Subject: Position Paper #1
From: "William J. Rapaport" <rapaport@buffalo.edu>
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 11:13:38 -0500 (EST)

Here are some things to consider when revising your position paper:

1.
You don't need to agree with all (or any) of your critics (peer reviewers).
But you do need to respond to their criticisms by saying why you think
they're wrong, or you may need to clarify your position to avoid any
misunderstandings.

2.
It's perfectly possible for you to believe that the conclusion follows
from the premises without believing the conclusion. A valid argument
(i.e., one in which the conclusion follows from the premises, i.e., one
in which the conclusion *must be true* IF all the premises are true)
can have a false conclusion. (And, in that case, then at least one of
the premises must be false.)

Another way to put this is: The sentence "I agree with the conclusion"
is ambiguous between meaning "I believe that the conclusion follows
from the premises" and "I believe the conclusion".

3.  
It's also perfectly possible for you to believe that the conclusion
does *not* follow from the premises *and* to believe the conclusion
anyway. You might believe the conclusion for some *other* reason, or
there might be a missing premise that needs to be added to the original
argument.

(If you haven't realized it by now, that's the case with the argument
in position paper #1 !!)

4.
For your revision, you can expand your paper to 2 pages (but no more!),
and you can make it less boring than a mere list of which premises you
believe and whether you believe the argument is valid. You can be more
creative, but within 2 pages, please (not counting references, title, etc.)

5.
If you want to consult your peer reviewers between now and next Monday,
please do so; you are free to continue to get editing help.

6.
If you are unhappy with the comments you got from your peer reviewers,
feel free to ask a friend (or enemy :-) to critique your first
(or even second) draft.

7.
If you think your first draft was perfect and no changes are needed,
then try to play "devil's advocate" and imagine what someone who did
not agree with you might say, and then respond to them.

8.  
a) Staple your first drafts (with any comments on them) to the revision,
   so that I can compare them.

b) Somewhere (on a separate page if necessary) write down the names of
   your peer reviewers.

c) Please see the Peer Editing Guidelines at:
   http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/584/S10/peered1.html
   for further details, suggestions, requirements, and deadlines.

d) If you have questions, please ask me.