Tips and Guidelines for Writing the Philosophy Paper
Philosophy 100, Professor Salomon

(adapted from http://www.nwmissouri.edu/~rfield/guide.html, with changes)

The standards for writing a good philosophy paper are like those for any scholarly writing. The writer should discuss the issues or ideas that form the subject matter of the paper in an orderly manner, omit needless redundancy and material irrelevant to the central issues of the paper, and provide citations and quotations wherever necessary to support the views expressed in the paper.

Questions to ask before you begin:

  • What subject matter can I discuss in adequate detail within the time and length constraints under which I am working?
  • What source materials (books, articles, chapters) are relevant to the paper topic and helpful as sources of information?
  • In what order should I explain various concepts, principles, and terms in my paper to make my ideas clear to the reader?
  • What sort of evidence can I supply for my ideas and interpretations?

    Standards of Evidence:

    In any academic discipline there are certain standards of evidence that must be followed whenever a particular thesis or view is proposed. In the empirical sciences, for example, it is generally accepted that any scientific theory should be supported by empirical observations made under specified controlled conditions. If this standard is met then anyone who questions the theory can replicate the conditions under which the observations that allegedly support the theory were originally made in order to discover whether the observed phenomena reported to have occurred actually do occur, and consequently whether the proposed theory is supported by the empirical evidence.

    It would be inappropriate to run scientific experiments when writing on the ideas of a particular philosopher or philosophical topic. Nevertheless, there are standards of evidence that also apply in philosophical writing. Two common ways of providing evidence for a philosophical view or an interpretation of a particular philosopher are citation and quotation.

    Citation: It is accepted practice in all disciplines that when a writer mentions or discusses at length the ideas of another writer, a citation of the original source of these ideas should be supplied. For example,

    Aristotle, in the Nicomachean Ethics, states that the final end of human action is happiness (35).

    Direct Quotation: When a passage from a text is particularly useful in supporting your views or your interpretation of an author, it may be helpful to quote the passage directly, with a footnote citation to show where the passage can be found. Direct quotations, however, should be used sparingly, and should only be used in connection with an interpretation of the quoted material. Part of the purpose of writing a paper is to communicate to the reader your understanding of the views of a particular philosopher. Quoting at length from a text without providing an interpretation of what is being said in the quoted passage fails to fulfill this purpose. Below are three secondary sources written for the general reader that you might find helpful in your research.

    Secondary Sources: Although your shorter papers do not require the use of secondary sources, you might find consulting some helpful. We will discuss the extensive use of sources when we get to the longer paper. Below are a few commonly-referenced philosophy sources:

    -Frederick Copleston, A History of Philosophy, 9 vols. (Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1963). -Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 8 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1967). -Simon Blackburn, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1994).

    Things to Avoid:

  • Plagiarism. It is accepted practice in scholarly writing to identify quoted passages from an original text with the use of quotation marks. This not only applies for quoted material of a sentence or more, but also for key phrases taken directly from the text. We also must acknowledge paraphrased material since we cite ideas, not words.

    Using a passage from any source without indicating in these ways that it is taken from an original source is called "plagiarism" and is not tolerated in scholarly writing. The word comes from the Latin plagarius meaning "to kidnap someone's baby." Plagiarism is considered an act of intellectual dishonesty since it is representing someone else's writing as one's own. Penalties include failure for the course and expulsion from the university.

  • Unexplained, Unsubstantiated, and Irrelevant Statements. It is not enough simply to make a statement in a scholarly paper, you must explain the statement and make it clear to the reader how the statement is relevant to the topic of the paper. If you are writing on the ideas of a particular philosopher, you must not only be concerned with what the philosopher says, but why he or she says it, and why you are reporting it in your paper. Likewise, if you offer your own opinion on a particular issue in a paper, it is not sufficient simply to state your opinion--you must also give your reasons for having the opinion you have.

    When writing a paper, then, you should adopt the following rules of thumb: (1) never raise a topic unless you are prepared to provide as full an explanation as is necessary to show its relevance to the subject matter of the paper, and (2) only offer your own opinion when you are prepared to provide an argument or give some reasons in support of it.

  • Raising Unanswered Questions. It is the writer's task in a research paper to offer some conclusions concerning the subject matter of the paper, whether it be a philosophical issue or the views of a particular philosopher. The writer fails in this responsibility when he or she raises questions in a paper while offering no suggestions as to how these questions might be answered. You should not, then, ask a question of your reader unless you are prepared to answer it.

    You should also avoid asking rhetorical questions, that is, making statements or claims expressed in interrogative form. Often inexperienced writers will ask a rhetorical question when they feel unsure of a claim that they wish to make in a paper. Thus instead of writing, "His theory of forms determined, in significant ways, the solutions Plato offered to the moral issues and dilemmas of his day," a tentative writer might make the same point in interrogative form by writing, "Wasn't it the theory of forms that determined, in significant ways, the solutions that Plato offered to the moral issues and dilemmas of his day?" Attempts to avoid the criticism of readers in this manner usually fail: it is clear in these instances, despite the evasive wording, that a claim is being made, and the interrogative form only serves to give the reader the impression that the writer has not thoroughly researched the paper topic.

  • Long Quotations. By all means avoid them. It is seldom necessary to quote any more than a few sentences from a primary or secondary source in order to support a view or interpretation in a paper.

  • Frequent Quotations. Quotations should be used only as a means of supporting views, ideas, and interpretations that you have already explained in your paper in your own words. They should never be used as a substitute for your explanation. Consequently, you should never write your paper by simply compiling a series of quotations. The bulk of the text of your paper should be your own writing, not quotations from primary and secondary sources.

  • Vagueness. Your paper should contain a strong argument that addresses the question. As a result, you should avoid vague terms such as "something" and "anyone." You should also avoid use of the words "a lot" and "etc." "A lot" is a phrase that doesn't really mean anything: "how much money do you have?" "A lot." "Etc." is an abbreviation for the Latin et cetera which means "and so on"; if you use "etc.," you are indicating to the reader that there is more to discuss, but you're too lazy or disinterested to do so.

    Always:

    1) proofread
    2) have a strong thesis which sufficiently argues the point
    3) include substantial evidence in the body of your paper
    4) cite the text when necessary and helpful
    5) use examples to support your argument
    6) assume your reader knows the text and nothing else (introduce authors and text names in your introduction)
    7) proofread

    Formatting:

  • Double-space everything in your paper text, long quotations, and list of works cited. Do not double-double space between paragraphs or anywhere else. Nothing in the body of the paper should be listed. Everything should be in paragraph form.
  • Indent paragraphs five spaces.
  • Use 12 point Times New Roman font only.
  • If you have a quotation which runs to more than four lines of regular text, block quote it. This means you indent each line ten spaces from the left margin. Block quotations, like everything else in your paper, are still double-spaced.
  • Margins: 1 inch all around
  • Choose a title which describes your work and is not too narrow or too broad: not "Ethics," but "Decision Making in Aristotle's Ethics."
  • Book titles are underlines; articles and essays are put in quotation marks.
  • Title page should have the title (centered), your name, the date, the course number, the instructor's name.
  • Use perfect bibliographic form at all times; consult a current grammar handbook or the MLA Handbook for Writers if there are questions.
  • Do not WRITE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS or in bold type. If you need to put a word in capital letters or in quotation marks, then you probably need to find a better world to convey your meaning.
  • Your paper must be in on time! Proofread carefully. If necessary, make corrections neatly with a black ink pen.
  • If you invent any new and unusual sources or variations of these common rules, expect it to affect the paper's strength and grade.
  • Quality over quantity; substance over flash.

    Remember: you can always come by with a draft, questions, or just to chit-cat.