Explain what William Lane Craig means when he says, “If there is no God, then our life is not qualitatively different from that of a dog”

Weight:

3 marks style, 2 marks opening paragraph, 20 marks as specified below = 25 marks

Specifications:

· A cover page including all necessary information

· 5–7 pages (strict) of text, typed, dbl-spaced, 12-pt serif font, indented paragraphs, pages numbered

· An opening paragraph, clearly stating your topic (the issue), a brief statement of what you are going to do in the paper (state the authors and the titles of the readings), and what you are going to argue for (your conclusion in the final part of your essay), and absolutely nothing else

· make the structure of your essay isomorphic to the essay question

· no padding, i.e., an extra space between paragraphs, wide margins, subheadings, bio­graphical material, etc.

· be as clear and concise as possible throughout your paper, avoid jargon words, flowery language, and baffle­gab, and do no more or less than what the question asks

· All references and quotations must use a professional style, preferably the author-date system (see, notably, the Chicago Manual of Style), with the original source year cited in the body of the text and page numbers referring to the pages in the original text (or in the reprint source if you have to), and the original source (including the reprint source if there is one) included in the list of references (given on a separate page at the end of your paper)—see my brief example below

· don’t cite my lectures or notes, unless you want to use an idea of mine aside from my summaries

· keep in mind that I am not a primary source; I am a secondary source and as such am prone to error

· If citing outside sources (for the topics below you shouldn’t have to), confine yourself to academically re­spectable sources, i.e., sources found in peer-reviewed academic books and journals (not individual sources on the Internet)

· do not use endnotes and use footnotes only for discursive purposes (it is probably best not to have noted at all)

· When arguing your own view, you must keep your argumentation down to earth—i.e., you must restrict yourself to philosophical arguments everyone in the class can relate to

· In particular, you need to know the difference between a religious argument and a philosophical argument

· think of your situation as analogous to a prosecutor trying to convince a very diverse jury

· keep in mind also that agreeing is not the same thing as arguing

· stop with the “I feel I feel I feel”—we don’t care how you feel!!!; we care how accurately you present someone else’s ideas and arguments and how well you make an argument

· e.g. (7 marks) does not mean you need seven points; it merely refers to the grading value of that section

Question: First, explain what William

Lane Craig means when he says, “If there is no God, then our life is not qualitatively different from that of a dog” (7 marks). (This does not say to summarize the entire reading.) Then, explain Walter T. Stace’s argument about “true adulthood.” (This does not say to summarize the entire reading.) Then, argue for which philosopher has the stronger position between them (6 marks).