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1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology

Philosophy, One Thousand Words at a Time

How to Write a Philosophical Essay

Authors: The Editors of 1000-Word Philosophy [1] Category: Student Resources Word Count: 998

If you want to convince someone of a philosophical thesis, such as that God exists , that abortion is morally acceptable , or that we have free will , you can write a philosophy essay. [2]

Philosophy essays are different from essays in many other fields, but with planning and practice, anyone can write a good one. This essay provides some basic instructions. [3]

1. Planning

Typically, your purpose in writing an essay will be to argue for a certain thesis, i.e., to support a conclusion about a philosophical claim, argument, or theory. [4] You may also be asked to carefully explain someone else’s essay or argument. [5]

To begin, select a topic. Most instructors will be happy to discuss your topic with you before you start writing. Sometimes instructors give specific prompts with topics to choose from.

It’s generally best to select a topic that you’re interested in; you’ll put more energy into writing it. Your topic will determine what kind of research or preparation you need to do before writing, although in undergraduate philosophy courses, you usually don’t need to do outside research. [6]

Essays that defend or attack entire theories tend to be longer, and are more difficult to write convincingly, than essays that defend or attack particular arguments or objections: narrower is usually better than broader.

After selecting a topic, complete these steps:

• Ensure that you understand the relevant issues and arguments. Usually, it’s enough to carefully read and take notes on the assigned readings on your essay’s topic.
• Choose an initial thesis. Generally, you should choose a thesis that’s interesting, but not extremely controversial. [7] You don’t have to choose a thesis that you agree with, but it can help. (As you plan and write, you may decide to revise your thesis. This may require revising the rest of your essay, but sometimes that’s necessary, if you realize you want to defend a different thesis than the one you initially chose.)
• Ensure that your thesis is a philosophical thesis. Natural-scientific or social-scientific claims, such as that global warming is occurring or that people like to hang out with their friends , are not philosophical theses. [8] Philosophical theses are typically defended using careful reasoning, and not primarily by citing scientific observations.

Instructors will usually not ask you to come up with some argument that no philosopher has discovered before. But if your essay ignores what the assigned readings say, that suggests that you haven’t learned from those readings.

2. Structure

Develop an outline, rather than immediately launching into writing the whole essay; this helps with organizing the sections of your essay.

Your structure will probably look something like the following, but follow your assignment’s directions carefully. [9]

2.1. Introduction and Thesis

Write a short introductory paragraph that includes your thesis statement (e.g., “I will argue that eating meat is morally wrong”). The thesis statement is not a preview nor a plan; it’s not “I will consider whether eating meat is morally wrong.”

If your thesis statement is difficult to condense into one sentence, then it’s likely that you’re trying to argue for more than one thesis. [10]

2.2. Arguments

Include at least one paragraph that presents and explains an argument. It should be totally clear what reasons or evidence you’re offering to support your thesis.

In most essays for philosophy courses, you only need one central argument for your thesis. It’s better to present one argument and defend it well than present many arguments in superficial and incomplete ways.

2.3. Objection

Unless the essay must be extremely short, raise an objection to your argument. [11] Be clear exactly which part of the other argument (a premise, or the form) is being questioned or denied and why. [12]

It’s usually best to choose either one of the most common or one of the best objections. Imagine what a smart person who disagreed with you would say in response to your arguments, and respond to them.

Offer your own reply to any objections you considered. If you don’t have a convincing reply to the objection, you might want to go back and change your thesis to something more defensible.

2.5. Additional Objections and Replies

If you have space, you might consider and respond to the second-best or second-most-common objection to your argument, and so on.

2.6. Conclusion

To conclude, offer a paragraph summarizing what you did. Don’t include any new or controversial claims here, and don’t claim that you did more than you actually accomplished. There should be no surprises at the end of a philosophy essay.

Make your writing extremely clear and straightforward. Use simple sentences and don’t worry if they seem boring: this improves readability. [13] Every sentence should contribute in an obvious way towards supporting your thesis. If a claim might be confusing, state it in more than one way and then choose the best version.

To check for readability, you might read the essay aloud to an audience. Don’t try to make your writing entertaining: in philosophy, clear arguments are fun in themselves.

Concerning objections, treat those who disagree with you charitably. Make it seem as if you think they’re smart, careful, and nice, which is why you are responding to them.

Your readers, if they’re typical philosophers, will be looking for any possible way to object to what you say. Try to make your arguments “airtight.”

4. Citations

If your instructor tells you to use a certain citation style, use it. No citation style is universally accepted in philosophy. [14]

You usually don’t need to directly quote anyone. [15] You can paraphrase other authors; where you do, cite them.

Don’t plagiarize . [16] Most institutions impose severe penalties for academic dishonesty.

5. Conclusion

A well-written philosophy essay can help people gain a new perspective on some important issue; it might even change their minds. [17] And engaging in the process of writing a philosophical essay is one of the best ways to develop, understand, test, and sometimes change, your own philosophical views. They are well worth the time and effort.

[1] Primary author: Thomas Metcalf. Contributing authors: Chelsea Haramia, Dan Lowe, Nathan Nobis, Kristin Seemuth Whaley.

[2] You can also do some kind of oral presentation, either “live” in person or recorded on video. An effective presentation, however, requires the type of planning and preparation that’s needed to develop an effective philosophy paper: indeed, you may have to first write a paper and then use it as something like a script for your presentation. Some parts of the paper, e.g., section headings, statements of arguments, key quotes, and so on, you may want to use as visual aids in your presentation to help your audience better follow along and understand.

[3] Many of these recommendations are, however, based on the material in Horban (1993), Huemer (n.d.), Pryor (n.d.), and Rippon (2008). There is very little published research to cite about the claims in this essay, because these claims are typically justified by instructors’ experience, not, say, controlled experiments on different approaches to teaching philosophical writing. Therefore, the guidance offered here has been vetted by many professional philosophers with a collective hundreds of hours of undergraduate teaching experience and further collective hundreds of hours of taking philosophy courses. The editors of 1000-Word Philosophy also collectively have thousands of hours of experience in writing philosophy essays.

[4] For more about the areas of philosophy, see What is Philosophy? by Thomas Metcalf.

[5] For an explanation of what is meant by an “argument” in philosophy, see Arguments: Why Do You Believe What You Believe? by Thomas Metcalf.

[6] Outside research is sometimes discouraged, and even prohibited, for philosophy papers in introductory courses because a common goal of a philosophy paper is not to report on a number of views on a philosophical issue—so philosophy papers usually are not “research reports”—but to rather engage a specific argument or claim or theory, in a more narrow and focused way, and show that you understand the issue and have engaged in critically. If a paper engages in too much reporting of outside research, that can get in the way of this critical evaluation task.

[7] There are two reasons to avoid extremely controversial theses. First, such theses are usually more difficult to defend adequately. Second, you might offend your instructor, who might (fairly or not) give you a worse grade. So, for example, you might argue that abortion is usually permissible, or usually wrong, but you probably shouldn’t argue that anyone who has ever said the word ‘abortion’ should be tortured to death, and you probably shouldn’t argue that anyone who’s ever pregnant should immediately be forced to abort the pregnancy, because both of these claims are extremely implausible and so it’s very unlikely that good arguments could be developed for them. But theses that are controversial without being implausible can be interesting for both you and the instructor, depending on how you develop and defend your argument or arguments for that thesis.

[8] Whether a thesis is philosophical mostly depends on whether it is a lot like theses that have been defended in important works of philosophy. That means it would be a thesis about metaphysics, epistemology, value theory, logic, history of philosophy, or something therein. For more information, see Philosophy and Its Contrast with Science and What is Philosophy? both by Thomas Metcalf.

[9] Also, read the grading rubric, if it’s available. If your course uses an online learning environment, such as Canvas, Moodle, or Schoology, then the rubric will often be visible as attached to the assignment itself. The rubric is a breakdown of the different requirements of the essay and how each is weighted and evaluated by the instructor. So, for example, if some requirement has a relatively high weight, you should put more effort into doing a good job. Similarly, some requirement might explicitly mention some step for the assignment that you need to complete in order to get full credit.

[10] In some academic fields, a “thesis” or “thesis statement” is considered both your conclusion and a statement of the basic support you will give for that conclusion. In philosophy, your thesis is usually just that conclusion: e..g, “Eating meat is wrong,” “God exists,” “Nobody has free will,” and so on: the support given for that conclusion is the support for your thesis.

[11] To be especially clear, this should be an objection to the argument given for your thesis or conclusion, not an objection to your thesis or conclusion itself. This is because you don’t want to give an argument and then have an objection that does not engage that argument, but instead engages something else, since that won’t help your reader or audience better understand and evaluate that argument.

[12] For more information about premises, forms, and objections, see Arguments: Why do You Believe What You Believe? by Thomas Metcalf.

[13] For a philosophical argument in favor of clear philosophical writing, and guidance on producing such writing, see Fischer and Nobis (2019).

[14] The most common styles in philosophy are APA (Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d.a) and Chicago (Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d.b.).

[15] You might choose to directly quote someone when it’s very important that the reader know that the quoted author actually said what you claim they said. For example, if you’re discussing some author who made some startling claim, you can directly quote them to show that they really said that. You might also directly quote someone when they presented some information or argument in a very concise, well-stated way, such that paraphrasing it would take up more space than simply quoting them would.

[16] Plagiarism, in general, occurs when someone submits written or spoken work that is largely copied, in style, substance, or both, from some other author’s work, and does not attribute it to that author. However, your institution or instructor may define “plagiarism” somewhat differently, so you should check with their definitions. When in doubt, check with your instructor first.

[17] These are instructions for relatively short, introductory-level philosophy essays. For more guidance, there are many useful philosophy-writing guides online to consult, e.g.: Horban (1993); Huemer (n.d.); Pryor (n.d.); Rippon (2008); Weinberg (2019).

Fischer, Bob and Nobis, Nathan. (2019, June 4). Why writing better will make you a better person. The Chronicle of Higher Education . 

Horban, Peter. (1993). Writing a philosophy paper. Simon Fraser University Department of Philosophy . 

Huemer, Michael. (N.d.). A guide to writing. Owl232.net .

Pryor, Jim. (N.d.). Guidelines on writing a philosophy paper. Jimpryor.net .

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (N.d.a.). General format. Purdue Online Writing Lab . 

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (N.d.b.). General format. Purdue Online Writing Lab .

Rippon, Simon. (2008). A brief guide to writing the philosophy paper. Harvard College Writing Center .

Weinberg, Justin. (2019, January 15). How to write a philosophy paper: Online guides. Daily Nous .

Related Essays

Arguments: Why do You Believe What You Believe? by Thomas Metcalf

Philosophy and its Contrast with Science by Thomas Metcalf

What is Philosophy? By Thomas Metcalf

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How to Write a Philosophy Essay: Ultimate Guide

What Is a Philosophy Essay: Definition

Philosophical writing isn't your typical assignment. Its aim isn't to provide an overview of professional philosophers' works and say whether you agree with them.

Philosophy demands becoming a philosopher for the time of writing, thinking analytically and critically of ideas, pondering the Big Questions, and asking 'Why?'. That's why it requires time and energy, as well as a lot of thinking on your part.

But what is philosophy essay, exactly? If you're tasked with writing one, you'll have to select a thesis in the philosophical domain and argue for or against it. Then, you can support your thesis with other professional philosophers' works. But it has to contain your own philosophical contribution, too. (This is only one definition of philosophy essay, of course.)

What's a Good Philosophy Paper Outline?

Before you start writing your first line, you should make a philosophy essay outline. Think of it as a plan for your philosophy paper that briefly describes each paragraph's point.

As for how to write a philosophy essay outline, here are a few tips for you:

• Start with your thesis. What will you be arguing for or against?
• Read what philosophical theory has to say and note sources for your possible arguments and counterarguments.
• Decide on the definitions of core concepts to include precise philosophical meanings in your essay.
• After careful and extended reflection, organize your ideas following the structure below.

How To Structure a Philosophy Paper?

Like any other essay, a philosophy paper consists of an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. Sticking to this traditional philosophy essay structure will help you avoid unnecessary stress.

Here's your mini-guide on how to structure a philosophy essay:

• Introduction - Clarify the question you will be answering in your philosophy paper. State your thesis – i.e., the answer you'll be arguing for. Explain general philosophical terms if needed.
• Main body - Start with providing arguments for your stance and refute all the objections for each of them. Then, describe other possible answers and their reasoning – and counter the main arguments in their support.
• Conclusion - Sum up all possible answers to the questions and reiterate why yours is the most viable one.

What's an Appropriate Philosophy Essay Length?

In our experience, 2,000 to 2,500 words are enough to cover the topic in-depth without compromising the quality of the writing.

However, see whether you have an assigned word limit before getting started. If it's shorter or longer than we recommend, stick to that word limit in writing your essay on philosophy.

What Format Should You Use for a Philosophy Paper?

As a service we can attest that most students use the APA guidelines as their philosophy essay format. However, your school has the final say in what format you should stick to.

Sometimes, you can be asked to use a different college philosophy essay format, like MLA or Chicago. But if you're the one to choose the guidelines and don't know which one would be a good philosophy argumentative essay format, let's break down the most popular ones.

APA, MLA, and Chicago share some characteristics:

• Font: Time New Roman, 12 pt
• Line spacing: double
• Margins: 1" (left and right)
• Page number: in the header

But here's how they differ:

• A title page required
• Sources list: 'References' page
• No title page required
• Sources list: 'Works cited' page
• Sources list: 'Bibliography' page
• Footnotes and endnotes are required for citations

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Guideline on How to Write a Philosophy Essay

If you still don't feel that confident about writing a philosophy paper, don't worry. Philosophical questions, by definition, have more than one interpretation. That's what makes them so challenging to write about.

To help you out in your philosophical writing journey, we've prepared this list of seven tips on how to write a philosophy essay.

• Read Your Sources Thoughtfully

Whether your recommended reading includes Dante's Divine Comedy or Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism Is a Humanism , approach your sources with curiosity and analytical thinking. Don't just mindlessly consume those texts. Instead, keep asking yourself questions while you're reading them, such as:

• What concepts and questions does the author address?
• What's the meaning behind key ideas and metaphors in the text?
• What does the author use as a convincing argument?
• Are there any strange or obscure distinctions?

As for which sources you should turn to, that all depends on your central question; philosophy topics for essay are diverse and sometimes opposed. So, you'll have to do your fair share of research.

• Brainstorm & Organize Your Ideas

As you're reading those texts, jot down what comes to your mind. It can be a great quote you've stumbled upon, an idea for an argument, or your thoughtful, critical responses to certain opinions.

Then, sort through and organize all of those notes into an outline for your essay in philosophy. Make sure that it holds up in terms of logic. And ensure that your arguments and counterarguments are compelling, sensible, and convincing!

Now, you might be wondering how to write a philosophy essay introduction. Don't worry: there's an explanation right below!

• Craft Your Introductory Paragraph

Think of your introduction as a road map preparing your reader for the journey your essay will take them on. This road map will describe the key 'stops' in your essay on philosophy: your topic, stance, and how you will argue for it – and refute other stances.

Don't hesitate to write it out as a step-by-step guide in the first or third person. For example: 'First, I will examine... Then, I will dispute... Finally, I will present….'

Need an example of an excellent introduction for a philosophy paper? You’ll be thrilled to know that we have one of our philosophy essay examples below!

• Present Your Key Arguments & Reflections

Philosophy papers require a fair share of expository writing. This is where you demonstrate your understanding of the topic. So, make your exposition extensive and in-depth, and don't omit anything crucial.

As for the rest of the main body, we've covered how to structure a philosophy essay above. In short, you'll need to present supporting arguments, anticipate objections, and address them.

Use your own words when writing a philosophy paper; avoid pretentious or verbose language. Yes, some technical philosophical terms may be necessary. But the point of a philosophical paper is to present your stance – and develop your own philosophy – on the topic.

• Don't Shy Away from Critical Ideas

Whenever you examine a philosophical theory or text, treat it with a fair share of criticism. This is what it means in practice – and how to structure a philosophy essay around your critical ideas:

• Pinpoint what the theory's or idea's strengths are and every valid argument in its support;
• See the scope of its application – perhaps, there are exceptions you can use as counterarguments;
• Research someone else's criticism of the theory or idea. Develop your own criticism, as well;
• Check if the philosopher already addressed those criticisms.
• Ponder Possible Answers to Philosophical Questions

Writing an essay in philosophy is, in fact, easier for some students as the topic can always have multiple answers, and you can choose any of them. However, this can represent an even tougher challenge for other students. After all, you must consider those possible answers and address them in the paper.

How do you pinpoint those possible answers? Some of them can come to your mind when you brainstorm, especially if you'll be writing about one of the Big Questions. Others will reveal themselves when you start reading other philosophers' works.

Remember to have arguments for and against each possible answer and address objections.

• Write a Powerful Conclusion

The conclusion is where you sum up your paper in just one paragraph. Reiterate your thesis and what arguments support it. But in philosophical writing, you can rarely have a clear, undebatable answer by the end of the paper. So, it's fine if your conclusion doesn't have a definitive verdict.

Here are a few tips on how to write a conclusion in a philosophy essay:

• Don't introduce new arguments or evidence in conclusion – they belong in the main body;
• Avoid overestimating or embellishing the level or value of your work;
• Best conclusions are obvious and logical for those reading the paper – i.e.; a conclusion shouldn't be surprising at all;
• Stay away from poorly explained claims in conclusion.

Philosophical Essay Example

Sometimes, it's better to see how it's done once than to read a thousand guides. We know that like no one else, so we have prepared this short philosophy essay example to show you what excellent philosophy papers look like:

Like this example? Wondering how to get a perfect philosophy essay as great as it is? You're in luck: you can leave " write my philosophy paper " request and buy online essay at EssayPro without breaking the bank! Keep in mind: this example is only a fraction of what our writers are capable of!

30 Philosophy Paper Topic Ideas

Philosophical writing concerns questions that don't have clear-cut yes or no answers. So, coming up with philosophy essay topics yourself can be tough.

Fret not: we've put together this list of 30 topics for philosophy papers on ethics and leadership for you. Feel free to use them as-is or tweak them!

15 Ethics Philosophy Essay Topics

Ethics deals with the question of right and wrong. So, if you're looking for philosophy essay topic ideas, ethics concerns some of the most interesting – and most mind-boggling – questions about human behavior.

Here are 15 compelling philosophy essay topics ethics has to offer you:

• Is starting a war always morally wrong?
• Would it be right to legalize euthanasia?
• What is more important: the right to privacy or national security?
• Is justice always fair?
• Should nuclear weapons be banned?
• Should teenagers be allowed to get plastic surgery?
• Can cheating be justifiable?
• Can AI algorithms behave ethically?
• Should you abide by an unfair law?
• Should voting become mandatory?
• When can the right to freedom of speech be limited?
• Is it the consumers' responsibility to fight climate by changing their buying decisions?
• Is getting an abortion immoral?
• Should we give animals their own rights?
• Would human gene editing be immoral?

15 Leadership Philosophy Essay Topics

You're lucky if you're tasked with writing a leadership philosophy essay! We've compiled this list of 15 fresh, unconventional topics for you:

• Is formal leadership necessary for ensuring the team's productivity?
• Can authoritative leadership be ethical?
• How do informal leaders take on this role?
• Should there be affirmative action for formal leadership roles?
• Is it possible to measure leadership?
• What's the most important trait of a leader?
• Is leadership an innate talent or an acquired skill?
• Should leadership mean holding power over others?
• Can a team function without a leader?
• Should you follow a leader no matter what?
• Is leader succession necessary? Why?
• Are leadership and power the same?
• Can we consider influencers contemporary leaders?
• Why do people follow leaders?
• What leadership style is the most ethical one?

7 Helpful Tips on Crafting a Philosophical Essay

Still, feeling stuck writing a philosophical essay? Here are seven more tips on crafting a good philosophy paper that can help you get unstuck:

• Write the way you would talk about the subject. This will help you avoid overly convoluted, poor writing by using more straightforward prose with familiar words.
• Don't focus on having a definitive answer by the end of your philosophical essay if your conclusion states that the question should be clarified further or that there are multiple answers.
• You don't have to answer every question you raise in the paper. Even professional philosophers sometimes don't have all the answers.
• Get straight to the point at the start of your paper. No need to warm up the reader – and inflate your word count.
• Avoid using quotes. Instead, explain the author's point in your own words. But if you feel it's better to use a direct quote, explicitly state how it ties to your argument after it.
• Write in the first person unless your assignment requires you to use the third person.
• Start working on your philosophical essay well in advance. However much time you think you'll need, double it!

7 Common Mistakes to Avoid in Philosophy Writing

Sometimes, knowing what you shouldn't do in a philosophical essay is also helpful. Here are seven common mistakes that often bring down students' grades – but are easily avoidable:

• Appealing to authority – in philosophy, strive to develop your own stance instead;
• Using convoluted sentences to appear more intelligent – instead, use simpler ways to deliver the same meaning;
• Including interesting or important material without tying it to your point – every piece of evidence and every idea should explicitly support your arguments or counterarguments;
• Inflating your word count without delivering value – in the writing process, it's crucial to 'kill your darlings';
• Making poorly explained claims – explicitly present reasons for or against every claim you include;
• Leaving core concepts undefined – explain what you mean by the words like 'free will' or 'existentialism' in the introduction;
• Worrying about being wrong – no one can be proven wrong in philosophy!

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2.6 Writing Philosophy Papers

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Identify and characterize the format of a philosophy paper.
• Create thesis statements that are manageable and sufficiently specific.
• Collect evidence and formulate arguments.
• Organize ideas into a coherent written presentation.

This section will provide some practical advice on how to write philosophy papers. The format presented here focuses on the use of an argumentative structure in writing. Different philosophy professors may have different approaches to writing. The sections below are only intended to give some general guidelines that apply to most philosophy classes.

Identify Claims

The key element in any argumentative paper is the claim you wish to make or the position you want to defend. Therefore, take your time identifying claims , which is also called the thesis statement. What do you want to say about the topic? What do you want the reader to understand or know after reading your piece? Remember that narrow, modest claims work best. Grand claims are difficult to defend, even for philosophy professors. A good thesis statement should go beyond the mere description of another person’s argument. It should say something about the topic, connect the topic to other issues, or develop an application of some theory or position advocated by someone else. Here are some ideas for creating claims that are perfectly acceptable and easy to develop:

• Compare two philosophical positions. What makes them similar? How are they different? What general lessons can you draw from these positions?
• Identify a piece of evidence or argument that you think is weak or may be subject to criticism. Why is it weak? How is your criticism a problem for the philosopher’s perspective?
• Apply a philosophical perspective to a contemporary case or issue. What makes this philosophical position applicable? How would it help us understand the case?
• Identify another argument or piece of evidence that might strengthen a philosophical position put forward by a philosopher. Why is this a good argument or piece of evidence? How does it fit with the philosopher’s other claims and arguments?
• Consider an implication (either positive or negative) that follows from a philosopher’s argument. How does this implication follow? Is it necessary or contingent? What lessons can you draw from this implication (if positive, it may provide additional reasons for the argument; if negative, it may provide reasons against the argument)?

Think Like a Philosopher

The following multiple-choice exercises will help you identify and write modest, clear philosophical thesis statements. A thesis statement is a declarative statement that puts forward a position or makes a claim about some topic.

• How does Aristotle think virtue is necessary for happiness?
• Is happiness the ultimate goal of human action?
• Whether or not virtue is necessary for happiness.
• Aristotle argues that happiness is the ultimate good of human action and virtue is necessary for happiness.
• René Descartes argues that the soul or mind is the essence of the human person.
• Descartes shows that all beliefs and memories about the external world could be false.
• Some people think that Descartes is a skeptic, but I will show that he goes beyond skepticism.
• In the meditations, Descartes claims that the mind and body are two different substances.
• Descartes says that the mind is a substance that is distinct from the body, but I disagree.
• Contemporary psychology has shown that Descartes is incorrect to think that human beings have free will and that the mind is something different from the brain.
• Thomas Hobbes’s view of the soul is materialistic, whereas Descartes’s view of the soul is nonphysical. In this paper, I will examine the differences between these two views.
• John Stuart Mill reasons that utilitarian judgments can be based on qualitative differences as well as the quantity of pleasure, but ultimately any qualitative difference must result in a difference in the quantity of pleasure.
• Mill’s approach to utilitarianism differs from Bentham’s by introducing qualitative distinctions among pleasures, where Bentham only considers the quantitative aspects of pleasure.
• J. S. Mill’s approach to utilitarianism aligns moral theory with the history of ethics because he allows qualitative differences in moral judgments.
• Rawls’s liberty principle ensures that all people have a basic set of freedoms that are important for living a full life.
• The US Bill of Rights is an example of Rawls’s liberty principle because it lists a set of basic freedoms that are guaranteed for all people.
• While many people may agree that Rawls’s liberty principle applies to all citizens of a particular country, it is much more controversial to extend those same basic freedoms to immigrants, including those classified by the government as permanent residents, legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, and refugees.

[ANS: 1.d 2.c 3.c 4.a 5.c]

Write Like a Philosopher

Use the following templates to write your own thesis statement by inserting a philosopher, claim, or contemporary issue:

• [Name of philosopher] holds that [claim], but [name of another philosopher] holds that [another claim]. In this paper, I will identify reasons for thinking [name of philosopher]’s position is more likely to be true.
• [Name of philosopher] argues that [claim]. In this paper, I will show how this claim provides a helpful addition to [contemporary issue].
• When [name of philosopher] argues in favor of [claim], they rely on [another claim] that is undercut by contemporary science. I will show that if we modify this claim in light of contemporary science, we will strengthen or weaken [name of philosopher]’s argument.

Collect Evidence and Build Your Case

Once you have identified your thesis statement or primary claim, collect evidence (by returning to your readings) to compose the best possible argument. As you assemble the evidence, you can think like a detective or prosecutor building a case. However, you want a case that is true, not just one that supports your position. So you should stay open to modifying your claim if it does not fit the evidence . If you need to do additional research, follow the guidelines presented earlier to locate authoritative information.

If you cannot find evidence to support your claim but still feel strongly about it, you can try to do your own philosophical thinking using any of the methods discussed in this chapter or in Chapter 1. Imagine counterexamples and thought experiments that support your claim. Use your intuitions and common sense, but remember that these can sometimes lead you astray. In general, common sense, intuitions, thought experiments, and counterexamples should support one another and support the sources you have identified from other philosophers. Think of your case as a structure: you do not want too much of the weight to rest on a single intuition or thought experiment.

Consider Counterarguments

Philosophy papers differ from typical argumentative papers in that philosophy students must spend more time and effort anticipating and responding to counterarguments when constructing their own arguments. This has two important effects: first, by developing counterarguments, you demonstrate that you have sufficiently thought through your position to identify possible weaknesses; second, you make your case stronger by taking away a potential line of attack that an opponent might use. By including counterarguments in your paper, you engage in the kind of dialectical process that philosophers use to arrive at the truth.

Accurately Represent Source Material

It is important to represent primary and secondary source material as accurately as possible. This means that you should consider the context and read the arguments using the principle of charity. Make sure that you are not strawmanning an argument you disagree with or misrepresenting a quote or paraphrase just because you need some evidence to support your argument. As always, your goal should be to find the most rationally compelling argument, which is the one most likely to be true.

Organize Your Paper

Academic philosophy papers use the same simple structure as any other paper and one you likely learned in high school or your first-year composition class.

Introduce Your Thesis

The purpose of your introduction is to provide context for your thesis. Simply tell the reader what to expect in the paper. Describe your topic, why it is important, and how it arises within the works you have been reading. You may have to provide some historical context, but avoid both broad generalizations and long-winded historical retellings. Your context or background information should not be overly long and simply needs to provide the reader with the context and motivation for your thesis. Your thesis should appear at the end of the introduction, and the reader should clearly see how the thesis follows from the introductory material you have provided. If you are writing a long paper, you may need several sentences to express your thesis, in which you delineate in broad terms the parts of your argument.

Make a Logical and Compelling Case Using the Evidence

The paragraphs that follow the introduction lay out your argument. One strategy you can use to successfully build paragraphs is to think in terms of good argument structure. You should provide adequate evidence to support the claims you want to make. Your paragraphs will consist of quotations and paraphrases from primary and secondary sources, context and interpretation, novel thoughts and ideas, examples and analogies, counterarguments, and replies to the counterarguments. The evidence should both support the thesis and build toward the conclusion. It may help to think architecturally: lay down the foundation, insert the beams of your strongest support, and then put up the walls to complete the structure. Or you might think in terms of a narrative: tell a story in which the evidence leads to an inevitable conclusion.

Connections

See the chapter on logic and reasoning for a developed account of different types of philosophical arguments.

Summarize Your Argument in the Conclusion

Conclude your paper with a short summary that recapitulates the argument. Remind the reader of your thesis and revisit the evidence that supports your argument. You may feel that the argument as written should stand on its own. But it is helpful to the reader to reinforce the argument in your conclusion with a short summary. Do not introduce any new information in the conclusion; simply summarize what you have already said.

The purpose of this chapter has been to provide you with basic tools to become a successful philosophy student. We started by developing a sophisticated picture of how the brain works, using contemporary neuroscience. The brain represents and projects a picture of the world, full of emotional significance, but this image may contain distortions that amount to a kind of illusion. Cognitive illusions produce errors in reasoning, called cognitive biases. To guard against error, we need to engage in effortful, reflective thinking, where we become aware of our biases and use logical strategies to overcome them. You will do well in your philosophy class if you apply the good habits of mind discussed in this chapter and apply the practical advice that has been provided about how to read and write about philosophy.

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A Guide to Writing Philosophy Papers

In some respects, writing an undergraduate-level philosophy paper is not unlike writing an undergraduate-level paper in any of the other humanities or social sciences.  In fact, one could argue that philosophical writing should act as a model for writing in other disciplines.  This is because one of the central aims of western philosophy, since its inception in Ancient Greece, almost two and a half millennia ago, has been to lay bare the structure of all forms of argument, and most undergraduate writing, in any subject, requires the use of argument to defend claims.  However, there are also important differences between the writing styles appropriate to philosophical papers and papers in other subjects.  Most notably, philosophy papers usually focus more on logical structure than on content: the point is not to synopsize exhaustive literature reviews, but, rather, to focus as much as possible on relatively narrow sets of claims, and investigate their logical inter-relations.  Philosophers are less interested in exhaustive cataloging of the latest information on a topic, than in the relations of logical, argumentative support that well-established claims bear to each other, and to certain enduring, controversial claims, like the claim that God exists.

In the following, I provide a four-part guide to writing an undergraduate-level philosophy paper.  First, I explain what philosophical  arguments  are, and how they can be evaluated.  The point of any philosophy paper is to formulate and/or evaluate philosophical arguments, so this brief, rudimentary discussion is essential as a starting point.  Second, I explain the structure and style appropriate for a philosophy paper.  Third, I give students some ideas about how to choose a topic and formulate a writing plan appropriate to a philosophy paper.  Fourth, and finally, I provide a short primer on logic, which can help students formulate and evaluate philosophical arguments.

Before proceeding, let me remark about the scope of this guide.  Although it is intended as a guide to writing philosophy papers for any philosophy WID class, many philosophy instructors would disagree with at least some part of what follows.  Western philosophy has been dominated by two divergent traditions for the last two hundred years or so: the “continental” tradition and the “analytic” or “Anglo-American” tradition.  The former is associated primarily with philosophers from continental Europe, especially Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre and Foucault.  The latter is associated primarily with philosophers who worked in the UK and the US (though many of its most prominent representatives are German natives).  Frege, Russell, Carnap, Austin, Grice, Strawson, and Quine, are among the most famous figures associated with this tradition.  Although it is difficult to briefly characterize the difference between these two traditions, roughly speaking, while the analytic tradition takes logic, mathematics, and science as models for doing philosophy, the continental tradition is more literary and impressionistic in its approach to philosophical problems.  I am trained in the analytic tradition, and the following writing guidelines reflect this.  Thus, before using this as a guide to your philosophical writing, make sure that your class and instructor are in the analytic tradition.  Although much of the advice I offer below is, I hope, relevant to classes in the continental tradition, it might also seriously misrepresent philosophical writing as understood from the continental perspective.

Even within the analytic tradition, there can be substantive disagreements about student writing.  For example, a colleague who works in the analytic tradition read an earlier draft of this guide and was, for the most part, impressed; however, he disagreed with my view that external sources are better paraphrased than directly cited.  Although I think most instructors working in the analytic tradition would agree with most of the guidelines I provide below, you should have your instructor skim them to make sure that he or she does not take exception to any of them.  As a guide to an initial, rough, paper draft, the following is, I think, an invaluable resource.  Subsequent drafts should incorporate specific comments from the instructor whose class you are taking.  

1. Philosophical Arguments

Understanding Arguments

The point of a philosophical paper is to make and evaluate philosophical arguments.  ‘Argument’ is a term of art in philosophy.  It means more than a mere dispute.  An argument, as philosophers use this term, is a set of claims, that is, a set of declarative sentences (sentences which can be true or false).  One of the claims is the conclusion of the argument: that which the argument attempts to prove.  The other claims are the premises of the argument: the reasons that are given in support of the conclusion.  The conclusion is a relatively controversial claim that the author aims to establish on the basis of relatively uncontroversial premises.  For example, St. Thomas Aquinas, the great medieval philosopher and theologian, famously provides five ways to prove the existence of God.  The conclusion of Aquinas’s arguments is that God exists – a controversial claim.  He tries to establish this conclusion on the basis of less controversial premises, e.g., that objects are in motion, that anything in motion must have been put in motion by a different thing already in motion, and that this chain of causes must begin at some point.

Because the construction and evaluation of arguments is the point of a philosophy paper, clarity, precision, and organization are of paramount importance.  One cannot determine whether or not some set of premises supports a conclusion unless both premises and conclusion are formulated clearly and precisely.  For example, consider the following argument: “Laws can be repealed by the legislature.  Gravity is a law.  Therefore, gravity can be repealed by the legislature.”   On one level, this argument appears to make sense: it appears to have the same form as many sound arguments, like, “Beverages can be warmed in the microwave.  Tea is a beverage.  Therefore, tea can be warmed in the microwave.”  However, there is obviously something wrong with the first argument.  The problem is that the world “law” is used in two different senses: in the first premise and the conclusion, it means roughly the same as “social rule enacted by political means”, while in the second premise, it means roughly the same as “natural law”.  Because the word “law”, as it is used in the second premise, means something entirely different from its use in the conclusion, the premise is of no relevance to the conclusion, and so, provides no logical support for it.  This shows why it is so important to be as precise and clear as possible in philosophical writing.  Words often mean different things in different contexts, and, unless their meaning is made as clear and precise as possible, it is impossible to tell whether or not the claims words are used to formulate support each other.

Organization is important to make clear the complex logical relations that different claims bear to each other.  Consider Aquinas’s First Way to prove the existence of God, to which I allude above.  The conclusion is that God exists.  The premises are that objects are in motion, that objects can be put in motion only by other objects already in motion, that there is a chain of causes extending into the past, and that if this chain of causes were infinite then there would be no motion.  But how, exactly, do these premises conspire to establish the conclusion that God exists?  The key to answering this question is appreciating the structure or organization of the argument.  The structure of philosophical arguments can often be captured in a kind of flow-chart diagram.  Each ‘node’ is a claim (premise or conclusion), and links between nodes represent logical support.  So, for example, in Aquinas’s First Way, the node which represents the premise that objects are in motion does not link directly to the node which represents the conclusion: how can the claim that objects are in motion, alone, give sufficient logical support for the claim that God exists?  After all, atheists acknowledge that objects are in motion, yet deny that God exists.

The structure of Aquinas’s First Way to prove the existence of God is approximated in the following diagram.

Note that the claim that objects are in motion (premise 1) must be joined with the claim that objects in motion are put in motion by other objects already in motion (premise 2), in order to support the claim that there is a causal chain of objects in motion extending into the past (premise 3), which constitutes the “sub-conclusion” of this “sub-argument”.  Premise 3 must then be joined with premise 5 – the claim that this causal chain begins at some point – in order to support the claim that there is a first cause responsible for all the motion in the world, identified by Aquinas as God (premise 6).  But premise 5 is not obvious on its own.  It needs support from still other premises.  For example, Aquinas claims that if there were no start to this chain of causes, none of the subsequent causes would occur (premise 4).  Together with premise 1, premise 4 then supports premise 5, which, together with premises 3 and 6, supports the claim that there must be a first cause, namely, God (C).  So premise 5 is another “sub-conclusion” of a “sub-argument”, which supports the ultimate conclusion (C).

The lesson from this example is that different claims have complicated relations of support to each other.  Some premises support the conclusion only when conjoined with other premises.  And other premises are like “sub-conclusions”, which must be supported by still other premises in “sub-arguments”, before they can be used to help establish the ultimate conclusion.  Since the goal of writing an undergraduate philosophy paper is to formulate and evaluate arguments, organization is crucial.  The author must make clear for the reader not just what the different premises and conclusions claim, but, also, how they relate to each other, that is, in what way they support each other.

Evaluating Arguments

There are only two ways that any argument can go wrong.  An argument is good when its premises count as good reasons for its conclusion.  What makes a premise a good reason for a conclusion?  First, the premise must be true, or at least more plausible than the conclusion.  For example, suppose I argue for the conclusion that Washington DC is likely the next home of the Stanley Cup champions on the basis of the following premises: the Bruins are likely the next Stanley Cup Champions, and they are based in Washington DC.  This argument fails because at least one of its premises is false: the Bruins are based in Boston, not Washington DC.  However, sometimes even true premises fail to qualify as good reasons for a conclusion.  For example, suppose I argue for the conclusion that Washington DC is likely the next home of the Stanley Cup champions on the basis of the following premises: the Redskins are likely the next Superbowl Champions, and they are based in Washington DC.  Here, the latter premise is true, and the previous premise may very well be true.  However, the argument is still bad.  The reason is that, even if these premises are true, they do not support the conclusion.  The claims that the Redskins are likely the next Superbowl Champions and that the Redskins are based in Washington DC, are  irrelevant  to the conclusion: the claim that Washington DC is likely the next home of the Stanley Cup champions.  So, there are two ways any argument can go wrong: either the premises it offers in support of its conclusion are false or implausible, or, even if they are true, they fail to support the conclusion because, for example, they are irrelevant to the conclusion.

Any philosophical writer must constantly keep these two potential pitfalls of argumentation in mind, both in formulating her own arguments and in evaluating the arguments of others.  Undergraduate philosophy papers are often devoted exclusively to evaluating the arguments of well-known philosophers.  Such critical papers must be guided by four basic questions: (1) What, precisely, do the premises and conclusion claim? (2) How, precisely, are the premises supposed to support the conclusion, i.e., what is the organization/structure of the argument? (3) Are the premises true/plausible? (4) Do the premises provide adequate support for the conclusion?  Note that philosophical critiques of arguments seldom attack the conclusion directly.  Rather, the conclusion is undermined by showing the premises to be false or implausible, or by showing that the premises, even if true, do not provide adequate support for the conclusion.  Conclusions are attacked directly only on the grounds of imprecision or lack of clarity.

Despite the fact that arguments can be criticized on the grounds that their premises are false or implausible, most philosophical writing is focused not on determining the truth of premises, but, rather, on determining whether or not premises provide strong enough support for conclusions.  There are three reasons for this.  First, the most enduring philosophical arguments take as little for granted as possible: they rely on premises that are maximally uncontroversial – likely to be accepted by everyone – in order to prove conclusions that are controversial.  Second, most philosophers have a strong background in logic.  Logic is the science of argument: it aims to identify what all good arguments have in common and what all bad arguments have in common.  But logic can be used only to evaluate the support that premises provide for a conclusion, never the truth or plausibility of the premises themselves.  Any argument must take some claims as unargued starting points; otherwise, the argument could never get off the ground, as any premise would require a prior argument to be established.  But logic can evaluate only arguments, so it cannot be used to evaluate the unargued starting premises with which any argument must begin.  Third, the premises upon which many arguments depend often depend on observation, either in everyday life, or in specialized, scientific contexts such as experiments.  But philosophers are not, for the most part, trained in experimental methodologies.  They are trained in determining what follows logically from experimental results established in science or from common, everyday observations.

I discuss strategies for evaluating and formulating philosophical arguments in more detail below, in section 4.  Now I turn to the structure and style appropriate for a philosophy paper.  

2. Appropriate Structure and Style for a Philosophy Paper

Organizing the Paper

Although the philosophical canon includes a wide variety of styles and structures, including argumentative essays, axiomatically-organized systems of propositions, dialogs, confessions, meditations, historical narratives, and collections of aphorisms, most of these styles and structures are inappropriate for the novice, undergraduate, philosophical writer.  Because the main concern of undergraduate philosophical writing is the formulation and evaluation of arguments, style and structure must be chosen with these goals in mind.  As we have seen, precision, clarity, and organization are key to the understanding, formulation, and evaluation of arguments.  If one’s language is not clear and precise, it is impossible to know what claims are being made, and therefore, impossible to determine their logical inter-relations.  If one’s arguments are not clearly organized, it is difficult to determine how the different premises of an argument conspire to support its conclusion.  As we saw above, with the example of Aquinas’ First Way to prove the existence of God, arguments are often composed of “sub-arguments” defending “sub-conclusions” that constitute premises in overall arguments.  Unless such logical structure is perspicuously represented in a philosophy paper, the reader will lose track of the relevance that different claims bear to each other, and the paper will fail to enlighten the reader.

The best way to impose clarity and structure on a philosophy paper is to begin with a brief, clear, and concise introduction, outlining the organization of the rest of the paper.  This introduction should be treated as a “map” of the rest of the paper that will prepare the reader for what is to follow.  Alternatively, one may think of it as a “contract” with the reader: the author promises to discuss such and such related claims, in such and such an order.  The introduction should make clear the logical inter-relations between the different claims that the paper will defend, and the order in which the claims will be discussed.  With such an outline in hand, the writer can then organize the rest of the paper into numbered, sub-titled sub-sections, each devoted to the different parts of her argument, in the order outlined in the introduction.  This helps maintain focus and clarity throughout the paper for the reader.

One of the greatest pitfalls in philosophical writing is distraction by tangential topics.  Philosophical themes are extremely broad, and many of them are relevant to almost anything.  So it is very tempting for a novice philosophical writer (and even for seasoned veterans) to stray from her original topic in the course of writing the paper.  This throws the writer’s main goal – that of clearly articulating an argument capable of convincing a reader – into jeopardy; however, this danger can be avoided if the writer makes clear in the introduction exactly what components of a topic, and in what order, she intends to discuss and why, and then uses this to organize the rest of the paper.  If the writer does this, readers should know exactly “where they are” in the overall argument, at any point in the paper, simply by noting the number and title of the sub-section they are reading, and referring to the introduction to understand its role in the paper’s overall argument.

A good introduction to a 10-page philosophy paper should take up no more than two-thirds of a page.  It should accomplish three main objectives: (1) setting up the context for the paper, i.e., which philosophical debate or topic is the focus, (2) expressing the thesis of the paper, i.e., the conclusion it aims to defend, and (3) explaining, in broad terms, how the paper aims to defend this conclusion, i.e., what are the components of the argument, and in what order they will be discussed.  The first objective, setting up the context, often requires reference to historically important philosophers known for defending claims related to the thesis of the paper.  The components of the argument might include, first, an overview of how others have argued for or against the thesis, then a few sections on different assumptions made in these arguments, then a section in which the author provides her own argument for the thesis, and then a conclusion.

Consider the following example of an introduction to a paper about Aquinas’ First Way to prove the existence of God.

Aquinas, famously, provides five arguments for the existence of God.  In the following, I focus on his First Way to prove the existence of God: the argument from motion.  The claim that there can be no causal chains extending infinitely into the past plays a crucial role in this argument.  In this paper, I argue against this claim, thereby undermining Aquinas’s First Way to prove the existence of God.  First, I explain Aquinas’s argument, and the role that the claim about infinite causal chains plays in it.  Second, I explain Aquinas’s defense of this claim.  Third, I raise three objections to this defense.  I conclude by drawing some broader lessons for the question of God’s existence.

Notice that, despite its brevity, this introduction is very specific and clear regarding what the author intends to accomplish in the paper.  The thesis is stated clearly and concisely.  Brief reference to Aquinas, his five proofs for the existence of God, and the specific proof on which the paper focuses provide necessary context.  Specificity and clarity are aided further with the use of numbering.  The reader knows to expect four sections following the introduction, and she knows exactly what each section will try to accomplish, and its role in the overall project of the paper.  She knows to expect three objections to the argument that is the main target of the paper, in the third section after the introduction.  And the writer can now easily structure the paper into five, numbered sub-sections (including the introduction), with appropriate titles, meant to periodically remind the reader of where she is in the overall argument.

When the writer starts with such a well-defined structure, it is relatively easy to avoid the pitfall of tangential distractions.  Beginning with such an introduction is not meant to be unreasonably constraining.  In the course of writing the paper, an author might revise her thinking about the topic, and be forced to reconceptualize the paper.  She would then have to begin by revising the introduction, and, consequently, the organization of the paper.  This is a natural part of paper revision.  So, the introduction should not be treated as though it were written in stone.  In early drafts, the introduction should serve as a provisional source of constraint for organizing one’s thoughts about the topic.  As one’s thoughts evolve, the introduction can be rewritten, and the paper reorganized, to reflect this.  But beginning with an introduction that specifies the organization of the paper in substantial detail serves as an important constraint on one’s writing and thinking, insuring that one’s topic is investigated systematically.

1. Plain Language for a Non-Specialist Audience: Much canonical philosophy is opaque and difficult to understand for the novice.  A common reaction to this in undergraduate writing is the use of obscure “academic-sounding” language, of which students have only minimal mastery, in an attempt to sound intelligent and equal to the task of explaining and criticizing canonical philosophical arguments.  This must be avoided at all costs.  Good philosophy papers must employ clear,  plain  language, in short sentences and short, well-organized paragraphs.  It is impossible to evaluate the cogency of arguments unless they are expressed in terms that are easily understood.  Students must not assume that instructors know in what senses they intend esoteric, philosophical vocabulary, nor what lessons they have drawn from the sources they have been reading.  Unless a student can express and defend claims using words with which they, and any educated layperson are familiar, it is doubtful that they fully understand these claims.  Students should write for an imagined audience composed of family members, friends and acquaintances.  They should use words that any educated, non-specialist would understand in order to explain the more opaque canonical arguments their papers discuss, and in order to formulate their own responses to these arguments.  This attitude both insures that the language students use is clear and precise, and shows the instructor the degree to which students have understood the more opaque canonical arguments they discuss.

2. Illustration with Examples: One of the most important components of a good undergraduate philosophy paper is the copious use of concrete, everyday examples to illustrate abstract and sometimes obscure philosophical points.  For example, the claim that a moving object must be put in motion by a different object already in motion is one of the key assumptions of Aquinas’s first argument for the existence of God.  But this is a fairly abstract and potentially confusing way of expressing a familiar fact.  Such abstract and potentially obscure means of expression are inevitable in philosophy because philosophers aim to defend maximally general conclusions: claims that are true in all circumstances, everywhere and always.  In order to defend such general claims, familiar observations must be couched in the most general terms possible, and this often invites obscurity.  Undergraduate philosophical writers must clarify such potentially confusing language by appeal to concrete, everyday examples.

For example, Aquinas’ claim about the causes of motion is actually a claim about the causes of  any  change in any object, including what we typically call “motion,” like a rolling ball, and other changes, like the rising temperature in a heated pan of water.  A student should make this clear by illustrating Aquinas’s claim with such everyday examples.  For example, one might write something like, “Aquinas claims that every moving or changing object is caused to move or change by a different object that is already in motion or changing.  For example, a rolling ball is caused to move by a kick from a swinging foot, or a boiling pan of water is caused to boil by a flame giving off heat.”  Such illustration of abstract philosophical principles with concrete, everyday examples serves two extremely important functions.  First, it makes one’s exposition and evaluation of others’ arguments clear and tangible for the reader.  Second, it shows one’s instructor that one has understood obscure yet crucial philosophical assumptions in one’s own terms.

3. The Principle of Charity: The point of any work of philosophy, from the most canonical treatise to the humblest undergraduate effort, is to determine which claims are supported by the best reasons.  The point is not to persuade some particular audience of some claim using rhetoric.  Philosophers always aim at identifying the best possible reasons to believe some claim.  For this reason, when criticizing the arguments of others, philosophical writers should adhere to a principle of extreme charity.  They should interpret arguments with which they disagree in the most favorable terms possible.  Only then can they be sure that they have done their utmost to identify the truth of the matter.  Criticism is inevitable in an undergraduate philosophy paper.  In order to responsibly defend some conclusion, the student must give a thorough overview of what others have said about it, criticizing those with whom she disagrees.  But students must bend over backwards to insure that these criticisms are fair.  Since her goal is to arrive at the truth of the matter, a student author must not stack the deck against those with whom she disagrees.  She must empathize with her antagonists; appreciating as deeply as possible the reasons why they disagree with the conclusion she defends.  This puts the student author in a position to criticize those with whom she disagrees fairly and responsibly.

Consider, once more, Aquinas’s First Way to prove the existence of God.  It is relatively easy to criticize this argument by appeal to modern physics.  Aquinas assumes that every object in motion must have been put into motion by another object already in motion.  But he was working with pre-Newtonian physics.  According to post-Newtonian physics, an object can be in uniform motion without being acted upon by an outside force.  So, technically, Aquinas’s premise is false.  However, this is a nit-picky point that is unfair to Aquinas, and misses the spirit of his argument.  Aquinas’s argument from motion can easily be rephrased as an argument from acceleration to make it compatible with post-Newtonian physics.  Even if uniform motion does not require an external force, acceleration does, and once Aquinas’ premise is rephrased to respect this, the rest of the argument proceeds as before.  Anyone seeking to criticize Aquinas’s argument is well served by considering the most charitable possible interpretation.  If fatal flaws remain even after one has bent over backwards to accommodate Aquinas’s ignorance of later developments in physics, etc., one’s critique of his argument is more effective.

4. Self-Criticism: There is another implication of the philosopher’s commitment to discovering the claims that are supported by the best reasons, as opposed to just winning arguments.  Works of philosophy must include self-criticism.  The responsible philosophical author is always cognizant of potential pitfalls in her own arguments, and possible responses by antagonists she criticizes.  In the course of criticizing an opposing view on some matter, a philosophical writer must always consider how her target might respond.  In the course of defending some claim, a philosophical writer must always anticipate and respond to possible objections.  Papers by professional philosophers often include whole sections devoted entirely to possible objections to the theses they defend.  It is a good idea for undergraduate philosophical writers to follow this example: often, it is useful for the penultimate section of a paper to address possible criticisms of or responses to the arguments provided earlier in the paper.  Not only does this constitute a fair and responsible way of writing philosophy, it helps the student think about her own views critically, improving the final product.

5. Undermining an Argument Vs. Criticizing a Conclusion: Suppose I raise some insurmountable problems for Aquinas’s first argument for the existence of God.  It is important to keep in mind that this is not the same as arguing against the existence of God.  Just because one argument for the existence of God fails, does not mean that there are not other arguments for the existence of God that succeed.  Students should not think that criticizing an argument requires disagreeing with its conclusion.  Some of the greatest critics of certain arguments for the existence of God were themselves theists.  In fact, if you agree with the conclusion of a bad argument, it makes sense to criticize the argument, showing where it is weak; this can help you construct an alternative argument that avoids this problem.    Criticizing an argument is never the same as arguing against its conclusion.  To criticize an argument is to show that its premises do not provide adequate support for its conclusion, not to show that its conclusion is false.  In order to do the latter, one must provide a new argument that supports the claim that the conclusion is false.  For example, in order to show that God does not exist, it is not enough to show that no arguments for God’s existence are sound; one must also provide positive reasons to deny God’s existence.

An analogy to criminal trials makes this distinction clear.  The goal of the prosecution in a criminal trial is to prove that the defendant is guilty.  They must construct an argument that provides good reasons for this conclusion.  However, the goal of the defense in a criminal trial is  not  to prove that the defendant is innocent.  Rather, the defense aims to criticize the prosecution’s argument, to show that the reasons provided by the prosecution for the conclusion that the defendant is guilty are not strong enough to support this conclusion, because there remains a reasonable doubt that this conclusion is true.  The difference between the tasks of the prosecution and the defense in a criminal trial parallels the distinction between arguing against (or for) a conclusion, and merely criticizing an argument for a conclusion.  Students should keep this distinction in mind when writing philosophy papers.  When they are defending any conclusion, e.g., that God exists or that God does not exist, they must provide arguments for this conclusion, much as the prosecution must provide evidence and reasons that prove the defendant guilty.  When students are criticizing an argument, they are not defending the denial of the argument’s conclusion.  Rather, like the defense in a criminal trial, they are merely undermining the reasons given for the conclusion.

6. References: Undergraduate philosophy papers must be grounded in relevant and reputable philosophical literature.  Attributing claims to others, including canonical philosophers or discussions of them in the secondary literature, must be supported by references to appropriate sources.  However, direct quotation should, on balance, be avoided.  Instructors are interested in whether or not students understand difficult philosophical concepts and claims in their own terms.  For this reason, paraphrase is usually the best way to cite a source.  Using one’s own words to express a point one has read elsewhere, however, does not excuse one from referring to one’s source.  Any time a substantial claim is attributed to another person, whether or not one uses the person’s own words, the source should be referenced.  There are occasions when direct quotations are appropriate, for example, when one is defending a controversial interpretation of some philosopher’s argument, and the precise wording of her claims is important.

It is important for a student author to get a sense of what the recent philosophical conversation about a specific topic has been.  Otherwise, she has no way of knowing how to contribute to it. There are many ways for a student to explore the philosophical literature relevant to a topic she has chosen.  It is advisable to begin with readings assigned for class.  Textbooks, most recent philosophical journal articles, and recent secondary literature usually include detailed lists of references, which provide a useful guide to the relevant literature.  Works cited in multiple places are particularly good sources for students to consult. The Philosopher’s Index and the Stanford Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy are good on-line starting points for exploring the philosophical literature. These sources provide references to recent articles written about most philosophical topics.  Students may also want to explore less specialized internet-based resources, like Google Scholar.  However, one must be careful with on-line content.  Many web-based resources are not subject to appropriate professional review, and are therefore unreliable. Students must insure that the claims they make are supported by recent, reputable philosophical literature.  Simply asking one’s instructor can assuage any worries about whether or not a paper draft meets this standard.

As for citation format, philosophers are generally flexible: some journals require Chicago Style formatting, while others require MLA style.  Most instructors will accept any style as long as it is used correctly and consistently.  So students should consult their instructors about which citation format to follow.  Non-standard sources like websites and lecture notes should also be cited in a format that instructors approve.

7. The First Person Pronoun: In high school composition classes, students are often taught to avoid using the first-person pronoun, “I”.  The reasoning behind this is that use of “I” tends to encourage the expression of subjective opinions, whereas the goal of much essay writing is to provide an objective defense of some thesis.  However, this rule of thumb is an overly blunt instrument.  Certain uses of the “I” are typical of academic, philosophical writing.  For example, authors often express their plans for a paper, e.g., the thesis they intend to defend, using the first-person pronoun, as I did in the sample introduction provided above.  As long as the “I” is used in the context of laying out one’s intended plan for the paper, or circumscribing the scope of one’s claims, it is entirely appropriate.  For example, it is entirely legitimate to write, “In the following,  I  defend Aquinas’s Fifth Way to prove the existence of God against a common criticism.  However, space limitations preclude  me  from considering every version of this criticism, so  I  focus exclusively on Hume’s.”  The spirit behind the “anti-‘I’” rule must, however, be respected.  Students must avoid expressing subjective opinions.  Expressions like “I feel that …”, or “It seems to me that …”, or “In my experience…” should be avoided.  The point of a philosophy paper is to defend a thesis by appeal to objective reasons, that is, reasons that  any  reasonable person should accept.

8. The Present Tense: Another stylistic feature that is typical of philosophical writing is the almost exclusive use of the present tense.  Tense consistency is often a challenge for undergraduate writers: often past, present, and future tenses are used within the same sentence or paragraph.  This must be avoided.  In philosophy papers, the rule of thumb is: always use the present tense, even when discussing arguments proposed by philosophers in the past.  The fact that some argument, for the existence of God for example, was first proposed in the past is irrelevant for philosophical purposes.  Arguments are treated as timeless contributions to the philosophical conversation, and students should treat canonical arguments as though they still constitute persuasive reasons for believing some claim.  Thus, in the introduction provided as an example above, I write, “Aquinas, famously,  provides  five arguments for the existence of God.”  The present tense should always be used when explaining any philosopher’s argument, any reason he or she provides for accepting some conclusion.  This simple rule also insures tense consistency.  In the rare circumstance in which some kind of historical context must be provided, e.g., a discussion of Descartes’ education by Jesuits, the past tense may be appropriate.  But such circumstances are exceptional because philosophy papers focus on the timeless arguments that have been provided in defense of claims that are still controversial, not on the historical details or biographies that led particular philosophers to formulate these arguments.

9. Repeating Words vs. Using Synonyms: Another rule-of-thumb often promulgated in high school composition classes prescribes the use of synonyms over repetition of the same word.  The motivation for this is clear: when students are forced to avoid repeating words, they must search for synonyms and this helps expand their vocabulary.  However, by the time a student enrolls in a University-level philosophy course, her vocabulary should be sufficiently developed.  Philosophy instructors value  clarity  and  precision  far above conspicuous displays of vocabulary.  This is because, as we saw above, the soundness of an argument often depends on the precise meanings of the terms with which it is expressed.  The meanings of so-called “synonyms” often vary in very subtle, nuanced ways.  And these variations in meaning are often very significant in the context of philosophical arguments.  Consider for example the words “liberty” and “freedom”.  In some contexts, these words are interchangeable; they constitute synonyms.  However, there are many philosophical contexts in which these words are not interchangeable.  For example, the question of whether or not our decisions are free, or determined by our genetic endowment and environmental influences is a perennial philosophical puzzle.  However, “freedom of the will” cannot be paraphrased as “liberty of the will”.  The reason is that “liberty” has certain connotations which restrict its use to political contexts, while “freedom” can be used to characterize both political freedom, and freedom from natural constraints, like one’s genetic endowment, as well.  Substituting the word “freedom” with the word “liberty” in a philosophy paper would only compromise clarity: the reader would not know whether freedom from political or from natural constraints was at issue.  For this reason, it is best to repeat precisely the same terms for the same key concepts throughout a philosophy paper.  

3. Strategies for Choosing a Topic and Formulating Arguments

Philosophical creativity and imagination, like their scientific or artistic counterparts, are mysterious.  It is difficult to formulate rules for coming up with topics and arguments for philosophy papers.  Different individuals will succeed at this task in different ways.  Here, I discuss three broad strategies for conceiving and composing an undergraduate philosophy paper; however, this list is not meant to be exhaustive.  Philosophy papers can be characterized as (1) narrow focus papers, (2) broad focus papers, and (3) application papers.

Narrow Focus Papers

The narrow focus strategy is perhaps the most straightforward strategy for composing a philosophy paper.  The point of such a paper is to focus as much as possible on a specific argument by a specific philosopher and to discuss the strengths and weakness of this specific argument.  One begins by correctly explaining the target argument.  Then one raises objections, either by showing that one or more of the premises is false or implausible, or by showing that the premises, even if true, fail to support the conclusion.  One then considers how the author of argument might respond to these criticisms, and ends by replying to these responses.  In the course of writing such a focused, critical analysis, the student should include a survey of other criticisms that have been raised, and make clear how her criticism is unique.

Such papers can be extremely narrow.  For example, they might focus on just one premise, or sub-argument of a larger argument.  The introduction provided as an example above focuses just on Aquinas’ argument that there can be no causal chains extending infinitely into the past.  The focus is on just one crucial sub-argument of one of Aquinas’s five arguments for the existence of God.  Another possibility is to look at some historical debate about a particular premise of some canonical argument, and contribute to it.  For example, one might consider one objection of an early critic of Aquinas’s arguments, imagine how Aquinas might reply to this objection, and then raise an improved objection of one’s own, for which this reply does not work.  Or one might look at a classic criticism of some premise Aquinas uses in an argument, and offer a novel response on behalf of Aquinas.

Another kind of narrow focus paper concerns philosophical definitions.  One of the principal projects of canonical philosophy, since Plato, has been the attempt to define philosophically important concepts, such as TRUTH, JUSTICE, and KNOWLEDGE.  This has given rise to an important kind of philosophical debate.  Philosophical definitions provide necessary and sufficient conditions for something to count as an example of some concept.  For example, one classical definition of knowledge states that for a person to know some claim, the person must believe the claim; she must have good reasons for believing it, and the claim must be true.  This definition claims that belief, truth and justification are individually necessary and jointly sufficient for knowledge.  However, one of the classic papers of Twentieth Century philosophy raises a counterexample to this definition: an example of a justified true belief that, intuitively, should not count as knowledge.  This counterexample shows that belief, truth and justification are not sufficient for knowledge, contrary to the classical definition.  This has spawned a cottage industry, involving attempts to modify the definition of knowledge to accommodate the counterexample, followed by new counterexamples to these new definitions.  Such give-and-take about the meanings of important philosophical concepts is typical of much academic philosophy.  It also constitutes a great strategy for composing a narrow focus, undergraduate philosophy paper: identify some classic philosophical definition of a philosophically important concept, raise a counter-example to the definition, and then consider ways the definition might be modified to accommodate the counter-example.  This cycle can be repeated through numerous iterations, including new counter-examples to new definitions, followed by newer definitions accommodating these counter-examples, etc.

Narrow focus papers are mainly critical: they aim to undermine particular arguments, assumptions, or definitions proposed by specific philosophers.  For this reason, it is useful for a student writing a narrow focus paper to think of her role as analogous to that of a defense attorney in a criminal trial.  Her goal is not to prove that the conclusion to some argument is false.  Rather, her role is to show that the reasons some philosopher has provided for a specific conclusion are insufficient to establish that conclusion.

Broad Focus Papers

Unlike narrow focus papers, broad focus papers do not restrict their scope to particular arguments, assumptions, or definitions made by particular philosophers.  Instead, such papers identify a broad topic that has been discussed by many philosophers throughout history, identify different positions that have been taken on this topic, sketch the different kinds of arguments that have been provided for these different positions, and then take a stand on the topic by defending one of these arguments as superior to the others, or providing a new argument.  For example, rather than focusing on just one assumption in one of Aquinas’s arguments for the existence of God, a student may choose to treat the question of the existence of God more broadly, sketching the different positions on this topic, and some of the classical arguments that support them.  The student may then defend theism or atheism by offering an improved version of one of these arguments that avoids some of the classic criticisms of it, or by providing an argument of her own.

Broad focus papers are, in general, more challenging than narrow focus papers.  Undergraduates are rarely asked to draft papers longer than 15 pages.  However, it is extremely difficult to do justice to a broad topic in philosophy in so little space.  Philosophical questions and claims tend to ramify: they tend to open cans of worms – other questions and claims that are equally if not more difficult to resolve.  For this reason, the best advice for undergraduate philosophical writing is to focus on as narrow a topic as possible.  It is possible to write a decent broad focus undergraduate paper.  However, it is very difficult, and students who focus as much as possible on specific claims and arguments make life much easier for themselves.

Application Papers

Perhaps the most interesting strategy for composing an undergraduate philosophy paper – the strategy that allows the most scope for individual creativity – is to illustrate some philosophical concept, claim or argument with a concrete example drawn from art, film, fiction, popular culture, science, or one’s own experience.  For example, a classic dispute in epistemology – the philosophical study of knowledge – concerns our justification for believing the testimony of others.  On one view, this justification is derived from our own observation that people are, for the most part, reliable.  On the opposing view, trusting testimony is justified in itself, not in virtue of observing that people are typically reliable.  A classic argument for this opposing view is that young children could never learn anything from adults if they had to wait to observe that people tend to be reliable before trusting their testimony.  This argument makes substantial assumptions about how young children learn.  It therefore suggests an interesting topic for an application paper: see whether the latest literature in developmental psychology supports this assumption.

Often, showing how some common experience, drawn from everyday life, fiction, film, or popular culture, illustrates some philosophical principle, argument, or claim is very useful.  Not only does this help clarify the philosophical principle, argument, or claim; if the common experience is sufficiently vivid and compelling, it might even provide some support for the philosophical principle, argument, or claim.  For example, consider the classical philosophical definition of knowledge mentioned above, in the discussion about philosophical definitions.  According to this definition, a person knows some claim just in case she believes it; she is justified in believing it, and it is true.  The counterexamples that philosophers have raised to this definition have been fairly abstract and contrived.  However, it is possible to illustrate the problems with the definition by more plausible, real world examples.  For example, consider the claim that the sun moves.  We know this to be true today.  But what about people who lived prior to Copernicus?  Copernicus proposed that, contrary to the assumptions of astronomers that lived before him, the earth moves around the sun rather than vice versa.  So pre-Copernican astronomers believed that the sun moves around the earth.  This means that they also believed that the sun moves.  Since we know the sun moves, this belief of theirs was true.  Furthermore, they had good reasons for this belief, and were therefore justified in believing that the sun moves.  Copernicus had not yet formulated an alternative hypothesis and all the evidence seemed to support their view.  So pre-Copernican astronomers had a true justified belief that the sun moves.  But, arguably, they did not know this, since the reason they thought the sun moves – that it circles the earth – is not the true reason it moves – that, like any star, it is caught up in the motion of the galaxy of which it is a part.  This concrete historical example illustrates what is wrong with the classical definition of knowledge.

Working through such a concrete example from the history of science not only clarifies a philosophical point, it also provides some support for this point by showing that it is easily illustrated with concrete examples from the history of human knowledge.  Furthermore, it immediately suggests how a paper focused on this example can be further extended.  For example, one might imagine how a defender of the classical definition of knowledge would reinterpret this case in a way that vindicates the classical definition.  One could then respond to this reinterpretation.  In general, application papers can be based on very clear and simple argumentative structures: they argue that some concrete example illustrates a philosophical thesis, and then they consider how those who deny the thesis might deal with the example.  

4. A Short Primer on Logic

As we saw above, in section 2, although philosophical arguments can go wrong in two ways – either the premises are false or implausible, or they fail to support the conclusion – philosophers tend to focus on detecting and avoiding failures of the latter kind.  Here, I provide a short primer on the various ways that premises in philosophical arguments succeed and fail to support their conclusions.

Kinds of Support

There are broadly two kinds of support that premises provide for conclusions of arguments.  First, in  deductively valid  arguments, the premises  guarantee  the conclusion, i.e., if we assume the premises are true, we cannot, at the same time, deny the conclusion.  Here is a classic example: All humans are mortal.  Socrates is a human.  Therefore, Socrates is mortal.  If we accept the premises, we cannot, at the same time, deny the conclusion.  So, this is the strongest kind of support that premises can provide for a conclusion.  Notice that, when determining whether or not an argument is deductively valid, it is not necessary to establish whether or not the premises are true.  Validity is a matter of the support the premises provide the conclusion, not their truth.  The question is: if the premises were true, would the conclusion also have to be true?  So, for example, the following argument is deductively valid, despite its questionable premises:  All George Washington University students are Dalmatian.  Barack Obama is a George Washington University student.  Therefore, Barack Obama is Dalmatian.  Note that this argument has the same logical form as the previous argument about Socrates: “humans” has been substituted with “George Washington University students”; “mortal” has been substituted with “Dalmatian”, and “Socrates” has been substituted with “Barack Obama”.  Despite the fact that the second argument’s premises and conclusion are false, it is a deductively valid argument because the premises guarantee the conclusion.  That is,  if  the premises were true, the conclusion would also have to be true.

In deductively valid arguments, the premises supply the strongest possible support for the conclusion.  One can refute an argument claiming to be deductively valid by showing that even if the premises were true, the conclusion could still be false, i.e., there is still at least a slight probability that the premises are true and the conclusion is false.  For example, the following argument, though plausible, is not deductively valid: Every morning I’ve lived, the sun has risen.  Therefore, tomorrow morning, the sun will rise.  As we’ll see next, this is an inductively strong argument: the premise provides strong support for the conclusion.  But the argument is not deductively valid because the premise does not  guarantee  the conclusion: it is possible that the premise is true but the conclusion is false, e.g., if the sun explodes tonight, it won’t rise tomorrow morning.

The second kind of support that premises can provide conclusions is evident in  inductively strong  arguments.  In such arguments, though the premises do not guarantee the conclusion, as they do in deductively valid arguments, they  make the conclusion more likely .  Such arguments are common in science and politics.  Most arguments in which the conclusion is based on a public opinion poll are inductive arguments.  For example, suppose you do a blind taste test comparing Coke to Pepsi with 5% of the GWU student population, finding that 60% of this sample prefers Coke to Pepsi.  If you then generalize, concluding that 60% of the GWU student population prefers Coke to Pepsi, you are making an inductive argument: the premise is the result of the poll, and the conclusion is the generalization from the 5% sample to the whole GWU student population.  The strength of the support this premise provides this conclusion depends on the size of the sample, and how it is obtained.  Sometimes, for example, such arguments rely on samples that are not obtained randomly, and therefore contain biases relative to the population to which they generalize.  This is one way of criticizing an inductive argument: if the sample is biased, the argument is inductively weak.

In another sort of inductive argument, the premises express certain observations that need to be explained, while the conclusion is a plausible explanation of those observations.  Such forms of inductive argument are common in criminal trials.  The prosecution presents the jury with facts, e.g., the defendant’s alleged motives, her presence at the crime scene at around the estimated time of the crime as testified to by a reliable witness, etc.  They then conclude that the best explanation of all these facts is that the defendant committed the crime of which she is accused.  However, such premises never guarantee the conclusion, since there may always be alternative explanations for the evidence.  The defendant may have been at the crime scene by coincidence, or the witness may be lying, or the prosecution may be trying to frame the defendant, etc.  This is why, in such arguments, the premises never guarantee the conclusion, as they do in deductively valid arguments.  At best, they provide defeasibly strong reasons to accept the explanation that constitutes the conclusion.  But such arguments can always be criticized by providing an alternative explanation of the evidence that is just as good or better.

A classic philosophical argument of this type is the argument for the claim that nature is the product of intelligent design. Proponents of this argument begin with a list of facts about nature, e.g., that it is orderly, complex, goal-directed, and dependent on highly unlikely background conditions.  They then argue that the best explanation for these facts is that nature was designed by a supernatural intelligence.  However, as with the case of arguments made in court, these facts do not guarantee this conclusion.  There may be alternative explanations of these facts that are just as good or better.  For example, Darwin argues that many such facts can be explained by his theory of evolution by natural selection, with no appeal to intelligent design.

Argument types in which the premises do not support the conclusion are called “fallacies”.  Philosophers have studied the ways that arguments can go wrong for millennia, and they have identified dozens of fallacies.  Here are five common fallacies that it is useful to keep in mind when evaluating or formulating arguments in a philosophy paper.

• Begging the Question: Arguments that commit this fallacy are also known as circular arguments.  Such arguments assume what they are trying to prove.  Recall that the point of philosophical, and, indeed, any argumentation, is to try to prove a controversial conclusion on the basis of less controversial premises.  For example, as we saw above, Aquinas tries to prove the controversial claim that God exists on the basis of uncontroversial premises, like the claim that objects are in motion.  But sometimes the premises of an argument are equally or more controversial than the conclusion.  In fact, sometimes the premises of an argument covertly assume the conclusion they are trying to prove.  Consider the following argument for the existence of God, for example.  “God wrote the Bible.  Therefore, everything the Bible says is true.  The Bible says God exists.  Therefore, God exists.”  This argument is circular, or begs the question, because it assumes what it is trying to prove.  For God to write the Bible, he has to exist.  So, in this argument, the premises provide no independent justification for the conclusion: they are just as controversial as the conclusion because they covertly assume the conclusion’s truth.
• False Alternatives: Arguments that commit this fallacy rely on at least one premise that claims that there are fewer alternatives than there actually are.  Consider the following example: “Either France supports the United States or France supports the terrorists.  France does not support the United States.  Therefore, France supports the terrorists.”  This argument is fallacious because the first premise is a false alternative.  France might not support either the United States or the terrorists.
• Unjustified Appeal to Authority: Arguments that commit this fallacy rely on premises that appeal to an authority with no justification.  Consider the following example: “There are passages in the Bible that prohibit homosexuality.  Therefore, homosexuality is immoral.”  The conclusion is not supported by the premise because the argument fails to establish that the Bible is a legitimate authority on moral matters.
• Ad Hominem: The name of this fallacy is a Latin term meaning the same as “to (or against) the man”.  Such fallacies are often committed in the course of critiquing another argument.  For example, suppose an Evangelical Christian has just finished arguing that abortion is immoral, and a critic responds not by identifying any weaknesses in the argument but, rather, by pointing out the arguer’s religious beliefs as a reason for dismissing the argument.  The critic may say something like, “Clearly we cannot accept the reasoning of someone with such superstitious convictions!”  This is an example of the Ad Hominem fallacy: instead of criticizing the argument, the critic is attacking the person who presents the argument.  In logic and philosophy, we are interested in whether or not the premises of an argument support its conclusion.  The identity of the person making the argument is irrelevant to this.  People with whom one disagrees on many matters can nonetheless produce sound arguments.  A person’s personal convictions or personality are irrelevant to the strength of her arguments.
• Straw Man: This is another fallacy that often arises in the course of criticizing someone else’s argument.  It occurs when the critic misrepresents the argument she is criticizing, formulating a version of it that is easier to refute.  This is where the fallacy gets its name: a “straw man” is easier to knock down than a “real man”.  Consider the following example.  Suppose a person defends abortion rights on the grounds that no law regulating a person’s control over her own reproductive decisions is equitably enforceable.  If someone were to criticize this argument on the grounds that (1) it claims killing a fetus is morally unobjectionable, and (2) this assumption is false, then the critic would be guilty of a Straw Man fallacy.  The argument makes no claims about whether or not killing a fetus is morally unobjectionable.  The critic has burdened her target with a difficult to defend assumption that she never made.  In terms discussed above, such a critic does not respect the principle of charity that guides all good philosophical writing.  Philosophical writers have an obligation to present their antagonists’ arguments in as favorable a light as possible before criticizing them.  Only then can they be sure that they are seeking to establish claims that are supported by the best reasons, rather than merely scoring rhetorical points.  

Undergraduate philosophical writing is about evaluating and constructing arguments.  A good argument is one in which strong reasons are provided in support of some claim.  In order to evaluate and construct arguments, the claims that comprise them must be expressed in clear and precise language.  In addition, these claims must be perspicuously organized, such that the complex relations of support they bear to each other are apparent to any educated reader.  The goal of philosophical writing should be discovering which claims are supported by the best reasons, not scoring cheap rhetorical points.  For this reason, philosophical writing must be guided by a principle of extreme charity: views antagonistic to the author’s must be considered carefully and fairly, and presented with the utmost sympathy.  The author must anticipate likely criticisms of her own views and respond to them.  Undergraduate philosophical writers must master the art of conveying abstruse philosophical concepts in clear, plain language, writing for an imagined audience of educated non-specialists, like family and friends.  This makes undergraduate writing clearer, and demonstrates to the instructor that the student has understood difficult concepts in her own terms.  The use, as much as possible, of concrete examples to illustrate abstract philosophical concepts is strongly recommended.

Finally, the best undergraduate philosophy papers focus on relatively narrow and specific topics, e.g., a specific argument or assumption made by a specific philosopher.  One cannot establish an ambitious philosophical claim in the 10-15 pages usually allotted for undergraduate philosophy papers.  Thousands of years and pages have been devoted to determining whether or not God exists, for example.  Yet the question remains controversial.  Do not assume that you can accomplish, in 10-15 pages, something that professional philosophers have failed to accomplish in thousands of years.  Philosophical arguments tend to open cans of worms because they invariably make assumptions or raise difficult issues that go beyond the topic on which they focus.  The art of writing philosophy consists in avoiding such potential digressions, and contributing to specific, constrained debates.

The foregoing is a good guide to composing an initial rough draft of a term paper for an undergraduate philosophy class.  Different instructors might not agree with all of my recommendations; however, most will agree with most of them.  Once a student receives feedback from her instructor on a rough draft, she will be able to fine-tune the paper to the instructor’s particular preferences.  Although the foregoing should help students make a good start on a philosophy paper, there is no substitute for frequent consultation with one’s instructor.  Do not fear “bothering” your instructors about helping with paper drafts.  As long as you follow the relevant instructions on their syllabi and give them plenty of time, they are obligated to help you with your writing.  The persistent pursuit of detailed feedback from one’s instructor is the best resource you have for succeeding at undergraduate philosophical writing.  This guide provides a solid foundation from which to start.

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Preparation

Referencing & help.

• Good essay writing begins with good course preparation. You should remember that just attending courses is not enough. You will engage with the lectures and seminars only if you do the required primary and secondary reading. By the time you come to write your first essay you should already know enough to approach the subject confidently.
• Make sure you have properly understood the question. If you do not, ask. Review your lecture notes and the course outline in order to put the question into context and to relate it to other aspects of the subject. If you can break down the question into parts, do so. Decide which are the most important and weight each part accordingly.
• Read the suggested texts with your question or questions in mind. If you find the reading hard to understand, try reading a whole article or chapter to get the gist and then re-read slowly, making notes.
• Think for yourself. Don't borrow thought or ideas without giving yourself time to digest them. Discuss them with your fellow students. It can be very helpful to discuss the articles and books you read with others. Also, when you take notes, don't simply excerpt long passages, write them in your own words.
• Always start from a plan, however rudimentary; but you will inevitably find your argument developing a dynamic of its own, so do not be afraid to revise your plan as you go along. As Socrates says in Plato's Republic: 'Where the argument takes us, like a wind, hither we must go.'
• Write a draft, leave it for a while, then come back and revise it. On the first draft concentrate on getting the content and structure right and do not dwell on the style. Do not be held up by the precise formulation of a sentence, jot down a phrase and move on.
• Write the final draft. Check the spelling, grammar and make sure all the bibliographical details are correct. leave a wide margin on the right hand side of your page for the marker's comments. Be kind on your marker: use a font that is easy to read and a line spacing of at least 1.5 or 2. Make a photocopy of your essay as a precaution, since they sometimes can go astray.
• Your essay should contain a clear exposition of the theory you are studying, a detailed discussion and critical assessment of that theory. The criticisms you look at may be your own, or those of other philosophers.
• Make sure you indicate when you are expounding the view of someone else and when you are writing in your own voice. Don't just write a long list of objections to a particular argument. Indicate whether you endorse or reject them and give your reasons.
• Use examples to illustrate your point. Preferably, choose your own examples. Always make the point of your example clear to the reader.
• Don't worry too much about the 'originality' of the content of your essay. Nobody expects you to come up with a new philosophical theory in your first four pages of writing. Your essay will be original enough if you think for yourself, use your own words, give your own examples and always provide reasons for accepting or rejecting a particular view.
• Avoid rambling introductions and conclusions. Some books begin with a portentous opening sentence e.g., 'Philosophy, from the earliest times, has made greater claims, and achieved fewer results, than any other branch of learning.' (B. Russell) You can get away with such a sentence as the opening line of a 400 page book, but not as the opening line of a 4 page essay. State briefly what you think the question involves, if this is not obvious, and get stuck in to your answer. With conclusions, sum up your argument if you want to and leave it at that.
• Think small or be methodical. There is a gap between your brain's ability to grasp something and your ability to express in writing what you have already understood. It is as if your intuition can leap up whole flights of stairs at once, whereas your written explanations climb one step at a time. This means that you can easily get ahead of yourself, producing the illusion that your ideas are far more lofty than they really are. Only by patiently stepping through the details of an argument can you avoid such illusions. So be patient! If you are not sure whether you have made your point, try putting it another way; 'The upshot of this argument is...', 'the point of this example is...'. Do not simply repeat yourself, try instead to look at your subject from different angles. Sometimes it will feel as if your point is trivial and not worth making. But a trivial point can be a solid step in an interesting argument. The ability to tease out the subtleties of a small point will serve you better than a grand philosophy of life, the universe and everything.
• One way to structure your essay is to outline an argument, consider an objection, then reply to the objection and then move on to the next point. Avoid the two extremes of length and unbroken paragraphs on the one hand, and staccato sound bytes on the other. Divide your essay into clearly defined paragraphs and devote a whole paragraph to each point. Make the connections between them explicit, by telling the reader what they are. Write things like, 'There are two major objections to this line of thought...' or 'what this example shows is...' Think of these connections as signposts telling the reader where she is, where she has been or reminding her where she is heading.
• 'Style is the feather in the arrow, not the feather in the cap.' Do not worry about repeating important words or phrases. In philosophy it is more important to be consistent in your terminology than to find new and imaginative ways of saying the same thing. Clear prose has its own elegance, wordiness can sometimes cloud the issue.
• Empathise with your reader. Once you understand something, you forget what it was like not to understand it; but doing just this will help you to get your point across. To write clearly you have to put yourself in the place of your reader. Imagine the reader is someone who knows nothing about the subject. What would you have to do firstly to convince them and secondly to maintain their interest. Generally speaking a concrete example will get you much further than a passage of purple prose or a string of high-falutin' epithets. One useful way to attain clarity and simplicity of style is to write in short sentences. It is easier to waffle in long rambling sentences.
• Use 'signposts' to let the reader know what you are trying to do. You can say things like , 'one objection is...', 'A possible reply to this is...', 'What this example shows...', 'This importance of this point is that...', 'What X is assuming is that...'. Be explicit about what you are arguing and why.
• Stylistically it is vital to use your own words. Quite apart from the dangers of plagiarism, if you borrow chunks of text from another author and then insert them into your essay, you will end up with a patchwork of different styles that reads awkwardly. By all means paraphrase someone else's view, although make it clear that you are paraphrasing. This will help you to understand the position you are adumbrating; and there is a lot of skill involved in a lucid and concise exposition of somebody else's argument.
• Occasionally you will want to cite somebody else's words directly. Be sparing in your use of quotation. There is much less skill to quotation than to paraphrase or précis. When you select a passage for quotation, make sure it is both brief and relevant. There is nothing worse than reading a string of long quotations interspersed with brief and gnomic comments.
• Use a dictionary (or spell check) and a grammar. Good spelling and good grammar are not wholly unrelated to the content of your essay. The thread of an essay is easier to follow if the reader does not have to guess the word which you actually meant to write. Good grammar makes not only for elegant but for precise prose. So do not be ashamed to use a dictionary. I prefer the Chambers to the Collins single volume dictionary, but both are good. (Webster's and M.S. Word dictionaries are American.) Michael Dummet, the philosopher, has written an excellent little English grammar for his students, published by Duckworth.

Use of sources

• All verbatim quotations, whether long or short should be enclosed in inverted commas or indented, and the precise source given. Make sure that you give enough information for the reader to find the passage, i.e. author, work, edition page number or section.
• Passages of close paraphrase should be acknowledged, and the purpose of these paraphrases made clear e.g. as a summary of a view to be discussed disputed or agreed with.
• When a point has been derived directly from an author, even though it mode of expression may be original, this should be acknowledged in a footnote or parenthesis.
• Extensive use of an essay written by another student should be acknowledged. This applies to essays borrowed from the 'Essay Bank' and to essays which are borrowed on a personal basis. Just as the rule that you should acknowledge your dependence on published sources is not supposed to discourage you from reading widely, the rule that you should acknowledge your dependence where it exists, on other students' essays, is not supposed to discourage you from reading each others' essays. In the end however the only thing of value to you and of interest to us is work in which you express and develop your own thoughts.
• At the end of any essay to be submitted for formal assessment (not tutorial essays) write a list in alphabetical order of all the works consulted or read during the preparation and writing of the essay, as well as those from which you quote directly (see Referencing).

Referencing

The Philosophy Department accepts the Harvard or MLA styles of referencing.  Please refer to the specific information below on each permitted style.

Additional help

You may find the extra help below useful when writing Philosohy essays.

This guide to writing Philosophy essays was written by Gordon Finlayson

Department of Philosophy University of York , York , YO10 5DD , UK Tel: work +44 (0)1904 323251 | Fax: fax +44 (0)1904 324023 | [email protected]

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Philosophy research and writing: sample papers.

• Reference Texts
• Sample Papers
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Examples of Philosophical Writing

One of the most difficult things about writing philosophy papers as a new undergraduate is figuring out what a philosophy paper is supposed to look like! For many students here at Cal, a lower division philosophy class is the first experience they have with philosophical writing so when asked to write a paper it can be difficult to figure out exactly what a good paper would be. Below are a few examples of the kinds of papers you might be asked to write in a philosophy class here at Cal as well as the papers written by professional philosophers to which the sample papers are a response.

Precis Sample Paper

• "War and Peace in Islam" by Bassam Tibi In this paper, Bassam Tibi explores the Islamic position on war and peace as understood through the Quran and its interpretations in Islamic history.
• Max Deleon's Precis of Tibi on war and peace in Islam In this sample paper, Max Deleon, a former tutor at the university of Vermont gives a summary of an argument made by Bassam Tibi in his paper "War and Peace in Islam"

Critical Response to a Philosopher's Position

• "In Defense of Mereological Universalism" by Michael C. Rea In this paper, Michael Rea defends the position in ontology known as mereological universalism which he defines as that position which holds that "for any set S of disjoint objects, there is an object that the members of S compose."
• Max Deleon's critical response to Michael Rea on Mereological Universalism In lower division philosophy courses here at Cal, the most common type of paper that you will write will be one in which you are asked to respond to some given philosopher's position by uncovering some difficulty in that position. In this paper, Max Deleon critically examines Michael Rae's paper "In Defense of Mereological Universalism"

Exposition and Amending of Existing Philosopher's Position

• "Against Moral Rationalism, Philippa Foot" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The section "Against moral Rationalism" in the article "Philippa Foot" from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explores Foot's positions on moral motivation which Max Deleon deals with in the paper below.
• Max Deleon's exposition and emendation of "Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives" In this paper Max Deleon looks at Philippa Foot's argument from "Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives," raises a few possible objections, and proposes emendations to Foot's position to respond to those objections.
• "Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives" by Philippa Foot One of the most influential paper in 20th century philosophy, Philippa Foot's "Morality as a System of Hypothetical Impreatives" tackles to dominant Kantian conception of the nature of morality and offers an alternative understanding of the nature of morality.
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• A Research Guide
• Essay Topics

120 Philosophy Essay Topics

How to choose a topic for your philosophy essay:.

Philosophy Argumentative Essay Topics:

• The existence of God: Can the existence of a higher power be proven or disproven?
• The problem of evil: How can the existence of evil be reconciled with the concept of a benevolent God?
• Free will vs determinism: Are our actions predetermined or do we have the freedom to choose?
• The nature of reality: Is reality objective or subjective?
• The mind-body problem: Is the mind separate from the body, or are they one and the same?
• Ethical relativism vs ethical absolutism: Are moral values relative or are there universal moral truths?
• The nature of consciousness: What is consciousness and how does it arise?
• The concept of personal identity: What defines our sense of self and continuity over time?
• The problem of induction: Can we justify our beliefs based on past experiences and observations?
• The nature of knowledge: What is knowledge and how do we acquire it?
• The philosophy of mind: Can machines or artificial intelligence possess consciousness?
• The nature of beauty: Is beauty subjective or objective?
• The ethics of euthanasia: Is it morally permissible to end someone’s life to alleviate suffering?
• The ethics of animal rights: Do animals have rights and how should they be treated?
• The philosophy of science: What is the nature of scientific knowledge and how does it differ from other forms of knowledge?

Philosophy Persuasive Essay Topics:

• The existence of free will: Determinism vs libertarianism
• The ethical implications of artificial intelligence
• The nature of consciousness: Materialism vs dualism
• The problem of evil: Can an all-powerful and benevolent God coexist with evil?
• The ethics of animal rights: Should animals have the same moral status as humans?
• The concept of personal identity: Is the self defined by physical or psychological continuity?
• The morality of euthanasia: Should individuals have the right to choose when to end their lives?
• The nature of knowledge: Can we truly know anything with certainty?
• The ethics of genetic engineering: Should we manipulate the genetic makeup of humans and other organisms?
• The philosophy of mind: Can machines ever possess consciousness?
• The morality of capital punishment: Is it ever justified to take a life as punishment for a crime?
• The problem of induction: Can we rely on past experiences to make predictions about the future?
• The ethics of abortion: When does personhood begin and what are the rights of the fetus?
• The philosophy of time: Is time an illusion or a fundamental aspect of reality?

Philosophy Compare and Contrast Essay Topics:

• Dualism vs Materialism: Examining the nature of mind and body
• Rationalism vs Empiricism: Contrasting approaches to acquiring knowledge
• Utilitarianism vs Deontology: Evaluating ethical theories on the basis of consequences and moral duties
• Existentialism vs Nihilism: Exploring the meaning of life and existence
• Plato’s Theory of Forms vs Aristotle’s Theory of Substance: Comparing their views on the nature of reality
• Determinism vs Free Will: Analyzing the compatibility of human freedom and determinism
• Hedonism vs Stoicism: Contrasting philosophies on achieving happiness and fulfillment
• Egoism vs Altruism: Examining self-interest versus concern for others in ethical decision-making
• Epistemological Relativism vs Objectivism: Evaluating the nature of truth and knowledge
• Aesthetics of Beauty vs Aesthetics of Sublime: Comparing different approaches to appreciating art and beauty
• Social Contract Theory vs Natural Law Theory: Contrasting views on the origin and legitimacy of political authority
• Feminism vs Postmodernism: Analyzing different perspectives on gender, power, and identity
• Idealism vs Realism: Examining different ontological views on the nature of reality
• Pragmatism vs Essentialism: Contrasting approaches to understanding the essence and purpose of things
• Eastern Philosophy vs Western Philosophy: Comparing and contrasting different philosophical traditions and their core concepts

Philosophy Informative Essay Topics:

• The concept of free will and determinism: Exploring the debate between human agency and predestination
• The philosophy of mind: Examining the mind-body problem and different theories of consciousness
• Ethics and moral relativism: Analyzing the idea that moral principles are subjective and vary across cultures
• The nature of reality: Investigating different metaphysical theories, such as idealism, materialism, and dualism
• The philosophy of language: Exploring the relationship between language, thought, and reality
• The problem of evil: Examining the existence of evil in a world governed by an all-powerful and benevolent God
• The philosophy of science: Analyzing the nature of scientific knowledge and the scientific method
• The concept of identity: Investigating the philosophical questions surrounding personal identity and the self
• The philosophy of aesthetics: Exploring the nature of beauty, art, and the role of aesthetics in our lives
• The philosophy of religion: Examining different arguments for and against the existence of God
• The philosophy of time: Analyzing the nature of time, its relation to causality, and the possibility of time travel
• The philosophy of education: Investigating different theories of education and their implications for teaching and learning
• The philosophy of technology: Exploring the ethical and metaphysical implications of technological advancements
• The philosophy of happiness: Analyzing different theories of happiness and the pursuit of a meaningful life
• The philosophy of politics: Examining different political ideologies and their underlying philosophical foundations

Philosophy Cause and Effect Essay Topics:

• The impact of existentialism on individual freedom and responsibility
• The influence of utilitarianism on ethical decision-making
• The consequences of Descartes’ mind-body dualism on the understanding of human nature
• The effects of Nietzsche’s concept of the will to power on the pursuit of personal goals
• The relationship between Kant’s categorical imperative and moral duty
• The cause and effect of Plato’s theory of forms on the understanding of reality
• The consequences of Aristotle’s concept of virtue ethics on moral character development
• The impact of John Locke’s theory of tabula rasa on the understanding of human knowledge
• The influence of Sartre’s concept of bad faith on personal authenticity
• The effects of Hume’s skepticism on the nature of knowledge and belief
• The relationship between Hegel’s dialectic and historical progress
• The consequences of Rawls’ theory of justice on social equality
• The impact of feminist philosophy on gender equality and women’s rights
• The influence of Confucianism on social harmony and moral values in East Asian societies
• The cause and effect of Schopenhauer’s pessimism on the perception of human suffering

Philosophy Narrative Essay Topics:

• The Search for Meaning: A Personal Journey
• The Paradox of Free Will: Exploring the Boundaries of Choice
• The Nature of Reality: A Philosophical Reflection
• The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: A Moral Dilemma
• The Existential Crisis: Navigating Life’s Uncertainties
• The Problem of Evil: Examining the Coexistence of Good and Bad
• The Philosophy of Happiness: Pursuit or Illusion?
• The Mind-Body Problem: Exploring the Connection between the Physical and Mental
• The Ethics of Animal Rights: Balancing Human Interests and Animal Welfare
• The Philosophy of Time: Is it Linear or Cyclical?
• The Meaning of Beauty: A Philosophical Exploration
• The Ethics of Genetic Engineering: Playing God or Advancing Humanity?
• The Philosophy of Education: Shaping Minds and Cultivating Knowledge
• The Nature of Consciousness: Unraveling the Mystery of Self-Awareness
• The Philosophy of Death: Contemplating the Afterlife and the Meaning of Mortality

Philosophy Opinion Essay Topics:

• The nature of reality: Idealism vs materialism
• The problem of evil: Does the existence of evil contradict the existence of a benevolent God?
• The ethics of artificial intelligence: Should AI be granted moral rights?
• The concept of personal identity: Is personal identity based on physical or psychological continuity?
• The mind-body problem: Is the mind separate from the body or are they one and the same?
• The ethics of euthanasia: Is it morally permissible to assist someone in ending their own life?
• The ethics of genetic engineering: Should we have the right to modify our own genetic makeup?
• The problem of induction: Can we justify our beliefs based on past experiences?
• The ethics of capital punishment: Is the death penalty morally justifiable?
• The nature of time: Is time an objective reality or a subjective construct?
• The ethics of abortion: Is abortion morally permissible?

Philosophy Evaluation Essay Topics:

• Evaluating the concept of free will in a deterministic universe
• Assessing the moral responsibility of corporations
• The validity of utilitarianism as a moral theory
• Evaluating the existence of objective moral values
• Assessing the ethical implications of genetic engineering
• The concept of personal identity: evaluating the mind-body problem
• Evaluating the role of reason in ethical decision-making
• Assessing the compatibility of faith and reason
• The concept of justice: evaluating different theories
• Evaluating the ethical implications of animal rights
• Assessing the concept of beauty in art and aesthetics
• The problem of evil: evaluating the existence of God
• Evaluating the ethical implications of climate change
• Assessing the concept of happiness in different philosophical traditions

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Information on Writing Philosophy Papers

Please familiarize yourself with the university’s academic honest policies if you have not already done so. They are available here: http://www.rochester.edu/college/honesty/docs/Academic_Honesty.pdf . Note in particular that it is a violation of these policies to use material from any source (other than yourself) in your papers without attribution and, where relevant, use of quotation marks. This applies especially to copying and pasting material from websites, which should always be avoided. You may, of course, make limited use of academically respectable web resources where relevant, as long as they are properly cited (I'm not picky about the exact format of your citations, as long as they contain the relevant information) and any quoted material is clearly placed in quotation marks (though this should still be a very limited portion of your paper). However, you should never make any use at all of student 'essay mills'--websites that offer students canned student essays for 'research' purposes: these essays are not research and do not meet the standards for scholarly sources; they have no place in the writing of your papers.

General Guidelines for Writing Philosophy Papers

• Clarity and straightforwardness of thought and language are crucial: avoid flowery styles and long, superfluous introductions and conclusions. (No paper should ever start with a sentence like: "Since the dawn of time, mankind has pondered the question of...") The bulk of your paper should consist of philosophical exposition and analysis, in plain but precise language.
• If you are writing an essay in response to an assigned essay topic, the most important thing is simply to make sure you answer the question that was asked , carefully and thoroughly. Avoid getting off on tangents that are not crucial to your topic, and avoid sweeping generalizations you can't support in the paper . In addition to the quality of exposition, one of the central things we look for in a philosophy paper is how well the thesis in question is supported. Even if the reader thinks some of your claims are false, your paper can be excellent if you do a solid job of defending your claims.
• If you are asked to explain something, do not merely summarize what an author or lecturer has said. Explain and illuminate the relevant ideas or arguments in your own words, as if you were trying to help a fellow student gain a deeper understanding of them.
• Avoid excessive quotation! Stringing together quotes is not explaining a position or an argument, and does not display your understanding of the material. Even paraphrasing in your own words is not enough. Again, explanation involves clarifying the claims, bringing out hidden assumptions behind arguments, noticing ambiguities as they arise and nailing them down, and so on.
• In addition to careful explanation of positions or arguments, some paper topics ask for critical evaluation of those positions and arguments. An example of critical evaluation of an argument would be my lecture criticizing Thomson's argument for the conclusion that abortions wouldn't violate a fetus' right to life even if it were granted to have a full right to life. (I developed and used a distinction between positive and negative rights, and argued that the central parallel she appeals to in her argument fails to go through, since it involves a conflation of positive and negative rights.) Some paper topics ask you to do the same sort of thing, and if you're writing on such a topic, be sure that this component of your paper is strong and well developed.
• Proofreading of papers is a necessity. So is decent grammar: incoherent grammar makes the effective communication of ideas impossible.
• As for which topic you choose: You should choose something you're most interested in and have the most to say about. Beware of any topic that seems too easy: If it seems simple--like something you can dash off in a few paragraphs--then that's a good sign that you're not thinking deeply enough about it, and you should probably write on another topic. So choose your topic carefully.
• This is important : If you use someone else's words, you have to use quotation marks and cite the source in a footnote. If you don't, it's plagiarism, which constitutes cheating and is a violation of the honor code. See note at top.

Sample Short Paper and Commentary

For Illustrative purposes only

Sample Essay Question : Is Socrates' position in the Crito , concerning the moral authority of the state, consistent with his view that one should never do anything that is wrong? Is it consistent with what he says, in the Apology , about what he would do if commanded by the state to cease practicing philosophy, or about what he did when commanded by the Thirty to capture Leon of Salamis for execution? Explain.

(Note: page references are to a different edition than the one you have ; paragraphs should be indented, but are not here due to limitations of html formatting; I have not here included footnotes for the same reason; and your papers should be double-spaced, rather than single-spaced.)

Socrates on the Moral Authority of the State

In the Crito , Socrates makes some surprisingly strong claims about the moral authority of the state, which might even seem to be inconsistent both with another fundamental claim he makes in the Crito and with certain claims he makes in the Apology . I shall argue that although these claims seem to be in some tension with each other, the crucial claims about the authority of the state in the Crito can plausibly be interpreted in such a way as to remove any real inconsistency with the other claims.

The first, rather striking claim about the moral authority of the state occurs at 51b of the Crito . Socrates argues that, because of the state's role as a provider of security, education, and various important social institutions (such as marriage), the citizens of the state are its "offspring and servants"; and from this he concludes that citizens are subordinate to the state and its laws to such an extent that if a citizen ever disagrees with the state's laws or orders, he "must either persuade it or obey its orders," even if the latter amounts to suffering death. The implication for his own case is clear: Socrates had tried to persuade the court of his innocence and of the injustice of his execution (as detailed in the Apology ), but he had failed; therefore, he argues, he must now obey the court and accept his death sentence--even though he still thinks that he is in the right on this matter.

The second, closely related claim, comes only a few paragraphs later, in 51e and 52. Socrates there argues that by virtue of remaining in the state, a citizen enters into an implied contract with it to obey its commands. More precisely, the claim is again that a citizen who has a disagreement with the state must either persuade it that it is wrong, or else obey it. In the voice of the personified laws: "either persuade us or do what we say" (52a). The implication, again, is that if one fails to persuade the state to change its mind, for whatever reason, then one must obey its orders. A citizen has no moral right to continue to resist the state, even if he is convinced that he is in the right and the state is in the wrong.

Now as mentioned above, these claims seem directly opposed to certain other claims Socrates makes. Most importantly, earlier in the Crito itself, Socrates had stressed that "one must never do wrong" (49b). Indeed, this serves as the driving principle behind the rest of his argument in the Crito . But is this really consistent with maintaining that one must always obey the state, if one fails to persuade it that something it orders is wrong? The obvious objection is that the state might well order one to do something wrong--e.g. because one of its laws is an unjust one, as Jim Crow laws were. In that case, Socrates' claim that one should never do anything wrong would entail refusing to do what the state orders-- even if one is unsuccessful in persuading the state that it is wrong. Thus, Socrates' claim that one should never do wrong seems inconsistent with his claim that one must always obey the final orders of the state. 

Secondly, it might be objected that Socrates' view of the moral authority of the state is inconsistent both with what he did when ordered by the Thirty to capture Leon of Salamis for execution, and with what he says he'd do if ordered by the state to cease practicing philosophy (both from the Apology ). When the Thirty ordered him to capture Leon, he refused, on the grounds that this would have been wrong (unjust and impious). ( Apology , 32c-d) This seems to be a recognition that one is morally obligated or at least permitted to disobey the state when what it commands is wrong--even if one fails to persuade it of its wrongness. And similarly, Socrates makes clear that he would disobey the state and continue philosophizing if it were to order him to stop--again, on the grounds that it would be wrong for him to stop philosophizing (recall that he saw philosophy as his life's mission, given him by the god). ( Apology , 29c-d) Again, this seems to contradict what he says in the Crito about the supreme moral authority of the state and its laws and orders.

I believe, however, that it is possible to read the crucial passages about the authority of the state in the Crito in such a way as to render them consistent with Socrates' exhortation never to do wrong, and with his remarks about disobedience in the Apology . To see this, it is necessary to distinguish first of all between two issues: (a) what the law might require you to do , and (b) what the law might require you to endure . With this distinction in mind, consider the following possible interpretations of Socrates' claim about the moral authority of the state in the Crito :

( i ) Citizens must obey any law or order of the state, whatever it asks them to do or to endure ;

(ii) Citizens must endure whatever any law or order of the state says they must--including the law that verdicts arrived at through proper procedures shall be carried out--but citizens need not and morally should not do what is prescribed by an unjust law.

Now which of these positions is it most plausible to attribute to Socrates in the Crito ?

There are passages that might seem to suggest i (e.g. 51e, 52a), but again, the obvious problem is that it seems inconsistent with his fundamental principle that one should never do wrong (49a)--at least on the assumption, which Socrates clearly accepts in the Apology , that the state is not infallible as regards judgments of right and wrong. Thus, a more charitable reading would interpret the passages about the moral authority of the state as referring implicitly to cases where the state does not require one to do anything unjust, but merely to endure something (or perhaps to do something that is not itself unjust, such as rendering some political service).

If the passages are read in this way, we can interpret Socrates' claim as ii above. When he says that one must obey the state's final laws and orders, what he means is that one must do anything it tells one to do within the bounds of justice , and that one must endure anything it tells one to endure. Thus, Socrates was not obligated to capture Leon of Salamis, and would not be obligated to cease philosophizing if ordered to, since that would be doing something wrong (i.e. something that is not within the bounds of justice); but he is obligated to accept and endure his punishment, as long as it was arrived at through proper judicial procedures. The latter is true, according to Socrates, even though the punishment is wrong; for by suffering it, he is not himself doing anything wrong, but only enduring something wrong. This is perfectly consistent with Socrates' exhortation never to do anything wrong.

Thus, what at first appears to be a blatant contradiction among Socrates' various claims is fairly easily remedied if we interpret the relevant passages in the Crito as making the claim in ii rather than the claim in i above. This interpretation is supported not only by the fact that it helps to reconcile Socrates' seemingly contradictory claims, but also by the fact that Socrates' examples of obedience to the state over one's own objections all involve having to endure something, rather than having to do something. He speaks in Crito 51b, for example, of having to "endure in silence whatever it instructs you to endure, whether blows or bonds, and if it leads you into war to be wounded or killed, you must obey." Though he does not explicitly formulate his claim as in ii above, his focus is clearly on the issue of having to endure something prescribed by the state, over one's own objections. Therefore, it is consistent with the text to interpret him as making only the claim in ii, which is fully compatible with his claim that one must never do wrong, and with his claim that under certain conditions one should refuse to do something the state orders (such as refusing to capture someone for an unjust execution, or refusing to cease carrying out your divine mission as long as you live).

As for the plausibility of Socrates' view, I believe that it is still overly demanding, even when qualified as in ii above. It's unclear why any of the factors Socrates mentioned should give the state such overriding moral authority that one should be morally obliged to endure execution without resistance even in cases where the state is genuinely in the wrong. It seems more plausible to hold that if one stands to be unjustly executed, one can rightly resist this punishment ( even if it would equally be permissible not to resist). One could do this, I think, without showing any contempt for the laws, or challenging their authority, since one still grants the state's authority to do its best to carry out the punishment, and simply asserts a moral right to do one's best in turn to avoid such wrongful punishment. But that's a topic for another paper.

COMMENTARY :

Note, first of all, the concise, crisp introduction. The problem is plainly stated, and then I explain clearly what I'm going to do in the paper--all in just a few sentences. There's no rambling introduction with sentences starting with "Since the beginning of time, mankind has pondered the mysteries of etc."

The style is straightforward, striving for clarity rather than literary flair. Jargon is avoided as far as possible.

After the introduction, the problem is stated in more depth and detail, with textual references. Notice the spare use of quotes. I quote only a few words here and there, where necessary to illustrate the points. This might be extended to a few sentences, if necessary, but beware of over-quoting and letting someone else's words do your work for you. (The worst mistake is just stringing together quotes, which accomplishes nothing.) Notice also that textual references are given for the quotes, as well as for paraphrased passages. (Normally, I'd use footnotes and have complete citations, but I'm limited by html format here.)

Notice how, in describing the problem, I try to elucidate it, rather than just summarizing it. Summary is not explanation . Instead, I try to make clear where exactly the tensions among the various claims seem to arise and why, and how they apply to Socrates' own case. I've tried to go well beyond the superficial statement of the problem in the essay question, to illuminate and develop it.

Now having done that, one might just stop and claim to have answered the question: "No, the various positions are not consistent, and Socrates is just contradicting himself." But that would be a very superficial paper. Instead, I tried to dig beneath the surface a little bit, and to notice that the central claim can be interpreted in more than one way. So I first of all made a distinction between two possible interpretations, which in turn depended on a distinction between what you might be commanded to do and what you might be commanded to endure . That distinction enabled me to argue for an interpretation of what Socrates is claiming about the moral authority of the state that renders this claim consistent with his other claims. (Noticing and exploiting distinctions is a large part of what doing philosophy is all about.)

Whether or not you agree with that particular argument, you can see the difference between bringing the discussion to that level of detail and merely staying on the surface. So even if you would have taken a different position, the point is that a good paper would still be engaging with the issues at that level of depth, rather than remaining on the surface. If you think Socrates really is contradicting himself, for example, you might then also discuss the distinctions I pointed out, but then argue for an interpretation along the lines of the first interpretation instead, despite the inconsistencies with other things he says. (Of course, you'd have to be able to give an argument for why the text should be understood in that way, despite the fact that Socrates winds up with rather glaringly conflicting claims on that reading.)

Again, notice that I am striving for clarity , precision and thoroughness , along with a straightforward organization for the paper.

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List of 200+ Philosophy Essay Topics and Questions For Students

Updated 04 Jul 2024

While the majority of university students may assume that choosing a philosophy essay topic is easy, it does not work well in practice. Depending on what philosophy school you would like to choose, you should think of a list that must be brainstormed. Therefore, our philosophy essay topics below are meant to keep you inspired and help you see practical examples that can serve as a starting point. You will also learn how to write a philosophy essay and how to tell a good topic from a poor one. When you have a good idea to start with, you will already overcome the challenges of finding a good topic.

✍️ Writing Philosophy Essay: Definition & Tips

Before you start with philosophy paper topics, ensure that you know the basics of essay writing. Begin with essay structure to academic features, take time to study your grading rubric and ask our  essay service questions when something is unclear. Here is what you must consider:

• Ensure that you envision your philosophy essay’s topic by narrowing things down.
• Create an outline by choosing various key arguments.
• Read various literature dealing with the things that interest you.
• Focus on your weaknesses by looking up terms and facts.
• Choose your research methodology: persuasive, argumentative, explanatory, etc.
• Create a bibliography to support chosen ideas with reliable sources.

Your philosophy research paper topics structure should follow these aspects:

• Compose a strong thesis statement.
• Use your key arguments as the body paragraph topic sentences.
• Add a hook sentence to your introduction part.
• Provide evidence for each idea that is not yours.
• Present your ideas with the help of bridging words.
• Add counter-argument ideas if it is necessary to support your point.

Tips on Writing Philosophy Essay

• Explain a philosophical concept.
• Provide real-life examples to help your audience understand complex aspects.
• Compare theories by seeking contrasts.
• Structure your philosophical ideas from easy to complex.
• Provide personal analysis to support each argument.

Once again, always provide due evidence if you are using any external ideas!

What are some Philosophy topics?

Some topics may deal with the nature of human existence, the things we know, the definition of concepts, and moral ethics. It is also possible to choose case study examples by turning to the works of Socrates, Plato, or more modern philosophers like John McDowell.

📙 50 Philosophy Essay Topics

We shall start with not-so-difficult philosophical ideas that will deal with the general subjects related to this challenging field of science. While Philosophy is about thinking and analysis, your research writing should not be vague or unclear. Read your chosen topics aloud, change the wording, and see whether you can support some paradigms with good sources and explanatory analysis.

• The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Rights and Wrongs
• Existentialism in the 21st Century: Relevance and Application
• The Philosophy of Mind: Consciousness and Identity
• Stoicism as a Way of Life: Practical Applications
• The Impact of Nietzsche's Übermensch on Modern Society
• The Concept of Justice in Plato’s Republic
• Free Will vs. Determinism: The Philosophical Debate
• The Role of Suffering in Human Development According to Buddhism
• The Ethics of Genetic Engineering: Playing God or Advancing Humanity?
• The Influence of Social Media on Personal Identity
• The Philosophy of Language: Meaning and Interpretation
• Environmental Ethics: Responsibilities to Nature and Future Generations
• The Problem of Evil: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
• The Concept of Happiness in Aristotelian Ethics
• Feminist Philosophy: Theories and Implications
• The Intersection of Philosophy and Science: Conflicts and Complementarities
• The Philosophy of Education: Purpose and Approach
• The Concept of Liberty in Political Philosophy
• The Ethics of Care: A Challenge to Traditional Moral Theories
• The Philosophy of Art: Aesthetics and Meaning
• The Notion of Self in Eastern and Western Philosophies
• The Ethics of Animal Rights and Welfare
• The Philosophy of Religion: Faith vs. Reason
• The Impact of Technology on Society: A Philosophical Inquiry
• The Concept of Duty in Kantian Ethics
• The Philosophy of History: Patterns, Progress, and Purpose
• The Role of Intuition in Philosophical Thought
• The Ethics of Euthanasia: Autonomy and Morality
• The Philosophy of Space and Time: Understanding the Universe
• The Notion of Justice in Rawls vs. Nozick
• The Philosophy of Friendship: Aristotle’s View and Modern Perspectives
• The Concept of Beauty: Subjective vs. Objective Standards
• The Ethics of Globalization: Economic Justice and Human Rights
• The Influence of Hegel’s Dialectics on Contemporary Thought
• The Philosophy of Sport: Fair Play, Competition, and Virtue
• The Notion of Truth in Postmodern Philosophy
• The Ethics of Immigration: Rights, Policies, and Morality
• The Role of Logic in Philosophical Argumentation
• The Philosophy of Love: From Plato to Modern Times
• The Ethics of Surveillance: Privacy vs. Security
• The Concept of Power in Foucault’s Philosophy
• The Philosophy of Leisure: The Value of Free Time in a Productive Society
• The Ethics of Consumption: Materialism and Sustainability
• The Notion of Community in Communitarian Philosophy
• The Philosophy of Language and Technology: Communication in the Digital Age
• The Ethics of War: Just War Theory and Pacifism
• The Concept of Alienation in Marxist Philosophy
• The Philosophy of Humor: What Makes Something Funny?
• The Ethics of Cloning: Human Dignity and Reproductive Technology
• The Philosophy of Aging: Wisdom, Ethics, and the Value of Life

Remember that you can always narrow things down to what fits your essay!

📝Easy Philosophy Paper Topics

These easy Philosophy essay topics should provide you with a basic idea before we proceed with more complex ideas:

• The Concept of Happiness: What Makes Life Fulfilling?
• Free Will vs. Determinism: Do We Truly Have Choices?
• The Ethics of Animal Rights: Should Animals Have the Same Rights as Humans?
• The Impact of Technology on Society: A Philosophical Perspective
• The Philosophy of Friendship: What Makes a Good Friend?
• Introduction to Stoicism: How Can Stoic Principles Improve Our Lives?
• The Role of Education in Shaping Society
• Personal Identity: What Makes You, You?
• The Ethics of Euthanasia: Right to Die or Duty to Live?
• The Philosophy Behind Environmental Conservation
• Happiness vs. Pleasure: Understanding the Difference
• The Importance of Ethics in Business
• Understanding Empathy: Its Importance and Impact
• The Concept of Justice in Modern Society
• Mindfulness and Philosophy: Living in the Moment
• The Influence of Media on Public Opinion: A Philosophical Analysis
• The Philosophy of Art: What is Artistic Beauty?
• The Concept of Duty: Kantian Ethics Explained
• Philosophical Perspectives on Poverty and Wealth
• The Role of Intuition in Decision Making

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☝️ Argumentative Philosophy Essay Topics

They are meant for clear arguments where you make a stand with an aim to defend what you believe in or bring up arguments to discuss things with your fellow students. Here are some ideas:

• Is Morality Relative or Absolute?
• Can Free Will Exist in a Deterministic Universe?
• Is Artificial Intelligence a Threat to Human Existence?
• Do Humans Have an Obligation to Preserve the Natural Environment?
• Is the Concept of the Social Contract Relevant in Today's Society?
• Should Genetic Engineering Be Subject to Ethical Limitations?
• Is Democracy the Best Form of Government?
• Can War Ever Be Justified Ethically?
• Is Capital Punishment Morally Defensible?
• Does the Existence of Evil Disprove the Existence of God?
• Is Euthanasia Ethically Permissible?
• Should Wealth Redistribution Be a Central Aim of Society?
• Is Education a Right or a Privilege?
• Does Technology Enhance or Diminish Human Interaction?
• Is Animal Testing Justifiable?
• Can Objective Truth Exist in Morality?
• Is the Pursuit of Happiness a Worthwhile Life Goal?
• Should Privacy Be Sacrificed for Security?
• Is Censorship Ever Justifiable in a Free Society?
• Does Society Have a Duty to Provide Healthcare to All Its Citizens?

📚 Practical Philosophical Topics For Essays

If you can apply a school of philosophy or some subject in practice, take a look at these Philosophy essay ideas:

• The Ethics of Consumerism: Philosophical Perspectives on Consumption and Sustainability
• Philosophy in the Workplace: Ethical Leadership and Corporate Responsibility
• The Role of Philosophy in Education: Teaching Critical Thinking and Ethical Reasoning
• Mental Health and Well-being: A Philosophical Examination of Happiness and Fulfillment
• Digital Life: The Impact of Social Media on Identity and Relationships
• Environmental Ethics: Philosophical Approaches to Climate Change and Conservation
• The Philosophy of Science: Understanding the Limits and Possibilities of Scientific Knowledge
• Philosophical Perspectives on Gender Equality and Feminism
• The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Future of AI
• Philosophy of Religion: Faith, Rationality, and the Meaning of Life
• The Intersection of Philosophy and Art: Aesthetics and the Value of Art
• Philosophical Approaches to Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
• The Ethics of Healthcare: Patient Rights, Access, and the Doctor-Patient Relationship
• Philosophy and Political Activism: The Role of Ideas in Social Movements
• The Philosophy of Language: Communication, Misunderstanding, and Meaning
• Ethical Consumerism: The Moral Implications of Our Purchasing Choices
• The Ethics of Technology: Privacy, Surveillance, and Freedom in the Digital Age
• Philosophy of Education: The Purpose and Value of Learning
• The Ethics of Immigration: Rights, Policies, and Global Responsibility
• Philosophical Perspectives on Aging and Mortality

🌎 Worldview Essay Topics

This section is dedicated to those subjects that reflect how a person sees the world. It brings up philosophy essay questions that sum up what a person beliefs in. For example:

• The Influence of Culture on Moral Values: A Comparative Analysis
• Existentialism and the Search for Meaning in the Modern World
• The Impact of Religion on Worldviews: A Global Perspective
• Humanism vs. Spiritualism: Contrasting Life Philosophies
• The Role of Science in Shaping Contemporary Worldviews
• Eastern vs. Western Philosophies: Diverse Paths to Understanding Reality
• The Concept of Karma in Different Cultural Contexts
• Materialism and Consumer Society: Philosophical Critiques
• The Philosophy of Time: How Different Cultures Understand Time
• Environmental Worldviews: From Anthropocentrism to Eco-centrism
• The Digital Age and Its Impact on Human Perception and Interaction
• Fate vs. Free Will: Determining the Course of Our Lives
• The Notion of the Self in Philosophy and Psychology
• Globalization and Its Effects on Cultural Identity and Worldviews
• Postmodernism: Challenging Traditional Narratives and Beliefs
• The Concept of Utopia: Visions of a Perfect Society
• Ethical Relativism: Understanding Morality in a Pluralistic World
• The Intersection of Art and Philosophy in Shaping Worldviews
• Philosophical Perspectives on Death and the Afterlife
• Technology and Transhumanism: Redefining Human Nature and Future

📖 Plato Essay Topics

It is hard to find another personality that would be as important for the field of Philosophy as Plato. Here are several philosophy topics for essays that deal with Plato’s beliefs and the timeless heritage. For example:

• The Theory of Forms: Understanding Plato's Concept of Reality
• Plato's Allegory of the Cave: Interpretations and Implications
• Justice in Plato's Republic: An Analysis of His Ideal State
• Plato and Democracy: Critique and Perspectives
• The Role of the Philosopher-King in Plato's Ideal Society
• Plato's Concept of the Soul: Tripartite Structure and Its Significance
• Education in Plato's Republic: Methods and Philosophical Foundations
• Plato's Views on Art and Imitation: An Examination of the Ion and the Republic
• The Significance of Plato's Academy in the Development of Western Philosophy
• Comparative Analysis: Plato and Aristotle on Virtue and Happiness
• Plato's Symposium: Love, Beauty, and the Path to the Divine
• The Influence of Socratic Method on Plato's Dialogues
• Plato's Critique of Sophistry and Its Relevance Today
• The Concept of Eudaimonia in Plato's Ethical Philosophy
• Plato's Timaeus: Cosmology and the Nature of the Physical World
• Plato and the Theory of Knowledge: Justified True Belief
• The Role of Myth in Plato's Philosophy: From the Gorgias to the Phaedrus
• Plato's Political Philosophy: The Challenges of Realizing the Ideal State
• The Immortality of the Soul in Plato's Phaedo: Arguments and Critiques
• Plato's Influence on Christian Thought and Theology

💡 Enlightenment Essay Topics

This section explores interesting topics that relate to the period of Enlightenment. Here is the list to consider:

• The Role of Reason in the Enlightenment: A New Approach to Knowledge
• Voltaire and the Fight for Religious Tolerance
• The Impact of the Enlightenment on Modern Democratic Thought
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Concept of the Social Contract
• Enlightenment Critiques of Monarchy and the Path to Republicanism
• The Influence of Enlightenment Thought on the French Revolution
• Comparative Analysis of the Scottish and French Enlightenment
• Women of the Enlightenment: Contributions and Challenges
• The Enlightenment and Its Role in the Development of Modern Science
• Immanuel Kant and the Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Freedom
• The Enlightenment and the Arts: A New Aesthetic for a New Time
• Deism and the Enlightenment: Rethinking the Divine
• The Legacy of the Enlightenment in Contemporary Education
• Enlightenment Philosophers on Human Rights and Equality
• Economic Thought in the Enlightenment: The Beginnings of Modern Economics
• The Enlightenment’s Influence on Modern Legal Systems
• Critiques of the Enlightenment: Romanticism and Counter-Enlightenment Thoughts
• The Spread of Enlightenment Ideas Through Europe and Beyond
• The Enlightenment and the Birth of Modern Political Ideologies
• Philosophical Debates on Morality and Ethics During the Enlightenment

📜 Transcendentalism Essay Topics

In simple terms, Transcendentalism is a philosophy that came to be in the 19th century, aiming for self-sufficiency. The main belief states that people are originally good but are corrupted by society and the wrong teaching or negative examples. It is one of the most varied branches of philosophy as can be seen from the topics below:

• The Core Principles of Transcendentalism: An Introduction
• Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Philosophy of Self-Reliance
• Henry David Thoreau’s Walden: Living in Harmony with Nature
• Transcendentalism and Its Influence on American Literature
• Margaret Fuller: A Transcendentalist Feminist Perspective
• The Role of Nature in Transcendentalist Thought
• Transcendentalism and Its Critique of Materialism
• The Social and Political Activism of Transcendentalists
• Transcendentalism: A Predecessor to Environmental and Ecological Movements
• The Concept of Individualism in Transcendentalist Writings
• Transcendentalism and Education: The Legacy of Bronson Alcott
• The Influence of Eastern Philosophies on Transcendentalist Thought
• Transcendentalism in Contemporary Society: Relevance and Reflections
• The Relationship Between Transcendentalism and Romanticism
• Transcendentalist Views on Religion and Spirituality
• The Impact of Transcendentalism on Civil Disobedience and Social Change
• Transcendentalism and the Arts: Exploring Aesthetic Expressions
• Critiques of Transcendentalism: Limitations and Counterarguments
• The Legacy of Transcendentalism in Modern American Culture
• Exploring the Concept of the Over-Soul in Transcendentalist Literature

❓ Philosophy Essay Questions

When you choose a good Philosophy essay topic, always ask yourself a question. Take a look at how it has been done below:

• What is the nature of reality, and how can we truly know anything about it?
• Is free will an illusion, and are our choices predetermined by external factors?
• Can moral judgments be objective, or are they entirely subjective?
• What is the role of consciousness in defining personal identity?
• How do language and thought influence our perception of the world?
• Is it possible to achieve true happiness, and what would it entail?
• What is justice, and how can a society ensure its fair distribution?
• Can artificial intelligence ever attain consciousness or moral reasoning?
• What does it mean to live a good life, and how should individuals strive to achieve it?
• How should we balance individual freedom with social responsibility?
• Is there a universal standard for beauty, or is beauty entirely subjective?
• What is the significance of death in giving meaning to life?
• How do power dynamics shape ethical considerations and social structures?
• Can science and religion coexist, or are they fundamentally incompatible?
• What is the ethical responsibility of humans towards the environment and non-human life?
• How does the concept of the self evolve in the digital age?
• Is there an ethical obligation to pursue truth, even at the expense of personal happiness?
• What role does suffering play in personal growth and the development of character?
• How can societies best balance tradition and innovation in shaping the future?
• What are the ethical implications of genetic engineering and biotechnology on future generations?

What is a good topic for a philosophy paper?

One of the most popular topics in Philosophy today is whether people are born as good beings or we already come to this world with all the negative traits. While it is popular, you can narrow things down by focusing on criminals, youth gangs, or volunteers (as an example of the good ones).

How to Find Excellent Philosophy Essay Topics?

When you have a plethora of philosophy ideas, it is easy to get lost, which is why you should follow these simple Philosophy topic choice tips:

• Find something that truly inspires you. If your topic does not motivate you, it will always show.
• Choose a certain school of philosophy as your methodology.
• Read on various philosophers and examine their famous works.
• Narrow things down and change the wording.
• Research similar works on the topic.

When you have already chosen something, read it aloud and try to think about keywords by writing them down in a list. Once done, connect your essay topic with the thesis statement. Choosing the right philosophy essay topics can be overwhelming, so if you're struggling, you might consider seeking professional help to write my philosophy paper and ensure your arguments are well-structured and compelling.

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Written by David Kidwell

David is one of those experienced content creators from the United Kingdom who has a high interest in social issues, culture, and entrepreneurship. He always says that reading, blogging, and staying aware of what happens in the world is what makes a person responsible. He likes to learn and share what he knows by making things inspiring and creative enough even for those students who dislike reading.

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190 Top-Notch Philosophy Essay Topics For All

Philosophy is a vast academic field that tackles every aspect of human life. Contrary to how most college and university students believe, philosophy essays are not walking in the park. Like writing essays in technical fields, philosophy papers demand a little critical analysis alongside extensive reading and massive research. There is a broad spectrum of philosophy topics you can choose to handle.

Nonetheless, it is hard to come by a case that compliments your interest besides being easy to write about in college. We have compiled exceptional philosophy essay topics that will quickly get you to the top of your class. Check them out below.

Interesting Philosophy Topics

• Examine the freedom teenagers should have
• Explain why success is so vital to people’s lives
• Evaluate whether people can free themselves from all material thoughts
• Discuss whether coma patients should be on life support
• Examine the importance of preserving cultural heritage
• What is the link between genetics and human personalities?
• Evaluate whether there will be an end to technological progress
• Examine whether democracy is an effective way of government
• Explain if it is possible to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich in society
• Elaborate how the development of AI will affect the world
• What is the association between beauty and morality in today’s world
• Determine if thoughts can exist without language
• Investigate if it is possible to find all questions about the universe
• Explain the role of religion in the modern world

Top Topics In Philosophy

• Outline the constituents of a good life
• Elaborate the likely ethical questions regarding postmortem autopsies
• Point out the difference between unethical and ethical marketing
• Discuss the role of ethics in higher education
• Examine conscience and its key features
• What are the issues and principles of ethics in psychotherapy?
• Discuss the difference between hedonism and utilitarianism
• What are the possible moral barriers if parent-child relationships
• Explain the definition and problems related to informed consent
• Examine whether humans and animals should have the same rights
• Discuss the significant moral advantages and disadvantages of human enhancements

Great Philosophy Essay Topics

• Elaborate the link between moral agency and neutrality in ethics of technology
• Explain the link between ethics and aesthetics in axiology
• Outline the main issues associated with manifest destiny
• What are the central moral issues related to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide
• Investigate the concept of responsibility and freedom as it relates to metaethics
• Explain the distinctive critical attributes of morality
• Take a look at the specifics of feminist ethics
• Discuss the ethics of religious beliefs as it relates to Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity
• Elaborate the critical challenges related to deontological ethics
• Define virtue ethics and highlight its key concepts
• Define utilitarian ethics and explain its fundamental principles

Top-Grade Philosophy Thesis Topics

• Explain the role of classical pragmatism in the development of feminist theories
• Highlight the main features of empiricism
• Point out the influence of Russian cosmism on space exploration
• Explain the prominent contributions of Edmund Husserl’s to the field of phenomenology
• Define the concept of the Other and elaborate how it is in film, psychology, and philosophy
• Discuss the influence of globalization and war on the late 20 th -century anarchism
• Examine critical figures associated with existentialism in France after WWII
• What are the basic concepts of existentialism
• Explain how the theory of quantum mechanics and relativity affected the 20 th century
• Examine the role of Plato and Aristotle in classical German philosophy
• Elaborate the Schleiermacher’s influence on knowledge and psychology
• Highlight Karl Marx’s concepts of capital, class, and labor
• Investigate the contributions of Johanna Charlotte Unzer towards feminism

Easy Philosophy Paper Topics

• Explain the critical attributes of Pietism
• Point out Christian Thomasius’ thoughts on prejudice and reason
• Discuss moral philosophy and ethics in Nietzsche, Kant, and others
• Discuss the political, intellectual, and philosophical conditions that led to the reformation
• Explain how Martin Luther’s theology impacted Europe
• Elaborate the problem of theodicy in medieval philosophy
• Discuss what characterized Albert of Saxony’s metaphysics and logic
• Explain the concepts of divine providence and sin
• Highlight the problem of free will from a theological point of view
• Compare the theological approached of Saint Augustine and Thomas of Aquinas
• Explain what characterized the problem of universals in medieval philosophy
• Investigate medieval theology as a philosophy of religion
• What is the link between faith and reason in medieval philosophies

A-Grade Philosophical Questions

• Evaluate how to integrate secular learning and sacred doctrine in medieval philosophy
• Discuss metempsychosis as the concept of reincarnation
• Explain different forms of the good according to Plato’s Republic
• Define the idea of “becoming” in atomism
• Explain the concept of moral intention as detailed in philosophy
• Examine Homer’s influence on Greek philosophy
• Discuss the constantly changing nature of reality in ancient philosophy
• Define the concept of “logos” in different philosophies
• Discuss the ideas of principal substances in Greek philosophy
• What is the relationship between the doctrine of Pythagoreans and Mathematics

Argumentative Philosophy Essay Topics

• Elaborate the main attributes of Skepticism
• What influence do movies and video games have on our morals
• Explain the impact of social media on our moral values
• Explain the purpose behind evil and good
• Discuss whether it is possible to live without regulations and laws in the world
• Define death and explain its purpose
• Investigate whether knowledge is a result f experience and learning
• Explain whether or not morality should be subjective
• Discuss the future of humans and humankind
• What are critical moral issues around genetically modified products
• What are the reasons and solutions to mass panic and hysteria
• Explain why governments should conceal the evidence of extraterrestrial life

College Topic For Philosophy Paper

• Examine why modern celebrities should be positive models for modern teenagers
• Define the American dream and explain if it exists
• Highlight postmodernism ideas in philosophy
• Discuss the idea that there is life after death
• Investigate the concept of happiness through the eye of modern youths
• Explain the basic principles and ideas that a family file should have
• Discuss the ethics behind the application of Bitcoin and other digital currencies

Excellent Topics For Philosophy Paper

• Evaluate why violent and offensive content should not be on the internet
• Define patriotism and explain why it should be a virtue
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of child-free families
• Assess whether it is ethical to have zoos and circuses
• Is death the beginning of something new or the final point of human life
• Discuss ethical issues surrounding organ transplant
• Explain why it is essential to lie sometimes
• Evaluate whether governments should legalize abortion
• What is the connection between culture and morals
• Define communism and explain its pros and cons

General Philosophy Research Paper Topics

• What is the essence of religious sects, and should they be legalized?
• What impact does the belief in God have on humans
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of committing suicide
• Define the concept of Supernatural and highlight any proof of its existence
• What are the best methods to solve issues between children and their parents
• How are war and peace interrelated to each other?
• What impact has the church had on US politics in the past ten years?
• Define free will and determinism and point out which one you support
• Define a perfect life and explain what keeps people from living it
• Discuss why folks need education and how its significance has changed over the years

World-Class Philosophy Topics For Essays

• Elaborate five key character traits that determine who you are and state whether you would change any of them
• Explain why some individuals may live life without feeling alive
• Elaborate the role society plays in the formation of one’s personality
• Discuss ethical questions that revolve around Covid-19 and examine the response to the pandemic
• Outline the reasons for banning hate speech on social media and the internet
• Define ageism and explain how we can tackle it
• Explain why white Americans should be held responsible for the disadvantaged position of black Americans
• Is feminism opposed to religion?
• Examine the goals that feminism as a movement has achieved so far
• Investigate if gender parity is attainable

Brilliant Philosophical Topics For Essays

• What should come first; economic benefits or morality
• What are the ethical issues around using embryos in genetic engineering research
• Is it ethical to invest in pet operations when people in developing countries still lack primary health care?
• Explain why it is our moral duty to take care of the environment
• Discuss whether environmental awareness should be a virtue
• Investigate the moral responsibility that developed countries hold in tackling hunger issues in the world
• Determine if charity should be a moral obligation
• What ethical questions surround the use of drugs enhancing cognition?
• Explain why cloning is ethically admissible
• Elaborate ethical reasons behind mass surveillance

Philosophy Term Paper Topics

• Discuss if a convict should have the freedom to accept the death penalty or serve a life sentence
• Explain why abortion is wrong on moral grounds
• Evaluate moral rules that enslave people
• Assess if people can violate moral rules to achieve a common good
• Examine whether science is compatible or incompatible with religion
• Discuss the impact of colonialism on the behavior of modern-day colonists
• Explain the key differences between Freudism and Marxism
• Highlight how modernism reflects societal changes
• What are the effect of quantum mechanics and relativity on idealism

Fun Philosophy Paper Topics

• Examine whether getting information out of the outer world is real
• Investigate the synthetic propositions of the Kantian modes of thinking
• Define probability and explain why it might be a construct of the mind
• Assess if magic draws inspiration from science
• Discuss the effects of divination and alchemy on modern society
• Outline how the biological and spiritual aspects of life coexist

Good Philosophy Paper Topics

• Explain the potential limitations of the concept of Utopia
• Analyze the impacts of influences and legacy
• Discuss the free will in man from a theological point of view
• Evaluate how doctrines shape a group’s belief system
• Define atomism and outline its principal characteristics
• What is the impact of Augustine’s ethics in the context of Christianity?
• Compare and contrast between Epicureanism and Stoicism
• Explain if Platonic realism affects modern realism

Philosophy Topics To Write A Paper On

• Discuss how the feminine gender was in ancient Greece
• Investigate how natural philosophy impacts science
• Detail the contrast between mythology and philosophy in explaining natural phenomena
• Show whether there exists a unity of opposites within the universal flux?
• Elaborate if philosophy is the ultimate answer to all questions in life
• Explain what attracts short ladies to tall boyfriends and vice versa
• Discuss what matters between the lives of citizens and the economy in the event of a pandemic
• Explain why anxiety may be an indication that you are not well prepared
• A case study of the psychology behind cheap products and their quality
• Examine if someone can mentally offend another without necessarily inflicting any physical damage

Amazing Philosophical Essay Topics

• What is the truth of the statement that critics are mean people who only want their ideas to prevail?
• Is it possible to provide help to a stranger without doubting their intentions?
• Explain whether achieving self-development has anything to do with self-esteem
• Discuss the attributes that define beautiful and excellent among women and men
• Explain whether endorsement has anything to do with acceptance of a particular cause
• A case study of how community-guided practices impact the lives of its inhabitants
• Elaborate the role of interests and abilities in shaping a person’s decisions in life
• Investigate why conceptual rigor and argumentative rigor are necessary when handling life issues

World-Class Philosophy Essay Questions

• Explain the link between the natural world and the spirit
• Discuss who should determine the ethics and morals of a community
• Explain whether it is worth preserving memories of past events even though we cannot relive them
• Investigate why our superstitions and cultural myths about life and death are important
• What are the philosophical effects of staying up too late at night?
• Explain the essence of matter, space, and time in the study of philosophy
• Discuss whether everyone has a choice or obligation towards a particular responsibility
• Which is more important, to be loved by someone or to love someone?

Additional Philosophy Paper Ideas

• Explain if there are any situations in particular where it is better to lie than tell the truth
• Discuss whether capital punishment is morally justified in today’s world
• Explain the effect of the philosophical wave of the 20 th century
• What is the most crucial attribute to gain human knowledge?
• Investigate whether our morals are influenced by or connected to culture
• Would you please explain the difference between economic justice and legal justice and show which of them is most important
• Examine if Machiavellian ideals are still applicable in today’s government
• Elaborate whether teenagers should have the responsibility to make their own choices
• Examine if humans have the same perception about what is wrong and what is right
• A case study of the main character traits that an ideal leader possesses
• Define the term mentally conscious and how it applies to human life
• Examine how to get ready for life after death

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Home Essay Samples

Essay Samples on Philosophy

If you are here, you might be looking for an excellent Philosophy essay sample that will help you to create an assignment that is most alike to what you find. We have a great collection of examples that deal with most schools of thought. You can find modern philosophers and their works and the books that you might have studied as a college student. The most challenging part is to understand what your grading rubric requires and find the facts that must be mentioned as a reply to the prompt. Our Philosophy essay examples will provide you with correct formatting and structure that will help you see how to fit within the word count and why you must provide citations to support your claims. If some source that you discover looks good, you can use it as a resource for your own Philosophy paper. Just remember to implement quotes only where and when necessary or you are risking overfilling your writing with too many citations. Although it may be helpful when you’re dealing with philosophy, your analysis should always come first and represent at least 50% of the total word count. Create an outline first and you will be safe!

Where I See Myself in the Future

The journey of life is akin to an artist's canvas, awaiting the strokes of dreams, ambitions, and actions to paint a masterpiece of the future. In this essay, I embark on a reflective journey to explore where I see myself in the future. From the...

Where Do I See Myself in 5 Years

Life is a journey that unfolds with each passing day, offering us the opportunity to set our sights on the horizon and envision where our efforts will lead us. In this essay, we embark on a voyage of introspection to explore the question: Where do...

Abortion and Philosophy: Navigating Ethical and Moral Dimensions

The topic of abortion is a philosophical dilemma that challenges individuals to grapple with complex ethical and moral questions. This essay delves into the philosophical underpinnings of the abortion debate, examining the various perspectives and philosophical arguments that contribute to the discourse. The Moral Status...

• Personal Philosophy

What It Means to Be an Educated Person

What does it mean to be educated? This question has intrigued philosophers, educators, and thinkers throughout history. While education is often associated with acquiring knowledge, its essence goes beyond mere facts and figures. This essay will delve into the multifaceted dimensions of education — embracing...

• Philosophy of Education

What Is a Life Well Lived: Meaning, Fulfillment, and Impact

What is a life well lived? This timeless question has intrigued philosophers, thinkers, and individuals across cultures and generations. As we navigate the complexities of existence, we grapple with the pursuit of purpose, happiness, and significance. This essay will delve into the multifaceted dimensions of...

• Philosophy of Life

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What Does Education Mean to You: Empowerment Through Knowledge

What does education mean to you? Education is a journey that shapes not only our minds but also our lives. It is a lifelong pursuit that opens doors, broadens horizons, and empowers individuals to reach their fullest potential. In this essay, I will explore the...

• Role of Education

Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man": An Argumentative Analysis

Thomas Paine's revolutionary pamphlet "Rights of Man" is a seminal work that presents a passionate defense of individual rights, democracy, and social equality. Written in response to Edmund Burke's criticisms of the French Revolution, Paine's work engages in a compelling argument for the principles of...

• Thomas Paine

Main Strengths and Weaknesses of Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics is a prominent ethical theory that emphasizes the importance of cultivating virtuous character traits as a foundation for moral decision-making. Developed by philosophers such as Aristotle, virtue ethics has gained both acclaim and criticism for its unique approach to morality. This essay delves...

• Virtue Ethics

How Does Society Shape Our Identity

How does society shape our identity? Society acts as a powerful force that molds the intricate contours of our identities. As individuals, we are not isolated entities; we are products of the societies we inhabit. This essay explores the dynamic interplay between society and identity,...

• Personal Identity

How Does Family Influence Your Identity

Family is a powerful force that weaves the threads of our identity. The relationships, values, and experiences within our family unit play a significant role in shaping who we become. This essay delves into how family influences our identity, from the formation of core beliefs...

Exploring Existence: How Do I Know I Exist

The question of existence has intrigued philosophers, thinkers, and individuals for centuries. How do we know that our existence is real and not an elaborate illusion? This essay delves into the philosophical and introspective exploration of self-awareness, consciousness, and the nature of reality to address...

A Life of Integrity: How to Live an Ethical Life

Living an ethical life is a conscious and deliberate choice to uphold values that promote goodness, respect, and fairness in our interactions with others and the world around us. Ethical living transcends personal gain and societal norms, focusing on principles that contribute to the well-being...

• Ethics in Everyday Life

What Is the Meaning of Life: Exploring Philosophical, Spiritual, and Personal Perspectives

What is the meaning of life? This question has intrigued philosophers, thinkers, and individuals throughout history. It is a query that delves into the very essence of human existence, seeking to uncover the purpose behind our journey on this planet. In this essay, we will...

• Meaning of Life

Using Ethos in an Essay: Crafting Persuasive and Credible Arguments

When it comes to the art of persuasion, the effective use of ethos can be a powerful tool. In this how to use ethos in an essay, we will delve into the depths of this rhetorical strategy, exploring how it lends credibility and authenticity to...

Death with Dignity: An Argumentative Perspective

Introduction The concept of death with dignity is a topic that has sparked intense ethical and moral debates across societies. Also known as assisted dying or physician-assisted suicide, it refers to the practice of terminally ill individuals being provided with the means to end their...

• Right to Die

Respecting Parents: The Essential Value Explored in Confucius' "Analects"

The 'Analects' is a collection of teachings and ideas attributed to the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius. In this influential work, Confucius writes about the importance of respecting parents, in his essay this is one of the fundamental virtues in society. Respecting Parents as an Essential...

• Confucianism
• Parent-Child Relationship

Aristotle's Interpretation of Sophocles' Oedipus: Character Analysis

Sophocles' Oedipus is one of the most notable unfortunate heroes throughout the entire existence of drama. His weird destiny drives him to heartbreaking ruin that leaves both the peruser and the crowd feeling sincerely influenced. As indicated by the meaning of the Greek thinker, Aristotle,...

• Oedipus The King

Why Is Euthanasia Good: My Arguments for Euthanasia

Imagine a 13-year-old girl in a hospital bed, tubes surrounding her body, a monitor beeping, counting every second of her life left, a doctor coming in every 30 minutes looking at the monitor and writing something down. Her cancer is growing every day and her...

• Assisted Suicide

Why I Am Pro Euthanasia: the Rebuttal of the Arguments Against

In Merriam-Webster dictionary, euthanasia is defined as “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (such as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy.” I am personally for the process of...

Universal Truth: the Importance of Good Explanations

Introduction As a young child, I remember believing in the fictitious story of Santa Claus based purely on imagination. Every Christmas, my friends, and family would celebrate “Santa” coming from the North Pole to bring presents to all children who behaved well. Eighty-four percent of...

The Purpose of Government: Analysis of Philosophical Ideas of St. Augustine and St. Aquinas

Introduction Throughout history, philosophers have been influenced by many things. Previous philosophers and ideas, as well as their current environment and situations are examples of what impact an individual’s ideas and beliefs. Both St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas were affected by all of these...

• Political Philosophy

Should Euthanasia Be Legalized: Delving Deep Into the Debate

Introduction Is life worth fighting for? For some patients who are terminally ill, life could be something that’s killing them the most other than their illness. Fighting for their lives whilst depending on their fate with the help of medical appliances. Imagine holding the hands...

My Own Philosophy of Education: Making My Students Achieve Success

Introduction I believe teaching is a life-long learning process and regardless of one’s years of experience, there is always room for improvement. I feel that in a world as ever changing as ours, it is crucial for teachers to be open-minded and receptive to new...

Implementing the Four Noble Truths in Everyday Life

Introduction One of the fundamental doctrines of Buddhism set forth by Buddha himself are the Four Noble Truths. These contain the very essence of the Buddha's pragmatic teachings. The Buddha is known to attain enlightenment only after the realization of these four truths during his...

How My Perspective in Life Changed Due to Socrates' Ideas

Socrates' view of life is what intrigues me. He was the first known philosopher in ancient Greece and his wisdoms were unforgettable to his student, Plato and Plato's student, Aristotle that brought them to write his teachings in a book. He was called a wise...

• Perspective

Compare and Contrast: John Locke and Thomas Hobbes' Views on Governance

In this essay, we will compare and contrast John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, two renowned philosophers, who provided valuable insights into the principles of effective governance. These political theorists have made significant contributions to our understanding of how a society should be governed. Through the...

• Thomas Hobbes

Analysis of the Arguments for Euthanasia and Against It

The euthanasia debate In contemporary society, the controversial debate of whether an individual should be allowed to control the timing of their deaths in a way that is peaceful and medically assisted is being debated. This practise is referred to as euthanasia, and is made...

Professional Development Through Self-Reflection and Goal Setting

Introduction Continuing professional development (CPD) is important because it ensures that individuals are competent in the profession. It is written in the NHS guidelines that trusts must invest in skills and development for their service professionals. Which is why it is important for me to...

• Self Reflection
• Work Experience

Exploring the Devil's Role in American Literature

Introduction Evil, like water, comes in many shapes and forms. You may imagine the devil having primarily red skin and horns, but, thankfully, we ́ve never seen a human with these features to go off on for reference, but thanks to the brilliant minds of...

• Good and Evil
• The Devil And Tom Walker

Unraveling Graham Greene: Marlowe, Peter Pan, Harry Lime

Introduction While I was reading the Chapter fourteen, I stumbled over this quote. It confused me, and I lost the thread of the Chapter. Who is Marlowe and why is the author talking about his devils? What does he mean by Marlowe’s devils wore squibs...

• Character Analysis

Examination of Carnap's Elimination of Metaphysics With Logical Analysis

Rudolf Carnap claims to be able to eliminate, once and for all, from a seemingly impartial, unprejudiced point of view, all metaphysics by logical analysis. In this paper, there would be a critical examination on the one hand, that as far as Carnap's analysis is...

• Branches of philosophy
• Metaphysics

Economic Problems and Nationalism: Exploring the Relationship

Introduction when we speak about nationalism the first thought that comes to our mind is that it is a plan which includes some undesirable policies against other nations. From this aspect of the phenomenon, there is no any doubt that to use of aggressive policies...

• European Union
• Nationalism

Establishing the Meaning of Ontology, Epistemology and Methodology

This synoptic essay will establish the meaning of ontology, Epistemology and methodology. This will then create the foundation for this essay to look at Interpretivism and positivism approaches taken in the field of political research. This essay will conclude that the use of ontology is...

• Epistemology

The Political Theory of John Locke: a Critical Analysis

This essay aims to discuss John Locke's political theory within the Two Treatises of Government, particularly in regards to the State of Nature due to its imperative role within the foundations of the Social Contract between the legislative and the sovereign (the citizens). The Social...

• Political theories

The Psychological State of Ressentiment in the Genealogy of Morals

The psychological state Friedrich Nietzsche terms as ressentiment in the Genealogy of Morals, is a human condition attributed to a feeling produced when placed within a hostile environment. One which man is found powerless to alter through physical action. Those inflicted to this deprived orientation...

• Friedrich Nietzsche
• Philosophical Works

Formation of Political Theories Using Ideas of Great Philosophers

Politics aid in shaping decisions that affect all aspects of our lives. To begin with, political theory is the study of concepts that have shaped our politics and the enduring questions that individuals are concerned about within society. Some of the issues usually addressed in...

Reinterpreting Phenomenology: Heidegger's Revolutionary Perspective on the Meaning of Being

Phenomenology, literally translated as the study of phenomena, was turned on its head in the early twentieth century with Heidegger’s revolutionary text, ‘Being and time’. His theories around ontology were radically different to the more traditional ideas of Descartes’ famed subjectivism. Subjectivism meaning the idea...

• Philosophical Theory

What Influences One's Definition of Evil: Guzman and Pearson's Concept

On Thursday, November 7th, my local museum, International Museum of Art and Science held a presentation given by Dr. Dahila Guzman and Dr. Thomas Pearson over the philosophical concepts of evil. These two individuals are two extraordinary educated professors in philosophy at the nearest university,...

• Philosophical Concept

Exloring Human Nature Through Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan Hypothesis

In the pursuit of depicting the ideal model of popular governance, let us now delve into Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan hypothesis. According to Hobbes, the state of nature is far from tranquil; instead, it is untamed, brimming with brutality. He posits that this condition of nature...

Freidrich Nietzsche and Aizawa Seishisai: Comparison of Philosophical Works

Introduction Freidrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher known for his contributions to Western philosophy in the 19th century and their effects on standard philosophical thought since then. In 1886, Nietzsche published “Beyond Good and Evil”, where he wrote about the development of modern moral...

Exploring the Relationship Between Illness and Identity

In this essay I will be exploring the relationship between illness and identity, drawing on specific examples documented in the article ‘Disrupted lives and threats to identity: The experience of people with colorectal cancer within the first year following diagnosis’, by Gill Hubbard, Lisa Kidd...

Anti-Hero as the Best Depiction of Our Human Nature

Have you ever known a human who possesses a noble qualities of a hero? Probably none. Heroes embodies with noble qualities such as selfless, brave, strong, and many more to point out which is a long way from the truth and that sends out that...

• Human Nature

The Concept of Existentialism: Search for Meaning and Freedom

Existentialism is one of the terms that derive its meaning from intellectual history and philosophy. The term was adopted through the postwar era. It is a philosophical concept that presents wide dissemination of information of mid-20th century society. Therefore, existentialism became a common term that...

• Existentialism

Cartesian Dualism: the Rise and Ultimate Fall of The View

Cartesian dualism is a philosophical concept created by Rene Descartes which argues for the idea that the mind and the body are two distinct entities in a person, but that they interact in an intricate manner which leads to the proper functioning of human beings....

• Rene Descartes

Reflective Learning: the Power of Self-Analysis and Personal Growth

A reflective essay is a unique form of essay writing where you examine an experience and reflect on your own self. Use strong evidence and explain the real or imaginary scene in an interesting manner. A reflective essay is a type of writing in which...

• Critical Reflection

About Civil Disobedience: Plato and Martin Luther King’s Views

In this argumentative essay about civil disobedience, I will argue that Martin Luther King’s views about civil disobedience are more credible and trustworthy compared to Plato’s beliefs by addressing the prevalence of racial segregation and discrimination, and comparing and contrasting the activist and philosopher’s views...

• Civil Disobedience
• Martin Luther King

Evolving Identities: The Concept of Self-Identity and Self-Perception

For centuries psychologists, like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung have discussed the concept of self-identity and self-perception. In social sciences, identity refers to an individual's or party's sense of who they are and what defines them. As the human condition, we have evolved to form...

• Self Identity

Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto and Thomas More's Utopia

More’s Utopia Politically, Utopia embodies social equality through the set up of their cities. The island of Utopia is occupied by 54 cities with identical laws and language. Once every year, the cities each send 3 of it’s best residents to the capital, Amaurot, to...

• Communist Manifesto
• Thomas More

Thomas Hobbes and His Proposed Laws of Nature in Criminal Law

Starting with the first law states that we should explore peace, and if we are unable to obtain that goal, then we should use the full force of war. The first law contributes to Law of Nature that is discovered through reason. Such a law...

• Criminal Law

Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Their Thinking

Thomas Hobbes was one of the oldest and most hated monarchist and philosopher. He was born on the 5th of April in 1588, in Westport, Wiltshire, England. Thomas Hobbes was mostly or best known for his masterpiece, a book he wrote called “Leviathan”. Hobbes was...

Pythagorean Theorem and Its Essence and Properties

Let us look at two propositions first: All the Bachelors are not married. In a plane right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two right-angle sides is equal to the square of the third side. (Pythagorean theorem) Both of these two propositions are...

• Mathematical Models

Civil Disobedience and Its Development by Socrates and Martin Luther King

Despite the two and a half-century difference between Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr., both have shaped modern societies and carved out a path for contemporary thought, philosophically and socially, influencing human actions and politics in the world today. At first glance, the two thinkers...

Civil Disobedience Concept in Martin Luther King's and Plato's Works

In this paper I will argue that Martin Luther King Jr’s (MLK) views about disobeying the law in the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” are more credible than Socrates’s views about disobeying the law in “the Crito,” by Plato. MLK believes that civil disobedience is...

Free Cultural Identity: Understanding of One's Identity

The term ‘identity’ is vaguely defined or given a specific definition which means that we, as people, are constantly on this quest for identity, a validation of who we are. We do not want to be influenced or touched by society’s ideas or its ways...

• Cultural Identity

Examples of Sociological Imagination in Everyday Life as a Humanism Concept

The Sociological Imagination in front of portray the genus of perceptive offered by the order of humanism. The term is utilized in early on course books in human science to clarify the idea of humanism also its importance in everyday living. Sociological imagination can be...

• Sociological Imagination

My Cultural Identity and Relationship with God

Cultural identity influences every characteristic of a person, both outward and inward. My cultural identity consists of various factors. I was born and raised in the United States, specifically in Tennessee. While I was born in Nashville, I lived most of my life in Athens....

My Cultural Identity and Preserving Ancestors' Traditions

I'm a multicultural person living in the United States. Born in the Philippines; I was wrongly recognized as a Latino in my school from time to time. Both of my parents are Filipino, and I both speak fluent English and Tagalog, but I don't speak...

Relationship Between Human and Nature In The Bear By William Faulkner

 In The Bear, William Faulkner’s use of language reveals the underlying meaning and moral lesson of the story. Through the symbolic relationship between the Wilderness, the bear, Boon, and Lion, Faulkner illustrates the destructive consequences of imposing man’s wants upon nature. The plot of the...

• William Faulkner

Are Humans Inherently Good Or Evil

Humans are born with the innate ability to define what is considered a sin and what is considered a deed. By this, it is necessitated upon by us,the humans, to find reason and rhyme for our sins, and reward ourselves because of our virtues. We...

A Review Of Trancendentalist Work 'Civil Disobedience' By D.Thoreau

Abmist the years late 1820 Transcendentalism began to spring up and spread like a raging wildfire, sweeping up the world during a time of a heavy emphasis on intellectualism and spirituality; as people were often too comfortable and debatably complacent as innovations and commodities became...

• Transcendentalism

Professor's Pine Case: Is Breastfeeding in Public Wrong

Breastfeeding is natural, and naturally beautiful. I hate when I see how something so natural and beautiful could be portrayed as something so terrible and disgusting. It’s a healthy process for the mom and the baby. And for some women breastfeeding does not come easy,...

• Breastfeeding
• Breastfeeding in Public

Why is Responsibility Important in Everyday Life

What is social responsibility, why is responsibility important? Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform to the community. A better future is what we seek for the upcoming generation and youth and the best to bring about the expected changes is when...

• Responsibility
• Socialization

Pros and Cons of Human Cloning, Why it Should Never Be Legalized

Over the years, technological advancement has made human life easier and has led to ground breaking discoveries. Human cloning is one of the most controversial issues especially in the field of Biology because tampering with human life seems so wrong to many but to others,...

Human Nature in the Lost TV Show: Are Humans Inherently Good or Evil

Throughout humanity, the nature of humankind has been questioned by philosophers, leading them to conclude whether humans are inherently good or evil. Thomas Hobbes, a British philosopher that lived in the 1600s, believes that humans are born selfish and greedy, which leads to violence and...

• Human Behavior

My Personal Philosophy of Nursing in Practice

In my personal philosophy of nursing, I feel that the most obvious to me are person and nursing. As a practicing nurse, I feel that it is very important to consider the person as another being just like myself that possesses feelings, personal views, and...

Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Morality

”The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race”. These are the words of iconic astrophysicist, Stephen Hawking. “ With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon”.These are the words of the popular Tech Mogul, Elon Musk. These people are...

• Artificial Intelligence
• Human Development

Human Beliefs in "Allegory of the Cave" and "The Love Song of J. A. Prufrock"

In the fast pacing world of that of the 21st century, our reality- ranging from political biases to personal choices - seems to be influenced by external factors in order to blend into society, and we tend to feel imprisoned. Our mind filters information we...

• Allegory of The Cave
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Voltaire: A Famous Representative Of The Age Of Enlightenment

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UPSC Essays Simplified | How to write Philosophical essays?

Philosophical themes are the most frequently asked topics in upsc essay paper. how are these upsc philosophical essays different from pure academic ones how should an aspirant prepare for such essays let's learn through examples from past year questions..

There is a pleasure in philosophy which every aspirant feels, until it appears as an unavoidable component of the UPSC CSE Essay paper. Is it so? In the past few years, the  Essay paper of UPSC CSE has started focussing on philosophical quotes. This shift in trend has become a big challenge for aspirants in their UPSC journey. With UPSC Mains 2024 just a few days away, you might be still worried about your strategies for tackling the philosophical quotes based essays.

In UPSC Essentials’ special series  UPSC Essays Simplified , we take you through various steps of writing a good essay. While there is no set formula or fixed criteria prescribed,  Manas Srivastava  talks to  Ravi Kapoor , our expert, in this new series who guides the aspirants with a simplified framework on how to write a good essay.

About our Expert:  Ravi Kapoor (Ex-IRS)  offers free quality mentorship to UPSC aspirants, drawing upon his ten years of experience to create customised and productive curriculum. Through a free mentorship programme, he integrates tailored educational materials, psychological principles, visual learning techniques, and a strong emphasis on mental well-being into his teaching skills granting aspirants a chance to learn from his expertise.

From last 4 weeks, we have started to devote one article to each of the dimensions of essay topics and go into the details of the themes, so that you never run out of content while writing an essay on any topic. In past we have discussed spiritual essays ,   temporal essays ,  ethical essays  and psychological essays . Today, let’s talk about essays with philosophical dimensions.

Q.  How are the philosophical essays of UPSC different from pure academic ones?

Essay topics in the UPSC Mains exam often require candidates to delve into deep philosophical debates. Such topics expect an aspirant to explore abstract concepts such as free will, reality, mind and matter, and the nature of existence. But how are these UPSC philosophical essays different from pure academic ones?

It is important to highlight that, unlike typical academic philosophy, these essays should resonate with a broader audience. One of the important elements of such essays is to demonstrate the ability to apply philosophical insights to real-world issues and contemporary societal challenges.

Q. So, how should an aspirant prepare for philosophical essays for UPSC?

Let’s answer this question  in ways   using the methods  we  have  adopted in our previous article.   Analysing previous year’s questions and relevant content ideas will help. To begin with, here are some key philosophical themes that frequently appear in UPSC essay topics, along with content ideas to help you develop well-rounded responses.

Key themes and Content ideas

1. Free Will vs. Determinism

Example Topic:   “Freedom of Will is a Mirage: Discuss in the Context of Social and Political Realities.”

Content Ideas:

• Conceptual Clarity:  Begin by defining free will and determinism. Free will suggests that individuals have the autonomy to make their own choices, while determinism argues that all events, including human actions, are determined by preceding causes.
• Philosophical Debate:  Reference classical debates, such as those between philosophers like Immanuel Kant, who supported free will, and Baruch Spinoza, who leaned towards determinism.
• Real-World Application:  Discuss how free will can be a myth in the context of societal structures, such as caste, class, and economic constraints, which heavily influence individual choices in India. Analyze how laws and policies attempt to balance free will with societal norms.
• Contemporary Relevance:  Relate this debate to current issues, such as the debate over privacy and surveillance, where the freedom to choose is increasingly under threat.

2. The Nature of Reality

Example Topic:   “Reality is Merely an Illusion: Critically Analyze the Statement.”

• Philosophical Foundations:  Introduce the concept of reality from both Eastern and Western perspectives. Discuss the idea of “Maya” in Indian philosophy, which considers the physical world as an illusion, and contrast it with the Western materialist view.
• Philosophy and Science:  Explore how quantum physics has challenged classical notions of reality, with concepts like the observer effect and superposition suggesting that reality is not as concrete as it seems.
• Practical Implications:  Reflect on how the perception of reality shapes social behavior and policy-making. Discuss how media, propaganda, and digital technology can manipulate perceptions of reality, influencing public opinion and political decisions.
• Example:  Refer to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, where prisoners perceive shadows on the wall as reality, drawing parallels with how media can shape our perception of the world.

3. Mind vs. Matter

Example Topic:   “Mind Over Matter: A Philosophical Exploration of Consciousness and Materialism.”

• Dualism vs. Materialism:   Start by explaining the philosophical debate between dualism (the belief that mind and body are separate) and materialism (the belief that only physical matter exists). Reference thinkers like René Descartes (dualism) and Thomas Hobbes (materialism).
• Contemporary Relevance:  Discuss how this debate influences modern issues like mental health, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience. For instance, how does understanding consciousness impact the development of AI? How do materialist approaches affect our healthcare systems?
• Case Study:  Use examples from Indian philosophy, such as the Sankhya school, which posits a dualistic interpretation of existence, contrasting it with contemporary neuroscientific views that see consciousness as a product of brain activity.
• Current Issues:  Consider the implications of this debate in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, where mental health issues have taken center stage, challenging the traditional materialist focus on physical health alone.

4. The Paradox of Freedom and Authority

Example Topic:   “Absolute Freedom is a Myth: Analyze the Role of Authority in Shaping Societal Norms.”

• Philosophical Foundations:  Discuss the balance between individual freedom and societal authority. Reference social contract theories, particularly those of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, which explore the origins and limits of authority in society.
• Practical Applications:  Analyze how this balance plays out in democratic societies, especially in India, where the Constitution guarantees fundamental rights, but also imposes reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order, morality, and national security.
• Case Studies:  Examine contemporary debates on freedom of expression versus national security, particularly in the context of the internet and social media regulation.
• Examples:  Consider the ongoing debate over freedom of speech in India, such as the challenges posed by sedition laws and the right to dissent.

5. The Search for Meaning and Purpose

Example Topic:   “The Pursuit of Happiness: Is It a Fundamental Human Right or a Social Construct?”

• Philosophical Perspectives:  Explore the concept of happiness through the lenses of different philosophies. Discuss Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia (flourishing), the hedonistic approach, and the Buddhist concept of nirvana as the cessation of suffering.
• Contemporary Relevance:  Analyze how the pursuit of happiness is framed in modern society—whether through consumerism, personal success, or social relationships. How do government policies, like the Gross National Happiness Index in Bhutan, attempt to measure and promote happiness?
• Ethical Considerations:  Reflect on the ethical implications of pursuing happiness at the expense of others, and the role of social structures in defining what happiness means in different cultural contexts.
• Example:  Refer to the UN’s World Happiness Report and discuss how different countries interpret and prioritize happiness, contrasting it with the Indian context.

Q. The other important aspect of writing a good essay is its structure. An aspirant may find it not very easy to structure philosophical essays…

To effectively tackle philosophical essay topics in UPSC Mains, it’s essential to maintain a clear and coherent structure:

1. Introduction:

Begin with a thought-provoking statement or question related to the topic. Briefly outline the philosophical concepts involved and their relevance to contemporary issues.

2. Main Body:

Philosophical Insights:  Discuss the key philosophical ideas relevant to the topic. Incorporate both Indian and Western perspectives where applicable.

Real-World Applications:  Illustrate how these philosophical ideas manifest in current societal, political, or ethical issues. Use relevant examples, case studies, and data to support your arguments.

Critical Analysis:  Engage critically with the topic, evaluating different viewpoints and acknowledging the complexities involved.

3. Conclusion:

Summarise the key points discussed and reflect on the broader implications of the philosophical debate.

End with a statement that ties the philosophical insights back to the practical challenges facing society today, suggesting potential paths forward.

Q. Since philosophical essays have become very frequent in UPSC, what would you suggest to aspirants?

Preparing for philosophical essay topics in the UPSC Mains requires a balanced approach. An aspirant must combine a solid understanding of philosophical concepts with the ability to apply these ideas to real-world issues.

Remember, the key to success in these essays lies in demonstrating how abstract philosophical ideas can illuminate and inform the practical issues we face in everyday life.

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For your answers, queries and suggestions write at manas.srivastava@ indianexpress.com .

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Manas Srivastava is currently working as Senior Copy Editor with The Indian Express (digital) and leads a unique initiative of IE - UPSC Essentials. He majorly writes on UPSC, other competitive exams and education-related projects. In the past, Manas has represented India at the G-20 Youth Summit in Mexico. He is a former member of the Youth Council, GOI. A two-time topper/gold medallist in History (both in graduation and post-graduation) from Delhi University, he has mentored and taught UPSC aspirants for more than four years. His diverse role in The Indian Express consists of writing, editing, anchoring/ hosting, interviewing experts, and curating and simplifying news for the benefit of students. He hosts the YouTube talk show called ‘Art and Culture with Devdutt Pattanaik’ and a LIVE series on Instagram and YouTube called ‘You Ask We Answer’.His talks on ‘How to read a newspaper’ focus on newspaper reading as an essential habit for students. His articles and videos aim at finding solutions to the general queries of students and hence he believes in being students' editor, preparing them not just for any exam but helping them to become informed citizens. This is where he makes his teaching profession meet journalism. He is also the editor of UPSC Essentials' monthly magazine for the aspirants. He is a recipient of the Dip Chand Memorial Award, the Lala Ram Mohan Prize and Prof. Papiya Ghosh Memorial Prize for academic excellence. He was also awarded the University’s Post-Graduate Scholarship for pursuing M.A. in History where he chose to specialise in Ancient India due to his keen interest in Archaeology. He has also successfully completed a Certificate course on Women’s Studies by the Women’s Studies Development Centre, DU. As a part of N.S.S in the past, Manas has worked with national and international organisations and has shown keen interest and active participation in Social Service. He has led and been a part of projects involving areas such as gender sensitisation, persons with disability, helping slum dwellers, environment, adopting our heritage programme. He has also presented a case study on ‘Psychological stress among students’ at ICSQCC- Sri Lanka. As a compere for seminars and other events he likes to keep his orating hobby alive. His interests also lie in International Relations, Governance, Social issues, Essays and poetry. ... Read More

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The Practical Value of Studying Philosophy

Posted in: Why Study Philosophy?

Transferable Skills

By studying philosophy, students develop cognitive transferable skills that pay off in a variety of professions—transferable skills such as Logical Reasoning • Analysis • Abstract Conceptualization • Problem-Solving • Creative Thinking • Clear and Persuasive Writing • Mental Dexterity • An Ability to Assess Different Perspectives and Frameworks • Information Management.

Earning Potential

The national median salary of Philosophy graduates is higher than nearly every other major in the social sciences, humanities, and higher than many other majors—higher than Psychology, Criminology, Communication, Special Education, Early Childhood Education, Business Management, Political Science, History, English, and so on (data source:  payscale.com ).

Which professions do philosophy graduates pursue? • Technology • Business • Law • Publishing • Government • Advertising • Journalism • Teaching • Sales • Human Resources • Public Relations • Activism • Public Policy, and so on.

Read about the practical value of studying philosophy

• Forbes  (2017) – “ A Case For Majoring In Philosophy ”

“Every year, college students choose their majors with an eye toward the return on investment. Among the usual lucrative suspects like finance and engineering, one liberal arts field stands out: philosophy. It turns out that philosophy majors earn significantly more than most majors, especially over the long term.”

“The surprisingly robust ROI [return on investment] for philosophy majors can be traced to its intellectual rigor. Philosophers are taught to seek out the pressure points in arguments and to reason for themselves. They dive into highly technical conversations, construct their own positions and arguments, and analyze relevant problems from multiple perspectives.”

“Beyond finances, the study of philosophy can also help students learn for themselves how they define the good life and how to go about living it.”

• U.S. News & World Report  (2020) – “ What You Can Do With a Philosophy Degree ”

“Philosophy students learn how to question conventional thinking, which is a marketable skill.”

“A Wall Street Journal analysis of the long-term earning potential of people with various college majors revealed that philosophy majors tend to get raises and promotions more quickly than individuals with other majors, and a result of this rapid career progression is that philosophy majors’ mid-career earnings are usually double the size of their starting salaries.”

• CNBC  (2018) – “ Mark Cuban says studying philosophy may soon be worth more than computer science—here’s why ”

“’I’m going to make a prediction’, Cuban told AOL in 2017. ‘In 10 years, a liberal arts degree in philosophy will be worth more than a traditional programming degree’…He views previously lucrative jobs in industries like accounting and computer programming as subject to the powers of automation. To remain competitive, Cuban advises ditching degrees that teach specific skills or professions and opting for degrees that teach you to think in a big picture way, like philosophy.”

• Times Higher Education  (2019) – “ What Can You Do with a Philosophy Degree? ”

“Philosophy graduates have highly transferable skills that are valuable to employers.”

“Graduates secure work in a variety of disciplines after their degree, such as teaching, PR or politics. Communications, publishing, HR and advertising can be attractive options for philosophy graduates, as well as law, banking, the civil service, business and science. Others go on to further study, research, academia and/or lecturing in philosophy or a related field.”

• Entrepreneur Magazine  (2017) – “ 5 Reasons Why Philosophy Majors Make Great Entrepreneurs ”

“When accomplished entrepreneurs like Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel and Carly Fiorina credit their philosophy backgrounds for their success, you have to wonder if they’re on to something.”

• New York Times  (2018) – “ A Wall Street Giant Makes a $75 Million Bet on Academic Philosophy ”

“Philosophy, he [Bill Miller] added, ‘has made a huge difference both to my life outside business, in terms of adding a great degree of richness and knowledge, and to the actual decisions I’ve made in investing’.”

“Mr. Miller, 67, is not the only old-guard Wall Street figure with a background in philosophy. George Soros was heavily influenced by the Austrian philosopher Karl Popper. Carl Icahn was a philosophy major at Princeton . . . (On the watchdog side of the street, Sheila Bair, the former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, was also a philosophy major.)”

• Harvard Business Review  (2014) – “ How Philosophy Makes You a Better Leader ”

“A CEO client . . . found that contemplating the teachings of an ancient philosopher (Socrates) and a 20th century philosopher (Habermas) empowered him to implement an enhanced process of dialogue, consensus building, and ‘communicative rationality’ with his leadership team.”

• National Bureau Of Economic Research  (2017) – “ The Costs Of And Net Returns To College Major ”

“Health and Engineering majors, where earnings returns are large on a per graduate basis, have per-dollar returns similar to those observed in education, math, philosophy , and language degrees. .  .”

Selected philosophical, social, and political essays.

By dmitriĭ ivanovich pisarev.

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