Ethics
Read Making Arguments IV for this forum. View the documentary Digital Nation with the following link before responding to the forum question below:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/digitalnation/
It is a good bet that most of us engaged with our cell phones to use an app, make a call or answer a text at least ten times today. This class takes place through computer software. There is a very good chance I have bought something over the internet in the last two weeks. Unless I drive an antique even my car is powered through software.
Aristotle places importance on good habits because human beings become what they repeatedly do. Acting (raising children, working, doing hobbies, shopping) in a digital world requires that we interface repeatedly with different kinds of technologies. The use of these devices has long become habitual for most of us and has shaped our characters.
Do you think our new digital habits have made us better or worse people? Explain your response in depth.
Your assignment will be graded according to the grading rubric.
Starting at 100:
Composition:
Is the writing solid with clear attention to spelling and keeping grammatical error to a minimum?
Does the author practice proper citation practices with respect to outside evidence?
Argument (reply to forum question):
Is there a conclusion and reasons given for it?
Was additional evidence brought in to support argument?
Is the argument well-developed and does it read as one continuous whole?
Counterargument:
Does student cite an outside author’s argument with which they disagreed (VERY important).
Is the argument paraphrased so that the outline contains at least three lines but no more than five?
Is the text color changed to make the outline identifiable?
Conclusion:
Is conclusion specified in forum post by color change to blue?
Is conclusion limited to two sentences or less?
Does conclusion follow from evidence and reasons given?
Sample Solution
Ethics
The internet has turned our existence upside down. It has revolutionized communications, to the extent that it is now our preferred medium of everyday communication. In almost everything we do, we use the internet. Ordering a pizza, buying a television, sharing a moment with a friend, or sending a picture over instant messaging. As Aristotle says, habits are developed through acting. A person’s character is the structure of habits and is formed by actions the person chooses to perform. How the digital habits affects a person depends with their actions, that is, whether they use the internet for good reasons or for selfish reasons. The real value of social media is that you can stay in touch from moment to moment with the people who really matter to you. Camaraderie, friendship, and solidarity, social phenomena that have been around for as long as humanity itself, have been freed from the conventional restriction of space and time and can now thrive in a rich variety of ways.
