Introduction to Philosophy Lecture 13 Writing Philosophy Papers

1. Introduction to PhilosophyLecture 13Writing Philosophy Papers By David Kelsey

2. Guidelines • Here are some general guidelines for writing a philosophy paper: • 1. Your philosophy paper will make an argument. • 2. The philosophy paper you will write in this course will be of 2 kinds: • a. The positive approach: • b. The negative approach:

3. Keep it modest & starting the writing process • 3. Keep the scope of your paper modest. • 4. How do you start the paper writing process? • Read and think about it • Work backwards

4. Start early &be simple • 5. Start the paper early, at least a few weeks in advance of the due date. • Finding your thoughts on a subject can be difficult. • 6. Be Simple: • Simple straightforward prose

5. Make the structure obvious and Be concise yet fully explain • 7. Make the structure of your paper obvious: • 8. Be concise yet fully explain • Cover one or two small points but do fully explore them

6. Chuck out what’s unnecessary • 9. Chuck out unnecessary paragraphs: • Each paragraph should be necessary in making your argument • Each sentence should be a necessary part of its paragraph • Each word should be a necessary part of its sentence

7. Avoid vagueness and ambiguity, anticipate objections & editing your draft • 10. Avoid vagueness and ambiguity. • 11. Anticipate objections:Imagine the reader of your paper is a devil’s advocate in the worst kind of way. • 12. Read and re-read your draft

8. Vagueness • A vague statement is one whose meaning is indistinct, imprecise or lacks details. • Degrees: Vagueness isn’t all or nothing. It comes in degrees. • Apartment example

9. Clarifying vagueness • Desirable vagueness: sometimes vagueness is actually desirable. • Being Romantic • Clarify: If we come across a vague statement we can simply try to clarify the lack of detail or indistinct-ness. • Job example

10. Vagueness and Propositions • A vague statement • it is unclear what proposition the sentence asserts at all. • It could be any one of a number of propositions

11. Ambiguous Claims • An ambiguous claim is one that is subject to more than one interpretation. • Claim x •   • P1 P2

12. A sentence that is semantically ambiguous is one which contains an ambiguous word or phrase. For example: Fixing the ambiguous word Semantic Ambiguity

13. A sentence is syntactically ambiguous when it is ambiguous because of its grammar or the way it has been structured or put together. When you have come across a semantic ambiguity you can simply alter the grammar Or you might need to re-write the claim altogether. Syntactic Ambiguity

14. Grouping Ambiguity • Grouping ambiguity: • unclear whether some word in the sentence is referring to a group or an individual. • Secretaries and Physicians • Lawnmowers and dirt bikes