1 Basic idea
Unit commentaries are opportunities for engaging with:
- a particular text,
- in a particular way,
- with a particular philosophical objective in view.
The sorts of objectives you’ll be tasked with include:
- describing an author’s view;
- explaining what reasons do or might lead one to hold the author’s view;
- exploring alternatives or objections to the author’s view;
- articulating responses to these alternatives or objections that might be offered by or on behalf of the author’s view;
- describing the particular issue or problem an author’s view addresses, and why that issue or problem is difficult to resolve; and
- discussing examples that illuminate the particular questions at hand.
For particular guidance on a given commentary, see the specific unit commentary guidelines.
2 Completion criteria
Unit commentaries are graded for completion only. A single complete commentary is worth 7.5% of your grade; the lot are worth 30% total. A complete commentary:
- engages directly with a relevant text (as specified in the commentary assignment);
- addresses the specific issue described in the commentary assignment; and
- answers the specific question or prompt described in the commentary assignment.
Commentaries must be at least 300 words to be accepted for completion.
3 Policies
- You need only submit four of six possible commentaries
- There are no makeups
- There will be no extra credit
- There is a ten-day no-penalty grace period on all but the last unit commentary
- After grace periods close, work will not be accepted
- Your work must be your own
- You do not need to cite the material you discuss, but you may find it useful
- If you don’t meet the word-count minimum, your work won’t be accepted