Philosophy Paper

Guidelines on writing philosophical papers
about current moral and social issues
Zoë Johnson King
Current Moral and Social Issues, Fall 2020
Your papers provide an opportunity to show that you have attained all six of our learning
outcomes for this course, as follows:
• An in-depth understanding of some philosophical questions pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic,
the Black Lives Matter movement, and the U.S. general election 2020, of some possible answers to
those questions, and of some advantages and drawbacks of these answers.
• The ability to identify cases in which philosophical theories apply to topics in the news.
• The ability to analyze a complex moral and social issue.
• The ability to identify the structure of arguments and to give a formal presentation of this structure.
• The ability to present focused objections to arguments.
• The ability to defend a view on what should be done about a complex moral or social issue.
(Note: the learning outcomes are described in more detail in the Syllabus.)
Writing in Philosophy is a little different than writing in other subjects: we strive for clarity
and precision, almost to the point of being pedantic. Since this is an introductory class, we’re
going to start small and slowly build up to writing a full Philosophy paper. We will have
three paper hand-in days, which are opportunities to submit writing that counts toward your
paper grade. There are five “levels” of philosophical paper-writing and you may attempt to
move up by 1-2 levels on each paper hand-in day. Your final paper grade is the highest level
you have reached by the end of the course, described as follows on the Syllabus:
Level 1 Summarize a bit of theory that we have studied. C grade
Level 2 Summarize a current moral or social issue and explain how the bit of
theory applies to the issue.
Level 3 Give a possible criticism of the theory and respond to the criticism. B grade
Level 4 Suggest what should be done about the issue, drawing on the theory.
Level 5 Write a structured paper whose thesis is a view about what should be
done about a current moral or social issue, which explains and draws
on bits of philosophical theory to support the author’s thesis.
A grade
After each paper hand-in day, your TA will grade your work and tell you which level you
have attained. So, for example, if you attempt levels 3 and 4, your TA may tell you that you
have clearly met level 3 but you still need to work towards level 4. You can then submit work
for level 4 on your next paper hand-in day.
Your TAs will also share grading rubrics with you in advance of each paper hand-in day.
General guidelines on writing and submitting your work
1. Use your Philosophical Journal to jot down paper ideas over the course of a Unit.
2. Start writing early. The best philosophical work is edited and re-written multiple times.
You should give yourself at least a week to write your paper.
3. Write a “brainstorm” of all the different things you might write about and all the points
you might make about them. Then hone in on just one small topic, thinking about
which points you are most interested in and which you can make most clearly.
4. Talk to people about your paper as you develop, refine, and edit it. For tips, see my
“How to Edit a Paper” handout under “Helpful Hints and Tips” on our course website.
5. Submit your work anonymously – there must be no identifying information anywhere
on or in the document. Definitely no not include your name!!
6. Submit your work via Blackboard by 11:59pm on each paper hand-in day.
Guidelines on working toward level 1
Work at level 1 gives a clear, accurate summary of a bit of philosophical theory that we have
studied. You should present the main points from an author’s paper in your own words and
give examples to illustrate them if that would help to clarify what the author is saying. Write
as if your audience is a smart and worldly person who has not taken our course – so you can
assume that they have basic general knowledge, but are not familiar with any of our course
material (which means that you will have to explain it to them).
If you’re summarizing an argument, then you should set it out formally in your paper. Label
the premises and conclusion(s), and make the structure clear by saying how the premises are
supposed to support the conclusion.
Guidelines on working toward level 2
Work at level 2 builds on work at level 1 by explaining how a bit of philosophical theory can
be applied to a current moral or social issue. First, you need to explain the issue. Write as if
your audience is a smart person who has been in a coma since December 2019 and just woke
up – so you can assume that they have basic general knowledge, but no idea about anything
that is happening right now. You should write about something related to the three Units for
the course, but it does not have to be something we have discussed in lectures. If you’re not
sure how much detail to go into, remember that you’re going to be explaining how a bit of
philosophical theory applies to your chosen issue, so you need to include just enough detail
for you to be able to show that your bit of philosophical theory applies.
Once you’ve explained the issue, you need to explain how your bit of philosophical theory
applies to it. Does the theory define a concept that the issue falls under? Does the theory give
an analysis of a general phenomenon that the issue is an instance of? Does the theory offer a
criticism of certain social arrangements and does the issue show that the criticism applies to
the contemporary United States? Whatever connection you see between the theory and your
chosen issue, you should spell it out as clearly as you can.
Guidelines on working toward level 3
Work at level 3 develops work at level 1 by offering a criticism of a philosophical theory and
a response to the criticism. As well as giving a clear, accurate summary of the bit of theory
(as per level 1), you should explain why someone might reject the theory – that is, you should
explain the considerations that would loom large in the mind of this person who rejects the
theory, leading them to reject it. Make your criticism as compelling as you can. Then say how
someone who accepts the theory might respond to this criticism. Why aren’t they persuaded
by the criticism to give up the theory? Make your response as compelling as you can, too.
If your level 1 work gives a summary of an argument, then at level 3 you should give a focused
objection to the argument. A focused objection does not just deny an argument’s conclusion,
but says exactly where the argument went wrong – is one (or more) of its premises false, or
is its reasoning invalid?
Guidelines on working toward level 4
Work at level 4 builds on work at level 2 by drawing on a philosophical theory to argue that
something should be done about a current moral or social issue. At level 4 you move beyond
analyzing other people’s arguments and start to give arguments of your own. So, you should
make your arguments as clear and precise as possible – set the argument out formally if you
can. Your premises will include some bits of theory and some information about the issue,
and your reasoning will make clear not only how the theory applies to the issue but also what
the theory suggests should be done about the issue.
You may need to include some premises that go beyond your summaries of the theory and
of the issue. That’s fine, as long as you defend your premises. You must defend your premises
even if they seem very obvious. For example, if your theory entails that voting is a way of
doing one’s fair share and you’re trying to establish the conclusion that citizens should vote,
then you must defend the implicit premise that citizens should do their fair share.
Work at level 4 can also display level 3 skills in a new way: you can consider an objection to
your argument and respond to the objection. The objection might be that you’re wrong about
how the theory applies to the issue, or that you’re wrong about what the theory says should
be done about the issue. Or the objection could just be that there are other considerations that
suggest that what you think should be done about the issue is actually a bad idea.
Guidelines on working toward level 5
Work at level 5 builds on work at all four of the previous levels by tying it all together into a
structured paper. The thesis of your paper should be your view about what should be done
about a current moral or social issue, and you should argue for this view by drawing on some
of the philosophical theories that we have studied. You should also consider and respond to
some possible objections. The difference between level 5 and level 4 lies in the structure and
organization of your ideas; talk to your classmates, TAs, and anyone else who will listen, to
develop your ideas and figure out how to explain them with the utmost clarity and precision.