PHILOSOPHY 103
Introduction to Logic

MICRO-ESSAY 2

Analysis of an argument from The Apology - "Death Is One of Two Things"

  1. Download the section from Plato’s Apology of Sokrates and read carefully.

  2. Review the “Notes on Style and Content for Micro-Essays” in your syllabus.

  3. Review the grading rubric to help avoid simple errors that will cost you points.

  4. In your paper, summarize Sokrates’ argument concerning the nature of death in your own words. Identify his thesis (the conclusion of his argument), and the support (i.e., premises) he gives for his thesis.

  5. Put the argument into standard form (separate the premises and conclusion(s) from each other and put in enumerated block paragraph format).

  6. This argument is clearly deductive: explain why).

  7. Evaluate the argument for its validity and soundness. Explain why you think the argument works or does not work in light of the logical rules you have learned so far.

  8. Using the tools of Proposition Logic, try to construct a symbolic proof of the argument.

  9. Explain how you think the argument might or might not be strengthened in your concluding paragraph.

  10. Before you turn in your final draft, be sure to review the “checklist” in your syllabus to make sure you’re not leaving anything out of your essay.

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