Conflicting Viewpoints Essay

Assignment 1.2: Conflicting Viewpoints Essay – Part II

Synthesizing and Writing
Due Week 5 and worth 100 points

When looking for information about a particular issue, how often do you try to resist biases toward your own point of view? This assignment asks you to engage in this aspect of critical thinking.

The assignment is divided into two (2) parts.
For Part I of the assignment (due Week 3), you read a book excerpt about critical thinking processes, reviewed the Procon.org Website in order to gather information, and engaged in prewriting to examine your thoughts.
* Remember that in the Week 2 Discussion, you examined the biases discussed in Chapter 2 of the webtext.

In Part II of the assignment (due Week 5), you will write a paper to synthesize your ideas.

Part II – Writing
Write at three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

1. State your position on the topic you selected for Assignment 1.1.
2. Identify (3) three premises (reasons) from the Procon.org website that support your position and explain why you selected these specific reasons.
3. Explain your answers to the “believing” questions about the three (3) premises opposing your position from the Procon.org website.
4. Examine at least two (2) types of biases that you likely experienced as you evaluated the premises for and against your position.
5. Discuss the effects of your own enculturation or group identification that may have influenced your biases.
6. Discuss whether or not your thinking about the topic has changed after playing the “Believing Game,” even if your position on the issue has stayed the same.

The paper should follow guidelines for clear and organized writing:

• Include an introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph.
• Address main ideas in body paragraphs with a topic sentence and supporting sentences.
• Adhere to standard rules of English grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and spelling.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• This course requires use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.
• Based on the guidelines in SWS, “A well-researched assignment has at least as many sources as pages.” Since this assignment requires you to write at least 3-4 pages, you should include at least 3-4 references.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Identify the informal fallacies, assumptions, and biases involved in manipulative appeals and abuses of language.
• Create written work utilizing the concepts of critical thinking.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in critical thinking skills and informal logic.

Answer preview

The second opposing premise I selected was that marijuana should be better addressed from a public health perspective over criminalizing (PROCON.ORG). The interesting aspect is that the criminal justice position has been long withstanding without effective outcome on reducing use or negative effects. What I would notice on believing the premise would be that the FDA was governing access to medicines potential for abuse would control marijuana access. The condition I would set for the premise to be true would be on a centralized production since otherwise, there would be new opportunities for cartels.

The third opposing premise I selected was that compared to other drugs, those using marijuana are unlikely to progress in the use of other illicit drugs (PROCON.ORG). What is interesting on this premise is that there are other illicit drugs that are harmful. This means that a trade-off on the health benefit for public health concerns is isolated and insignificant.

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