Table Of ContentU
Writing Philosophy Papers
FIFTHEDITION
ZACHARY SEECH
PalomarCollege
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To my family
Nona, Lynn, Kyle, Vanessa, Trevor, Kristi, Madeline,
Todd, Randy, Evelyn, Ryan, Jamie
WritingPhilosophyPapers, FifthEdition ª2009,2004Wadsworth,CengageLearning
ZacharySeech
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Contents
PREFACE vi
INTRODUCTION viii
1 First Things First 1
Know the Assignment 1
Know the Criteria for Evaluation 2
Schedule Your Time 3
Types of Philosophy Papers 5
Philosophy Courses and Sample Paper Topics 5
What You Will Find in This Book 7
2 Thesis Defense Papers 8
Developing a Thesis 8
The Opening and Closing Paragraphs 10
The Body of the Paper 12
Arguing for the Thesis 13
Tone 14
Premises, Conclusions, and Transitions 14
Presenting Other Sides 15
Consistency 16
3 Special Kinds of Papers 18
Compare-and-Contrast Papers 18
Research Papers 21
Summary Papers and Explanatory Papers 22
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iv CONTENTS
4 Writing and Revising the Paper 25
Getting Started 26
Mapping and Outlining 27
Rough and Final Drafts 30
Plagiarism 31
Responding to Criticism 33
Writing Style 34
Word Processing Tools 35
5 Language 37
Precision of Expression 37
Overstatement 37
Vagueness 38
Definition 39
Grammar 40
Complete Sentences 40
Agreement between Parts of a Sentence 41
Case 42
Misplaced Sentence Parts 43
Missing Referents 44
Parallelism 44
Punctuation 46
Gender 48
Scholarly Terms and Abbreviations 49
Terms 49
Abbreviations 50
Spelling 50
Commonly Misspelled Words in Philosophy 51
Plurals of Philosophical Terms 52
Capitalization 52
6 Good Reasoning 54
An Introductory Example 55
Making a Strong Case for Your View 55
Counterexamples and Generalizations 56
Two Kinds of Misdirection 57
Fallacies 57
CONTENTS v
Two Special Kinds of Evidence 59
Testimonial Evidence 59
Analogical Evidence 61
7 Internet and Other Research Sources 62
The Internet 62
What You Can Find on the Internet 63
How to Find It 64
How to Evaluate It 65
Where to Find Books Online 67
Journals, Reference Works, and Libraries 67
8 Reference to Other Sources 72
Bibliography 72
Listing Books 73
Listing Articles in Periodicals 75
Listing Internet Sources 77
Documentation with Footnotes or Endnotes 78
Citing Books: First Reference 78
Citing Articles: First Reference 79
Citing the Internet 80
Second and Subsequent References to Books and Articles 80
Commentary Notes 81
Parenthetical Documentation 82
Other Systems of Documentation 83
A Special Consideration for Using Internet Sources 84
APPENDIX A
Editing Your Paper 85
APPENDIX B
Sample Paper with Documentation 94
APPENDIX C
Formal Patterns of Logic 103
Validity and Soundness 103
‘‘If’’ Statements and Arguments 106
‘‘All’’ Statements and Arguments 112
Universal Syllogism 112
Universal-to-Particular Syllogism 113
BIBLIOGRAPHY 115
INDEX 117
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Preface
WritingPhilosophyPapersgoesbeyondgeneral instructionsonpaperwriting.
Thewholebookfocusesonhowtowritephilosophy papers.Thekindsof
papers most often assigned in philosophy classes are explained, and a whole
chapter is devoted to writing the traditional philosophy paper: the thesis defense
paper. Chapter 7 explains how to use specific philosophical resources, with a
strong emphasis on Internet research.
Whether it’s a question about organization, documentation, research, or
writing style, the student will now have the answer before submitting a paper
to the professor. This should be a relief both to the professor who reads and
grades the papers and to the student who can hardly do a good job of writing a
paperifthetaskitselfisunclear.Professorsassigndifferenttypesofpapers.Writing
Philosophy Papers shows students that many paper assignments are hybrids of the
basic kinds. In this book the students learn the basic skills, although the actual
instructionsfortheirspecificclassroomassignmentswillvary.Professorsmayalso
specifyapreferredstyleofdocumentation.Footnotesandendnotesareillustrated
in this book. So is the MLA parenthetical documentation. Both methods are
clearly displayed in a sample paper in Appendix B. In-text citation and the
number system of documentation are also explained. Documentation of Internet
sources is illustrated also.
The focus is on philosophy. The many examples throughout Writing Philo-
sophyPapersarefromphilosophicalconceptsorprimaryandsecondarysourcesin
philosophy.Inaddition,thereisadiscussionofphilosophycourses,philosophical
topics,philosophicalreasoning,philosophyjournalsandresearchbooks,aswellas
the Internet and other research sources.
I learned to write philosophy papers from many of my former professors
and also, in various ways, from my students. There are too many people to
name. Nevertheless, I thank them all. My colleagues have also been very
helpful.IthankthemembersoftheBehavioralSciencesDepartmentatPalomar
Collegefortheirconsistentandsinceresupport.IwanttothankWorthHawes,
Philosophy Editor at Wadsworth Publishing Company, and Patrick Stockstill,
AssistantEditor.IalsothankKammyLee,EditorialAssistant,andLindaIreland,
copy editor. Judy Cater and Katy French helped with the library resources
section.Thankyou,JudyandKaty.IappreciatealsotheavailabilityofDr.Richard
Lineback, Editor and Founder of the Philosopher’s Information Center, and the
vi
PREFACE vii
contributionsof the reviewers of thefifth editionof WritingPhilosophyPapers: Mia
Wood,PierceCollege;JorgeL.Nobo,WashburnUniversity;andBrainB.Clayton,
GonzagaUniversity.
Finally, I express my gratitude to my family for the many times and ways
they have warmed my heart and made me smile.
Zachary Seech
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Introduction
We call them ‘‘papers.’’ In college, professors require students to write
papers to show how well they think and research and how well they
understand and express ideas. These same professors write and publish papers of
their own for the benefit of other professors and thinkers around the world.
In daily life, people often toss around ideas, collecting a little information
throughnewspapersormagazines,voicingtheirownopinionsandcriticizingother
viewpoints. But rarely do we take the time to develop our thoughts fully on a
single topic. Half-baked ideas are sometimes the only items on our daily menus.
Writing a paper is a good way to develop your ideas on one topic in a
thorough and precise way. You make an effort to prethink and rethink your
ideas.Yourewordthosefirst,faultyphrasesandexpressyourbestthoughtsinthe
bestwayyoucan.Youdon’tknowhowgoodyouareuntilyou’vedoneit.The
result should be something you can be proud of, something that displays clear
thinking and good language skills. You end up with a physical product, a set of
printed pages that shows your reflective judgment on an issue. Often, the
educational process generates nothing more tangible to testify to your skills.
This is an opportunity to express your ideas in an impressive way. Unfortu-
nately,studentssometimeslosethisopportunity.Thetestimonyofthislosscomes
in words of complaint and lament:
n The paper is due tomorrow and I haven’t even started it yet.
n I have no idea what the professor wants for this paper.
n What is she going to grade on, anyway?
n I don’t have the books I need, and now it’s too late.
n I’monthelastpageofmypaper,andnowIseethatIcan’tprovewhatIsaid
I would in the first part of the paper. What can I do?
n What does he mean by ‘‘argue for’’?
Muchofwhatstudentsneedtoknowaboutwritingapapergoesunsaid.There
is so much for the student to know and so little time for the teacher to teach the
basicsofpaperwriting.WritingPhilosophyPapersiswrittentohelpprofessorsadvise
theirstudentsonhowtowriteaphilosophypaperandtogivestudentsinphilosophy
classes a better chance to demonstrate their skills. If you study this book carefully,
oneofthefrequentobstaclestolearningshouldbelargelyovercome.Goodluck!
viii
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First Things First
You have been instructed to write a paper for a philosophy course. Here is
your first advice:
Start right away.
Whether the paper is due this week, next month, or two months from
now, do something about it today or tomorrow. Even if you can’t start the
heaviest phase of your work yet, getting the project going will ease your
mind. It can also give you ideas to turn over in your mind and help you plan
your time. Putting off the first steps often results in a late paper, a poorly
written paper, or both.
How do you start? This depends on what kind of assignment you have
been given, when it is due, and how well you understand the details of the
assignment.
KNOW THE ASSIGNMENT
Sometimesitisdifficulttodoajobwellevenwhenyouknowexactlywhatmust
be done. Very seldom can you do a good job when someone else sets the goal
and the goal isn’t clear to you.
You can’t expect to write the kind of paper your professor has in mind
if you don’t understand what the requirements are. If you were absent or
late even once, find out whether you missed any oral or written instructions.
If you missed written instructions, obtain a copy. If you missed oral instruc-
tions, copy them from a student who took good notes or ask the professor.
Read the instructions carefully. Reread them. Study them. Ask your ques-
tions early.
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