For Students:
How To Write A Philosophy Paper
The Idea
Generally the hardest part of writing the paper but also the most important. This is where you have to just think about what exactly you want to say and how it fits in with the things you’ve read. You want to do this before you start writing.
Don’t hesitate to re-read papers and reconstruct the arguments in your own words. From there you can look for gaps in the argument and objections.
Some assignments (most commonly in first or second year courses) are going to be short and based on prompts, which will make it easier to know what your idea is going to be.
For papers in academia more generally: look for gaps in the overall literature or a standing problem (or subproblem to a bigger problem), and try to figure out an angle no one has attacked it from before. Then think about how this new way of doing it fills in the gaps in the literature or solves the problem better than its competitors.
Try to focus on one main point you’re trying to make. If you try to make more than one major point your paper can come across as muddled and unfocused.
This is sometimes called a “shotgun” approach. You really want to avoid making a bunch of weak points in hopes that something will hit the mark. Stick to writing one strong one.
Outlining
Not strictly necessary, but it will virtually always make your paper come out better.
Start with your thesis.
This is just The Idea. You want to state your idea as a clear, concise sentence. You are telling your reader exactly what they should be convinced of by the end of the paper.
It should be an assertion for which you can provide an argument.
Reconstruct the relevant parts of the argument(s) of the paper(s) you’re going to talk about. Many philosophy papers are going to have a significant exegetical elements.
Figure out what parts of the paper you need to talk about to make your objection work.
Reconstruct your opponents’ (and your allies’) views carefully. It’s no good to give an argument against a view no one actually holds.
Produce a logical outline of your argument.
Figure out what your supporting premises are—what you need to make the case that your conclusion is right—and list them out.
Think back to your logic class (or the informal versions of the same things that you probably talked about in Phil101) and recall what a valid argument is.
i. Valid arguments are arguments such that if the premises are true, the conclusion must hold.
ii. In the most general way of putting it you’re going to want your conclusion to logically follow from the premises. Make sure you’re not making some kind of obvious logical leap.
iii. A lot of arguments are going to depend on a series of if/then statements, so make sure you’re not affirming the consequent or denying the antecedent.
At this point you’ll probably know all the steps you’ll need in your argument. But having a valid argument isn’t quite enough. You also need your premises to be true.
i. You hardly ever get anything for free. Philosophers are willing to fight you on anything!
ii. But you need to say something in favor of thinking your premises are true. You can’t just baldly assert things.
iii. One of the best ways to make your premises seem plausible is by offering illustrative examples. Give a case that demonstrates the principle or feature of the world that you’re appealing to.
iv. In a longer paper (anything more than 10 pages) you’re probably going to support some of your premises by giving smaller arguments.
Building Your Paper
Introductions
The most important thing your introduction needs to include is a thesis statement.
Of course your intro paragraph is going to include more than just your thesis statement. Here’s a general formula for writing intro paragraphs that I find works well:
i. Stasis: Start by talking about what’s happening with the field or the commonsense position that’s in place about what you’re righting about. It is also a fine spot to produce a brief discussion of the importane of the issue you are discussing.
ii. Problem: Highlight a problem you’re going to raise with the stasis. Signal that something doesn’t quite make sense with it, or a piece of the puzzle is missing.
iii. Resolving the Problem: If possible, talk about how the thesis of your paper gives a resolution to the problem that you just introduced. [Plenty of undergraduate papers will not make you do this though].
iv. Roadmapping: Provide a brief roadmap of how you’re going to argue for your thesis. This is where you signal the general structure of your paper.
Avoid making your introductions too fanciful or dramatic. It is okay (even good) to have a hook. It is bad to start with some cliche or platitude.
i. If your opening starts with “Since the beginning of time” or “Ever since the first philosophers wandered the Earth” or anything in that spirit, then something has gone terribly wrong. Eliminate these kinds of phrases from your vocabulary.
Conclusions
Conclusions are easiest to do when you’ve written the rest of your paper. It is hard to do this first.
Briefly run through what happened in your paper.
Sometimes you might also want to say a few things about why the findings of your paper are important or interesting.
Voice and Mechanics
Authorial voice is the tone you’re taking in your paper. A certain tone is expected of papers in academic settings. A lot of it is trying to find a goldilocks zone between two bad extremes.
Your authorial voice should sound different from your normal conversational voice. It’s not the same voice that you use to talk to your friends or post online.
At the same time you should avoid sounding unbearably formal. It’s okay to have a little personality. You don’t want to sound stilted.
In essence you want to sound like a competent professional, not a 19th Century aristocrat. “Fancy” is not the goal. The goal is clear and knowledgeable.
Eliminate “Weasel Words”
Do not use words or phrases that express uncertainty in your own point, like “I feel,” “I think,” “maybe,” “might,” etc.
A philosophy paper is not the place to be overtly humble. Show some conviction in your argument!
At the same time, avoid terms that are going to come across as too arrogant like “obviously” and “no one can doubt,” and so on. You can sound confident without implying that anyone who disagrees with you is stupid.
Passive vs Active Voice
Active voice will make your paper more engaging. It’s easier and more enjoyable to read. It makes your reader feel like something is happening.
Passive voice includes constructions where something is being acted upon rather than actively doing something. Passive voice gets really tiresome to read. It will make reading your paper feel like a chore.
Using Quotes
In a short paper you should quote sparingly and paraphrase as much as possible.
Even in longer papers you should try to rely on quotes as little as possible.
i. The exception is when you’re writing a history of philosophy paper. In which case, you’ll want to pull quotes as evidence. But don’t let the quotes speak for you!
“Unpack” the quote: talk about what it’s saying and how it fits into the point of the rest of your paragraph.
Make sure you are citing your sources. It doesn’t matter which citation style you use. Pick one and stick with it. I recommend Chicago or APA, as these are what many philosophy journals use.
Purdue OWL has plenty of online resources to help you with the major citations
Zotero is a free and marvelously easy to use resource! It's even open source, so you basically never have to worry about someone charging you money for it. Plug in the relevant information and it will make the citations for you in any style you want.
Signpost your argument as you go. Provide an outline of what you’re going to do in your paper in the opening paragraph. Occasionally indicate what step you’re on, what a part of the paper is doing, etc.
Do NOT try to pad your paper with unrelated or tangentially related material. Your reader will absolutely notice if you do this, and they will think you’ve forgotten what you’re talking about.
Other tips and tricks:
If you really want your writing to shine then practice perfecting your voice. There is really no other way to do this than by practicing writing and paying attention to what works in things you read.
Also try varying sentence lengths. If all of your sentences are about the same length then it’s easy to get lost in a kind of monotonous crawl.
Re-read your paper out loud to see if it sounds right and to make sure you didn’t make any obvious grammatical mistakes or too flagrantly mispell something.
Check that you’re spelling the name of everyone you mention correctly.
i. Say their first and last name when first introduce them (unless it's someone extremely famous like Kant). Only say their last name when you mention them after that. Don’t say “Professor so-and-so” or “Dr. so-and-so.”
Remember at the end of the day the primary job of your paper is to give a convincing argument, but polishing your paper can make your argument come across better and more clearly.
Revising
Be sure to give yourself at least a day or two to revise a paper before you turn it in so you can catch any errors you missed, check to make sure your outline makes sense and your paper mirrors the outline structure, etc.
Ask your classmates, your TA, or your professor for comments.
If you work with someone else, and comment on each other’s papers, a lot of the time people just skim it and say “looks good.” You are both wasting your own time by doing this. Give thoughtful, constructive feedback.
I tend to give rather detailed feedback on drafts that students send me.
i. If you want lighter comments, be sure to specify that when you send me your draft.
ii. If I comment on your paper, fix the things I comment on. I am probably grading your paper so there’s no reason not to!
iii. If you send me your draft the night before the paper is due, then it is unlikely that I will be able to get comments back to you in time for them to be useful.
Limits of the Guide
Maybe this guide doesn’t click with you or the strategies I’m suggesting just don’t work for you. That’s okay! This guide is one among many. A lot of philosophy professors, and even departments, have produced similar guides that are liable to give you different advice. Similarly, you might find yourself in a situation where it makes more sense to break one of the guide rules than to follow it. In which case, break the rule! Writing involves making judgment calls and at the end of the day you need to decide what’s going to work best for what you’re writing.