merely state opinions without offering evidence H u m a n i t i e s

You should have an introductory paragraph in which, you want to describe what you are going to do or how you are going to proceed, and if appropriate, you state a clear thesis or position — what you will argue. It might be that you are responding to several questions in your paper. In that case you will have several thesis. Then, in the body of the paper, you should give reasons and examples to defend, support and clarify your positions or thesis. Don’t merely state opinions without offering evidence or reasons. Also consider counter arguments to your arguments. That is, you should consider what somebody opposing your position would say, and answer those objections. The better you answer to those objections the stronger your argument. Finally, you should have a concluding paragraph, where you briefly review what you covered, and possibly what you did not cover, and what other connected questions could be left to investigate in a different paper.

According to Velazquez, Sartre’s philosophy challenges the rationalistic view of human nature which holds that reason is our most important feature. But can Sartre really consistently reject reason? That is, can he reject it without contradicting himself? According to Sartre, we create our essence because we choose our actions. For him, we are radically free to choose in whatever way we want. But are we really free to choose, or should we be constrained by reason? In other words, what is it that makes our choice valuable? Is it the fact that we chose it, or is it the fact that there are good reasons to choose it? He also says that when we choose, we are responsible for all humanity. Because of this responsibility we feel anguish (and also abandonment and despair). But can we be responsible if the only thing that matters is choice and not reason? (Imagine for instance the case of someone who has a choice between going on vacations for a week to their favorite beach, or staying and taking care of their ailing mother who is in danger of dying. Could we, according to Sartre, really judge the person if they choose to go to the beach? Wouldn’t we have to give reasons to explain why that is wrong?)

It should be about 3 pages long, double spaced and using a 12 font size.