Mary Midgely’s Philosophical Review

Required Formal Paper Topic (4-5 pages): Some criticise philosophers as preferring the life of reason because they are biased, being philosophers. Give Mary Midgely’s argument that not only can we make moral judgements and should not become moral isolationists, but giving up moral judgement would entail the inability to make any judgements at all; human beings would loose our greatest asset, which is our reason. Second, choose one philosophic position, Aristotle, Kant, Mill or John Locke, and show the role of reason in that ethical view, demonstrating Midgley’s point regarding the centrality of reason in human life. You must show your understanding of Midgley and the philosopher you chose as well as your ability to integrate their ideas as well as your ideas with theirs. You must use her essay “Trying Out One’s New Sword” and another text from the course material. The final paper must be 4-5 pages, Use at least three quotes from the assigned texts and cite using MLA format.  For citations:you may cite the course pack. The goal of citation is for the reader to find the material you quoted. For the purposes of this paper, I am your reader. So, while normally, you would directly quote the original sources for Mill, Aristotle and Kant, I ask you quote the course pack so I can more easily find the context of your quote.  Example to cite D2L or the course pack MLA: Midgley, Mary, Trying Out One’s New Sword (2020), in A. Droba (Comp), PHI 1610, Virtue Ethics and Aristotle (pg x), Royal Oak Mi: Oakland Community College. Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics (2020), in A. Droba (Comp), PHI 1610, Virtue Ethics and Aristotle (pg x), Royal Oak Mi: Oakland Community College. Mill, Utilitarianism, (2020), in A. Droba (Comp), PHI 1610, Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill (pg x), Royal Oak Mi: Oakland Community College. Kant,The Metaphysics of Morals, (2020), in A. Droba (Comp), PHI 1610, Deontology and Immanual Kant (pg x), Royal Oak Mi: Oakland Community College.