Paper Writing

These are general guidelines you should follow in writing philosophy papers for my classes. Specific topics and formats will be explained in class.

Audience

Think of your audience as being a fellow classmate you respect, and who is

open-minded, intelligent, initially sceptical of your positions, but willing to be convinced by good arguments.

Do not write for me, since then you might take for granted ideas which really ought to be explained.

Other Things to Keep in Mind

The papers are thinking papers, not research papers. You may use other sources, but you do not have to do so.
State your claims and explanations as clearly as possible, using concrete examples of abstract ideas whenever you can.
Make sure there is at least one section of the paper that treats of a topic which you find extremely interesting, and about which you think you have something reasonably original and eye-opening to say. Ask yourself: would my hypothetical reader be intrigued? Would my critic have to find something to say back to me?
Number your pages.
If your positions change as you write your paper, that is OK. Just rewrite your introduction. Multiple drafts are highly recommended. The way you first come by your thoughts may not be the order in which they would be best presented.
Consider the best objections you can come up with, rather than shooting down ridiculous "straw men." Do not be dismissive or glib -- remember, you are imagining a reader you respect, but who has some doubts about whether your position is correct. What can you say to allay their doubts?
Don't appeal to "authorities" who agree with you (laws, famous people, accepted practices, religious figures, your grandpa). Your reader might not believe those people are really authorities, and thus not care what they think.
If you are going to assume something without argument, that is OK, so long as you say so, and do argue for something else. For instance, you might assume people have rights to life (controversial!), and argue for the controversial claim that the right to life does not include the right to what you need to survive.
In your conclusion, summarize what you have accomplished. You might also mention what you have not accomplished -- are there other objections you would need to consider at another time, to fully convince a sceptical reader?

Footnotes and Plagiarism

You should be careful not to plagiarize, that is, to use the ideas or phrases of another and present them as your own. Plagiarism is a serious offense, which can result in suspension and failure in the course. Any idea or phrase of another should be footnoted, and the source cited. The only exception is for ideas from discussions in this class, and ideas which are "common knowledge", i.e. likely to be encountered by many fellow students outside of university classes. If you are at all in doubt about whether to footnote, do so.

References

All references should be in a standard form. There are many good guides to standard form: one is Kate L. Turabian, Student's Guide For Writing College Papers (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963), pp. 103-121.

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