Professor Amy Kind
Studentsoften find philosophy papers difficult to write since the expectations are verydifferent from those in other disciplines, even from those of other disciplinesin the humanities. What follows issome general advice about how to go about writing short (4 - 5 page) philosophypapers on pre-assigned topics.
Before starting to write
Make surethat you have read all of the relevant texts very carefully.Even though you have probably read these texts previously, it is a goodidea to reread them in light of the question you plan to answer.
Also makesure that you have spent some time thinking about the question itself. You want to make sure that everything you write is relevantto the question asked, and if you don’t understand the question, then youwon’t be able to write an assignment that is to the point.
How to conceive of and write your paper
Answer thequestion, the whole question, and nothing but the question.First, address the question that is asked. (This again points to the need to understand what thequestion is asking.) Second, besure that your answer is complete. Ifthe question has different parts, be sure that you have addressed each part.Third, make sure that you do not pursue tangential issues.Your answer will be evaluated in connection with the question that wasasked. Even a brilliant essay cannot get a good grade if it does notanswer the question.
Philosophypapers usually involve both expositionand evaluation. In the expository part of the paper, your task is to explainthe view or argument under consideration. Make sure that your explanation is asexplicit as possible. Theevaluation part of the paper is your chance to do some philosophy of your own.It is not enough merely to state whether you agree or disagree with thephilosopher’s conclusion. You should engage with her reasoning. Some questions you might consider: does her argument succeedin getting to the desired conclusion? Whichpremises are the weakest points of the argument?What objections might be raised to these premises? Are there any waysthat her argument could be bolstered to defend against such objections?
As youwrite, think about your intended audience.You should not write your paper as if it is a personal communiqué to me. Instead, imagine your audience as someone who is intelligentand interested in the subject but has not studied it. (Think of yourself, before taking this class, or perhaps ofyour roommate.)
When you usean unfamiliar or “technical” term (i.e. a term that we have given somespecific meaning in this class) be sure to define it.
In general,a thesaurus is not the friend of a philosophy student.Do not be afraid to re-use the same terms over and over, especially whenthey are key terms in an argument. Donot use different terms just for variety’s sake; unfortunately, synonymslisted by a thesaurus often vary in connotation and meaning. If you mean to talk about the same concept throughout, usethe same term throughout.
As a rule,you should not use quotes. A seriesof quotes strung together, even creatively strung together, is not a paper.The main reason to quote a passage is to make it more convenient for youto talk about what the passage says (and to make it more convenient for yourreader as well). Thus, you should not rely on a quotation to answer a key partof the question. Answer in your ownwords instead.
You should,however, include textual references. Wheneveryou make a claim about what is said in the text, it is appropriate to provide aspecific reference to back up your claim. Donot make claims like “Socrates believes that …” without supporting them.For short papers using class texts, footnotes are not necessary; it issufficient to make parenthetical references, such as (Meno77b).
Write untilyou have said what you need to say, not until you hit the page limit. (Incidentally, if you find that you don’t have enough tosay to reach the word limit, you’re probably missing something.The problem should be to confine your paper to the page limit, not tostretch out your paper to the minimum required.)You may end up with a first draft that is too long, but at a later stageyou can go back through your work and see whether there are sentences orparagraphs that are not really necessary or that can be made more concise.The point is that you will be better able to evaluate what is trulyimportant if you have included everything on your first draft.
Finally, donot try to compose your paper, from start to finish, in one session –especially not the night before it is due.Make sure that you have the chance to write a first draft and then let itpercolate for awhile. Very fewpeople are able to dash off a good paper in one sitting!
How to write an introduction
Don’tbegin with a very general opening statement: “Plato was one of the world’sgreatest philosophers…” or “The definition of virtue is something thatphilosophers have debated for centuries…”
Dobriefly tell your reader what your paper is about and what your main thesis is.Notice that there is a difference between telling your reader what youare going to talk about and telling your reader what you will argue.Compare:
In the Meno, Meno presents Socrateswith a paradox about inquiry. Thereis no way to inquire into something that you don’t know, since you don’tknow how to begin, but there is also no way to inquire into something that youalready know, since you already have the knowledge in question.Thus, we reach the paradoxical conclusion that inquiry is impossible.Socrates attempts to unravel Meno’s paradox by presenting his theory ofrecollection. In what follows, Iwill discuss Meno’s paradox and Socrates’ criticism of it.
In the Meno, Meno presents Socrateswith a paradox about inquiry. Thereis no way to inquire into something that you don’t know, since you don’tknow how to begin, but there is also no way to inquire into something that youalready know, since you already have the knowledge in question.Thus, we reach the paradoxical conclusion that inquiry is impossible.Socrates attempts to unravel Meno’s paradox by presenting his theory ofrecollection. In what follows, Iwill argue that Socrates does not adequately defend his theory of recollection.However, I will also suggest that even if we were to accept the theory ofrecollection, this would not provide an adequate answer to Meno’s paradox.
The secondof these introductions is superior to the first.Notice that only the second presents an actual thesis statement.
Sometimesyou will be in a better position to write an introduction after you have writtenthe main body of your paper, for you will then have a better idea of what yourargument really is.
How to write a conclusion
Don’tfeel as though you must summarize all of your results.You have written a short paper; the reader recalls your argument and willonly be annoyed if you repeat yourself.
Don’tend with a hedged claim like “Though Socrates’ argument is strong, hisopponents also have good points.” Alsotry to avoid the temptation to end with an empty prediction about continueddebate: “Though Meno’s definition of virtue is a good one, the philosophicaldebate over what it means to be virtuous will no doubt continue.”
Dofind some nice way of wrapping up your essay.This does not mean that you should claim that every facet of the issuehas been addressed. Sometimes aconclusion sets out problems that still remain.There is nothing wrong with defending a qualified conclusion, such as“Socrates’ theory of recollection can be defended against this criticism,”rather than an unqualified conclusion, such as “Socrates’ theory ofrecollection is entirely correct.” Infact, you will probably not have argued for the latter conclusion in your paper,since it requires that you have shown not only that some criticisms fail, butalso that there are not any other criticisms that might succeed againstSocrates’ theory. Make sure thatyou do not claim that you have shown more than have actually shown in yourpaper. (It is especially temptingto exaggerate your accomplishments in a grand-finale-style concluding paragraph;resist this temptation.)
For example,here is a conclusion that avoids exaggeration:
As Socrates’ discussion with the slavesuggests, it is plausible to suppose that someone can discover, without beingtaught, a geometrical claim that they did not already know. However, as I have argued, we cannot generalize from the caseof geometrical knowledge to knowledge of other sorts of facts.Thus, Socrates fails to provide an adequate reason to believe his claimthat all learning is recollection.
[Notice thatthe conclusion does not claim that Socrates’ claim is shown to be false, butonly that Socrates has not adequately defended it.]
Once you have a draft
Theprincipal virtue in philosophical writing is clarity.As you reread each sentence of your draft, ask yourself: “Is this pointexpressed clearly?” Your proseshould be simple, direct, and to the point.
As youre-read your paper, think about whether it is organized in the best way.Would it be more effective if this paragraph went here, and that one wentthere? Very often, ourfirst efforts need a rather serious structural overhaul. Also, look for opportunities to improve your paper, such asadding an example here, rewriting an awkward sentence there, and so on…
Proofreadyour paper carefully. Spellingmistakes and grammatical errors can distract a reader and divert her attentionfrom your argument. It may alsogive her the impression – a false one, perhaps – that you simply don’tcare enough about your work to run it through a spell-check program.
Very often,what distinguishes an excellent paper from a merely decent paper is the depthand quality of their explanations. Thedecent paper may not make any obvious mistakes or omit anything crucial; itoften just does not communicate its message as clearly and effectively as theexcellent paper does. Thus, alwaystry to find ways of strengthening your explanations.Examples will help here. Almostall philosophy relies on the use of examples, both for illustrative andpersuasive purposes.
Grades
As aprofessor of mine used to tell his classes, “There is, and can be, no directcorrelation between the grade you receive on a paper and the amount of time oreffort you have spent on the paper; which is not to say that hard work does notproduce results, but only that some people can do with great ease what otherscannot do at all or can only do with great effort.In an hour, Mozart could produce a piece of music that I would be unableto match even if I spent my whole life working at it.”
Alsoremember that the grade that you get on the paper represents my judgment of thequality of the results – not what you meant to say, but whatyou actually said.
