Assignment: Commentary

Given that all arguments assume a premise-conclusion format, to perform commentary on an argument, you must scrutinize the individual premises and how they relate to one another. In essence, a commentary is a reflection on a component of the original argument.

How to write it:

Each commentary should have at least two, and maybe three, elements. The commentary begins by (1a) creating a link to the argument outline in question and asking (1b) a question about one or several of the premises. The rest of the commentary should be devoted to trying to provide (2) an answer to that question. In your commentary, especially if your commentary is critical of the views of the philosopher in question, you should suggest (3) how the philosopher would respond to your commentary. Throughout your commentary, always make parenthetical citations

Textual source:

You are required to select one of your colleagues’ argument outlines for your source.  You may not write commentary on your own outline.

Publication:                                                                                              

Each commentary must be published on the course blog during the due date period.

Each student must write two commentaries, the first on Kant or Hegel and the second on Ravaisson, Comte, Mill or Peirce. You may select any author from those groups.

If you are going to write on Kant, for example, your commentary must be published on the course blog between June 10th and June 17th.

Due dates	Authors
June 17th-24th	Kant
July 8th-15th	Hegel
July 16th-22nd	Ravaisson, Comte
July 23rd-31st	Mill, Peirce

Late commentaries will be penalized, a letter grade for each day late. All commentaries must be published on the course blog, available on Blackboard.