Philosophy of Human Rights: Religious Freedom Laws

Format

•No title page needed, just put the title of your paper, your name and student number on 1st page

•5-8 pages (1,500-2,000 words), 12-point font, double-spaced

•In citing references, the MLA style is recommended, but you may use any accepted style – the important thing is to make the reference clear enough for the grader to locate the source

•To cite anything from class lectures, just put: Ferguson, title of lecture slides, and the number of the slide

•Any Internet sources used must be cited, with complete address.

A recent phenomenon in some countries, perhaps most notably the United States, is the creation of what have been dubbed “religious freedom laws”. These are laws that would make it legal for businesses, particularly small businesses such as wedding photographers or bakeries, to refuse to serve customers, or potential customers on religious grounds. Legally requiring such businesses to service these customers, it is argued, violates the right to freedom of religion on the part of those businesses.

A number of states in the United States in recent years have passed what have come to be called “religious freedom” laws. These laws make it legal for the owners of (small) businesses to refuse to service certain individuals if the owners feel that doing so is incompatible with their religious beliefs. The justification given for such laws is that they are necessary to protect the Human Right to freedom of religion. Do you agree or disagree? Defend your view by detailed argument. 

Note: Needless to say, there are other topics in the philosophy of human rights on which one could write a discussion essay. Students may therefore write their essays on some other topic (including possible variations on the above topics). However, it must be emphasized that this is a philosophy course and so your topic must involve a philosophical issue about HR.  Any students who choose their own topic must therefore clear it with the instructor first to ensure that it is both manageable and sufficiently relevant to the material of the course.

Your essay will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

•Presentation of your ideas (e.g., writing style, organization, clarity of exposition)

•Strength of your arguments and analyses

•Creativity in dealing with the problems or issues being addressed

•Plausibility of the views or positions you defend

•Overall understanding of the issues you are discussing

•Include Philosophers

List of Possible Topics

Additional Comments, Instructions and Advice

One of the keys to writing a good paper is to be clear about what you want to say. You should, therefore, try to get as clear as you can about your topic before you start writing. Your views might evolve as you go along – that is to be expected – but, if you don’t have some objectives in mind before starting to write, you will have nothing to give you direction.

You should therefore make an outline of your essay, and you should plan on writing several drafts. You cannot expect to write a good paper in one draft. You are also encouraged to discuss your topic with others in the class, as this is often a very helpful and enjoyable way to develop ideas. In the end, of course, you must write your paper yourself. 

Remember that you are writing an essay and so, obviously, you must write in complete sentences with appropriate paragraph breaks, and so forth. Other than this, there is no special format that you need to conform to. It sometimes helps the reader to follow what’s being said if an essay is divided into different sections with appropriate headings and sub-headings.

This is up to you, though there shouldn’t be too many headings, otherwise your paper will appear too fragmented. You may use a somewhat informal writing style if you wish. For example, use of the first person is acceptable, as in “My own view is ..” or “I am inclined to think that …” However, be careful not to overwork such phrases, and avoid being too colloquial. It is best to write in a clear, straightforward style. Don’t try to sound too intellectual or academic, especially if you don’t feel comfortable or natural writing in such a style. 

It is probably best to start your essay by stating as clearly as you can what issue you are going to be discussing. You may have to provide some background before you begin to develop your own ideas, and you may also need to clarify the question you are addressing. But you should do this as concisely as you can so that the bulk of the essay consists of your critical discussion of the issue.

Remember that this is primarily a discussion paper, not a research paper. You may consult library or Internet sources for additional information about your topic, but this is not mainly what we are looking for. In writing your essay your main goal should be to say something interesting about the topic you have selected. To say something interesting about it, you must say something that is original and creative.

This is another reason why you must think carefully about your topic before you begin writing, as you must determine whether you have any interesting things to say about it. If you can’t seem to come up with anything, maybe you should switch to another topic. 

Remember also that this is a philosophical paper, not an exercise in rhetoric. It is not enough merely to express your opinion, regardless of how elegantly you do so. We want you to be as forceful and persuasive as you can be, of course, but you must not engage in overstatement or exaggeration. To be persuasive in writing a philosophical paper means supporting your views by carefully reasoned and detailed arguments. 

•Elaborate, artificial introductions – try to get to the point fairly quickly

•Repetition, except very selectively for emphasis, and stating (or worse, defending) the obvious

•Being too colloquial, although an informal writing style, including use of the 1st person, is acceptable

•Sentences that are too long or complicated to be clear, vagueness, ambiguity, and clichés

•Overstatement, exaggeration, hyperbole, appealing to emotion or popular belief

•Grammatical mistakes (incomplete sentences and run-on sentences are common mistakes)

•Using too many quotations (only quote when necessary)

•Padding to get the required length – this is easy for graders to spot

You must never copy something from any source and present it as if it were your own writing. This is plagiarism. It is intellectually dishonest and is never permissible. You must also not take ideas from any source without a citation that clearly acknowledges and indicates the source. It is the responsibility of each student to understand the meaning of 'plagiarism' as defined in the Carleton University Calendar, and to avoid both committing plagiarism and aiding/abetting plagiarism by other students.