Blog / Philosophy essays

I heard one professor one time define philosophy this way: "Philosophy involves sitting in a room and deciding there is no such thing as reality and then going to lunch. You should major in philosophy if you plan to take a lot of drugs." Since neither your professor nor you accept this position, you should lay off the drugs and learn how to write a solid philosophy paper.

Philosophy papers revolve around arguments–making them and analyzing them. When you make an argument in a philosophy paper, every premise must be explained and every step of logic must be guided. Because these new arguments require an understanding of each idea and its premise, philosophy papers must be clear. Your philosophy paper is not the place to show your professor that you studied for your SATs and can employ words like gourmandize, execrate, and jettison.

You will be graded on how well you scrutinize, defend, or criticize arguments, not on how mellifluous your prose is or how well you echo the professor's ideas. Writing what you think your professor wants to hear will not earn you an A. Professors would rather see that you understand the ideas well enough to make bold, well-constructed critiques of your own.
Think of yourself as writing for a sort of "ideal reader"–someone who reads everything you write with an open mind but a very critical eye. Assume only what you think no one could deny without unreasonable prejudice and challenge anything that you think does not meet such a high standard.


When writing your philosophy paper, make sure it includes the following five elements:

1. A clear exposition and a statement of the argument in question. You should alert the reader of your argument in your introduction, but you should mention the argument often to keep your reader engaged and to ensure that your writing is clear.

2. A clear statement of how you will argue. Your introduction should include not only a thesis, but a detailed description of the path your argument will take. Lay out what you plan to prove, and how you will go about proving it. Explicitly reference this map of your arguments throughout the paper. Topic sentences or statements should refer to this map.

3. A round of defense or criticism. When you defend or criticize, try to avoid generalizations.

4. An opportunity for the other side of the argument to reply. Forecast the criticism of your reader.

5. A final, deciding round of criticism or replies from your view. Here is where you convince your reader that your rationale is superior to any criticisms. This information is generally contained in your concluding paragraph.

There are generally two strong ways to criticize an argument. You can show that one of the argument's premises is false, or show that the argument's logic is unsound. Using counterexamples can disprove certain premises or logic.

Example: Suppose a brilliant philosopher makes the claim, "All dining hall food tastes like cardboard." The T-bone steak and shrimp on Parents' Weekend is a counterexample. Even though the dining hall food is edible for only one meal each year, this counterexample proves that the original claim is faulty.

Make sure you assert only what you are ready to defend thoroughly. In an field where one faulty premise invalidates an entire theory, you must make sure there are no weak points that receive less attention. The length of your paper will dictate the number of claims you can defend thoroughly. If your paper is short (four to five pages), you may want to develop and use only your strongest point for your view, and reply to only the strongest objection against your view. If the paper is longer, develop more points for and against. But, overall, strive for depth over breadth.

Ask your professor about using the first person before you submit the essay. Some professors allow you to say things like "I am going to prove," but others hold to the idea that the subjective I should never appear in academic writing.

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