Writing a philosophy paper

Writing a philosophy paper

Your thesis should narrow the focus of your paper. Suppose you are asked to write on the mind-body problem. It’s important to realize that it won't be possible to address every important philosophical issue concerning such a broad topic in just one paper. Tips on Writing a Philosophy Paper 18/11/ · How to Write a Philosophy Paper. 1. Give yourself time. Writing a good philosophy paper takes time and careful planning, so make sure that you begin working on the assignment as soon 2. Read all relevant materials 70%(10) Philosophy papers usually involve both exposition and evaluation. In the expository part of the paper, your task is to explain the view or argument under consideration. Make sure that your explanation is as explicit as possible. The evaluation part of the paper is your chance to do some philosophy of your own

Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper

Last Updated: December 5, writing a philosophy paper, References. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards, writing a philosophy paper.

There are 19 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewedtimes. Learn more Writing a philosophy paper is quite different from other types of papers. In a philosophy paper, you have to provide an explanation of a philosophical concept and then either support or refute that concept, writing a philosophy paper.

This means that you have to fully understand the concepts that you read about and you have to do some philosophy of your own to respond to these concepts. While writing a philosophy paper may be challenging, it is possible with some careful planning and hard work. After that, explain your argument in a clear, objective manner with all of the relevant details.

Then, evaluate your argument by providing examples that support your thesis such as, if you are arguing that beauty and virtue are writing a philosophy paper, you could give an example of a convicted criminal who many consider beautiful.

Finally, identify the strongest objections to your argument, refute writing a philosophy paper objections, and conclude with a summary of your paper. For more tips, like how to revise your paper, read on!

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Categories Philosophy and Religion Philosophy How to Write a Philosophy Paper. Download Article Explore this Article parts. Related Articles. Article Summary. Co-authored by wikiHow Staff Last Updated: December 5, References. Part 1 of Give yourself time. Writing a good philosophy paper takes time and careful planning, so make sure that you begin working on the assignment as soon as possible. Philosophy papers require skillful argument and rational thought, which takes time to develop.

Jot down your ideas and use some writing a philosophy paper your spare time to think about what you want to write about. Read all relevant materials.

Before you begin to develop your ideas for the paper, make sure that you have carefully read all of the materials writing a philosophy paper are writing a philosophy paper to the assignment.

If you read the materials, writing a philosophy paper, but do not remember much or do not understand part of what you read, then you should reread the texts before you attempt to work on your paper.

Otherwise, your explanation of the philosophy may be flawed or your argument may not hold up. Make sure that you understand the assignment. Some professors distribute assignment guidelines while others simply describe the assignment in class.

Before you start working on your paper, make sure that you have a clear understanding of what your professor is asking you to do. Consider your audience. It is important to keep your audience in mind as you plan your paper and as you write your paper. Your professor is your primary audience member and your classmates might also be part of your audience. Therefore, if you introduce a special term or concept, you will need to define it for your audience.

Choose textual references. With philosophy papers, it is best to use quotes from the text only when it is absolutely necessary. The goal of your paper is to explain and evaluate a philosophical argument in your own words.

Therefore, you should not rely too heavily on quotes or even paraphrased passages from your sources. Make sure to provide a citation for every quote or paraphrase that you use from a source. Develop a thesis. All philosophy papers need to have a strong thesis.

Your thesis states your position for the paper and you will need to make sure that you stay focused on your thesis and support it throughout your entire paper, writing a philosophy paper. Keep in mind that a strong thesis states your position as well as why you hold that position.

One reason that you may cite might be that beautiful people are not always virtuous. Outline your paper. An outline can help you to stay on track as you draft your paper and ensure that you include everything that you need to include.

Part 2 of Write how you speak. Writing in a flowery, overly complex way will not make you appear to be more knowledgeable about philosophy. It is better to write in your own voice and use simple, writing a philosophy paper, direct language to get your point across. Imagine that you are explaining the concept to a friend and making an argument for why you agree or disagree with this concept. What would you say? What examples would you use?

This makes it hard for your readers to understand what you mean. Look up new words before you used them, writing a philosophy paper. If you like to use the thesaurus feature of Word when you write, just make sure that you are looking up the meanings of these words before you include them.

The thesaurus does not always provide suggestions that are grammatically correct or equivalent in meaning to the original word. Introduce your paper with relevant details. Your introduction is important because it gives readers a first impression of your paper. That is why it is important to use your introduction wisely.

Explain the argument. After your introduction, you will need to explain the philosophical argument or concept that you are planning to refute or support. Otherwise, your professor may consider your argument to be less effective.

Stick to the relevant details of the argument. Do not explain things that you do not plan to argue against in your paper unless they are absolutely necessary for understanding your point.

Support your thesis. After you have provided a clear explanation of the philosophy, writing a philosophy paper, you will need to move on to your evaluation. Your evaluation should work to support your thesis at all times.

Do not go back and forth between positions or contradict yourself at any time. Stick to your position no matter what. For example, if you are arguing that beauty and virtue are unrelated, then you might give an example of a convicted criminal who many consider to be beautiful.

Anticipate objections to your argument, writing a philosophy paper. Try to identify the strongest objections that an opponent might use to refute your argument and develop responses to these objections. Focus on handling the three biggest objections that your opponents might raise. For example, if you are arguing that beauty and virtue are not related, then you might identify an objection that some studies have demonstrated that some men are less attracted to women with undesirable personality traits, despite their beauty.

Conclude your paper in a meaningful way. Conclusions are also important because they provide an opportunity for you to summarize, clarify, and emphasize one or more important parts of your paper. Try to conclude your paper in a way that will help your readers to see the relevance and significance of your paper.

Part 3 of Put your paper aside for a few days. Revising is easier if you can take a break from what you have written for a few days. After you return to the paper again, you will have a fresh perspective that should help you to improve the content of your work more easily than if you had attempted to revise it right away.

How to write a Philosophy Paper (Basics)

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Writing A Philosophy Paper - Department of Philosophy - Simon Fraser University

24/11/ · What is A Philosophy Paper? Drafting a philosophy essay begins with appreciating precisely what a philosophy research paper entails. It involves taking a definite position on a philosophical topic and defending that viewpoint with a logical, irrefutable claim. Understanding how to write a philosophy paper accurately is crucial to instituting a solid thesis. A good research essay, in GOOD WRITING EXAMPLE Jen was an excellent philosophy writer who received the following assignment: Evaluate Smith’s argument for the claim that people lack free will. Jen decided before she began writing her paper that Smith’s argument ultimately fails because it trades on an ambiguity. Accordingly, she began her paper with the following File Size: 90KB Philosophy papers usually involve both exposition and evaluation. In the expository part of the paper, your task is to explain the view or argument under consideration. Make sure that your explanation is as explicit as possible. The evaluation part of the paper is your chance to do some philosophy of your own