Philosophy Essay
The Assignment:
Each student must produce a 4-5 page essay on philosophy . This essay will involve a
presentation of YOUR arguments concerning the following concepts in metaphysics: the
self, human nature, reality, free will, God as well as truth and knowledge. The arguments
will necessarily be derived, at least in part, from the ideas offered by the philosophers
studied in the course. You may have to engage in some ethical arguments as well. Each
student is free to address these concepts in whatever order best suits their own argument.
Students must produce a first draft by ___________________.
The final draft is due on _______________________.
For many new students of philosophy, writing a philosophy essay will be something of a new
experience, and no doubt many of you will be a little unsure of what to expect, or of what is
expected of you. Most of you will have written essays in school for English, History, etc. A
philosophy essay is something different from these. This guide is intended to give you a few
preliminary pieces of advice about writing essays in philosophy, as well as a few requirements.
Virtually everyone “has a philosophy” in the sense that we have many basic beliefs about the world and
ourselves and use certain key concepts to articulate those beliefs. Many of us initially come to thus “have
a philosophy” (or elements of several philosophies) often only unconsciously, or by following “what's
obvious” or “what everybody knows”, or by adopting a view because it sounds exciting or is intellectually
fashionable.
“Doing philosophy”, on the other hand, is a self-conscious unearthing and rigorous examination
of these basic beliefs and key concepts. In doing so, we try to clarify the meanings of those
beliefs and concepts and to evaluate critically their rational grounds or justification.
You should not be contented with merely an unintegrated collection of assertions, but should
instead work at establishing logical relations between your thoughts. You are assessed not on the
basis of what you believe, but on how well you argue for the position you adopt in your essay,
and on how interesting and insightful your discussion of the issues is. That is to say, you are
assessed on how well you do philosophy, not on what philosophy you end up having.
What do I do in a Philosophy Essay?
Philosophy essay topics are not designed to provide an intellectual obstacle course that
trips you up. They are designed to invite you to "grapple with" with some particular
philosophical problem or issue.
a) Exposition
An important part of exposition is your analysis of the issue. Here you should try to "break down"
the issue or problem into its constitutive elements by distinguishing its different parts. (E.g:
"There are two basic kinds of freedom in question when people speak of freedom of the will", or
"There are three elements in Plato's conception of the soul, namely . … He establishes these three
elements by means of the following two arguments . ..") This also involves showing the
relationships between those elements, relationships which make them "parts of the whole".
(b) Critical discussion
This is where your thought gets more of the centre stage. Here you should attempt to develop a
response to the issues which your exposition has made clear, and/or, in the case of a discussion of
some particular text, attempt to give a critical appraisal of the author's treatment of the issue. In
developing a response to a philosophical problem, argumentation is, again, of central importance.
Avoid making unsupported assertions; back up your claims with reasons, and connect up your
ideas so that they progress logically toward your conclusions. Consider some of the various
objections to and questions about your views that others might or have put forward, and try to
respond to them in defence of your own line of thinking. Your goal here should be to discuss
what you have expounded so as to come to some conclusion or judgement about it. ("Critical" is
derived from the Classical Greek for "to decide, to judge".) Critical discussion is thus not
necessarily "destructive" or "negative"; it can be quite constructive and positive.
4. Researching Your Essay
(a) Research
To research for your philosophy essay you need to do only two things: read and think. (Actually,
for problem-focused essays, thinking is the only truly necessary bit, but it's necessary that you do
some reading as well.)
What to read? It should be clear from your notes and textbooks what some starting points for
your reading might be.
How much to read? The amount of reading you do should be that which maximizes the quality
of your thinking – that is, you should not swamp yourself with huge amounts of text that you can't
digest, but nor should you starve your mind of ideas to chew over.
5. Writing Your Essay
(a) Planning and structuring your essay
It is very important that you plan your essay, so that you have an idea of what you are going to
write before you start to write it. Of course, you will most likely alter things in later drafts, but
you should still start off by having a plan in mind. Planning your essay includes laying out a
structure. It is very important that your essay has some discernible structure, i.e., that it is
composed of parts and that these parts are logically connected. This helps both you and your
reader to be clear about how your discussion develops, stage by stage, as you work through the
issues at hand.
Poor essay structure is one of the most common weaknesses in student philosophy essays, though
it is skills such as structuring your thoughts for presentation to others which should be amongst
the more enduring things you learn in studying Arts. So, avoid the “domino” method of essay
writing, whereby one writes one sentence, then another one that seems to follow that one, then
another one that seems to fit after that one, and so on until the requisite 1500 words are up.
There are, of course, no hard and fast rules about how to structure a philosophy essay.
In your Introduction, first introduce the issues the essay is concerned with. In doing so, try to state
briefly just what the problem is and (if there is space) why it is a problem. Next, tell the reader
what it is that you are going to do about those problems in the Main Body. This is usually done
by giving a brief sketch or overview of the main points you will present. This is one way of
showing your reader that you have a grasp (also, it helps you get a grasp) of your essay as a
structured and integrated whole, and gives them some idea of what to expect by giving them an
idea of how you have decided to answer the question. (Of course, for reasons of space, your
Introduction might not be very long, but something along these lines is likely to be useful.)
In your Main Body, do what you've said you'll do. Here is where you should present your
exposition(s) and your critical discussion(s).
A distinct Conclusion is perhaps not always necessary, if your Main Body has clearly "played
out" your argument. So you don't always have to have a grand summation and judgement at the
end.
Still, often for your own sake, try to state to yourself what it is your essay has achieved and see if
it would be appropriate to say so explicitly. Don't feel, by the way, that you must come up with
earth-shattering conclusions.
(b) Relevance:
Make sure that each one of your sentences in each paragraph relates directly to the subject of the
paragraph.
(c) Citing philosophical "authorities"
There are two basic reasons why you might want to do this. First, you might quote someone
because their words constitute a good expression or articulation of an idea you are dealing with,
whether as its proponent, critic, or simply its chronicler. (E.g: “As Nietzsche put it, ‘There are no
moral phenomena at all, only a moral interpretation of phenomena.’[5]”) You may or may not
want to endorse the idea whose good expression you have quoted, but simply want to use the
philosopher as a spokesperson for or example of that view. But be clear about what you think the
quote means and be careful about what you are doing with the quote. (It won’t do all the work for
you.)
The reason you might want to quote a philosopher is because you think their words constitute an
"authoritative statement" of a view. This means that this statement is where you would like to
begin or that is supports something you have already argued.
(d) Examples
Sometimes a long series of general ideas and abstract reasonings can become difficult for the
reader (and often the writer) to follow. It can often help, therefore, to use some concrete or
specific examples in your discussion. Examples can be taken from history, current events,
literature, and so on, or can be entirely your own invention. Again, be clear about what the
example is and how and why you use it. Be careful not to get distracted by, or bogged down in,
your examples. Brevity is usually best.
(e) English expression
In writing philosophically, you must write clearly and precisely. This means that good
philosophical writing requires a good grasp of the language in which it is written, including its
grammar and vocabulary.
Think of grammar, not as some old-fashioned set of rules of linguistic etiquette, but rather as the
"internal logic" of a sentence, that is, as the relationships between the words within a sentence
which enable them to combine to make sense. Think carefully about what it is you want each
particular sentence to do (in relation to both those sentences immediately surrounding it and the
essay as a whole).
Good punctuation of a sentence should help to display its grammar. (E.g: think of the difference
between “Plato stands as a great philosopher, however he is criticised by modern thinkers.” and
“Plato stands as a great philosopher. However, he is criticized by modern thinkers.”) (It will be
assumed that you can spell – which is not a matter of pressing the "spell-check" key on a wordprocessor.)
If you are concerned to write not only clearly and precisely, but also with some degree of grace
and style (and we hope you are), it's still best to get the clarity and precision right first, in a plain,
straightforward way, and then to polish things up afterwards.
The need for clarity and precision in philosophical writing sometimes means that you need to
stipulate your own meaning for a term. When you want to use a particular word in a particular
way for the purposes of your essay – as a “technical term” – be clear about it. (E.g: “In this essay,
I shall intend ‘egoism’ to mean …”) Also, be consistent in your technical meanings, or else note
when you are not.
Things to avoid: waffle; vagueness; ambiguity; abbreviations (this guide I'm writing isn't an e.g.
of what's req'd. in a phil. essay); colloquialisms (which can really get up your reader's nose);
writing whose syntax merely reflects the patterns of speech; unnecessary abstractness or
indirectness; unexplained jargon; overly-rhetorical questions. Also, try to shorten and simplify
sentences where you can do so without sacrificing the subtlety and inherent complexity of your
thinking
With regard to what "authorial pronoun" to adopt in a philosophy essay, it's standard to write
plainly in the first person singular ("I", "me", "my", etc.). (A philosophy essay is still something
more intellectual and formal than a personal reflection.) In terms of audience, it's probably best to
think of your reader as someone who is intelligent, reasonable, open to discussion, well-read,
perhaps knows something about what you're writing about, but either is not quite clear or decided
on the matter, or needs convincing of the view you want to put forward, or is curious about what
you think about the issues.
(f) Vocabulary of logical argument
Closely related to the above points about English expression is the importance of having a good
grasp of what we can rather generally call "the vocabulary of logical argument". These sorts of
terms are crucial to articulating clearly and persuasively a logical line of argument. Such
argumentation will, of course, be of central importance in whatever discipline you are studying
(indeed, in whatever sphere of life that requires effective thinking and communication). I have in
mind terms such as these (grouped a little loosely):

all, any, every, most, some, none, a, an, the

if …, then … ; if and only if … , then … ; unless

either … or …; neither … nor …

therefore, thus, hence, so, because, since, follows, implies, infer, consequence

moreover, furthermore

and, but, however, despite, notwithstanding, nevertheless, even, though, still

possibly, necessarily, can, must, may, might, ought, should

true, false, probable, certain

sound, unsound, valid, invalid, fallacious, supported

logical, illogical, reasonable, unreasonable, rational, irrational

assumption, premise, belief, claim, proposition

argument, reason, reasoning, evidence, proof
(g) Revising your essay
It is virtually essential that you write a first draft of your essay and then work on that draft to work towards
your finished essay. Indeed, several re-drafts may well be necessary in order to produce your best possible
work. It is a rare philosopher indeed who can get things perfectly right on the first attempt, so be prepared
to change, alter, revise and re-develop what you write. Don't be too precious about what you have written,
if it appears that it should be sacrificed in the revision process. There is usually a large difference between
essays which are basically first draft rush-jobs done the night before they are due and those which have
been revised and polished. Give yourself time to revise by starting writing early on. Most philosophers will
agree that the greater part of the work in essay writing is in the writing, not in the preliminary researches
and planning stages. So be wary of thinking "I've done all the work. I only need to write up my notes,
which I can do the night before the essay's due". This is likely to lead to a sleepless night and a weak,
perhaps non-existent, essay.
(h) Word limit
Stick to the limit given for your essay (within, say, 10% of the limit, either above or below). A
limit provides you the opportunity to practise the discipline of working creatively under
constraints. Skill in this discipline will stand you in very good stead in any sphere where
circumstances impose limitations.
As a general rule, most essays that fall well short of the word limit are weak or lazy attempts at
the task, and most essays that go well over the limit are not much stronger or the result of much
harder work – the extra length is often due to unstructured waffle or padding which the writer
hasn't thought enough about so as to edit judiciously. If you structure your essay clearly, you'll
find it easier to revise and edit, whether in order to contract or expand it.
6. Plagiarism & Originality
(a) Plagiarism
At university level, plagiarism is not tolerated, and is dealt with severely, usually by awarding
zero marks for a plagiarised essay or, in some cases, resulting in dismissal from the university.
Plagiarism is the knowing but unacknowledged use of work by someone other than oneself
(including work by another student) and which is being presented as one's own work. Plagiarism
can take a number of forms, such as:

copying: exactly reproducing another's words

paraphrasing: expressing the meaning of another's words indifferent words

summarising: reproducing the main points of another's argument
None of these practices is wrong in itself, but when one or more is done without acknowledgment
it constitutes plagiarism, and as such it will not be tolerated. Therefore, all sources must be
adequately and accurately acknowledged in footnotes or endnotes.
(b) Originality
Students sometimes worry about whether they will be able to develop "original ideas", especially
in light of the fact that nearly every philosophical idea one comes up with seems to have been
thought of before by someone from several centuries ago, if not 2500 years ago. There is no
denying that truly original work in philosophy is well rewarded, but your first aim should be to
develop ideas that you think are good and not merely different. If, after arguing for what you
believe is right, and arguing in way that you think is good, you then discover that someone else
has had the same idea, don't throw your work away – you should feel vindicated to some extent
that your thinking has been congruent with that of another (possibly great) philosopher. (If you
have not yet handed your essay in when you make this discovery, make an appropriately placed
note to that effect.) Don't be fooled, however, into thinking that plagiarism can be easily passed
off as congruent thinking. Of course, if that other philosopher's ideas have helped you to develop
your ideas, then this is not a matter of congruent ideas but rather of derivative ideas, and this must
be adequately acknowledged. If, after developing your ideas, you discover that they are original,
then that is an added bonus. But remember that it is more important to be a good philosopher than
an original one.
7. Quotations, Footnotes, Endnotes, & Bibliography
(a) Quotations
Quotations in your essay should be kept to a minimum. The teacher knows the central texts pretty
well already and so don't need to have pages thereof repeated in front of them. Of course, some
quotation will usually be important and useful. When you do make quotations, you must make
them clearly distinct from your own text, using quotation marks, or, where the quoted passage is
greater than 3 lines, in a separate indented paragraph. In all cases, quotations must be given
proper referencing in a footnote or endnote.
Indirect quotations (e.g., "Descartes says that it is wise not to trust something that has deceived us
once before"[7]), paraphrases, summaries, must be similarly acknowledged as such, using
footnotes or endnotes.
(b) Footnotes and endnotes
Footnotes appear at the foot of the page, clearly separated from the main body of the text, each
one clearly numbered. Endnotes appear at the end of the essay, again clearly separated from the
main body of text, numbered and headed "Endnotes" or "Notes". Either method is acceptable, but
you should choose one and stick with it throughout the one essay.
Below are some examples of how to put the relevant referencing information in footnotes and
endnotes.
ENDNOTES
1. James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 2nd ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill,
1993), p.25.
2. Philippa Foot, “Moral Relativism”, in Michael Krausz and Jack W. Meiland, eds.,
Relativism: Cognitive and Moral (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press,
1982), p.155.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid., p.160.
5. Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, trans. H. J.Paton (New York:
Harper and Row, 1964 [first German ed., 1785]), p.63.
6. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, (London: Dent, 1973 [first pub. 1651]),p.65.
7. Rachels, The Elements, p.51.
8. Peter Winch, “The Universalizability of Moral Judgements”, The Monist 49 (1965),
p.212.
(c) Bibliography
At the end of your essay (after your endnotes, if used) you should list in a bibliography all of the
works referred to in your notes, as well as any other works you consulted in researching and
writing your essay. The lists should be in alphabetical order, going by authors' surnames. The
format should be the same as for your notes, except that you drop the page references and should
put surnames first. So the bibliography of our mock-essay above would look like this:

Foot, Philippa, “Moral Relativism”, in Michael Krausz and Jack Meiland, eds.,
Relativism: Cognitive and Moral (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press,
1982).

Hobbes, Thomas, Leviathan (London: Dent, 1973 [first pub. 1651]).

Kant, Immanuel, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, trans. H.J.Paton (New York:
Harper and Row, 1964 [first German ed. 1785]).

Rachels, James, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 2nd ed., (New York:McGraw-Hill,
1993).
(b) Late essays
Late essays are penalized. 10% per day for 4 days. After this all will receive a grade of zero. If
you have a legitimate excuse, you may be granted an extension on the due date for your essay by
the teacher. Similarly, special consideration may also be granted when illness or other
circumstances adversely affect your work
Seeking Advice: Make an appointment earlier rather than later.
Metaphysics Essay
Thinking
Soundness
of Argument
30
Comm.
Focus,
Organization
and
Development
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
This paper is unclear, or
reflects partial
understanding or some
distortion of the topic;
exhibits faulty logic
and/or stereotypical,
superficial thinking in
some of its supporting
arguments, analysis and
examples; little or no
effort to anticipate and
address problems
A clear position, but
may not articulate it
very clearly; responds
in a general way to the
topic, showing broad
understanding of major
issues, but may address
some ideas more
effectively than others;
support of main points
is inconsistent,
sometimes adequate;
minimal anticipation of
counter arguments
A clear position,
responding
competently and
comprehensively to the
topic, showing some
depth of thought; some
claims may not be
strongly supported but
this only slightly
undermines the main
argument; some
success at anticipation
of counter arguments
A strong well articulated
position, responding
precisely and
comprehensively to the
topic: demonstrates
excellent understanding and
depth of thought supported
by compelling and logically
sound arguments, analysis
and examples; Anticipates
and addresses problems and
counter-arguments
effectively
This paper reads poorly,
exhibiting a lack of control
of focus and/or weak
organizational and
developmental patterns;
may ramble, be repetitious,
hard to follow in places, or
locked into an
organizational formula
This paper reads well
showing some control
of focus, organization
and development; it
may rely to some extent
on formulaic devices
for its structure, and it
may wander or shift
topics abruptly at times.
This paper reads well
for the most part,
exhibiting control of
focus, organization and
development, but its
elements are not as
well managed as at the
command level (eg.
The intro./concl. may
be ineffective, or the
argument may not flow
consistently)
This paper reads very well,
exhibiting command of
focus, organization and
development
This paper exhibits a lack
of control of expression,
grammar, punctuation, and
mechanics; many and
significant errors, some of
which interfere with the
reader’s understanding or
require the reader to
supply meaning to make
the text intelligible
This paper exhibits
some control of
expression, grammar,
punctuation, and
mechanics; may
contain numerous
errors, but they are not
such that they interfere
with the reader’s
understanding
This paper exhibits
control of expression,
grammar, punctuation,
and mechanics; some
minor errors
This paper exhibits
command of expression
(word choice, tone, sentence
structure, and sentence
sense), grammar,
punctuation, and mechanics;
no errors, or at most a few
minor ones
15
Comm.
Clarity of
Expression
15
Its introduction draws the
reader into the discussion,
which presents a sustained
and logical progression of
ideas leading to an effective
conclusion.
Knowledge
Philosophers
30
Referencing