Comparison essay based on my dilemma

Here is how I estimated the length of your final paper:

Introduction 0.5 pages
Three philosophers at 1.5 pages each 4.5 pages
Comparison 1 page
Total 6 pages

These are only estimates. If your paper is significantly shorter in any of these items, you should ask yourself whether you’ve omitted anything important and whether you’ve fully explained the ethical theories, how they apply, etc. Do not just add text to increase the length. That will almost certainly lower your grade.

The Prompt:

We have studied four ethical theories, namely: Stoicism, virtue ethics (Aristotle), Utilitarianism (Mill), and deontological ethics (Kant). Because Stoicism is more of a collection of principles and techniques than a theory, it is not included on the final. Describe a moral dilemma in your life and EXPLAIN what each philosopher would say to you about it. Argue for the position that you think is philosophically the best. “Philosophically the best” means according to reason, and not according to how you were raised, which theory you understood the best, or which one you found the best videos about.

If you are not using one of the dilemmas you submitted at the beginning of the semester, I urge you to share your dilemma with me to make sure it is an ethical dilemma.

Length:

About six 1.5 spaced pages, which is roughly 1,500 words (because we tend to use longer words in philosophy). More information here.

Who is doing the work?

Think of this as a test. You do not want me, the reader, doing much work because that only demonstrates my understanding of ethics. You, the writer, need to do the work to demonstrate how much you’ve learned. So you can either imagine that you are writing to your instructor, or if that is too stressful, imagine that you are writing to your grandmother or some other intelligent person. You need to explain what the Greatest Happiness Principle is, but you don’t need to tell her that Mill was a nineteenth century British philosopher.

What separates a C paper from an A paper:

If all you do is apply each philosopher’s main point, you will earn no more than a C for that answer. You do need to mention each philosopher’s main point, but to earn an A or B, you must also mention something else. Here’s what you must mention to pass:

For Aristotle, the doctrine of the mean.
For Mill, the greatest happiness principle.
For Kant, the categorical imperative (both formulations).

Here is the introduction I have written: In this paper, I will compare and contrast the three philosophical theories based on my dilemma: Do I choose a career as an ultrasound technician to help people, or do I choose a career as a business executive who makes a lot of money to donate to charity? I will then decide which viewpoint is philosophically the best. First, I will layout the perspective of each.