Assignment: Concepts of Truth

Assignment: Concepts of Truth
Assignment: Concepts of Truth

Concepts of Truth
Before 1972, scientists believed that the rings of Saturn were composed of gasses or dust; on tests, any student who claimed that Saturn’s rings were composed of solids was incorrect because the true answer was that the rings were a gas. Later scientific investigation has shown that the rings are, in fact, composed of solid matter. Did the truth change? Should these students retroactively be given credit? Which group of students originally knew the correct answer?

Similarly, in the 1950s and 1960s physicians knew that stress caused ulcers, although we now know that bacteria causes ulcers. What does this imply for our definition of the words truth and knowing?

Prepare a 3- to 5-paragraph response

Assignment: Concepts of Truth

Assignment: Concepts of Truth

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

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