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philosophy essays
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
being a bit of a knob i decided to pick existentialism for my wild module at unviersity cuz it sounded clever :rolleyes: only i have to do an essay on it and also have an exam on it..argh.. this is my first essay as i've never studied philosophy before, i'm only used to doing english lit ones really. plus i cant seem to get my head around philosophy at all.
does anyone have any general tips? like are philosophy essays very different to english lit essays? thanks
does anyone have any general tips? like are philosophy essays very different to english lit essays? thanks
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"I need to pass this class to graduate"
Passed. I used to think that was a good thing until I realized I was just another casuality of the failure that is the american educational system.
But no real tips. Just got finished with a poli phil class, almost every essay I turned in came back with remarks like "hmmmm" (as he always put "good" or "ok" at the least after most thoughts) and "you don't seem to "get" bla bla's concept of bla bla bla" Whatever don't have to tell me twice, I know I'm clueless
I should imagine most essays are the same, invovle the same concepts of writing. Quote, reference, throw in an idea or an "I agree" of "I disagree because..." every now and again.
it feels like all i have to do is repeat what the books have told me but reword it..:grump:
Depending on the nature of the question being given, do you have to stick with a predefined topic? If you are allowed to "specialize" within the main topic, that would be a good thing to do. It makes it both more interesting and easier to write.
External references. Try going beyond the material given to you in class, that will add more "depth" to your essay instead of just repeating what's in the books and classes.
If you have your own definitions, thoughts, etc. it could be a good idea to make a figure or otherwise make a depiction of your thoughts, it will be easier for the reader to grasp.
State out clear definitions before analyzing and discussing them, and do your best to stick with them
As for technique, I last did English Lit at A level and I find that philosophy is a lot more about one's own opinion, but that may just be the step up from A level to undergrafd level. Saying 'I' isn't necessarily as frowned upon either, sometimes it's even unavoidable because they want a definate take on the issue. Depending on your question, philosophy tends to be more argumentative than Eng Lit, less textual interpretation and more interpretation of the writer's underlying assumptions, for example. What they don't say is more important than what is said, mostly!
It will also depend on your university/tutors or whatever, as they obviously all like different styles. Mine aren't much interested in a long list of other people's opinions, or a rehash of the books...they've all read the books too, they're looking for original opinions, so as long as you demonstrate some knowledge of Sartre etc that's fine. Though I think other places are more concerned with your actual knowledge of the texts...
Hope that's vaguely helpful, I'm pining for philosophy over Easter (though should probably start to revise soon....) so like I say if i can be of any specific help let me know!
Generally I find a winning format to be:
Introduction - say why the question/issue is interesting or relevant, then say exactly what you are going to discuss, eg. different forms of the argument, with particular reference to (names), then critical analysis of these arguments, and how successful they actually are or whatever. In philosophy essays I would deffo put "I" because a lot of it is about why you find particular arguments convincing.
I would also say to present the argument clearly, develop possible responses/alternatives to it, then possible replies to these criticisms and have that as your general structure. I find it easiest to take each point/criticism at a time and discuss it.
In philosophy they generally like you to come down on one side or the other and to be very clear about why you are concluding what you are concluding; your conclusion should relate directly to what you have argued in your essay, and you should say which aspects of the argument or which points you think are particularly convincing and why.
Obviously it varies from question to question but as someone else said, philosophy essays are much more about presenting an argument. It is the same as English in the sense that you have to read the text very closely to tease out what is being said and present that very clearly and concisely, but the argument side of it is very important too.
Hope that helps, it is difficult 'cos obviously it depends a lot on the question but those are a few things that I think are important.
well my essay title is 'Discuss Sartre's view of 'Bad Faith'.
My essay plan mostly consists of notes and a keyword bit like what he means about 'angst' etc. I just don't want to end up patronising the professor guy who is marking it by typing out about meanings
I've read The Outsider recently
mine has to be max of 2800 words..got a while to do it but eeeek
You think that's bad, for A-level English Lit I decided to write a 3,000 word essay on the theme of existentialism in Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea (a book that's about 80 pages long and is as deep as the shallow end in a kid's swimming pool). NIGHTMARE!
Camus' The Outsider is a good starting point.
Oops, I only tend to read the first post of any given thread. :thumb:
Then again I did once get an 84 for an essay about how shit Hobbes would have been to drink with down the boozer, so maybe should have tried harder with some of the other essays
Yeah one of my lecturers is very much like that! He keeps saying he doesn't care what someone else thinks, he wants to know what WE think, he wants to hear OUR voices and OUR opinions in our essays. I think it is just a case of trying to find a balance between the arrogant idiots who will just spend the whole essay gobbing off with their own opinion with no actual argument or valid reasons supporting what they are saying and no consideration of alternative points of view, and on the other hand those who write a complete regurgitation of other philosopher's texts without expressing any opinion at all or coming to any conclusion at all except to say "there are different thoughts on the issue".
i only ever did one philosophy module but was specifically told to use my own opinion rather than talking about others.
noope. PL305.
I think you are supposed to use first person, but sparingly. Also, I think as long as you've got a decent bibliography, you've covered the key points, and added a few of your own opinions (even if they're jusy copied off your lecture notes) then you should be OK. Well...that's what I'm hoping!
Mine's answering the question 'Why is there anything at all?' :crazyeyes
Oh my god. :nervous: Not exactly an easy question! I'm just going to use the tips everyone has given here in relation to how I lay it out and cross my fingers!! At least I know now that Philosophy isn't for me but I'm such a div for picking it in the first place. :grump:
Does that question not make a huge assumption that there is anything at all?
I guess so, to be honest, I don't really know much about it! But yea, I think it takes it as a given that we are real, and concrete objects. However it does explore the idea of there being a God and of there being other worlds parallel to our own
I've heard something similar to this before. Kid gets the question "what is courage?" in philosophy exam, then writes "this is courage" and gets out and walks out of the exam and supposedly gets full marks. I'm sure that would go down well in your final year degree exam :no:
Good luck with the essay anyway Rach, asking your tutors what they're expecting might be a good idea if you do get stuck because in my experience they love to have a good old ramble about what they'd like to see
I do wuv it though. That would rock.