Writing Suggestions

Some General Suggestions on Writing Philosophy Papers

[This essay may be copied and distributed indefinitely and without further permission
Tad Beckman, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711]

Unless a paper is specifically assigned as a research paper, I do not expect you to read materials beyond those already assigned and read in class. My assumption will be that your paper represents your own thinking about the materials that we have all read and that we have discussed in class or through other media. Since these were collective activities, you are not required to make specific reference to any of them. If you do make an exact quotation, of course, you should make a sufficient reference so that a curious reader could find his/her way back to the source (being mindful to the fact that different readers may be using different editions). Also, if you do happen to read other materials in preparation for a paper and you use some of the ideas developed in these sources, even if you do not directly quote from these materials, you must make sufficient reference(s) to them so that the reader can identify their contribution(s) to the development of your thinking.

In research papers, you are expected to read materials beyond those assigned for class. In this case, your paper should include a bibliography of sources that you read, regardless of whether you make explicit use of these sources in the paper. Also, when you quote, paraphrase, or make use of ideas from any of these sources, you must include a sufficient reference so that a curious reader can find his/her way back to the source.

By "sufficient reference" I mean any systematic way of clearly identifying the source of ideas. There are several standard formats and styles available; I suggest that you use whatever style you are familiar and comfortable with --- APA, MLA, parenthetical in-text, footnotes, or endnotes.

A philosophy paper should address a single issue or strongly related cluster of issues and should explore this issue clearly, critically, and with imagination. The paper should get to its point quickly. It should not only be well organized but it should keep its organization explicitly before the reader throughout. It should have a strong, well organized conclusion. This does not mean that the conclusion must solve a problem; it just means that the conclusion must complete the thought(s). The most common error in paper writing is mistaking announcement of a subject for a thesis. For example, in the first paragraph, the author announces that the paper is on "justice." But the question is (your thesis) "What do you believe about justice?" and, hence, "What do you plan to demonstrate or argue in this paper?" When a thesis has been explicitly stated, it is usually easy to give the explicit organization of the paper as well; when a thesis is lacking, the organization usually suffers.

Here are four typical mistakes. After you have a draft of your paper, reread this section and make sure that you have not committed any of these.

(1) Starting with a dictionary definition. Please do not start with a definition. The purpose of philosophy is virtually always to think our way beyond the mundane, standard answers and meanings. Basing your paper on a dictionary definition surrenders your thought, at the outset, to a restricted and probably naive sense of what the issue is. The single exception to this rule is that we can often penetrate to new insights into the meanings of concepts by studying a word's origin(s); high quality dictionaries are useful for this purpose.

(2) Flowery Introductions. Please, even though you were often taught to do this, do not start a philosophy paper with a flowery introduction that suggests the root cause of this discussion within universal being or remotest antiquity. I don't care how revered in space and time the issue is; I am only interested in what it means to you and how you are presently thinking about it.

(3) Using elegant, big words. There is, of course, a common misapprehension that philosophers try to use elegant, big words and that philosophy can't be done without them. Trying to do this will, actually, make your thoughts disappear into obscurity and confusion. The object of thinking/writing philosophically is, just the reverse, to make your thoughts systematic, concrete, critical, clear, imaginative and informative. Instead of trying to make your writing complicated, assuming that this is the way of philosophers, try to make your writing as simple as possible. Having grasped the issue in your mind, try writing as though you are explaining the issue to your youngest brother or sister.

(4) Using a multitude of terms to mean essentially the same thing. Avoid a proliferation of terms. If you have already used a certain word to make reference to something, you are better off continuing to use it. Bringing in new words for the same thing will always confuse its meanings by introducing new associations.

Generally speaking, begin your philosophy paper simply and directly, assuming that you are talking to the other people in the course who have a shared experience of the readings and topics. You should begin by carefully describing the topic/question that you will consider and this may require you to re-define it and limit whatever portion of it that you want to engage with. You should also give your reader some direction, telling him/her how you will treat the subject and, in general, what your argument will be. Finally, you should clearly present your arguments and illustrate them with examples, including as a concluding summary only a recapitulation which makes the argument clear in its final form --- NOT a summary that merely takes up space by repeating most of what you've already said. Watch paragraph organization carefully. A paragraph should develop one point in your argument; do not allow paragraphs to wander from one issue to another.

Most philosophical arguments are verbal and not formal. Avoid assuming that all you need is a crisp dictionary-style definition and a logical formula. Instead of looking for clever contradictions, develop simple illustrations or examples and try to reach understanding by using a simple and clear vocabulary. Beware of claiming that the problem is all in a person's "logic" or "validity." These are highly technical issues and it is rare that either logic or validity has been violated. More commonly, a person simply makes assumptions which are uncertain and unconvincing. Just because we do not accept these assumptions does not indicate that logic has been violated. Perfectly valid arguments can be false or unbelievable simply because false or unbelievable premises are used.

If you have trouble getting started, try simply to write down the best sentence that names the issue. Then add to this your best sentence expressing what you think about this issue. Try to take these sentences apart and express the whole meaning in smaller sentences. For example, what small sentences state the best description of the issue? What smaller sentences express exactly the points you think about relative to the issue? When you are finished, these will be the topic sentences for the paper; all you have to do now is write a paragraph that amplifies and justifies each of these. Paragraph construction is just what you need to justify the sentence you've written down. Imagine writing the sentence, then someone says, "Why do you think that?" The paragraph is your answer.

Write five good sentences and you've written the core of a five page paper!

It is typically assumed, in an academic setting, that any writing you hand in is entirely your own work. When you use the work of others to get ideas, you must give them credit. The form in which you received these ideas should be acknowledged and a standard reference citation should be given if they came through published works. When you use several works, as in a research paper, include a bibliography in some standard notation at the end; make references to the listed works in the text, as appropriate. When you quote a person, reference is mandatory; when you use an idea which is more-or-less unique to that source, you should make reference to the work.

The Internet creates many new issues for scholarship. It is extremely easy to capture full text from on-line materials. If you do this, be sure to place it in quotes and give sufficient reference to the on-line source. At the same time, make sure to investigate the origin of any text you use on-line. Satisfy yourself that the author is knowledgeable and the source credible. This information should be included in your citation.

Plagiarism is an Honor Code violation and can lead to severe penalties!

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