Consider the claim “Killing another human being is always wrong.” Write a short paper (about 3 pages) offering at least one argument for the claim and one against it. Then discuss which judgments in your arguments are normative.