Intro to Ethics PAPER 1: How do you write a philosophy paper?
DUE MONDAY FEB 15, by your class time
4-5 pages, typed (i.e., word-processed), double spaced, 12 pt font Times New Roman, 1” margins.
Due MONDAY FEB 15 submitted via the Turnitin system: http://insite.turnitin.com If you have not done so already, you need to BUY a card with account from the bookstore: this will give you your PIN to make an account. The class ID # is on your syllabus and the password is ethics. If you have trouble registering your account, please see the syllabus for guidance.
No late papers will be accepted since have had 4+ weeks to get the Turnitin account; you need to get the PIN card and do the paper before the due date. No excuses. If the bookstore doesn’t have the cards, you need to get them to order one for you.
There are two main writings on how to write a philosophy paper that you need to carefully read and study:
1. The chapters from A Rulebook for Arguments on writing.
2. An online article by Jim Pryor called "Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper": http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html
The assignment is this:
A friend knows that you are in a philosophy course. This friend asks you to come to her group to give a little presentation on what philosophy essays are like and how to effectively write them. Your job is to carefully read the readings below on how to write philosophy and then effectively summarize them for this person. Write up the text that you could read -- or pass out -- to this audience so that they can learn from you. Write so you teach them how to write a philosophical essay: pass on what you learn from Weston and Pryor! This assignment requires you to summarize advice from a number of different sources and explain this advice to other people in your own words.
Papers must by typed and carefully written: put your name, email, the date, course # and time at the top of the first page; DO NOT USE A COVER PAGE. And give your paper a title.
Grading:
9-10= excellent
8 = good
7 = fair
6 = poor
5 or below = very poor
They will be graded on clarity, organization, thoroughness, grammar and spelling, and, most generally, whether your reader would get a good sense for what philosophical / argumentative essays are like and how to write them.
Although citations -- i.e., direct quotations -- are not necessarily needed for this paper, if you use them you should use an official citation method that you learned in introductory English. These are presented in Vaughn as well.
