Advice on writing papers for PHI 2010.


As with any of my courses, it is important that you read my notes on plagiarism.
If you are guilty of plagiarism, your paper will receive 0 and this will be counted towards your final grade. A second offense means that you will receive an F for the course, and I will write to Dr. Langoni asking him to make a record of the offense in your file.

Otherwise, your two best papers will jointly count for 60% of your final grade. So, if you want to do well on the course, you must learn to write good philosophy papers - and it isn't easy. You will find it helpful to bring me rough drafts for comment, to find out what I am looking for. Your paper will be receive a mark out of 30 based on the following criteria:

Grammar: Mark out of 5. You should check your spelling, grammar and punctuation. A spellchecker on a word processor will help, but it won't always tell you whether you are using the right word (e.g. "weather" or "whether", "conscience" or "consciousness"), and won't always be able to tell whether you have a well-formed sentence or not. Be aware that you can only get credit for grammar if you have written a passage yourself: avoid excessive quotations for this reason.

Composition: Mark out of 5. Your essay should be well-planned. You will lose credit in this section if you repeat yourself unnecessarily, stray off the subject, spend a disproportionate amount of time on a relatively unimportant matter, or if the essay is just too short. For example, students often lose credit because they have a very long introduction in which they state that this is a difficult topic, that lots of people have written about it before, but nobody is really sure, and it's hard to tell, etc. There is usually no need to say all of that: better to get to the interesting points. You will gain credit if you demonstrate that you can see how various topics are connected, and arrange the material in a way that reflects these connections. Essays that get full marks for composition are often divided into separate sections with sub-titles, but note that just because you have separate sections with sub-titles does not in any way guarantee a good mark for composition!

You should think about what sections are needed, what will go in each section, and what order to present the sections in. If you want to ensure a good mark for composition, make it very clear to me that you have spent time thinking about this: an introductory paragraph in which you tell me that the question is difficult is wasted. An introductory paragraph in which you explain the reasons why you have arranged the material in a particular way is almost certainly not wasted. Dropping in random biographical details about Descartes or Kant is probably wasted. Explaining how Descartes' view of the material world as mechanical is connected to his historical situation is probably not wasted.

Understanding: Mark out of 10. Your essay should show that you can use and understand philosophical vocabulary - e.g. that you are aware of the difference between soundness and validity of arguments, and between a priori and a posteriori knowledge. These terms will be explained in class. To demonstrate that you understand a term, it is not sufficient to quote a definition: you demonstrate that you understand a word when you are able to use it correctly, in passages that you have written yourself.

You should also demonstrate that you understand the reasons behind philosophical positions. In particular, you must demonstrate that you understand the reasons why some intelligent people would disagree with what you are saying. This can be done by explaining the views of philosophers who oppose what you say. Some students make no effort to do this, and then wonder why they receive 0/10 for understanding. Even when you remember to make the effort, it is harder than it seems. It's easy to miss the point that is being made by someone whose approach to the subject is very different from yours, and its hard for a novice to understand the subtleties of great philosophers. This is where historical knowledge is likely to be helpful - if you know how to use it well. Remember, you can always bring me a rough draft of your paper for advice - and the earlier you do this, the better.

Critical Thinking: Mark out of 10
Whatever your conclusion, you must offer intelligent reasons for accepting it. You should make it your goal to persuade an intelligent person who does not agree with your position. So, you have to appeal to something that your opponent would accept in order to argue for a position she does not accept.
To get marks for Critical Thinking, you must be clear about what your conclusion is - it cannot be something that is too obvious or too vague: you get credit for achieving something difficult, not for setting yourself an easy target and then hitting it.
For example,  "People who have faith will  always believe in God, and there will always be people who don't believe in God as well" is a weak conclusion. Its true, but it avoids taking sides on any interesting issues. Nobody would disagree with it, but why would anybody bother to say that?
A stronger conclusion would be "So long as someone has faith, she will believe in God, but the arguments that I have presented against God's existence seem overwhelming, and make it impossible for me to believe." Here, the writer takes sides - of course, this conclusion only works if some good arguments have been presented, and the writer has taken care to anticipate potential objections to these arguments.

A philosophy paper is not exactly like a normal research paper. You should spend some time reading around the subject, and I do provide reading material beyond what is available in the text book. However, it is better to read a little and think a lot. You will find it very useful to write a first draft, read it, and then re-write it. (This advice holds for papers for any subject, but it applies more to PHI 2010 than, say REL 1300). Aim to make the second draft very precise and well-organized.

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