Instructions

Due, as an attachment, via the “Assignments” tool on eCommons, by midnight Tuesday, May 19.

Carefully state some apparently undeniable truth from common sense, physical science, or mathematics (e.g., I have two hands; one body can cause another body to move by pushing it; a line contains infinitely many points). Explain briefly why Berkeley nevertheless appears to deny it. Finally, respond on Berkeley’s behalf in the following two parts: (a) “I don’t deny the statement, if it is understood correctly”; (b) “I do indeed deny the statement on another way of understanding it, but, when you understand it that way, it is neither good common sense nor good mathematics nor good physics, and in fact it is absurd.”

All parts together should be 2–3 pages, double spaced. (Needless to say this should be your own original work.[1]If you have any questions about policies on plagiarism and related issues, please see http://www.ue.ucsc.edu/academic_integrity.)

Note that this is not a full scale paper — please do not write an introduction and conclusion, summarize other, irrelevant parts of the text, etc. Just focus on doing the above.

You can find answers to some commonly asked questions about my assignments and grading in my FAQ.