Basics (from Syllabus)
Topic: Select one of the important philosophical ideas discussed in the course, and explain why you think it is wrong. If you’re not sure if your topic is good, email me to ask about it.
Length: 1200-1600 words.
How to Turn In: Upload it to canvas.
Format: MS Word or pdf.
Due: Wednesday, May 3.
Non-Cheating, Etc.
Plagiarism: This refers to passing off someone else’s words or ideas as your own. E.g., copying passages from Wikipedia or other websites without attribution, using someone else’s paper, etc. (See https://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-is-plagiarism Links to an external site..) Your paper will be automatically checked with a plagiarism detection tool. If you plagiarize, you’ll get an F for the entire course. :(((
Quotes: If you quote text written by someone else, it should be in quotation marks, with the source cited.
Self-plagiarism: Do not submit a paper that you already used for another class. That’s also cheating.
Computer-generated text: Part of the assignment is to write text that doesn’t sound like a computer. If some of your text sounds computer-generated, we will check it with a computer-generated-text detection tool. If the tool says the text was computer-generated, you’ll get an F.
Elements of a Philosophy Paper
Your paper should have at least three things:
A thesis. This is the central point that you’re arguing for. It should be clearly, explicitly stated near the beginning (usually in the first paragraph). It should be obvious how it directly addresses something discussed in this course.
An argument: This is the reason why we should believe your thesis. The argument should have these features:
The premises should seem plausible to most people before having made up their minds about your thesis.
The premises should logically support the conclusion.
It shouldn’t be circular.
Responses to objections: Important: Think about what a smart person who didn’t agree with your argument might say in response to you. Give the best objections you can think of, then explain why those objections are not ultimately persuasive.
Style & Language Usage
Spell-check. Do not have misspelled words. Come on, this is easy.
Grammar check. Don’t have fragments or other ungrammatical text. MS Word can check your grammar, but it isn’t 100% reliable, so use your intelligence.
General style: Write as simply and clearly as possible. State your points explicitly. If I can’t understand what you’re talking about, you’ll get a bad grade. Thus:
Do not use big words that you don’t actually know! This makes you look stupid, not smart.
Do not just write a bunch of vague abstractions.
If you make a generalization, give an example.
Avoid needless jargon.
Avoid long or convoluted sentences.
Do not go off on digressions.
Be organized. It helps to divide the paper into sections.
Word use: Do not write “based off”, “being that”, or “as such”. (The first two are always wrong. The last has a correct use, but none of you know what it is, so don’t use it.) For more words that you’re going to misuse, see my writing guide.
Clichés: Do not write cringey clichés like “Since the dawn of time, man has pondered …”
Writing Guide
Read the writing guide at the back of the book (the Appendix; also appears on my web site). It lists most of the mistakes that you’re going to make. Why?
The mistakes it lists are really common. You probably make many of them.
If you don’t learn about them, you’ll keep making them for the next 20 years.
Other people who read your text will think you are uneducated.
This will make CU-Boulder look bad.
Purpose
Why am I making you write such a paper? Because it gives you practice with (a) thinking rationally, (b) expressing yourself clearly. You need those things for the rest of your life.