Evaluation – Here’s what I look for in undergraduate philosophy papers:
Professor Valerie Tiberius
Organization: Your paper should have an easily identified thesis, an argument for this thesis and
(in longer papers) a discussion of possible objections to your argument.
Consistency Your position should remain consistent throughout the paper. It should be clear
when you are raising an objection for the sake of answering it and when you are responding to
the objection. (In other words, it should look like you’re changing your mind half way through
the paper).
Clarity It should be easy to see what you mean. (Getting someone else to read your paper, or
reading over it yourself and rewriting it can be very helpful here). Define your terms and avoid
changing terminology that you have already defined; don’t use the thesaurus to replace precisely
defined terms with words that may have different shades of meaning! You should also aim for
precision in your choice of words and you should try to communicate your ideas as simply and
clearly as possible. Position papers are not creative writing exercises; you do not need to make
them entertaining, suspenseful, or beautiful. Note here that spelling mistakes and bad grammar
usually detract from clarity.
Understanding. Your paper should demonstrate that you have understood the readings and the
arguments we have discussed in class.
Reasoning skills: If you show that one thing follows from another, or that one thing is
inconsistent with another, or that some apparently contradictory statements are, after all,
compatible, you are doing some reasoning. On the other hand, if in your paper you make
assertions which obviously contradict one another, and if you do not acknowledge that, you give
evidence that you are not reasoning.
In general, in a philosophy paper you should aim to provide an argument for your thesis that
would be accepted by as many people as possible. An argument consists in a set of one or more
premises that support your thesis. Your argument should not rely on controversial premises (for
example, religious beliefs). Nor should your argument simply xbe a restatement of your thesis
in different words; this does not count as new evidence for the thesis.
Independent Thinking: One of the main aims of this course is to help you develop the ability to
think analytically. That is partly the ability to think for yourself about the questions discussed in
the reading. In evaluating you papers, then, we will look for evidence that you are developing
this ability. In order to assess this, we have to be able to see what you take to be the reasons for
what you assert. I cannot see evidence of independent thinking if you merely report what
someone else has said, even if you report it very accurately.
Notice that your grade is not based on what position you argue for. If you construct a good
argument for a conclusion I do not agree with, the content of the conclusion will not be held
against you!
Other Suggestions
•Your paper should be typed, double-spaced and should have normal size fonts and margins. Also, please
put your name and your T.A.’s name on your assignment.
•You should use your spell-checker before printing out a final copy. Spelling mistakes and grammatical
errors make a bad impression on the person reading your paper!