Essay Topics for CPHL 550 – Knowledge, Truth and Belief
“Plan your work, work your plan”. – Vince Lombardi
General Instructions
Make sure to consult the Basic Style Guidelines Document and the Tips for Writing an Effective
CPHL550 Essay Document in order to confirm the details for each assignment (both the minor and the major essay) especially with respect to the minimal length requirement. The Course Statement on
Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct is also required reading “before” starting any assignment in this course. Since there is no final exam in this course, your essay assignments need to be treated with the same (if not more) attention and effort that you would give to an in-class midterm or final exam. It takes research,planning, contemplation and above all an adequate amount of time in order to make sure that you have the opportunity to fully engage in these activities before the writing process itself begins. Please bear in mind that your essay marks combined represent almost half of your total course mark, my advice
(in advance) is for all students to proportion their effort accordingly in this regard.
Make sure that you begin by consulting (or reviewing if we already covered the material previously) the relevant module (both the lecture and readings) before writing on a particular topic. You may consult other readings on the issue (preferably academic journal articles, or scholarly works) but keep your noncourse sources to a minimum (see the basic style requirements document on this).
When I say “in your own words” or “sketch out in detail” what I mean by these expressions is that I want you to explain something to a reader rather than blindly quoting an article or reproducing the class notes.
Read the relevant material, work out in your own mind what the author is trying to say or convey or argue for, and present that material to your reader as if you had to explain or summarize something for a classmate who hasn’t taken this course (presuming that they are unfamiliar with this material). The more you work to understand what an author is saying (or attempting to argue for) the better prepared you are to explain this material to your reader (for their benefit).
A. For the minor essay, one of the following topics below must be chosen as the subject of your essay.
B. For the major essay, one of the topics below can be chosen provided that you have not written on this subject for your minor essay, or you can choose your own topic provided that the following conditions are satisfied:
1. You clear the topic with your instructor in advance (absolutely no later than 10 days before the major essay assignment deadline) in writing and receive written approval (by email) for your chosen topic.
Appeals that begin with “I’ve already started researching/writing my essay” will not change my evaluation of your topic proposal so “jumping the gun on this issue” comes with a risk.
2. The subject matter of your essay must be, to a reasonable extent, scholarly in nature,related to the material covered in this course, and focused on a particular concept or idea covered in this course. If an essay topic (or your essay question – see below) sounds too casual, chances are it is. For example, please don’t ask me to approve an essay topic such as whether Spiderman’s “spidey sense” (a fictitious example of precognitive awareness) qualifies as a form of knowledge.

3. Your topic proposal must be sufficiently detailed (see the essay questions below) in such a way as to concisely indicate what the structure of your essay will look like. To be sure that your proposal conveys this information, send me your own essay question (again, see the examples below) and I’ll use this as my guide to evaluate your proposal.
4. If your proposed essay question is not topically relevant (see point 2 above), or sufficiently detailed
(see point 3 above), you may get a brief explanation from me suggesting what is at issue here or even a quick suggestion on how your topic could be improved, but please don’t expect a detailed multi-page response to this kind of inquiry. Better still, if you give your choice considerable thought in advance, this is unlikely to become an issue.
5. If you have decided to pick one of the topics below for your major essay you do not have to get this topic approved by me. The exception to this is if you decide to change or modify the examples presented here; if this is the case, then your topic choice needs to be approved as if it were a new topic choice (see above).
Note - Possible scenario: “I forgot to check my essay topic with my instructor and the deadline is a week away – what do I do now?”
Answer: since you only need to send one proposal for your major essay (minor topics are assigned) and since the deadline for this assignment is about 10 weeks away from the start of this course, this should be an extremely rare occurrence, but if this is your predicament then you have two options, a risky option and a safe option:
Risky option: send your topic to me and I’ll try to get an approval to you within 48 hours or sooner, but even if you don’t hear from me within 48 hours – start working on your essay anyway, if for no other reason than to get it in on time before the deadline. Please be aware that the risk you run in doing this is that if you write on a topic that fails to satisfy the criteria presented in points 2 and 3 above – your essay will probably receive a lower mark depending on how far you stray from these guidelines.
Safe Option: simply pick a topic from the list of approved topics below (that you haven’t written on already) and write on it – this way you do not need to get your topic approved and you can get on it right away. Essay Topics
[Please Note: Before writing essays on any of these topics, make sure that you understand the issue that you will be writing about. In other words, make sure you review the relevant module notes, the readings, and do some independent research. Be sure that you read the essay topic closely in order to avoid any possible misunderstanding with respect to what is required. For example, some questions require that you decide one way or the other which approach you will take to a particular issue. In other words, make sure that you have a clear grasp of the instructions contained in a particular essay topic before you begin working on this assignment. ]
Topic 1. Briefly set out (in your own words) the chief points of Reid’s position on common sense realism and critically evaluate his argument. If you think his argument presents a highly plausible outlook, discuss in detail what you think the strongest parts of his argument are and why you think they are so, as

well as anticipate and respond to one strong objection to his position. If you think his argument presents a highly implausible outlook, discuss in detail what you think the weakest parts of his argument are and what makes them weak, as well as suggest how a common sense realist might want to respond to these points in order to defend his or her position.
Topic 2. Briefly summarize (in your own words) and then critically evaluate the argument against direct realism that Russell presents in his chapter “Appearance and Reality”. Make sure to emphasize what you think the most cogent parts of his argument are and what you think the weakest parts of his argument are as a part of this process. (Note: Russell is not a skeptic, but he is critical of direct realism – do some research if this distinction isn’t clear.)
Topic 3. Explain to your reader how the JTB Theory of Knowledge could be modified (by adding an additional necessary and sufficient condition to the theory perhaps) in order to fortify this theory against
(or render this theory resistant to) Gettier counterexamples (feel free to use your own counterexample for illustration purposes). Make sure to anticipate and respond to an objection that a critical reader might have with respect to your additional condition.
Topic 4. In your own words, sketch out in detail the “detachment problem” that seems to confront some versions of coherence theory (with respect to truth) and provide your own example that can serve to illustrate this particular problem to your reader. Anticipate and respond to at least one critical point against your argument (imagine what a critical reader might say and present a response to this possible counterpoint). Topic 5. Many scholars have suggested that Descartes’ argument in the Meditations is fatally flawed because his reasoning “moves in a circle” so to speak (now known as the “Cartesian circle”) . This appears to involve appealing to two propositions in such a way that each proposition appears to be needed to support or justify the other:
a) a clear and distinct idea can be recognized by us as being true.
b) the concept of God (in particular as a non-deceiving being) is a clear and distinct idea.
The problem, as many thinkers have pointed out, is that we need to assume the former to be sure of the latter, and that it is the existence of the latter (a non-deceiving God) that guarantees the former. Explain in detail for your reader (present your reasons clearly and systematically) why you think this either does, or does not, represent a fatal flaw for Descartes’ argument.
Topic 6. In your considered (and informed) opinion, does foundationalism adequately address the problem of infinite regress with respect to justification? Begin by sketching out for your reader (by assuming they are not as familiar with this subject as you are) what foundationalism is and follow this up by presenting your answer to this question along with a detailed argument for your reader in support of your answer.
Topic 7. Sketch out in detail in your own words, the central aspects of either internalism or externalism with respect to justification (pick one or the other, but not both). It would be helpful to provide your reader with an example that can be used to illustrate your chosen position. Critically evaluate your chosen position by presenting to your reader what you think its major advantages are and what its major disadvantages are. Anticipate one key point that a critical reader might present against your position
(whichever one you chose) and respond to it.

Topic 8. Would you say that your own position on the “ethics of belief” is closer to Clifford’s position or
James’ position? Begin your essay by briefly summarizing for your reader (in your own words) the position of the thinker you most closely identify with on this issue. Highlight both the strengths and possible weakness of your chosen position (doxastic conservatism or doxastic liberalism). Conclude your essay by providing your own example where you adopted an approach to belief that reflects one of these positions (presumably the one you most identify with) and explain to your reader why you (specifically) found this approach more rational with respect to developing your own position with respect to the exercise of belief.
Topic 9. As their respective arguments suggest, Plantinga believes that belief in God can be a basic belief while Robbins’ believes that this kind of belief does not qualify as a basic belief? Who is correct on this particular issue? Begin your essay by briefly summarizing the argument that you agree with the most and explain your reasons why you think either Plantinga or Robbins is correct (or – conversely - you can explain your reasons why you think that either Plantinga or Robbins is incorrect). In both cases make sure that your explanation refers to their epistemological arguments and the quality of those arguments.
Topic 10. Is it possible for someone to be a non-dogmatic skeptic (cf. Pyrrhonian Skepticism) by simply withholding belief in cases where we appear to be confronted with compelling arguments in support of two different sides of a particular issue? In other words, is it really possible to simply live one's life merely according to appearances while being completely noncommittal with respect to the truth of any particular issue?
If your answer is yes, then explain to your reader in detail why not only you (but your reader) should also agree that this is possible (be sure to anticipate and respond to an objection from your reader on this particular issue).
If your answer is no, then explain to your reader in detail why not only you (but your reader) should also agree that this is not possible (likewise, be sure to anticipate and respond to an objection from your reader on this particular issue).

Christopher M. Thomson
Last revised: September 9, 2015