Writing frames for What is Philosophy ALL About? Research/Writing Project
Note: These frames are meant to point you in the right direction as you respond to the four parts of the
prompt. The blank lines on the frames might represent anywhere from a few words to a paragraph to
several paragraphs. You will need to fill in the information and provide attributed examples from your
resources for each part of the prompt. Don’t use more than one of each in each section or your writing
will be repetitive. To the best of your ability, change the wording to make it your own.
Define:
 According to the _______, the term philosophy can be defined in several ways. First, as “______,” which
indicates that one might think of philosophy as a kind of _______. Second, as “_______, “ which shows that
philosophy can also be thought of as _________. And a final definition, that philosophy is, “_________,”
which suggests that we can think of this pursuit as _________.
 The term Philosophy has a number of definitions, but these can be reduced to three primary ways to
understand the term: _____, _____ and _____.
 There are a number of ways to define philosophy. If one thinks of philosophy in the sense of “my
philosophy about school is…,” one is thinking about philosophy as ________. If one is describing
historical figures such as _____, _____ and _____, one might be talking about philosophy as _______. [go on to
describe one or more other ways to define philosophy based on the context]
Describe (origins):
 Philosophy has been with us for a long time. You might say it started when _________. The more formal
beginnings of philosophy are associated with ______.
 To speak of philosophy is to speak of history. The beginnings of western philosophical thought are
often associated with _____________. Even before these great thinkers, however, people were thinking in
more philosophical ways. For example [describe natural philosophers and how they represented a
new mode of thinking]. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle followed in this same rationalist tradition,
constructing the foundation for philosophy that all other thinkers have built upon. [summarize the
contributions of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle]
Explore:
 Sample claim for this portion of the paper: Philosophy expresses itself in innumerable ways; it has been
categorized into branches, is applied to all disciplines and fields, deals with the deepest questions for
individuals and groups, finds expression in the ideas of the world and informs practices of study and
conversation. [follow up with examples of each of these]
 Where might we see philosophy at work in our world? First of all, there are three main branches of
philosophy: _____, _____ and _____. _____deals with _____, _____deals with _____ and _____ deals with _____.
Secondly, we can see philosophy in specific fields. [describe the role of philosophy in fields like
medicine, science, education, law]. A third aspect of philosophy is the types of questions one might call
philosophical, questions like ______ and ______. We might also see philosophy at work in what modern
philosopher ______ called The Great Ideas. [Explain how the Great Ideas involve a philosophical
thinking process to gain truth and understanding]. Finally, philosophy can be described as a practice,
an everyday life practice for individuals, a practice for when people are gathered together to
understand a topic as a group, even an institutional practice for formal organizations. These practices
might include _______ , _______or _______. [explain practices of philosophy and cite their advocates]
Evaluate:
 From its beginnings, philosophy has been used to _______. In our modern world, the ideas and practices
of philosophy are useful because _______. According to _____, the purpose of philosophy is _______.
Another perspective comes from ________ who says __________. In my opinion, the value of philosophy lies
in ______. The aspect that is most useful and meaningful to me is _________.
 The proponents of philosophy claim that its purpose is ______, _____ or _____. For example, ______ states
that _______. ______ puts it another way when (s)he says ________. These perspectives suggest that the
value of philosophy is ___________. I feel that philosophy offers _________ because _______.