Will S
- Research Program Mentor
MA at Brandeis University
Expertise
Ethics, Political Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Interdisciplinary Work with Philosophy and the social sciences, Writing for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Bio
Hello! My name is Will, and I just graduated with a Master's in philosophy from Brandeis University. I graduated from William and Mary with highest honors in philosophy, where I completed a senior thesis on the ethics of group and individual rights. Between my master's and undergraduate degrees, I worked at the Hudson Institute, a think tank in Washington D.C. My research is primarily thinking about justice. The kinds of questions I love to explore are: What is it in the abstract? What role should justice play in political decision-making? How has our understanding of justice changed across time? What economic and political institutions best realize any given conception of justice? How, why, and when do people disagree about justice, and can we reconcile those disagreements in a single country?Project ideas
The Morality of Current Events or Political Topics
What are the ethics of Abortion? Do rich countries have moral obligations to help poorer countries? What should the top marginal tax rate of a country be? These are all important questions for any of us to ask, and yet are very difficult to answer. One reason is that they all involve important philosophical ideas and assumptions that are not frequently discussed. This is where I can be of assistance. I have studied each of these questions -- and many others -- from a philosophical perspective and can help you understand your moral beliefs and how your moral beliefs shape your political beliefs. Once you've come to a conclusion, we will consider opposing beliefs, the merits and failings of them, and culminate this thinking with writing a paper that both promotes your belief and defends it from the opposing view. You'll improve your critical thinking, writing, and understanding of politics in one project.
How to Write an Argument.
Throughout our lives, we encounter arguments. They are designed to provide reasons for us to come to conclusions about the world, and are necessary to convince anyone of anything. For that reason, they are integral to professional and academic success. However, arguments are often difficult to articulate, can be complex and therefore difficult to understand. The goal of this project is to make you better at making arguments in your papers. We'll discuss the logical structure of arguments, common fallacies, examples of strong arguments, and examples of bad arguments. We will finish the project by writing a paper on a topic of your choice that implements the qualities of good argumentation that we have learned.
