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Tackling the Philosophy Essay: A Student Guide

This short book, written by recent Cambridge PhD students, is designed to introduce students to the process of writing an essay in philosophy. Containing many annotated examples , this guide demonstrates some of the Do's and Don'ts of essay writing, with particular attention paid to the early stages of the writing process (including the creation thesis statements and essay outlines). This book may also be useful to instructors looking for teaching-related resources.

Tackling the Philosophy Essay (select one of the following formats):

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Guide To Grammar

To view information relating to the presentation of extended essays, dissertations and general paper (all parts) see Undergraduate Exams .

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2.6 Writing Philosophy Papers

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Identify and characterize the format of a philosophy paper.
Create thesis statements that are manageable and sufficiently specific.
Collect evidence and formulate arguments.
Organize ideas into a coherent written presentation.

This section will provide some practical advice on how to write philosophy papers. The format presented here focuses on the use of an argumentative structure in writing. Different philosophy professors may have different approaches to writing. The sections below are only intended to give some general guidelines that apply to most philosophy classes.

Identify Claims

The key element in any argumentative paper is the claim you wish to make or the position you want to defend. Therefore, take your time identifying claims , which is also called the thesis statement. What do you want to say about the topic? What do you want the reader to understand or know after reading your piece? Remember that narrow, modest claims work best. Grand claims are difficult to defend, even for philosophy professors. A good thesis statement should go beyond the mere description of another person’s argument. It should say something about the topic, connect the topic to other issues, or develop an application of some theory or position advocated by someone else. Here are some ideas for creating claims that are perfectly acceptable and easy to develop:

Compare two philosophical positions. What makes them similar? How are they different? What general lessons can you draw from these positions?
Identify a piece of evidence or argument that you think is weak or may be subject to criticism. Why is it weak? How is your criticism a problem for the philosopher’s perspective?
Apply a philosophical perspective to a contemporary case or issue. What makes this philosophical position applicable? How would it help us understand the case?
Identify another argument or piece of evidence that might strengthen a philosophical position put forward by a philosopher. Why is this a good argument or piece of evidence? How does it fit with the philosopher’s other claims and arguments?
Consider an implication (either positive or negative) that follows from a philosopher’s argument. How does this implication follow? Is it necessary or contingent? What lessons can you draw from this implication (if positive, it may provide additional reasons for the argument; if negative, it may provide reasons against the argument)?

Think Like a Philosopher

The following multiple-choice exercises will help you identify and write modest, clear philosophical thesis statements. A thesis statement is a declarative statement that puts forward a position or makes a claim about some topic.

How does Aristotle think virtue is necessary for happiness?
Is happiness the ultimate goal of human action?
Whether or not virtue is necessary for happiness.
Aristotle argues that happiness is the ultimate good of human action and virtue is necessary for happiness.
René Descartes argues that the soul or mind is the essence of the human person.
Descartes shows that all beliefs and memories about the external world could be false.
Some people think that Descartes is a skeptic, but I will show that he goes beyond skepticism.
In the meditations, Descartes claims that the mind and body are two different substances.
Descartes says that the mind is a substance that is distinct from the body, but I disagree.
Contemporary psychology has shown that Descartes is incorrect to think that human beings have free will and that the mind is something different from the brain.
Thomas Hobbes’s view of the soul is materialistic, whereas Descartes’s view of the soul is nonphysical. In this paper, I will examine the differences between these two views.
John Stuart Mill reasons that utilitarian judgments can be based on qualitative differences as well as the quantity of pleasure, but ultimately any qualitative difference must result in a difference in the quantity of pleasure.
Mill’s approach to utilitarianism differs from Bentham’s by introducing qualitative distinctions among pleasures, where Bentham only considers the quantitative aspects of pleasure.
J. S. Mill’s approach to utilitarianism aligns moral theory with the history of ethics because he allows qualitative differences in moral judgments.
Rawls’s liberty principle ensures that all people have a basic set of freedoms that are important for living a full life.
The US Bill of Rights is an example of Rawls’s liberty principle because it lists a set of basic freedoms that are guaranteed for all people.
While many people may agree that Rawls’s liberty principle applies to all citizens of a particular country, it is much more controversial to extend those same basic freedoms to immigrants, including those classified by the government as permanent residents, legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, and refugees.

[ANS: 1.d 2.c 3.c 4.a 5.c]

Write Like a Philosopher

Use the following templates to write your own thesis statement by inserting a philosopher, claim, or contemporary issue:

[Name of philosopher] holds that [claim], but [name of another philosopher] holds that [another claim]. In this paper, I will identify reasons for thinking [name of philosopher]’s position is more likely to be true.
[Name of philosopher] argues that [claim]. In this paper, I will show how this claim provides a helpful addition to [contemporary issue].
When [name of philosopher] argues in favor of [claim], they rely on [another claim] that is undercut by contemporary science. I will show that if we modify this claim in light of contemporary science, we will strengthen or weaken [name of philosopher]’s argument.

Collect Evidence and Build Your Case

Once you have identified your thesis statement or primary claim, collect evidence (by returning to your readings) to compose the best possible argument. As you assemble the evidence, you can think like a detective or prosecutor building a case. However, you want a case that is true, not just one that supports your position. So you should stay open to modifying your claim if it does not fit the evidence . If you need to do additional research, follow the guidelines presented earlier to locate authoritative information.

If you cannot find evidence to support your claim but still feel strongly about it, you can try to do your own philosophical thinking using any of the methods discussed in this chapter or in Chapter 1. Imagine counterexamples and thought experiments that support your claim. Use your intuitions and common sense, but remember that these can sometimes lead you astray. In general, common sense, intuitions, thought experiments, and counterexamples should support one another and support the sources you have identified from other philosophers. Think of your case as a structure: you do not want too much of the weight to rest on a single intuition or thought experiment.

Consider Counterarguments

Philosophy papers differ from typical argumentative papers in that philosophy students must spend more time and effort anticipating and responding to counterarguments when constructing their own arguments. This has two important effects: first, by developing counterarguments, you demonstrate that you have sufficiently thought through your position to identify possible weaknesses; second, you make your case stronger by taking away a potential line of attack that an opponent might use. By including counterarguments in your paper, you engage in the kind of dialectical process that philosophers use to arrive at the truth.

Accurately Represent Source Material

It is important to represent primary and secondary source material as accurately as possible. This means that you should consider the context and read the arguments using the principle of charity. Make sure that you are not strawmanning an argument you disagree with or misrepresenting a quote or paraphrase just because you need some evidence to support your argument. As always, your goal should be to find the most rationally compelling argument, which is the one most likely to be true.

Organize Your Paper

Academic philosophy papers use the same simple structure as any other paper and one you likely learned in high school or your first-year composition class.

Introduce Your Thesis

The purpose of your introduction is to provide context for your thesis. Simply tell the reader what to expect in the paper. Describe your topic, why it is important, and how it arises within the works you have been reading. You may have to provide some historical context, but avoid both broad generalizations and long-winded historical retellings. Your context or background information should not be overly long and simply needs to provide the reader with the context and motivation for your thesis. Your thesis should appear at the end of the introduction, and the reader should clearly see how the thesis follows from the introductory material you have provided. If you are writing a long paper, you may need several sentences to express your thesis, in which you delineate in broad terms the parts of your argument.

Make a Logical and Compelling Case Using the Evidence

The paragraphs that follow the introduction lay out your argument. One strategy you can use to successfully build paragraphs is to think in terms of good argument structure. You should provide adequate evidence to support the claims you want to make. Your paragraphs will consist of quotations and paraphrases from primary and secondary sources, context and interpretation, novel thoughts and ideas, examples and analogies, counterarguments, and replies to the counterarguments. The evidence should both support the thesis and build toward the conclusion. It may help to think architecturally: lay down the foundation, insert the beams of your strongest support, and then put up the walls to complete the structure. Or you might think in terms of a narrative: tell a story in which the evidence leads to an inevitable conclusion.

Connections

See the chapter on logic and reasoning for a developed account of different types of philosophical arguments.

Summarize Your Argument in the Conclusion

Conclude your paper with a short summary that recapitulates the argument. Remind the reader of your thesis and revisit the evidence that supports your argument. You may feel that the argument as written should stand on its own. But it is helpful to the reader to reinforce the argument in your conclusion with a short summary. Do not introduce any new information in the conclusion; simply summarize what you have already said.

The purpose of this chapter has been to provide you with basic tools to become a successful philosophy student. We started by developing a sophisticated picture of how the brain works, using contemporary neuroscience. The brain represents and projects a picture of the world, full of emotional significance, but this image may contain distortions that amount to a kind of illusion. Cognitive illusions produce errors in reasoning, called cognitive biases. To guard against error, we need to engage in effortful, reflective thinking, where we become aware of our biases and use logical strategies to overcome them. You will do well in your philosophy class if you apply the good habits of mind discussed in this chapter and apply the practical advice that has been provided about how to read and write about philosophy.

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How to Write a Philosophy Essay: Ultimate Guide

What Is a Philosophy Essay: Definition

Philosophical writing isn't your typical assignment. Its aim isn't to provide an overview of professional philosophers' works and say whether you agree with them.

Philosophy demands becoming a philosopher for the time of writing, thinking analytically and critically of ideas, pondering the Big Questions, and asking 'Why?'. That's why it requires time and energy, as well as a lot of thinking on your part.

But what is philosophy essay, exactly? If you're tasked with writing one, you'll have to select a thesis in the philosophical domain and argue for or against it. Then, you can support your thesis with other professional philosophers' works. But it has to contain your own philosophical contribution, too. (This is only one definition of philosophy essay, of course.)

What's a Good Philosophy Paper Outline?

Before you start writing your first line, you should make a philosophy essay outline. Think of it as a plan for your philosophy paper that briefly describes each paragraph's point.

As for how to write a philosophy essay outline, here are a few tips for you:

Start with your thesis. What will you be arguing for or against?
Read what philosophical theory has to say and note sources for your possible arguments and counterarguments.
Decide on the definitions of core concepts to include precise philosophical meanings in your essay.
After careful and extended reflection, organize your ideas following the structure below.

How To Structure a Philosophy Paper?

Like any other essay, a philosophy paper consists of an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. Sticking to this traditional philosophy essay structure will help you avoid unnecessary stress.

Here's your mini-guide on how to structure a philosophy essay:

Introduction - Clarify the question you will be answering in your philosophy paper. State your thesis – i.e., the answer you'll be arguing for. Explain general philosophical terms if needed.
Main body - Start with providing arguments for your stance and refute all the objections for each of them. Then, describe other possible answers and their reasoning – and counter the main arguments in their support.
Conclusion - Sum up all possible answers to the questions and reiterate why yours is the most viable one.

What's an Appropriate Philosophy Essay Length?

In our experience, 2,000 to 2,500 words are enough to cover the topic in-depth without compromising the quality of the writing.

However, see whether you have an assigned word limit before getting started. If it's shorter or longer than we recommend, stick to that word limit in writing your essay on philosophy.

What Format Should You Use for a Philosophy Paper?

As a service we can attest that most students use the APA guidelines as their philosophy essay format. However, your school has the final say in what format you should stick to.

Sometimes, you can be asked to use a different college philosophy essay format, like MLA or Chicago. But if you're the one to choose the guidelines and don't know which one would be a good philosophy argumentative essay format, let's break down the most popular ones.

APA, MLA, and Chicago share some characteristics:

Font: Time New Roman, 12 pt
Line spacing: double
Margins: 1" (left and right)
Page number: in the header

But here's how they differ:

A title page required
Sources list: 'References' page
No title page required
Sources list: 'Works cited' page
Sources list: 'Bibliography' page
Footnotes and endnotes are required for citations

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Guideline on How to Write a Philosophy Essay

If you still don't feel that confident about writing a philosophy paper, don't worry. Philosophical questions, by definition, have more than one interpretation. That's what makes them so challenging to write about.

To help you out in your philosophical writing journey, we've prepared this list of seven tips on how to write a philosophy essay.

Read Your Sources Thoughtfully

Whether your recommended reading includes Dante's Divine Comedy or Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism Is a Humanism , approach your sources with curiosity and analytical thinking. Don't just mindlessly consume those texts. Instead, keep asking yourself questions while you're reading them, such as:

What concepts and questions does the author address?
What's the meaning behind key ideas and metaphors in the text?
What does the author use as a convincing argument?
Are there any strange or obscure distinctions?

As for which sources you should turn to, that all depends on your central question; philosophy topics for essay are diverse and sometimes opposed. So, you'll have to do your fair share of research.

Brainstorm & Organize Your Ideas

As you're reading those texts, jot down what comes to your mind. It can be a great quote you've stumbled upon, an idea for an argument, or your thoughtful, critical responses to certain opinions.

Then, sort through and organize all of those notes into an outline for your essay in philosophy. Make sure that it holds up in terms of logic. And ensure that your arguments and counterarguments are compelling, sensible, and convincing!

Now, you might be wondering how to write a philosophy essay introduction. Don't worry: there's an explanation right below!

Craft Your Introductory Paragraph

Think of your introduction as a road map preparing your reader for the journey your essay will take them on. This road map will describe the key 'stops' in your essay on philosophy: your topic, stance, and how you will argue for it – and refute other stances.

Don't hesitate to write it out as a step-by-step guide in the first or third person. For example: 'First, I will examine... Then, I will dispute... Finally, I will present….'

Need an example of an excellent introduction for a philosophy paper? You’ll be thrilled to know that we have one of our philosophy essay examples below!

Present Your Key Arguments & Reflections

Philosophy papers require a fair share of expository writing. This is where you demonstrate your understanding of the topic. So, make your exposition extensive and in-depth, and don't omit anything crucial.

As for the rest of the main body, we've covered how to structure a philosophy essay above. In short, you'll need to present supporting arguments, anticipate objections, and address them.

Use your own words when writing a philosophy paper; avoid pretentious or verbose language. Yes, some technical philosophical terms may be necessary. But the point of a philosophical paper is to present your stance – and develop your own philosophy – on the topic.

Don't Shy Away from Critical Ideas

Whenever you examine a philosophical theory or text, treat it with a fair share of criticism. This is what it means in practice – and how to structure a philosophy essay around your critical ideas:

Pinpoint what the theory's or idea's strengths are and every valid argument in its support;
See the scope of its application – perhaps, there are exceptions you can use as counterarguments;
Research someone else's criticism of the theory or idea. Develop your own criticism, as well;
Check if the philosopher already addressed those criticisms.
Ponder Possible Answers to Philosophical Questions

Writing an essay in philosophy is, in fact, easier for some students as the topic can always have multiple answers, and you can choose any of them. However, this can represent an even tougher challenge for other students. After all, you must consider those possible answers and address them in the paper.

How do you pinpoint those possible answers? Some of them can come to your mind when you brainstorm, especially if you'll be writing about one of the Big Questions. Others will reveal themselves when you start reading other philosophers' works.

Remember to have arguments for and against each possible answer and address objections.

Write a Powerful Conclusion

The conclusion is where you sum up your paper in just one paragraph. Reiterate your thesis and what arguments support it. But in philosophical writing, you can rarely have a clear, undebatable answer by the end of the paper. So, it's fine if your conclusion doesn't have a definitive verdict.

Here are a few tips on how to write a conclusion in a philosophy essay:

Don't introduce new arguments or evidence in conclusion – they belong in the main body;
Avoid overestimating or embellishing the level or value of your work;
Best conclusions are obvious and logical for those reading the paper – i.e.; a conclusion shouldn't be surprising at all;
Stay away from poorly explained claims in conclusion.

Philosophical Essay Example

Sometimes, it's better to see how it's done once than to read a thousand guides. We know that like no one else, so we have prepared this short philosophy essay example to show you what excellent philosophy papers look like:

Like this example? Wondering how to get a perfect philosophy essay as great as it is? You're in luck: you can leave " write my philosophy paper " request and buy online essay at EssayPro without breaking the bank! Keep in mind: this example is only a fraction of what our writers are capable of!

30 Philosophy Paper Topic Ideas

Philosophical writing concerns questions that don't have clear-cut yes or no answers. So, coming up with philosophy essay topics yourself can be tough.

Fret not: we've put together this list of 30 topics for philosophy papers on ethics and leadership for you. Feel free to use them as-is or tweak them!

15 Ethics Philosophy Essay Topics

Ethics deals with the question of right and wrong. So, if you're looking for philosophy essay topic ideas, ethics concerns some of the most interesting – and most mind-boggling – questions about human behavior.

Here are 15 compelling philosophy essay topics ethics has to offer you:

Is starting a war always morally wrong?
Would it be right to legalize euthanasia?
What is more important: the right to privacy or national security?
Is justice always fair?
Should nuclear weapons be banned?
Should teenagers be allowed to get plastic surgery?
Can cheating be justifiable?
Can AI algorithms behave ethically?
Should you abide by an unfair law?
Should voting become mandatory?
When can the right to freedom of speech be limited?
Is it the consumers' responsibility to fight climate by changing their buying decisions?
Is getting an abortion immoral?
Should we give animals their own rights?
Would human gene editing be immoral?

15 Leadership Philosophy Essay Topics

You're lucky if you're tasked with writing a leadership philosophy essay! We've compiled this list of 15 fresh, unconventional topics for you:

Is formal leadership necessary for ensuring the team's productivity?
Can authoritative leadership be ethical?
How do informal leaders take on this role?
Should there be affirmative action for formal leadership roles?
Is it possible to measure leadership?
What's the most important trait of a leader?
Is leadership an innate talent or an acquired skill?
Should leadership mean holding power over others?
Can a team function without a leader?
Should you follow a leader no matter what?
Is leader succession necessary? Why?
Are leadership and power the same?
Can we consider influencers contemporary leaders?
Why do people follow leaders?
What leadership style is the most ethical one?

7 Helpful Tips on Crafting a Philosophical Essay

Still, feeling stuck writing a philosophical essay? Here are seven more tips on crafting a good philosophy paper that can help you get unstuck:

Write the way you would talk about the subject. This will help you avoid overly convoluted, poor writing by using more straightforward prose with familiar words.
Don't focus on having a definitive answer by the end of your philosophical essay if your conclusion states that the question should be clarified further or that there are multiple answers.
You don't have to answer every question you raise in the paper. Even professional philosophers sometimes don't have all the answers.
Get straight to the point at the start of your paper. No need to warm up the reader – and inflate your word count.
Avoid using quotes. Instead, explain the author's point in your own words. But if you feel it's better to use a direct quote, explicitly state how it ties to your argument after it.
Write in the first person unless your assignment requires you to use the third person.
Start working on your philosophical essay well in advance. However much time you think you'll need, double it!

7 Common Mistakes to Avoid in Philosophy Writing

Sometimes, knowing what you shouldn't do in a philosophical essay is also helpful. Here are seven common mistakes that often bring down students' grades – but are easily avoidable:

Appealing to authority – in philosophy, strive to develop your own stance instead;
Using convoluted sentences to appear more intelligent – instead, use simpler ways to deliver the same meaning;
Including interesting or important material without tying it to your point – every piece of evidence and every idea should explicitly support your arguments or counterarguments;
Inflating your word count without delivering value – in the writing process, it's crucial to 'kill your darlings';
Making poorly explained claims – explicitly present reasons for or against every claim you include;
Leaving core concepts undefined – explain what you mean by the words like 'free will' or 'existentialism' in the introduction;
Worrying about being wrong – no one can be proven wrong in philosophy!

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You'll be graded on three basic criteria:

The Writing Place

Resources – how to write a philosophy paper, introduction to the topic.

The most common introductory level philosophy papers involve making an original argument (“Do you believe that free will exists?”) or thinking critically about another philosopher’s argument (“Do you agree with Hobbes’ argument about free will?”). This short checklist will help you construct a paper for these two types of assignments.

The Basics of a Philosophy Paper

1. introduction and thesis.

There is not a need for a grand or lofty introduction in a philosophy paper. Introductory paragraphs should be short and concise. In the thesis, state what you will be arguing and how you will make your argument.

2. Define Terms

It is important to define words that you use in your argument that may be unclear to your reader. While it may seem like words like “morality” and “free will” have an obvious definition, you need to make clear to your audience what those words mean in the context of your paper. A generally useful rule is to pretend that your reader does not know anything about your course or the subject of philosophy and define any words or concepts that such a reader may find ambiguous.

In a philosophy paper, you need to give reasons to support the argument you made in your thesis. This should constitute the largest portion of your paper. It is also important here to name preexisting conditions (premises) that must exist in order for the argument to be true. You can use real-world examples and the ideas of other philosophers to generate reasons why your argument is true. Remember to use simple and clear language and treat your readers as if they are not experts in philosophy.

4. Objections and Responses to Objections

Unlike other types of persuasive essays, in a many philosophy papers you should anticipate criticisms of your argument and respond to those criticisms. If you can refute objections to your argument, your paper will be stronger. While you do not have to address every potential counterargument, you should try to cover the most salient problems.

5. Conclusion

Like the introduction, you should be simple and concise. In the final paragraph you should review and summarize what your paper has established. The conclusion should tell readers why your argument is relevant. It answers the question, “Why do I care?”

General Tips

Do not overstate or over generalize your ideas.
Do not try to argue for both sides of an issue. Be clear about where you stand or your reader will be confused.
Be specific. Do not try to tackle a huge issue, but rather, aim to discuss something small that can be done justice in just a few pages.
Be wary of using religious or legal grounds for your argument.

A Quick Practice Exercise...

Practice: what is wrong with this paragraph.

This paragraph contains 5 major errors that you should try to avoid in a philosophy paper. Can you find them all?

“In his argument from design, Paley uses the example of a watch that he finds upon a road that has dozens of pieces that work together to make the clock function. He asserts that this watch is too perfect of a creation not to have a creator and that it would be obvious to conclude that the timepiece must have a maker. Similarly, the Bible proves that God must exist because he made the world beautiful in seven days. Paley notes, “There cannot be design without a designer; contrivance, without a contriver; order, without choice; arrangement without anything capable of arranging” (Paley 49). This reasoning is strong because it is apparent that beings found in nature have a complex design. For example, the iris, retina, lens and ocular muscles of the eye all work together to produce sight in the human eye and without any one of these mechanisms, one would be blind. For all of these tiny pieces that are required for a functioning eye to have randomly come together seems impossible. Therefore, it is logical that there had to be a designer who created a world in which DNA replicates and dozens of small parts create a functioning human or animal. By simply viewing the natural world, it is highly plausible to see that Paley’s theory is correct.”

1. “Similarly, the Bible proves that God must exist because he had the power to make the flood happen in Noah’s Ark.” Arguments based off religious texts, such as the Bible, are generally frowned upon and only weaken an essay.

2. The writer does not define what he means by “God.” Is God a benevolent overseer of the earth? Or is God a vengeful figure? Although it may seem as though everyone knows who God is, in reality, people have different perspective and the writer needs to define God’s character for the reader.

3. “For all of these tiny pieces that are required for a functioning eye to have randomly come together seems impossible.” The phrase “ seems impossible ” is weak and unclear. In a philosophy paper, you should take a strong stance and avoid words that weaken your argument like “probably” or “seem.” Additionally, the phrase “ highly plausible ” appears at the end of the paragraph, which is also a phrase that weakens the argument.

4. The writer gives not premises for Paley’s argument to be true. A stronger paper would name the preexisting conditions that must exist in order for the argument to stand.

5. The “real world” example of the human eye is not the best. The writer neglects strong counterarguments such as evolution and the existence of blindness in humans. A good philosophy paper would be more careful when considering real world examples.

Developed by Ann Bruton

Adapted from:

Harvard University’s Short Guide to Philosophical Writing

Kenneth Seeskin’s “How to Write a Philosophy Paper,” Northwestern University

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The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

What this handout is about

This handout discusses common types of philosophy assignments and strategies and resources that will help you write your philosophy papers.

What is philosophy, and why do we study it?

Philosophy is the practice of making and assessing arguments. An argument is a set of statements (called premises) that work together to support another statement (the conclusion).

Making and assessing arguments can help us get closer to understanding the truth. At the very least, the process helps make us aware of our reasons for believing what we believe, and it enables us to use reason when we discuss our beliefs with other people. Your philosophy teacher wants to help you learn to make strong arguments and to assess the arguments other people make.

Elements of philosophy papers

A philosophy paper may require several kinds of tasks, including:

Argument reconstruction

Objections and replies

Application.

Original argument

Thought experiments

Let’s examine these elements one at a time.

Argument Reconstruction

To reconstruct an argument, you’ll need to present it in a way that someone unfamiliar with the material will understand. Often, this requires you to say a lot more than the philosopher whose work you are writing about did!

There are two main ways to reconstruct an argument: in regular prose or as a formal series of numbered steps. Unless your professor or TA has told you otherwise, you should probably use regular prose. In either case, keep these points in mind:

Keep your ideas separate from the author’s. Your purpose is to make the author’s argument clear, not to tell what you think of it.
Be charitable. Give the best version of the argument you can, even if you don’t agree with the conclusion.
Define important terms.
Organize your ideas so that the reader can proceed logically from premises to conclusion, step by step.
Explain each premise.

Let’s walk through an argument reconstruction. Here is a passage by 18th-century British philosopher David Hume:

Take any action allowed to be vicious: Willful murder, for instance. Examine it in all lights, and see if you can find that matter of fact, or real existence, which you call vice. In whichever way you take it, you find only certain passions, motives, volitions and thoughts. There is no other matter of fact in the case. The vice entirely escapes you, as long as you consider the object. You never can find it, till you turn your reflection into your own breast, and find a sentiment of disapprobation, which arises in you, towards this action. Here is a matter of fact, but it is the object of feeling, not of reason. It lies in yourself, not in the object. So that when you pronounce any action or character to be vicious, you mean nothing, but that from the constitution of your nature you have a feeling or sentiment of blame from the contemplation of it. (David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature).

Step 1: Reread the passage a few times, stopping to look up any unfamiliar words—”disapprobation,” maybe. Be sure you understand the important terms, like “vicious.” (By “vicious,” Hume seems to mean “wicked, depraved, or immoral,” which probably isn’t the way you use the word in everyday speech.)

Step 2: Identify the conclusion. Sometimes your teacher will identify it for you, but even if they didn’t, you can find it. (Caution: It won’t always be the first or the last sentence in the passage; it may not even be explicitly stated.) In this case, Hume’s conclusion is something like this: The viciousness of an action is a feeling of disapprobation in the person who considers it, not a property of the action itself.

Step 3: Identify the premises. Consider the conclusion and ask yourself what the author needs to do to prove it. Hume’s conclusion here seems to have two parts: When we call an action vicious, we mean that our “nature” causes us to feel blame when we contemplate that action. There is nothing else that we could mean when we call an action “vicious.”

Step 4: Identify the evidence. Hume considers an example, murder, and points out that when we consider why we say that murder is vicious, two things happen:

We realize that when we contemplate murder, we feel “a sentiment of disapprobation” in ourselves.
No matter how hard we look, we don’t see any other “matter of fact” that could be called “vice”—all we see “in the object” (the murder) are “certain passions, motives, volitions, and thoughts.”

Step 5: Identify unspoken assumptions. Hume assumes that murder is a representative case of “viciousness.” He also assumes that if there were “viciousness” in the “object” (the murder), we would be able to “see” it—it isn’t somehow hidden from us. Depending on how important you think these assumptions are, you may want to make them explicit in your reconstruction.

Step 6: Sketch out a formal reconstruction of the argument as a series of steps.

If we examine a vicious action like murder, we see passions, motives, volitions, and thoughts.
We don’t see anything else.
So we don’t see any property or “matter of fact” called “viciousness.”
Assumption: What we don’t see is not there.
When we examine our feelings about murder, we see a “sentiment of disapprobation.”
Unstated premise: This feeling of disapprobation is the only thing all the acts we think are vicious have in common, and we feel it whenever we confront a vicious act—that is, all and only vicious acts produce the feeling of disapprobation.
Conclusion: So the viciousness of a bad action is a feeling of disapprobation in the person who considers it, not a factual property of the action itself.

Step 7: Summarize the argument, explaining the premises and how they work together. Here’s how such a prose reconstruction might go: To understand what we mean when we call an action “vicious,” by which he means “wrong,” Hume examines the case of murder. He finds that whenever we consider a murder itself, all we see are the “passions, motives, volitions, and thoughts” of the people involved. For example, we might see that the murderer feels the passion of anger and is motivated by a desire to make his victim suffer, and that the victim feels the passion of fear and is thinking about how to escape. But no matter how hard we look, we don’t see “viciousness” or wrongness—we see an action taking place, and people with motives and feelings are involved in that action, but none of these things seem to be what we mean by “viciousness” or wrongness. Hume next turns his inquiry inward, and considers what is happening inside a person who calls a murder “vicious.” The person who thinks or says that murder is wrong always seems to be feeling a certain “sentiment of disapprobation.” That is, the person disapproves of the action and blames the murderer. When we say “murder is wrong,” we usually think that we are saying something about murder itself, that we are describing a property (wrongness) that the action of murder has. But Hume thinks what we are in fact describing is a feeling in us, not a property of murder—the “viciousness” of a vicious action is just an emotion in the person who is thinking about or observing that action, rather than a property of the action itself.

Often, after you reconstruct an argument, you’ll be asked to tell whether it is a good or a bad argument and whether you agree or disagree with it.

Thinking of objections and examining their consequences is a way that philosophers check to see if an argument is a good one. When you consider an objection, you test the argument to see if it can overcome the objection. To object to an argument, you must give reasons why it is flawed:

The premises don’t support the conclusion.
One or more of the premises is false.
The argument articulates a principle that makes sense in this case but would have undesirable consequences in other cases.
The argument slides from one meaning of a term to another.
The argument makes a comparison that doesn’t really hold.

Here are some questions you can ask to make sure your objections are strong:

Have I made clear what part of the argument I object to?
Have I explained why I object to that part of the argument?
Have I assessed the severity of my objection? (Do I simply point out where the philosopher needs to do more work, or is it something more devastating, something that the philosopher cannot answer?)
Have I thought about and discussed how the philosopher might respond to my objection?
Have I focused on the argument itself, rather than just talking about the general issues the conclusion raises?
Have I discussed at least one objection thoroughly rather than many objections superficially?

Let’s look at our example again. What objections might you make to Hume’s argument about murder? Here are some possible arguments:

You might object to premises 2 and 3, and argue that wrong actions do have a property that makes us call them wrong. For example, maybe we call actions wrong because of their motives—because the actions are motivated by cruelty, for example. So perhaps Hume is right that we don’t see a property called “viciousness,” but wrong that “viciousness” is thus only a feeling in us. Maybe the viciousness is one of the motives or passions.
You might also object to premise 5, and say that we sometimes judge actions to be wrong even though we don’t feel any “sentiment” of disapproval for them. For example, if vigilantes killed a serial murderer, we might say that what they did was wrong, even if we shared their anger at the murderer and were pleased that they had killed them.

Often you’ll be asked to consider how a philosopher might reply to objections. After all, not every objection is a good objection; the author might be able to come up with a very convincing reply! Use what you know about the author’s general position to construct a reply that is consistent with other things the author has said, as well as with the author’s original argument.

So how might Hume, or someone defending Hume, reply to the objections above? Here are some possible objections:

To the first, Hume might reply that there is no one motive that all “vicious” actions have in common. Are all wrong actions motivated by cruelty? No—theft, for example, might be motivated by hunger. So the only thing all “vicious” actions have in common is that we disapprove of them.
To the second, Hume might reply that when we call the actions of vigilantes wrong, even though we are pleased by them, we must still be feeling at least some disapproval.

Sometimes you will be asked to summarize an author’s argument and apply that position to a new case. Considering how the author would think about a different case helps you understand the author’s reasoning and see how the argument is relevant. Imagine that your instructor has given you this prompt:

“Apply Hume’s views on the nature of vice to the following case: Mr. Smith has an advanced form of cancer. He asks Dr. Jones what she thinks his prognosis is. Dr. Jones is certain Mr. Smith will die within the month, but she tells him he may survive for a year or longer, that his cancer may not be fatal. Dr. Jones wants to give Mr. Smith hope and spare him the painful truth. How should we think about whether what Dr. Jones did is wrong?”

Consider what you know about Hume’s views. Hume has not given a list of actions that are right or wrong, nor has he said how we should judge whether an action is right or wrong. All he has told us is that if an action is wrong, the wrongness is a sentiment in the people considering the action rather than a property of the action itself. So Hume would probably say that what matters is how we feel about Dr. Jones’s action—do we feel disapproval? If we feel disapproval, then we are likely to call the action “wrong.”

This test case probably raises all kinds of questions for you about Hume’s views. You might be thinking, “Who cares whether we call the action wrong—I want to know whether it actually is wrong!” Or you might say to yourself, “Some people will feel disapproval of the doctor’s action, but others will approve, so how should we decide whether the action is wrong or not?” These are exactly the kinds of questions your instructor wants to get you thinking about.

When you go back to read and discuss Hume, you will begin to see how he might answer such questions, and you will have a deeper understanding of his position. In your paper, though, you should probably focus on one or two main points and reserve the rest of your speculation for your conclusion.

Original argument/taking a position

Sometimes an assignment will ask you to stake out a position (i.e., to take sides in a philosophical debate) or to make an original argument. These assignments are basically persuasive essays, a kind of writing you are probably familiar with. If you need help, see our handouts on argument and thesis statements, among others.

Remember: Think about your audience, and use arguments that are likely to convince people who aren’t like you. For example, you might think the death penalty is wrong because your parents taught you so. But other people have no special reason to care what your parents think. Try to give reasons that will be interesting and compelling to most people.

If scientists want to test a theory or principle, they design an experiment.

In philosophy, we often test our ideas by conducting thought experiments. We construct imaginary cases that allow us to focus on the issue or principle we are most interested in. Often the cases aren’t especially realistic, just as the conditions in a scientific laboratory are different from those in the outside world.

When you are asked to write about a thought experiment, don’t worry about whether it is something that is ever likely to happen; instead, focus on the principle being tested. Suppose that your bioethics teacher has given you this thought experiment to consider:

An elderly, unconscious patient needs a heart transplant. It is very unlikely that a donor heart will become available before the patient dies. The doctor’s other option is to try a new and risky procedure that involves transplanting the heart of a genetically engineered chimpanzee into the patient. This will require killing the chimp. What should the doctor recommend?

This scenario may be unrealistic, but your instructor has created it to get you to think about what considerations matter morally (not just medically) when making a life-or-death decision. Who should make such decisions—doctors, families, or patients? Is it acceptable to kill another intelligent primate in order to provide a heart for a human? Does it matter that the patient is elderly? Unconscious? So instead of focusing on whether or not the scenario is likely to happen, you should make an argument about these issues. Again, see our handouts on argument and thesis statements for help in crafting your position.

Other things to keep in mind

Be consistent. For example, if I begin my paper by arguing that Marquis is right about abortion, I shouldn’t say later that Thomson’s argument (which contradicts Marquis’s) is also correct.
Avoid overstatement. Watch out for words like “all,” “every,” “always,” “no,” “none,” and “never”; supporting a claim that uses these words could be difficult. For example, it would be much harder to prove that lying is always wrong than to prove that lying is usually or sometimes wrong.
Avoid the pitfalls of “seeing both sides.” Suppose you think Kant’s argument is pretty strong, but you still disagree with his conclusion. You might be tempted to say “Kant’s argument is a good one. I disagree with it.” This appears contradictory. If an argument really is good and you can’t find any weaknesses in it, it seems rational to think that you should agree with the argument. If you disagree with it, there must be something wrong with it, and your job is to figure out what that is and point it out.
Avoid personal attacks and excessive praise. Neither “Mill was obviously a bad person who didn’t care about morality at all” nor “Kant is the greatest philosopher of all time” adds to our understanding of Mill’s or Kant’s arguments.
Avoid grandiose introductions and conclusions. Your instructor is not likely to appreciate introductions that start with sentences like “Since the dawn of time, human beings have wondered about morality.” Your introduction can place your issue in context, explain why it’s philosophically important, and perhaps preview the structure of your paper or argument. Ask your instructor for further guidance about introductions and conclusions.
Stay focused. You may be asked to concentrate closely on a small piece of text or a very particular question; if so, stick to it, rather than writing a general report on a “topic.”
Be careful about appealing to faith, authority, or tradition. While you may believe something because it is a part of your religion, because someone you trust told you about it, or because it is the way things have always been done, be careful about basing your arguments or objections on these sorts of foundations. Remember that your reader may not share your assumptions and beliefs, and try to construct your argument so that it will be persuasive even to someone who is quite different from you.
Be careful about definitions. Rather than breaking out Webster’s Dictionary, concentrate on the definitions the philosophers you are reading have carefully constructed for the terms they are using. Defining terms is an important part of all philosophical work, and part of your job in writing a philosophy paper will often be thinking about how different people have defined a term.
Consider reading the Writing Center’s handout on fallacies. Fallacies are common errors in arguments; knowing about them may help you critique philosophers’ arguments and make stronger arguments yourself.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Feinberg, Joel. 2008. Doing Philosophy: A Guide to the Writing of Philosophy Papers , 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.

Holowchak, Mark. 2011. Critical Reasoning and Philosophy: A Concise Guide to Reading, Evaluating, and Writing Philosophical Works , 2nd ed. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Writing A Philosophy Paper

THINGS TO AVOID IN YOUR PHILOSOPHY ESSAY

Lengthy introductions. These are entirely unnecessary and of no interest to the informed reader. There is no need to point out that your topic is an important one, and one that has interested philosophers for hundreds of years. Introductions should be as brief as possible. In fact, I recommend that you think of your paper as not having an introduction at all. Go directly to your topic.
Lengthy quotations. Inexperienced writers rely too heavily on quotations and paraphrases. Direct quotation is best restricted to those cases where it is essential to establish another writer's exact selection of words. Even paraphrasing should be kept to a minimum. After all, it is your paper. It is your thoughts that your instructor is concerned with. Keep that in mind, especially when your essay topic requires you to critically assess someone else's views.
Fence sitting. Do not present a number of positions in your paper and then end by saying that you are not qualified to settle the matter. In particular, do not close by saying that philosophers have been divided over this issue for as long as humans have been keeping record and you cannot be expected to resolve the dispute in a few short pages. Your instructor knows that. But you can be expected to take a clear stand based on an evaluation of the argument(s) presented. Go out on a limb. If you have argued well, it will support you.
Cuteness. Good philosophical writing usually has an air of simple dignity about it. Your topic is no joke. No writers whose views you have been asked to read are idiots. (If you think they are, then you have not understood them.) Name calling is inappropriate and could never substitute for careful argumentation anyway.
Begging the question. You are guilty of begging the question (or circular reasoning) on a particular issue if you somehow presuppose the truth of whatever it is that you are trying to show in the course of arguing for it. Here is a quick example. If Smith argues that abortion is morally wrong on the grounds that it amounts to murder, Smith begs the question. Smith presupposes a particular stand on the moral status of abortion - the stand represented by the conclusion of the argument. To see that this is so, notice that the person who denies the conclusion - that abortion is morally wrong - will not accept Smith's premise that it amounts to murder, since murder is, by definition, morally wrong.
When arguing against other positions, it is important to realize that you cannot show that your opponents are mistaken just by claiming that their overall conclusions are false. Nor will it do simply to claim that at least one of their premises is false. You must demonstrate these sorts of things, and in a fashion that does not presuppose that your position is correct.

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING YOUR PHILOSOPHY PAPER

Organize carefully. Before you start to write make an outline of how you want to argue. There should be a logical progression of ideas - one that will be easy for the reader to follow. If your paper is well organized, the reader will be led along in what seems a natural way. If you jump about in your essay, the reader will balk. It will take a real effort to follow you, and he or she may feel it not worthwhile. It is a good idea to let your outline simmer for a few days before you write your first draft. Does it still seem to flow smoothly when you come back to it? If not, the best prose in the world will not be enough to make it work.
Use the right words. Once you have determined your outline, you must select the exact words that will convey your meaning to the reader. A dictionary is almost essential here. Do not settle for a word that (you think) comes close to capturing the sense you have in mind. Notice that "infer" does not mean "imply"; "disinterested" does not mean "uninterested"; and "reference" does not mean either "illusion" or "allusion." Make certain that you can use "its" and "it's" correctly. Notice that certain words such as "therefore," "hence," "since," and "follows from" are strong logical connectives. When you use such expressions you are asserting that certain tight logical relations hold between the claims in question. You had better be right. Finally, check the spelling of any word you are not sure of. There is no excuse for "existance" appearing in any philosophy essay.
Support your claims. Assume that your reader is constantly asking such questions as "Why should I accept that?" If you presuppose that he or she is at least mildly skeptical of most of your claims, you are more likely to succeed in writing a paper that argues for a position. Most first attempts at writing philosophy essays fall down on this point. Substantiate your claims whenever there is reason to think that your critics would not grant them.
Give credit. When quoting or paraphrasing, always give some citation. Indicate your indebtedness, whether it is for specific words, general ideas, or a particular line of argument. To use another writer's words, ideas, or arguments as if they were your own is to plagiarize. Plagiarism is against the rules of academic institutions and is dishonest. It can jeopardize or even terminate your academic career. Why run that risk when your paper is improved (it appears stronger not weaker) if you give credit where credit is due? That is because appropriately citing the works of others indicates an awareness of some of the relevant literature on the subject.
Anticipate objections. If your position is worth arguing for, there are going to be reasons which have led some people to reject it. Such reasons will amount to criticisms of your stand. A good way to demonstrate the strength of your position is to consider one or two of the best of these objections and show how they can be overcome. This amounts to rejecting the grounds for rejecting your case, and is analogous to stealing your enemies' ammunition before they have a chance to fire it at you. The trick here is to anticipate the kinds of objections that your critics would actually raise against you if you did not disarm them first. The other challenge is to come to grips with the criticisms you have cited. You must argue that these criticisms miss the mark as far as your case is concerned, or that they are in some sense ill-conceived despite their plausibility. It takes considerable practice and exposure to philosophical writing to develop this engaging style of argumentation, but it is worth it.
Edit boldly. I have never met a person whose first draft of a paper could not be improved significantly by rewriting. The secret to good writing is rewriting - often. Of course it will not do just to reproduce the same thing again. Better drafts are almost always shorter drafts - not because ideas have been left out, but because words have been cut out as ideas have been clarified. Every word that is not needed only clutters. Clear sentences do not just happen. They are the result of tough-minded editing.

There is much more that could be said about clear writing. I have not stopped to talk about grammatical and stylistic points. For help in these matters (and we all need reference works in these areas) I recommend a few of the many helpful books available in the campus bookstore. My favorite little book on good writing is The Elements of Style , by William Strunk and E.B. White. Another good book, more general in scope, is William Zinsser's, On Writing Well . Both of these books have gone through several editions. More advanced students might do well to read Philosophical Writing: An Introduction , by A.P. Martinich. Some final words should be added about proofreading. Do it. Again. After that, have someone else read your paper. Is this person able to understand you completely? Can he or she read your entire paper through without getting stuck on a single sentence? If not, go back and smooth it out. In general terms, do not be content simply to get your paper out of your hands. Take pride in it. Clear writing reflects clear thinking; and that, after all, is what you are really trying to show.

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Writing a Philosophy Essay

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Is there a God? Are there objective, universal moral norms or rules? What is meant by ‘reality’? Do we have free will? In studying philosophy, students aim to do the following:

understand such philosophical questions and the concepts, arguments, and theories that philosophers use to address them
think critically about such arguments and theories
develop their own answers to philosophical questions

Writing philosophy essays is a key part of studying philosophy. Make sure first to understand the assignment, looking out for the questions asked and paying attention to prompts such as “outline” or “evaluate” or “compare”. Most philosophy assignments will ask you to demonstrate your understanding of the subject through exposition of arguments and theories, and many will also test your ability to assess these arguments and theories by writing a critical evaluation of them. Write your paper so that the reader understands how your exposition and evaluation answer the questions and address all parts of the assignment.

Read the Texts Carefully, Asking Questions

Before you write a paper, though, you need to understand the course texts and recommended readings. Philosophical works need to be read slowly and with focused attention. As you read, ask yourself the following:

What philosophical question(s) is the author addressing?
What exactly is meant by key ideas or concepts in the text (e.g., Plato’s “Forms”, Aristotle’s “substance” and “accident”, Kant’s “categorical imperative,” Sartre’s “being-for-itself”)? Each discipline has its own technical language, which students must learn.
What arguments does the author make (e.g., Aquinas’s five arguments for the existence of God)?
What theories does the author propose (e.g., a dualist mind-body theory or—one of its competitors—a physicalist theory of mind)?

Organize Your Ideas into a Logical Structure

Take notes as you read. Then put your ideas for the essay into a logical order. Because philosophy papers proceed by logical argument, creating a point-form outline that captures the structure of your argument is generally a good strategy. An outline will allow you to spot problems in your argument more easily.

Augment Your Thesis with a Road Map that Reveals the Structure of Your Argument

Most assignments will require you to present a clear thesis statement that sums up the position for which you are arguing. In the introduction you should also provide a ‘road map’—a few sentences that announce in sequence what you intend to accomplish in each of the key stages of your paper. Road maps often rely on first person (“First, I will analyze . . . “), but if your professor prefers that you don’t use the first person, you can instead describe what your essay will accomplish (“First, the essay will analyze . . . “).

Show Your Understanding through Clear and Accurate Exposition

Try to make your expository writing as clear and accurate as possible, and try to show the logical connections between the different parts of a philosophical system. Avoid vague or overly brief exposition, serious omissions, or misunderstandings.

In some first year courses, an early assignment may ask you to write a short paper expounding but not evaluating a concept or theory. For example: “Explain what Plato means by Forms.” Subsequent assignments in the course usually involve evaluation as well as exposition (e.g., “Outline and evaluate Plato’s theory of Forms”). In some courses, assignments may call for detailed interpretation of a text rather than an assessment of it. “Was Hume an idealist?”, “Was Wittgenstein a behaviourist?” and “Was Marx a nihilist about morality?” are examples. Such questions are posed when there is disagreement among scholars about how to interpret a philosopher. In such essays, you will need to examine texts very closely, find passages which support a yes or no answer, choose where you stand in the debate, and defend your answer.

Critically Evaluate a Philosophical Theory

When studying a philosophical theory, you will need to think about both its strengths and weaknesses. For example, is a particular theory of art (such as the view that art is the expression of emotion) comprehensive: does it apply to all the arts and all types of art, or only to some? Is it logically consistent or does it contain contradictions? Are there counterexamples to it?

As you think about your topic, read the course materials, and take notes, you should work out and assemble the following:

the strengths of a philosopher’s theory
the arguments the philosopher gives in support of the theory and those the philosopher did not provide but which might still support it
possible criticisms of those arguments
how the philosopher has replied or could reply to these criticisms

Finally, ask yourself how you would evaluate those replies: do they work or not? Be selective, especially in a shorter paper. In a 1,000-word essay, for instance, discuss one or two arguments in favour and one or two against. In a 2,000- or 2,500-word paper, you can include more arguments and possible replies. Finally, plan carefully: leave enough space for your assessment.

A different type of critical evaluation assignment may ask for a comparative appraisal of two or more theories. For example, “Which account of human decision-making is stronger: X’s free will theory or Y’s determinist theory?” In such essays, your thesis could be that one account is better than the other or, perhaps, that neither account is clearly superior. You might argue that each has different strengths and weaknesses.

Develop Your Own Answers to Philosophical Questions

In the type of critical assessments above, you are already, to some extent, articulating your own philosophical positions. As you read texts in a course on, say, philosophy of mind or philosophy of art, you should be asking, based on what you have read so far, which theory is the best? Don’t be content to just understand theories and know their strengths and weaknesses. Push yourself to think out your own account of mind or art.

Some upper-year essay assignments may throw a fundamental philosophical question at you: “What is art?”, “Do we have free will?”, “What is morality?”, or “What is reality?”. Here, you will present your own answer, giving reasons, answering objections, and critically evaluating alternative approaches. Your answer/thesis might be an existing theory or a synthesis of two or more theories, or (more rarely) a completely new theory. Now you are not only expounding theories or critically evaluating them; you are also developing your own philosophy!

1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology

Philosophy, One Thousand Words at a Time

Welcome to 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology , an ever-growing set of over 190 original 1000-word essays on philosophical questions, theories, figures, and arguments.

All of our essays are available in audio format; many of our essays are available as videos .

Essay Categories

We have essays in these categories:

Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
Africana Philosophy
Buddhist Philosophy
Chinese Philosophy
Epistemology, or Theory of Knowledge
Historical Philosophy
Islamic Philosophy
Logic and Reasoning
Metaphilosophy, or Philosophy of Philosophy
Metaphysics
Phenomenology and Existentialism
Philosophy of Education
Philosophy of Law
Philosophy of Mind and Language
Philosophy of Race
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Sex and Gender
Social and Political Philosophy

New categories are added as the project expands.

New to Philosophy?

You might begin with these essays:

What is Philosophy? by Thomas Metcalf,
Critical Thinking: What is it to be a Critical Thinker? by Carolina Flores,
Arguments: Why Do You Believe What You Believe? by Thomas Metcalf, and
Is it Wrong to Believe Without Sufficient Evidence? W.K. Clifford’s “The Ethics of Belief” by Spencer Case.

Newest Essays

Here are our newest essays :

Moral Education: Teaching Students to Become Better People by Dominik Balg
Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems by Jon Charry
Objects and their Parts: The Problem of Material Composition by Jeremy Skrzypek
Artificial Intelligence: The Possibility of Artificial Minds by Thomas Metcalf
The Mind-Body Problem: What Are Minds? by Jacob Berger
Seemings: Justifying Beliefs Based on How Things Seem by Kaj André Zeller
Form and Matter: Hylomorphism by Jeremy W. Skrzypek
Kant’s Theory of the Sublime by Matthew Sanderson
Philosophy of Color by Tiina Carita Rosenqvist
On Karl Marx’s Slogan “From Each According to their Ability, To Each According to their Need” by Sam Badger

We publish new essays frequently, so please check back for updates. Also follow us on Facebook , Twitter / X , and Instagram , and subscribe by email on this page to receive notifications of new essays.

Popular Essays

Some of our most popular essays include:

Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” by Charles Miceli and Descartes’ Meditations by Marc Bobro
Marx’s Conception of Alienation by Dan Lowe
John Rawls’ ‘A Theory of Justice’ by Ben Davies
The Ethics of Abortion by Nathan Nobis
Aristotle’s Defense of Slavery by Dan Lowe
“God is Dead”: Nietzsche and the Death of God by Justin Remhof
Philosophy and Its Contrast with Science : Comparing Philosophical and Scientific Understanding by Thomas Metcalf
Happiness: What is it to be Happy? by Kiki Berk
Pascal’s Wager: A Pragmatic Argument for Belief in God by Liz Jackson
The African Ethic of Ubuntu by Thaddeus Metz

A complete list of all our essays is here .

Student Resources

We have resources for students , including essays on How to Read Philosophy and How to Write a Philosophical Essay by the Editors of 1000-Word Philosophy .

Instructor Resources

We have resources to help i nstructors develop courses and course modules using our essays.

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Savery Hall, Room 362 Third floor (across from the elevators)

"Our mission is to help students at all levels of writing build skills to become more confident and effective writers in any context that requires clear, concise, and direct writing. We are collaborative and aim to have a long-term impact."

The Philosophy Writing Center is a unique, FREE resource for students wanting to improve their philosophical writing. Our aim is to help students build skills needed to become confident and effective writers.

We offer one-on-one tutoring sessions. Students can bring in any kind of writing—reflection papers, short or long essays, summaries, commentaries, formal arguments, graduate school application materials, etc.—for any class or project. Or, students can schedule a tutoring-session to work on specific writing skills independent of any particular assignment.

We work with students at all writing levels, from beginning to advanced, and are happy to help with any stage or skill of writing, from brainstorming to final revisions. We are especially committed to supporting students from underrepresented social backgrounds.

How to Make the Most of Your Session

Consultation sessions are 40 minutes.

Come early in the quarter and come often. Students can get much more out of the writing center by building an ongoing relationship with tutors.
Have at least some sense of what part of the writing process you want to focus on—i.e. brainstorming, organization, revising, etc.
We can best help you with your writing when you have a good understanding of the material that you are writing about. If you are not feeling confident with the content of the course, stopping by your instructor's or TA's office hours before you come to your session can be helpful.
Plan time for revision. We are happy to work with you at any time, but having time to reflect, revise, and ask follow up questions can be particular helpful as you work on your writing.

Who are we?

Aaron Barker

Our tutors are undergraduate philosophy majors with special training in tutoring. They have a great diversity and depth of writing experience and are excited to work with you!

Rylan Garwood is a senior majoring in philosophy and psychology. He is primarily interested in metaethics and normative ethics. In particular, he enjoys researching questions surrounding the objectivity and demandingness of ethics. He also has interests in philosophy for children, animal ethics, disability ethics, philosophy of science, and metaphilosophy. Outside of philosophy, he practices the piano and overanalyzes his favorite movies.

Jessica Li is a senior majoring in Philosophy. She is primarily interested in metaphysics, and particularly in its intersections with the topics of essence, grounding, the perception of time, personal identity, natural language ontology, and cognitive science. Outside of metaphysics, she is also interested in epistemology and philosophy of mind, especially their overlaps concerning the topic of memory.

Other Resources for Writing Philosophy Papers

How to Write Philosophy Papers
A Brief Guide to Writing the Philosophy Paper
Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper
Sample Philosophy Paper
Guidelines for Paper Structure
Guidelines for Introductions
Guidelines for Conclusions
Guidelines for Charitability
Guidelines for Objections
Guidelines for Citing and Plagiarism
Guidelines for Paper Exegesis

Writing Tips and Guides from UW Philosophy Instructors

Bill Talbott
Colin Marshall
Academic Phrasebank (University of Manchester, UK) - a general resource for academic writing in English

Interested in joining our Philosophy Writing Center team as a tutor?

Writing Center tutors are typically hired late in late summer before the academic year begins. The undergraduate adviser will send an announcement out to the undergraduate email list when positions become available. Tutors usually commit to the full academic year and are expected to work between 4-8 hours per week. The hourly rate as of January 2022 is $16.69/hour.

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Job Market Workshop

Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement

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Dr. Denise Leonard, Associate Director of Graduate Student and Postdoc Programs

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3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Event Description

If you are applying for an academic position, it is likely that you will be asked to submit a teaching philosophy statement during the application process. Participants in this Job Market series workshop will learn about why academic search committees request teaching materials such as the teaching philosophy statement and how search committees use these materials to assess candidates’ qualifications for teaching. Further, this workshop will help participants navigate the genre of the teaching statement, offering them the opportunity to begin to think about how they will frame their commitment to teaching, and describe their teaching methods and goals to others in their academic fields.

For questions about this event, please contact Dr. Denise Leonard .

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Job market: teaching statement workshop 9/25/2024.

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Primary Program/Department: * Choose one of the following: African and African American Studies American Culture Studies Anthropology Architecture Art (Visual Art) Art History and Archaeology Audiology and Communication Sciences Biomedical Engineering (BME) Business Chemistry Classics Comparative Literature Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) DBBS (Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology) DBBS (Computational and Systems Biology) DBBS (Cancer Biology) DBBS (Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology) DBBS (Evolution Ecology and Population Biology) DBBS (Human and Statistical Genetics) DBBS (Immunology) DBBS (Molecular Biology) DBBS (Molecular Genetics and Genomics) DBBS (Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis) DBBS (Neurosciences) DBBS (Plant and Microbial Biosciences) Division of Computational and Data Sciences (DCDS) Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences (EEPS) East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) Economics Education Electrical and Systems Engineering (ESE) Energy Environmental and Chemical Engineering (EECE) English Film and Media Studies Germanic Languages and Literatures Global Studies History Imaging Science Institute of Materials Science and Engineering (IMSE) Jewish Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (JIMES) Law MSTP Mathematics Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS) Medicine Music Occupational Therapy (Rehabilitation and Participation Science) Other Performing Arts Philosophy (Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology) Physical Therapy Physics Political Science Psychological and Brain Sciences Religious Studies Romance Languages and Literatures Social Work (Public Health) Sociology Statistics and Data Science Women Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS)
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Philosophy Script-Writing Competition Winner

Well done to Upper Sixth Philosophy student Alex Knowles, who was the winner of a competition run by an organisation called ‘The Philosophy Garden’, in association with the University of Birmingham. The competition centred on writing a script about the relationship between Art and Philosophy.

Alex’s winning script was turned into an animation, which will be shared by The Philosophy Garden as part of their Philosophy resources, as well as being shared as an exhibition at the Philosophy Museum in Milan.

Check out the animation here

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Wendy Cope: ‘When people rudely ask the secret to getting poems published? Get better at writing’

The ‘making cocoa for kingsley amis’ poet shares the book that surprised her the most, the best thing a reader ever said to her, and the few films she thinks are – almost – better than the book.

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For the first time Wendy Cope’s poetry is being published in a collected edition

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W hat makes Wendy Cope one of the nation’s most loved poets ? Many things: her unpretentious, accessible style; her sense of humour; her hard-won wisdom; and the fact that, running beneath these poems that are such a pleasure to read, is often an iceberg-like swell of deep emotion.

Recently Cope told The Times, “if you want people to enjoy poetry, then it’s kind of nice to write poems they can understand.” And a whole new generation has begun to relate to and connect with them. Last year, one of her most famous poems, “The Orange”, went viral on TikTok, leading to a new edition of her work being released. This week, for the first time, her poetry is being published in a collected edition, with over three decades of writing in one volume.

Here she shares an insight into her reading and writing life...

What is on your “to be read” pile? Is it under control or out of hand?

In book form: Politics on the Edge by Rory Stewart, Table for Two by Amor Towles, The Letters of Emily Dickinson . On my Kindle: Stardust by Joseph Kanon, Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson, Lost and Never Found by Simon Mason. And a few more.

In this house books are out of control. They aren’t all mine.

The best book I’ve read so far this year...

A few months ago I discovered Joseph Kanon and I have now read almost all his books. Among the best are Defectors (set in Moscow in 1961), Los Alamos (with Oppenheimer as a character) and The Good German (post-war Berlin). His work is historical fiction with brilliant descriptions of place and gripping plots.

Wendy Cope’s ‘Collected Poems’ is the first single volume of her work

The first book I ever loved obsessively...

The Pooh books and, a few years later, the works of Nigel Molesworth (written by Geoffrey Willans). All because they made me laugh so much. They still do.

The book I’d save from a burning building...

The leather-bound complete works of Shakespeare passed on to me by my father. He gave it to me when I was doing A-level English. I wrote a poem about it (in my book Anecdotal Evidence ).

The book that surprised me the most...

A Shropshire Lad by AE Housman. For years I was put off by the title. Then a poet friend urged me to read it and it was a revelation. Housman has been one of my favourite poets ever since.

The author who has taught me the most...

Ian D Suttie, author of The Origins of Love and Hate . I read it when I was a student and it gave me a lot of insight into my unhappiness and what might be done about it. It was the beginning of a path that led to my entering psychoanalysis a few years later.

My favourite place to read...

In my armchair in our living room, where I have a reading stand for the sake of my neck. And in bed late at night, where I read from a Kindle. Different books upstairs and downstairs.

Greg Wise and Emma Thompson in ‘Sense and Sensibility’

The book I’ve written that means the most to me personally is...

The Orange and Other Poems . My poem “The Orange” went viral on TikTok and my publishers followed that up with a lovely little volume. It has sold faster than any of my other books and been a wonderful stroke of luck.

The best thing a reader has said to me – and the worst...

Earlier this year I had a letter from a man who was dying, saying how much my poems had meant to him over the years, and thanking me. The worst thing? Being asked, in a rude and aggressive way, “What’s the secret of getting your poems published?” This has happened more than once. My answer is “Get better at writing”.

Favourite bookshop (and why?)

Topping & Company in Ely. When we moved to Ely this was an unexpected bonus. Great stock, lovely staff. It’s as least as good as any of the bookshops in nearby Cambridge.

Is the book always better than the film?

Usually. But I can think of films that came close – the 1992 David Copperfield , for example, and a couple of Jane Austen films: Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson.

‘Collected Poems’ is out now, published by Faber

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‘True Detective’ Boss Issa López Says She’s Deep Into Writing Season 5: ‘Magical Realism Is My Brand’

“You’ll have to watch it,” the “Night Country” creator says of a potential cameo from Season 4 stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis

While “True Detective” celebrated its fourth installment at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, showrunner Issa López revealed she’s already deep into writing Season 5.

“I’m deep, deep, deep in the writing and just in the smack of it,” López told TheWrap on the Emmys red carpet at the Peacock Theater. “It’s very strange to be submerged in another universe and then come back here and be talking again about Ennis.”

Even still, López, who created, wrote and directed all six episodes of “True Detective: Night Country,” noted Season 5 will exist in the “same universe” as Season 4, which made several references to the HBO drama series’ inaugural season starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, including some supernatural elements.

“The references are going to be more to Season 4,” López said of Season 5, adding that supernatural elements will still be present. “It’s the same universe, and the magical realism is my brand, so it will be there.”

#Emmys ✨ #TrueDetective showrunner Issa López says she's "deep deep deep" into writing the next season. 👀 pic.twitter.com/7JMhJXGlli — TheWrap (@TheWrap) September 16, 2024

true-detective-night-country-kali-reis-jodie-foster-hbo

López confirmed the new season would involve a “different case, different place [and] different characters, but so many connections that are going to come from Ennis.”

As for whether Season 4 stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, who played the first “Night Country” detective duo in Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro, respectively, might appear in Season 5, López said “you will have to watch it” with a wink.

While Foster and John Hawkes, who was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series, were the show’s heavy hitters, López embraced several less-known actors to fill up the cast for “Night Country,” including Reis, who also received a nod for Outstanding Supporting Actress, along with Finn Bennett, Isabella Star LaBlanc and Anna Lambe.

“It comes from the character,” López said of her casting process for Season 5. “You start writing a character, and it starts speaking and walking and moving, and then suddenly this character has a face, and then you toss the dice and see if you’re going to get the actor you dreamed of.”

“True Detective: Night Country” was also nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series during the 76th Emmys, which ultimately went to Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer.” The fourth installment, which debuted in January 2024, quickly became the franchise’s most-watched season, outpacing viewership for the beloved first season of “True Detective.”

“You never know, so you end up taking the trip terrified, but hoping for the best, which honestly is the best position as a storyteller. You have to be scared to do it,” López said. “To go through shooting it and seeing that it worked and it connected, and getting good ratings … This recognition is the world — it is my first job in a language that is not my own. I am Mexican. I speak Spanish, so as an immigrant, it also means the world.”

Seasons 1-4 of “True Detective” are now streaming on Max.

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2.6 Writing Philosophy Papers

Identify Claims

Think Like a Philosopher

Write Like a Philosopher

Collect Evidence and Build Your Case

Consider Counterarguments

Accurately Represent Source Material

Organize Your Paper

Introduce Your Thesis

Make a Logical and Compelling Case Using the Evidence

Connections

Summarize Your Argument in the Conclusion

How to Write a Philosophy Essay: Ultimate Guide

What Is a Philosophy Essay: Definition

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Have a Tight Deadline?

Guideline on How to Write a Philosophy Essay

Philosophical Essay Example

30 Philosophy Paper Topic Ideas

15 Ethics Philosophy Essay Topics

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7 Helpful Tips on Crafting a Philosophical Essay

7 Common Mistakes to Avoid in Philosophy Writing

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The Writing Place

The Basics of a Philosophy Paper

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What this handout is about

What is philosophy, and why do we study it?

Elements of philosophy papers

Objections and replies

Thought experiments

Argument Reconstruction

Original argument/taking a position

Other things to keep in mind

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Simon Fraser University Engaging the World

Writing A Philosophy Paper

THINGS TO AVOID IN YOUR PHILOSOPHY ESSAY

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Writing a Philosophy Essay

Read the Texts Carefully, Asking Questions

Organize Your Ideas into a Logical Structure

Augment Your Thesis with a Road Map that Reveals the Structure of Your Argument

Show Your Understanding through Clear and Accurate Exposition

Critically Evaluate a Philosophical Theory

Develop Your Own Answers to Philosophical Questions

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