Writing Philosophy Papers

by Seech, Zachary P.

• ISBN13: 9780534585273
• ISBN10: 0534585272
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780495506843, 9780534520960
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-30
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

Preface. Introduction. 1. FIRST THINGS FIRST. Know the Assignment. Know the Criteria for Evaluation. Schedule Your Time. Types of Philosophy Papers. Philosophy Courses and Sample Paper Topics. What You Will Find in This Book. 2. THESIS DEFENSE PAPERS. Developing a Thesis. The Opening and Closing Paragraphs. The Body of the Paper. Arguing for the Thesis. 3. SPECIAL KINDS OF PAPERS. Compare-and-Contrast Papers. Research Papers. Summary and Explanatory Papers. 4. WRITING AND REVISING THE PAPER. Getting Started. Mapping and Outlining. Rough and Final Drafts. Plagiarism. Responding to Criticism. Writing Style. Word Processing on Computers. 5. LANGUAGE. Precision of Expression. Grammar. Punctuation. Gender. Scholarly Terms and Abbreviations. Spelling. 6. GOOD REASONING. An Introductory Example. Making a Strong Case for Your View. Counterexamples and Generalizations. Two Kinds of Misdirection. Fallacies. Two Special Kinds of Evidence. 7. LIBRARY AND INTERNET RESEARCH. Library Skills. Resources in Philosophy. The Internet. Where to Find Book Online. 8. REFERENCES TO OTHER SOURCES. Bibliography. Documentation with Footnotes or Endnotes. Commentary Notes. Parenthetical Documentation. Other Systems of Documentation. A Special Consideration for Internet Documentation. Appendix A: Editing Your Paper. Appendix B: Sample Paper with Documentation. Appendix C: Formal Patterns of Logic. Validity and Soundness. "If" Statements and Arguments. "All" Statements and Arguments Bibliography. Index.

Author Biography

Zachary Seech is the coordinator of the philosophy program at Palomar College.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	xi
First Things First	1	(8)
Know the Assignment	1	(1)
Know the Criteria for Evaluation	1	(2)
Schedule Your Time	3	(2)
Types of Philosophy Papers	5	(1)
Philosophy Courses and Sample Paper Topics	5	(2)
What You Will Find in This Book	7	(2)
Thesis Defense Papers	9	(12)
Developing a Thesis	9	(2)
The Opening and Closing Paragraphs	11	(3)
The Body of the Paper	14	(1)
Arguing for the Thesis	15	(6)
Tone	15	(1)
Premises, Conclusions, and Transitions	16	(2)
Presenting Other Sides	18	(1)
Consistency	19	(2)
Special Kinds of Papers	21	(8)
Compare-and-Contrast Papers	22	(2)
Research Papers	24	(2)
Summary and Explanatory Papers	26	(3)
Writing and Revising the Paper	29	(14)
Getting Started	30	(1)
Mapping and Outlining	31	(3)
Rough and Final Drafts	34	(2)
Plagiarism	36	(2)
Responding to Criticism	38	(1)
Writing Style	39	(1)
Using the Computers for Word Processing	40	(3)
Language	43	(20)
Precision of Expression	43	(4)
Overstatement	43	(2)
Vagueness	45	(1)
Definition	46	(1)
Grammar	47	(6)
Complete Sentences	47	(1)
Agreement between Parts of a Sentence	48	(1)
Case	49	(1)
Misplaced Sentence Parts	50	(1)
Missing Referents	51	(1)
Parallelism	52	(1)
Punctuation	53	(3)
Gender	56	(1)
Scholarly Terms and Abbreviations	57	(1)
Terms	57	(1)
Abbreviations	58	(1)
Spelling	58	(5)
Commonly Misspelled Words in Philosophy	59	(1)
Plurals of Philosophical Terms	60	(1)
Capitalization	61	(2)
Good Reasoning	63	(10)
An Introductory Example	64	(1)
Making a Strong Case for Your View	65	(1)
Counterexamples and Generalizations	66	(1)
Two Kinds of Misdirection	66	(1)
Fallacies	67	(2)
Two Special Kinds of Evidence	69	(4)
Testimonial Evidence	69	(2)
Analogical Evidence	71	(2)
Library and Internet Research	73	(24)
Library Skills	73	(11)
The Catalog	74	(3)
Periodical Indexes	77	(4)
Other General Resources	81	(3)
Resources in Philosophy	84	(4)
Special Volumes in Philosophy	84	(3)
Philosophical Journals	87	(1)
The Internet	88	(7)
What You Can Find on the Internet	89	(2)
How to Find It	91	(3)
How to Evaluate It	94	(1)
Where to Find Books Online	95	(2)
Where to Find Help with Documentation	95	(2)
References to Other Sources	97	(16)
Bibliography	97	(7)
Citing Books	98	(3)
Citing Articles in Periodicals	101	(2)
Citing Internet Sources	103	(1)
Documentation with Footnotes or Endnotes	104	(4)
Citing Books: First Reference	105	(1)
Citing Articles: First Reference	106	(1)
Citing the Internet	107	(1)
Second and Subsequent References to Books and Articles	107	(1)
Commentary Notes	108	(1)
Parenthetical Documentation	109	(2)
Other Systems of Documentation	111	(1)
A Special Consideration for Internet Documentation	111	(2)
Appendix A: Editing Your Paper	113	(10)
Appendix B: Sample Paper with Documentation	123	(10)
Appendix C: Formal Patterns of Logic	133	(14)
Validity and Soundness	133	(4)
``If'' Statements and Arguments	137	(7)
``All'' Statements and Arguments	144	(3)
Universal Syllogism	144	(1)
Universal-to-Particular Syllogism	145	(2)
Bibliography	147	(2)
Index	149