1. on the 3 questions for you to choose one from: The final essay with unweighted 10 credit points (to be graded in the 2nd group) is the platform where you get to exercise your logical acumen and thinking abilities at the end of the course. That is the ultimate purpose for the study of "informal" logic, where there has to be a common substantive philosophical inquiry. As might have been suggested along the way, given what we have treated ourselves with Edutainment, it is concerned with the extent to which a logical thinking can be applied to one of the most vexing questions of human existence. The object of subject matter in logic is "argument" defined as a body of thoughts to be expressed in a structure, where the conclusion is a function of the premises with the inference in the middle. Our formal exercises with proof is a rigorous procedure to ascertain only validity as a part of soundness; now you shall get a chance to be thinking about argumentation with the whole ideal properties by writing an essay on a substantive question that you get to choose within an area. Thus this final essay requirement can be met by submitting a "substantive term paper" on one of the 3 questions posed below. The Question 1 below is directly related to the theme of the Edutainment; but there are also for two more questions as alternatives; all in all, you have 3 questions to choose from. Reading materials (5 pieces, from A to E) are attached to this email; they are selected for readability and manageability; but you don't have to confine yourself to them, as you may look into any other materials deemed as relevant. Here are the three questions: -------------------------------------------------------------- Question 1: Is the so-call "Problem of Evil" strong enough to dismantle the theistic view of the world? Is any of "theodicies" convincing enough to uphold it? Reading A...St. Thomas, Summa Theologica, Q.2, esp., 3rd Article, Obj. 1 (p.5) & Reply (p.7) Reading B...Zagzebski, "The Problem of Evil"