Can someone help me with this Philosophy paper???

Paper Guidelines

Philosophy is about using arguments to express ideas, and doing philosophy requires engag- ing the arguments and ideas of others. Its value is found in the fact that by articulating the reasons that others use to support their views, and by engaging those reasons critically, we’re able to figure out what we ourselves think. Your papers are your chance to think and to express ideas, but to do that, you’ll need to engage the arguments of others with your own. I’ve provided a few pointers to help you do that.

Paper Requirement Checklist

• The following are conditions that must be met in order for your essay to qualify for more than 50% of the available points. If you fail to meet these standards, I will grade your essay on the basis of 1/2 the available points. As an example: a paper would earn 80% of 5 points rather than of 10 points if it was ‘B-’ quality and failed to meet the conditions below.

Cover Page with your name and word count.

Your name appears ONLY on the cover page.

Word count falls within the assigned range.

Times New Roman, 12pt font.

Double spaced (no extra spacing between paragraphs).

1-inch margins.

Physical copy is printed single sided and handed to me.

Paper is on the assigned reading.

The first paragraph:

• The opening paragraph’s purpose is to give your reader the information necessary to understand your paper’s aim and purpose. It’s a good place to say what the problem you aim to address is and why it’s a problem. It’s also a good place to introduce terminology that is potentially vague, ambiguous, or controversial.

• Avoid trite opening statements. For example, “Philosophers have always . . . ” or “The fundamental problem of philosophy is . . . ” or “Mill was one of the greatest minds ever.” Cut to the chase!

• Your first paragraph should end by stating your purpose, which is a signpost that tells the reader where you aim to take him. Without such a statement, your reader will be lost.

• The aim of your paper isn’t your argument; it’s a statement of purpose. Conse- quently, it shouldn’t include your reasons for resisting your target. This means that you shouldn’t have reason-indicator words in there—words like, ‘because’, ‘since’, and so on.

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The Paper’s Substance:

• An argument is the backbone of a philosophy paper, and serves to give shape to your thesis. Everything in your paper is done for your argument. If you have a sentence, a word, or a paragraph that isn’t filling in your argument, it should be deleted.

• Your paper should use plausible reasons to support a conclusion that your reader (if he accepts your reasons) is forced to believe. Be clear about your reasons and how they work together to support your conclusion.

• Although your argument gives expression to an idea that is all your own, it should engage another philosopher’s views. Since I require your papers to be critical, it’s helpful to think of the person you’re engaging as an opponent.

• To engage another philosopher’s views, you’ll need to do some exposition. The aim here is to articulate just enough of your opponent’s view to make your own argument. However, keep in mind that good exposition articulates supporting arguments, not just conclusions. Saying that you disagree with someone’s view without engaging the reasons used to support it is no good. To be persuasive, your argument should engage your opponent’s argument. You have to get it right.

• Attributing a view to an opponent requires providing supporting evidence. A short quote works well, but if you can’t find that, you’ll need to argue that they’re committed to one or another view.

• Don’t overstate your opponent’s views or your own. Overstating things undermines your credibility, because it only happens when you don’t know what you’re talking about or you’re trying to be deceptive.

Questions to Guide Paper Construction: These questions correspond to the three parts of a philosophy paper. If you let them guide your thinking while you work through each part of your essay, you’ll have a better chance of producing a decent piece of philosophical writing.

1. Introduction: Your paper is a response to a claim (or a point) made by an author we’re reading this semester. What’s the claim you’re trying to engage and why does it matter? To find the claim, ask yourself, “What is the author trying to persuade me to believe?” The answer to that question is something you can evaluate for truth (is the claim true or false?), and you should be able to say something meaningful about why finding out the truth concerning this claim matters.

2. Body of the paper: What reasons does the author provide to support his or her point? Generally, there will be lots of these. You should pick a couple that you think are the most persuasive.

3. Critical Evaluation: Are there any weaknesses to which the author’s reasons are subject? Does the author’s evidence actually support the claim he or she wants you to believe? Why might one be skeptical of the author’s evidence?

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Grammar, style, and formatting:

1. Avoid vague, abstract generalities that don’t say anything meaningful.

2. Do your very best to avoid jargon. Try not to adopt the turns of phrase used by philosophers. Generally, they mask confusion, which then finds its way into your own thinking.

3. Write to the correct audience. Work on the assumption that your reader is a fairly intelligent high-school senior.

4. In general, numbers should be spelled out.

5. A disagreement isn’t a reason. Saying, “Mary Midgley is wrong because it is a mistake to judge people too harshly” isn’t giving a reason. It’s pointing out a disagreement. Disagreements are resolved by reasons.

6. Keep tense consistent: don’t switch between past, future, and present. Generally, it’s best to write using present tense.

7. At first use, one should use an author’s first and last name. After the first use, it’s correct to use only the second name.

8. Pronouns refer, so they should only be used when the object to which they refer is clear.

9. Use the word ‘argue’ correctly: 1) I am going to argue for X; 2) I am going to argue against Y; 3) I am going to argue with Z; or 4) I am going to argue that [fill this in with a statement that you think is true]. Generally, you’re arguing for views that are either true or false and the ‘that’ in the above statement carries an implied truth claim. For example, “Plato argues that . . . .”

10. ‘They’ and ‘Their’ refer to groups of people. ‘He’, ‘She’, ‘one’, ‘individual’, and ‘agent’ refer to single persons. It doesn’t make sense, then, to refer to an individual as ‘they’. For example, the following is no good: “An individual is mistaken when suggesting that everything is relative, since they confuse a fact about moral disagreement for facts themselves.”

11. Be mindful of possessives, which are a grammatical tool used to show possession. For example, “Tim’s Desk” shows that Tim owns or is in possession of the desk. With very few exceptions, possession is indicated by adding ’s to a word.

12. Quotations that are more than three lines long should be set off from the rest of the text by being single-spaced and indented. (As a general rule, quotations of this length will hurt your grade. There might be exceptions.)

13. Double quotation marks and single quotation marks are used for different pur- poses. If you are mentioning a word, use single quotation marks. Otherwise, use double. For example, “The word ‘cup’ is easy to spell.”

14. Punctuation goes inside double quotations, but outside single quotations.

15. What is the role of a question in writing? Well, to ask a question. Only use them when you plan on answering the question,

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and remember, remember, remember: questions aren’t arguments. If you ask a question as a way of objecting to a view, it demonstrates that you either don’t understand the view or you don’t know how to argue against it.

16. Don’t overstate your claims: avoid words that are too strong. Take measure of what you write. It shows that you’re thinking and not merely regurgitating what you’ve memorized.

17. Citations are required when quoting or attributing an idea to another person. Citations must be in either Chicago or APA style. There are a number of ways to cite people and you’ll have to decide which way you prefer. Citations are not optional and failure to include them is plagiarism.

18. When you first refer to a text, cite it using a footnote like this one.1 Sometimes you’ll have to be inventive, like this.2 Keep in mind that there are different ways to cite different sources, and you have to follow the rules. To do so, us The Chicago Manual of Style.

19. Titles of books are italicized. Titles of articles or book chapters receive double quotation marks.

20. Avoid mixed metaphors. Make sure the metaphors you use make sense.

21. Avoid the word ‘you’ and only use a semicolon if you have mastered the rules of grammar.

22. Avoid slashes. For example, don’t say ‘he/she’, ‘and/or’, etc. If you’re going to use gendered pronouns, pick one and stick with it. If you can’t decide between ‘and/or’, you’re likely confused since they serve different logical purposes.

23. Your first paragraph (and all subsequent paragraphs) should be indented.

24. Restating what you’ve said using different words isn’t the same as offering a reason for what you’ve said. Reasons, remember, are facts that support other facts.

25. Get started on your papers early so that you have time to proofread.

1Williams, B., Morality (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972), p. 21.

2References to Mill’s work will be to the volume and page number of the standard edition of John Stuart Mill’s Collected Works (Toronto and London: University of Toronto Press, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967- 1989). So, for example, the citation (VII: 235) is to Mill’s Collected Works, volume VII, page 235.

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