The Gravity Shield Theory: Merit As A Scientific Theory?
Paper #1

This writing assignment is to write an argumentative paper as illustrated in the "Simple Logic" section. In this paper the criteria for a scientific theory will be incorporated into the premises. Review Homework #4 and use Homework #5 as a guide for the format. Reference material can be found in Chapter Six of Park (p. 135). Here is a link to the Email Form.

Thesis Statement (Conclusion to the Main Argument)

The conclusion of this paper is your answer to the question "Does the 'Gravity Shield Theory' have merit as a scientific theory?" The conclusion should also be the title of the paper.

Procedure

1. Write the main argument, using the criteria for merit as a scientific theory as the basis for the premises and the statement "The Gravity Shield Theory has [or does not have] merit as a scientific theory" as the conclusion (this conclusion is also the title of the paper and "B" in the conditional premise). This simple conditional argument should be included in the first paragraph of the paper.

2. Give support for the first premise (the conditional premise) of the main argument. This will be the basis for the second paragraph of the paper.

3. Give support for the second premise of the main argument. This will likely require a short paragraph for each of the criteria showing that each is, or is not, met. This should be done in sentence and paragraph form, but reviewing the tables that were generated in the discussion of merit may be helpful here. These paragraphs should be expanded rationale from such a table.

4. The last paragraph summarizes what has been done, repeating the argument of the first paragraph (the main argument), and culminating in the overall conclusion of the essay.

One common problem when writing papers is getting the main argument correct. I have collected some examples of questions and student arguments from those questions. Instructor responses are also included to help clarify what is needed.

Also, keep in mind that the support for the first premise is to establish connections between observations and theories while the support for the second premise generally is concerned with providing data or establishing scientific principles.

Some other requirements:

• This is an argumentative paper and the structure of the argument should be obvious. I do, however, expect the paper to be in normal sentence and paragraph form. Don't use outlines or write P1, P2, etc. in an attempt to make the argument more explicit.
• This is not a persuasive paper. Opinions and emotional pleas should not appear in this paper.
• Make sure all premises for the main argument and the conclusion are in the first paragraph. Don't introduce new premises that directly bear on the conclusion after the first paragraph.
• All the premises of the main argument must be explicitly stated in the first paragraph. That is, there will be no implicit premises in the main argument.

Specific Guidelines:

1. Required Argument Format

• The main argument of the paper is to be a conditional argument in the general form:
  
  P1   If A, then B.
  P2   Affirm A.
  C    Conclude B.

  The premises (P1 and P2) in an argument of this form will always lead to the conclusion (C). This will be the case even when the premises are not true. This results in a valid or deductive argument. Since the first premise is conditional, this kind of argument is called a conditional argument. More information.

• This required argument is part of the first paragraph.

• The conclusion of this argument is the thesis of the paper.

• The conclusion of this argument is also the title of the paper.

2. Required Paper Format

• The first paragraph contains the main argument. The conclusion of this argument is the thesis of the paper. The conclusion of this argument is also the title of the paper.

• The second paragraph supports the first premise. This will connect the "A" to the "B" and provide evidence that the "then" part of the conditional premise is really connected to the "If" part of the conditional premise.

• The third paragraph supports the second premise. This will give evidence that the "If" part of the conditional premise is really true.

• The last paragraph summarizes what has been done and restates the main argument.

  I once again remind you that there are two formats to keep track of.

  One is the format of the main argument. The main argument should be a conditional argument of the "If A, then B. Affirm A. Conclude B." variety. The first paragraph should have an argument in that format included in it.

  The second format is the format of the whole paper. That consists of a simple conditional argument in the first paragraph. Support for the first (conditional) premise in the second paragraph, support for the second premise in the next paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph that restates the original simple conditional argument that is in the first paragraph. Also, keep in mind that the support for the first premise is to establish connections between the parts of the conditional argument, while the support for the second premise generally is concerned with providing data or establishing that something is really true.

  Here is a sample paper. Here is a second example.

3. There is no length requirement. Keep it simple and to the point. Follow the example of the sample paper.