A good piece of writing is the product of proper training, much practice, and hard work. Well, that’s not enough if you write essays for complex subjects like Philosophy Essay. Even if you research well with your points, there are still many more elements you need to take care of.
Before you begin your paper, you should mention what you are trying to show, as it is somewhat more complicated than it sounds. Many even opt for references from Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein to develop their outlook.
Whether you highlight it in your essay or not, you should be able to state in a single short sentence precisely what you want to prove. Also, you can add a summary or synopsis at the beginning of your essay.
If you cannot develop your thesis this way, the probabilities are you are not clear enough about it.
There is nothing such as an unclear, ungrammatical, or unintelligible piece of writing. The essential elements are clarity and precision that you must focus on. Take care that a poor writing style militates against both the mentioned elements.
Things to avoid in your Philosophy Essay
- Lengthy introductions – There is no need to point out that your topic is an important one and one that has interested philosophers for hundreds of years. Try to reduce the length of the introductions as brief as possible.
- Remember that the introduction works just as a welcome note to your essay. So, it must be portrayed in a precise and straightforward manner.
- Lengthy quotations – Amateur writers mostly rely on references and paraphrases. A direct quote is best confined to those cases where it is essential to establish another writer’s exact selection of words.
- Even paraphrasing should be at a minimum. After all, it is your paper. Keep in mind, especially when your essay topic requires you to assess someone else’s views critically.
- Absence of motion- Do not present several positions in your paper and then end by saying that you are not qualified to settle the matter. Avoid conclusions, where you tend to put philosophers’ dispute, rather than your opinion.
- You cannot be expected to determine the dispute in a few short pages. Your instructor knows that well. But you can take a clear stand based on evaluating the argument presented.
- So go out on a limb. If you have raised a clear opinion, it will support you.
- Improper Decorum – Generally, a good philosophical essay has an air of simple dignity about it. Your topic of choice is no joke. For this, you need to maintain decency throughout your explanations.
- Also, note that name-calling is inappropriate and could never substitute for careful argumentation anyway.
- Guilt on questioning: If you raise a question that contradicts the theory, know that it’s the purpose where you can take your stand. Often, students end up using tactful reasoning, but it instead diverts the topic, and your conclusion can get blunt.
- When the subject is regarding philosophy, it’s normal to have concepts and theories, which may partially not fall into your favour.
- So you can take this opportunity and address what your take on it is.
Include these suggestions too for your next Philosophy Essay
- Pick the right words: Once you specify the outline, you need to understand the flow of the essay for the exact words to express the meaning to the reader. You can also prepare a set of keywords, which are the key terms of the paper. For this, an authentic dictionary is essential.
- Do not quickly settle for a word that comes close to capturing the sense you have in mind.
- You need to check particular distinctions like “infer” does not indicate “imply”; Again, words like “disinterested” does not mean “uninterested”. Make sure to use punctuation when you use “its” and “it’s”.
- You can also use expressions to assert certain logical relations between the claims in question.
- Affirm your claims -Assume your readers are constantly asking questions as, “Why should I support this perspective?” If you suppose that they are mildly sceptical about most of your claims, you are more likely to succeed in writing a paper that argues for a position.
- Most first attempts at writing philosophy essays drop on this point. First, verify your claims whenever there is reason to think that your critics might not grant them.
- Mention Credit – When quoting or paraphrasing, do not skip to add the citation. Doing this indicates your indebtedness, whether for specific words, general ideas, or even a particular line of argument.
- Using another writer’s words, opinions, or statements leads to plagiarism. As a university student, you must be aware that plagiarism is against the rules of academic institutions and is dishonest.
- Furthermore, it can jeopardise or even halt your academic career.
- Predict for objections – If your stand is worth arguing for, you will find reasons that have led some people to disapprove of your analysis. Such reasons will amount to criticisms of your perspective.
- Another excellent way to demonstrate the strength of your position is to consider one or two of the best objections and present how these problems can get solved.
- The trick here is to predict the kinds of objections your critics would raise if you did not disarm them first. The other challenge is to hold to the criticisms you have cited.
- Edit boldly – The draft of a paper can constantly improve immensely by rewriting. The secret to a good essay is often rewriting. But, of course, it will not do to imitate the same thing again.
- Better drafts are almost like shorter drafts. It’s not because ideas are left out, but words are cut out as being clarified. Clear sentences do not just happen. They are the result of tough-minded editing.
- You can add some final words while proofreading. After that, get your essays to have someone else read.
Some quick tips before you submit your essay
- Crosscheck the important dates and the statements of the notable philosophers from the authentic resources trusted by the universities.
- You can always go for earlier samples of the essays from the library to understand the format before you write one.
- There is confusion between similar terms, like ‘analytic’ and ‘synthetic’. They are often used to differentiate the truth and falseness of a case. If you do not understand the use of these words, your explanation may sound wrong.
- Always choose a case study for each theory you work on. You can also create your hypothesis. But you need to explain it accurately for better coherence.
- Try to avoid cases that you have already studied in your course. Instead, check for the lesser-known ones. It will increase your level of understanding, and your essays can score better than the rest.
Now that you have got a pack full of dos and don’ts for writing your essays, apply them to your upcoming tasks, and see the confidence when you write one. You can take online help as well for Descriptive Essay Help.
Author Bio – Dwayne Santner has a PhD in Philosophy, and is a professor hailing from the US. He is also associated with Myasssignmenthelp.com as an essay writer, where he assists people who need help in essay writing. In addition, Richards likes to read and watch sci-fi movies in his free time.
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ShankarShankar is a tech blogger who occasionally enjoys penning historical fiction. With over a thousand articles written on tech, business, finance, marketing, mobile, social media, cloud storage, software, and general topics, he has been creating material for the past eight years.