Or something else of that sort. Longer papers are typically too ambitious, or repetitious, or full of digressions. The comments I find myself making on students’ philosophy papers most often are these: “Explain this claim” or “What do you mean by this. In a philosophy paper, it’s OK to use this verb as much as you need to. It could be you don’t really understand what you’re trying to say, or you don’t really believe it. If you don’t explain what you take Philosopher X’s view to be, your reader cannot judge whether the criticism you offer of X is a good criticism, or whether it is simply based on a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of X’s views.
Or he could have argued that assuming A is an illegitimate move to make in a debate about whether B is true. You will have this same experience. Or perhaps those weaknesses will have affected our overall impression of the paper, and we just didn’t offer any specific recommendation about fixing them. The best way is to read, read, read. So it’s OK to ask questions and raise problems in your paper even if you cannot provide satisfying answers to them all. Is it obvious to the reader what your main thesis is. Try harder to figure out what’s motivating them. Are they reasonable starting-points for X’s argument, or ought he have provided some independent argument for them.
” Try to anticipate these comments and avoid the need for them. Many of the same words have different, specialized meanings in philosophy. In a philosophy paper, it’s OK to use this verb as much as you need to. But neither should your papers be too short. You may use the word “I” freely, especially to tell the reader what you’re up to (e.
It’s okay to change your thesis to one you can defend. Do any of the points you’re making presuppose that you’ve already discussed some other point, first. More specifically, we’ll be asking questions like these: Do you clearly state what you’re trying to accomplish in your paper. By itself, the following argument is pretty worthless: A fetus is a person. Is your writing clear and well-organized. Imagine what his comeback might be.
If something in a view you’re examining is unclear to you, don’t gloss it over. Your paragraphs and your argument may be perfectly clear to you but not make any sense at all to someone else. Write a Draft Once you’ve thought about your argument, and written an outline for your paper, then you’re ready to sit down and compose a complete draft. So this is another reason you should try to improve the whole paper, not just the passages we comment on. These are optional, and are for your independent study.
Philosopher X just assumes A and doesn’t give any argument for it. Peter Horban’s site deserves special mention. But these repairs will not work, because. You don’t need to explain general philosophical terms, like “valid argument” and “necessary truth. Students often feel that since it’s clear to them that some claim is true, it does not need much argument. Imagine what his comeback might be.
I will consider celebrating your work alongside these amazing resources:. Buy On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft on Amazon. Make the structure of your paper obvious You should make the structure of your paper obvious to the reader. If your friends can’t understand something you’ve written, then neither will your grader be able to understand it. ” Try to anticipate these comments and avoid the need for them.
Main thesis about on writing
So this is another reason you should try to improve the whole paper, not just the passages we comment on. Dena actually proposed the idea of creating a set of PowerPoint slides that would assist students in finding writing topics in case they couldn’t come to class with one on their own. You should count on writing many drafts of your paper. I’ve discovered time and again while teaching philosophy that I couldn’t really explain properly some article or argument I thought I understood. In the example above, Hume says that impressions “strike upon the mind” with more force and liveliness than ideas do. It is not so clear what Hume means here by ‘forceful.
The comments I find myself making on students’ philosophy papers most often are these: “Explain this claim” or “What do you mean by this. Explain how you think these objections can be countered or overcome. These demands might seem to pull in opposite directions. Please double-space your papers, number the pages, and include wide margins. Another good way to check your draft is to read it out loud. It’s also OK to split an infinitive, if you need to. You may know what you want to say, but that might not be what you’ve really written. Or you can write a paper which goes: One argument for P is the ‘Conjunction Argument,’ which goes as follows. Using words with precise philosophical meanings
Philosophers give many ordinary-sounding words precise technical meanings. ” “This needs more support” “Why should we believe this. And, when the time comes to write you will know it.
Ideas are the faint images of our thinking and reasoning. Thanks to Professor Horban for allowing me to incorporate some of his suggestions here. ” or “I don’t understand what you’re saying here” “This passage is unclear (or awkward, or otherwise hard to read)” “Too complicated” “Too hard to follow” “Simplify” “Why do you think this. Do your friends understand your main point. That’s why we read some dialogues and stories in Philosophy 3. He could have argued that B doesn’t really follow from A, after all. There will be plenty of time for that later on. NNWP Consultant and math teacher extra-ordinaire–Holly Young–is proud to share her first published book: The UnderAchievers. B seems unattractive to me. (These things should be obvious, but apparently they’re not. Are parts of your draft unclear or confusing to them. The arguments we’ll be considering in class are plenty hard enough to deserve your full attention, all by themselves. But we will have no trouble agreeing about whether you do a good job arguing for your conclusion. Many excellent philosophy papers don’t offer straight yes or no answers. Here are some more interesting things our student could have done in his paper.
Or perhaps those weaknesses will have affected our overall impression of the paper, and we just didn’t offer any specific recommendation about fixing them. (Be sure to specify where the passage can be found. I’m sure they had a hard time of it. , “Hurt by her fall, the tree fell right on Mary’s leg before she could get out of the way”), and the like. But it’s very easy to overestimate the strength of your own position. If something in a view you’re examining is unclear to you, don’t gloss it over. A lot of the suggestions here derive from writing handouts that friends and colleagues lent me. You can assume that your reader is stupid (see above).
Peter Horban’s site deserves special mention. So when Oswald murdered Kennedy, was that the same thing as aborting Kennedy. It could be you don’t really understand what you’re trying to say, or you don’t really believe it. Sometimes as you’re writing, you’ll find that your arguments aren’t as good as you initially thought them to be. Which is why, when books like Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose suddenly break out of the pack and climb the bestseller lists, publishers and editors are astonished. Acknowledgements I don’t want to claim undue credit for this work. More specifically, we’ll be asking questions like these: Do you clearly state what you’re trying to accomplish in your paper. He could have argued that B doesn’t really follow from A, after all. Presenting and assessing the views of others If you plan to discuss the views of Philosopher X, begin by figuring out what his arguments or central assumptions are. All of this takes time. If this is all you do in your paper, it won’t be a strong paper and it will get a mediocre grade, even if it’s well-written. If this is all you do in your paper, it won’t be a strong paper and it will get a mediocre grade, even if it’s well-written. And you should say something about how the question might be answered, and about what makes the question interesting and relevant to the issue at hand. For instance, if you object to some philosopher’s view, don’t assume he would immediately admit defeat.
Additional information about on writing:
Or he could have presented reasons for thinking that A is false. Use this site to write, learn to write, take writing. In the second place, since the author hasn’t figured out what the text means well enough to express it in his own words, there’s a danger that his paraphrase may inadvertently change the meaning of the text. Responding to comments from me or your TA When you have the opportunity to rewrite a graded paper, keep the following points in mind. But we will have no trouble agreeing about whether you do a good job arguing for your conclusion.
The comments I find myself making on students’ philosophy papers most often are these: “Explain this claim” or “What do you mean by this. These demands might seem to pull in opposite directions. It’s also OK to split an infinitive, if you need to. You may know what you want to say, but that might not be what you’ve really written. Using words with precise philosophical meanings
Philosophers give many ordinary-sounding words precise technical meanings. And, when the time comes to write you will know it.
Thanks to Professor Horban for allowing me to incorporate some of his suggestions here. Do your friends understand your main point. That’s why we read some dialogues and stories in Philosophy 3. NNWP Consultant and math teacher extra-ordinaire–Holly Young–is proud to share her first published book: The UnderAchievers. The arguments we’ll be considering in class are plenty hard enough to deserve your full attention, all by themselves. But we will have no trouble agreeing about whether you do a good job arguing for your conclusion. Many excellent philosophy papers don’t offer straight yes or no answers.
It’s okay to change your thesis to one you can defend. Do any of the points you’re making presuppose that you’ve already discussed some other point, first. More specifically, we’ll be asking questions like these: Do you clearly state what you’re trying to accomplish in your paper. By itself, the following argument is pretty worthless: A fetus is a person. Is your writing clear and well-organized. Imagine what his comeback might be.
If something in a view you’re examining is unclear to you, don’t gloss it over
” or “I don’t understand what you’re saying here” “This passage is unclear (or awkward, or otherwise hard to read)” “Too complicated” “Too hard to follow” “Simplify” “Why do you think this. However this response fails, because. Do you offer supporting arguments for the claims you make. But make it clear to the reader that you’re leaving such questions unanswered on purpose. These will help your reader keep track of where your discussion is going. If you got below an A-, then your draft was generally difficult to read, it was difficult to see what your argument was and what the structure of your paper was supposed to be, and so on.
All of this takes time
Philosopher X just assumes A and doesn’t give any argument for it. Don’t be afraid of mentioning objections to your own thesis. Peter Horban’s site deserves special mention. Even professional philosophers writing for other professional philosophers need to explain the special technical vocabulary they’re using. But these repairs will not work, because. You don’t need to explain general philosophical terms, like “valid argument” and “necessary truth. Students often feel that since it’s clear to them that some claim is true, it does not need much argument. Imagine what his comeback might be.
I will consider celebrating your work alongside these amazing resources:. Buy On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft on Amazon. Make the structure of your paper obvious You should make the structure of your paper obvious to the reader. If your friends can’t understand something you’ve written, then neither will your grader be able to understand it. ” Try to anticipate these comments and avoid the need for them.
So this is another reason you should try to improve the whole paper, not just the passages we comment on. Dena actually proposed the idea of creating a set of PowerPoint slides that would assist students in finding writing topics in case they couldn’t come to class with one on their own. You should count on writing many drafts of your paper. I’ve discovered time and again while teaching philosophy that I couldn’t really explain properly some article or argument I thought I understood. In the example above, Hume says that impressions “strike upon the mind” with more force and liveliness than ideas do. It is not so clear what Hume means here by ‘forceful.
The comments I find myself making on students’ philosophy papers most often are these: “Explain this claim” or “What do you mean by this. Explain how you think these objections can be countered or overcome. These demands might seem to pull in opposite directions. It’s also OK to split an infinitive, if you need to. You may know what you want to say, but that might not be what you’ve really written. Using words with precise philosophical meanings
Philosophers give many ordinary-sounding words precise technical meanings. And, when the time comes to write you will know it.
Thanks to Professor Horban for allowing me to incorporate some of his suggestions here. Do your friends understand your main point. That’s why we read some dialogues and stories in Philosophy 3. NNWP Consultant and math teacher extra-ordinaire–Holly Young–is proud to share her first published book: The UnderAchievers. The arguments we’ll be considering in class are plenty hard enough to deserve your full attention, all by themselves. Many excellent philosophy papers don’t offer straight yes or no answers.
Imagine what his comeback might be
If something in a view you’re examining is unclear to you, don’t gloss it over. Your paragraphs and your argument may be perfectly clear to you but not make any sense at all to someone else. Write a Draft Once you’ve thought about your argument, and written an outline for your paper, then you’re ready to sit down and compose a complete draft. So this is another reason you should try to improve the whole paper, not just the passages we comment on. These are optional, and are for your independent study. Ideas are the faint images of our thinking and reasoning.
