Heusser Philosophy 100 SG #16c

Writing a Philosophy Paper

A philosophy paper is in some ways quite different from a paper in English (where there is much greater emphasis on style) or in History, Geography, Psychology, or the natural sciences (where there is more emphasis on experimental or scholarly research). The general idea is to formulate a precise position and to defend that position with well-constructed arguments in a clear, organized fashion.

A) Some of the things that are not so important in a philosophy paper are:

• The Beauty of your Writing Style: Many philosophers value clarity above all else. You should strive for clarity and precision in your writing. Your philosophical style can be ugly, boring, repetitive, and awkward so long as it is clear (although transitional expressions such as “and then” or “but” should be repeated minimally). The other attributes such as creativity are welcome, and might decide your grade for the better if it is a borderline one, but otherwise are quite irrelevant.

• MLA Style: Your paper should be typed and double-spaced. If you either quote or paraphrase someone else’s work, you need give credit to that source by properly citing it. That is all. This is not to say that I discourage your following the MLA style, only that your grades will not suffer if you do not.

• “General” Introductions: These should be avoided at all costs. There is no need to ‘set up the paper’ by, for instance, declaiming at length about the importance of the topic and its connection to global politics. I know that the problem you are working on has vexed men and women for many centuries and is today a locus of great controversy. Skip it. State the problem, state your angle on it, and go to it. Similar things apply to conclusions and transitional passages. Get to the point quickly. You should advocate some position and your advocacy need not be subtle. State explicitly what position you take to be the correct one and then proceed to support your position with well-constructed arguments supported with reasons.

• Personal Material: How you feel about the issue is to a large extent quite beside the point in a philosophy paper. When we say that we want something in the papers beside the material you can find in the readings and lectures, we are asking for your work, not merely your feelings. Strong pronouncements do not substitute for carefully reasoned arguments (Certainly political campaigns and other societal institutions use rhetorical devices, strong emotional appeals, and other techniques, however note that the goal in these instances is usually not “Truth” as we hope it is in philosophy.)

B) So what does go into a philosophy paper? What your instructors are looking for is evidence you have thought about the issues at hand. This comes to two things:

1) You are able to present and critically assess the material you were required to read.

2) You show some ability to think about the topic on your own.

The two are not independent. This is because a good critical assessment of someone’s work requires you to think independently already. In fact, a paper that does not even have a separate part where you present your own ideas is often better than one where exegesis (the part where you present the issues as they are in the literature) and argument (the part where you try to convince the reader of your own views) are kept apart.

A good paper is then one that contains a clear exposition of an issue, with critical but fair discussion of some of the literature, in which you argue for a particular conclusion. Make sure to support your contentions with reasons and to cite the text for support where appropriate. It is written so that each sentence and each word has a precise meaning understood by the author and understandable to the reader.

• For papers where you take a position (or the position part of a paper): Feel free to advocate the position you believe is the compelling one. Papers will be assessed based upon the quality of the argumentation and the quality of the writing. Grades are not assigned based upon the particular stance adopted by an author. You are welcome to disagree (or to agree) with positions articulated or in lectures, so long as your position is well supported by good arguments.

• Good papers not only offer strong arguments in favor of a position, but they also identify the potential weaknesses in this position and consider the best objections to it. State the ones you’ve found in the literature as clearly as you can and write down any objections to your own views that occur to you. You should plan to devote some part of your paper to acknowledging and responding to potential objections to your position. It is acceptable to acknowledge weaknesses or points of difficulty in your position (if not in life generally, then certainly in philosophical papers!). Always present the opposition in the most favorable way you can and then argue against it seriously.

C) Here are some additional pointers for beginning to write a good paper:

i) Make sure you understand the reading. It is a good idea to re-examine the appropriate readings and lecture notes to remind yourself of relevant ideas and considerations. It is often extremely helpful to reread the articles closely with an eye to the arguments pertinent to your topic. As you reread the articles, you may wish to take detailed notes of these arguments and also to jot down your immediate reactions to them. Ask yourself questions about what you are reading. Never consider your work to be finished if you cannot state precisely the point of the whole piece and the principal argument for it. The readings may also help to serve as models of philosophical argumentation.

• This pointer is only for topics that you choose: Define a narrow topic for yourself. It is almost impossible to have a topic that is too narrow. A thorough treatment of almost any philosophical question requires many more pages than your upper limit. Find a flaw in someone’s argument, propose a slight modification to a criterion, or find a middle ground between two answers to some question (note that all three of the preceding are original contributions to the literature). All of these are good projects for a short paper.

ii) Having Writer’s Cramp? Students, professional writers, as well as myself often have a difficult time starting to write a paper. I suggest one of two different approaches to remedy this situation:

1) Outline your thoughts and arguments about your topic. Isolate a central position to formulate a thesis about the topic. Identify the arguments and principles relevant to your topic and try to get straight the relationships and distinctions between them before you start to write.

2) OR Start writing. If you have some idea of what you want to say, even if you don’t yet have much of an outline, you’d do well to just sit down and put your thoughts on paper. It is extremely difficult to think through a philosophical problem in your head. Writing helps you think more clearly and be more organized.

D) When writing the paper:

Try to write a draft a week or more (at least a couple of days) in advance of the due date. This will give you time to pinpoint where the paper is weak and on what points you need to do further thinking. It will also permit you to edit and rewrite your paper, so as to produce a polished product. Philosophy papers tend to improve considerably upon rewriting.

Keep your writing simple. Short sentences, everyday words, no technical jargon, all of these are ingredients for a clear paper. There are exceptions, of course, but long sentences need to be clearly structured, fancy words accurately used, and technical terms explained.

• Citations: Although cited reference to texts is usually unavoidable and encouraged, your own ideas, analysis, and interpretations are sought and not merely an uncritical summary of the readings or the lectures. Be especially careful not to plagiarize, however inadvertently, from the text or from other sources. Direct quotations from the text must be placed in quotation marks with the page number cited. Even when you paraphrase an argument, you must acknowledge the source of the idea by providing a reference to the relevant section of the text or otherwise acknowledging one’s source, Plagiarism is an academic offense, subject to disciplinary action by the college. If you are unsure about what constitutes plagiarism or how to avoid it, consult the student handbook or code of conduct, or ask your instructor for guidance.

E) After writing the first draft:

Proofread for grammatical and spelling errors. Reread your essay and verify that you have fully answered all portions of the question(s) posed. Edit ruthlessly. If something is not clear, clarify or omit. If a word, sentence, or paragraph doesn’t strengthen your argument, leave it out. Always ask: “What does this add?” If you are not sure whether something is relevant, try arguing it is. If you don’t succeed, leave it out.

• It is advisable to rewrite your essay more than once. Put the draft aside for a couple of days. Reread it for clarity, organization, and soundness. Does each argument contribute to the overall position? Are the arguments presented in a logical order? It may be useful to delineate and/or disambiguate the topic if it is unclear. It may also be useful to state up front the position or thesis you will defend and to make explicit how you will go about defending it. For instance, in the introduction you might briefly specify what issues and objections you will discuss. A reasonably intelligent reader should be able to follow the argument and exposition (in the sense that at each point in the paper she would know where in the argument it is, and where it is leading) without any special training in philosophy. Try it on your roommate, a parent, or a tutor at the learning resource center. Ask for feedback and objections. Rewrite again. Make sure, however, that what you turn in is solely your own written work.

This does not mean that such a reader would enjoy reading your paper necessarily, since a clear paper will often be dry. Nor does it mean that the person will be persuaded, since a good paper will be free of rhetorical flourishes and emotional appeals. “Truth” is more important than persuasive power in philosophy (ideally). Some of my favorite papers contain excellent arguments for conclusions I find rather repugnant. A paper like that makes me think. Try to make your reader think.

Please feel free to consult with me if you have further questions, especially after you have done some work. Rough drafts, sketches, outlines, or just some ideas are all things I will gladly discuss with you.

Good Luck!

(Portions of this handout are adapted from the E.L.A.C.C. Study Center)