How to Read and Write a Philosophy Paper Part One: Reading How to Read a Philosophy Paper (including this one) By Jeff McLaughlin Ph.D. University College of the Cariboo Part One: Reading As a student who may be new to philosophy, the task of writing a philosophy paper is usually the first thing that you'll focus on - and dread: "Gee, I have to write a 2000 word essay on Utilitarianism". However, what will become a more immediate concern to you is getting through your philosophy text without getting utterly disheartened and overwhelmed. It is often difficult for newcomers to philosophy to make sense out of some of the articles that you are asked to read. The difficulties that you may discover are often simply due your being unfamiliar with the writing styles of academic philosophers. In this brief discussion, I'll offer some suggestions on how to work your way through a philosophy article or chapter. Two bits of warning though. First: don't read while lying down on a couch or in bed... you'll probably want to drift off to sleep. Second, you will have to read each article more than once. Sorry, but as an old film professor told me once:"If a film isn't worth watching twice, it isn't worth watching once". Part of your difficulty getting 'used to' reading philosophy is that the styles that you will encounter can be quite different than what you are familiar with. Styles can differ depending on the author's intended audience (Is it for laypersons, other philosophers, other professions etc.?) and whether the article is a translated work (Are you reading an English translation of a Greek text?). Even the century that the work is drawn from will affect your reading comfort level. As well, the particular school of thought that the author comes from can have significant impact on how the piece is presented (Is the philosopher from the Analytic or Continental tradition?). Finally, the author's own personality and style will often come through his/her writing. So, even though all philosophy papers have the intent to convince the reader of some point or other, how the author conveys his/her views can vary considerably. The use of complicated phrases or sentences, the development of complex arguments, combined with your limited experience, requires that you develop an active reading skill. So, without further ado here are a few tips on how to better understand philosophy papers. I. UNDERSTANDING First, skim over the article in order to get a general idea of what the author is trying to say. Pay attention to the title and subtitles as they will often inform you of the area of inquiry (for example, the title of this piece gives you a pretty good idea what it's about.) Pay attention to the opening paragraphs since authors will sometimes offer summaries or overviews of their paper (e.g., "In this paper it will be argued that...") or they will set the context of their paper (e.g., what area of concern their paper in, what issue it will deal with, or even who it is in response to.) Working your way to the conclusion, you want to make a note of it: this is what the author wants to convince you of. Underline it or highlight it (assuming it's your own copy and not the library's). Try and write the conclusion down on a piece of paper in your own words. Now, go back to the beginning of the paper and with the conclusion in mind, try and see how the author tries to take you there . . . In other words, think of the challenge as being akin to rereading a murder mystery novel: it was fun to try and figure out who the murderer was, you saw clues here and there, and perhaps you were able to figure out some but others alluded you. Now that you know who the culprit is, it can be fun to see how all the clues that you missed fit together (This approach is one reason why I don't like Agate Christie novels: it seemed to me that she never provided enough clues and the murderer only shows up in the last 5 pages - so most of the novel is irrelevant to its ending! Of course I'm overstating my perception of her work but you get the idea: It's no fun reading something or watching a movie when the writer brings in a character right at the end with no previous connection to the story. Keep this in mind when you are planning your own essay!) While you are reading each paragraph, the first and last sentences will often provide you with key elements of the author's thought process; here you may find a conclusion or premise of an argument or sub argument. I should explain a few of these terms. An argument is made up of at least one premise and at least one conclusion. This argument may itself be used to defend a further claim. The conclusion is what the writer is trying to convince you to accept. The premise(s) is the reason that he/she offers to try and get you to accept his/her conclusion. Consider the following claim: "Kamloops, British Columbia is a great place to live." Why? "Because it's a safe place to live." Why? "Because you can walk outside late at night and leave your house unlocked." The first statement is the conclusion that I'm trying to convince you of (although I could have just as easily put it at the end of my argument.) After each 'Why?' question, is a premise or reason or claim that I use to defend or justify my conclusion. I can then use this argument to try and convince you to move to Kamloops. In doing so, the argument about Kamloops being a great place to live becomes a sub-argument for the conclusion that you should move here. What is important is that the writer does in fact offer you a reason for the conclusion otherwise they are just stating an opinion. If I said: "Universal health care is a good thing", all you can do is either just smile or say something like: "That's nice." I have not given you anything more than a simple statement on what I believe. I've just given you an unsupported claim. Accordingly, you may agree or disagree with me but because I haven't stated any reasons for my opinion, you don't know what to make of it. I must offer a defense of my position before you can determine if you should rationally accept or reject my position. Even if you agree with the opinion, you don't want to jump the gun and agree with me since you may not agree with my reasoning and that is just as important as agreeing with my viewpoint. Here's an example. I say: "I think capital punishment is wrong." You say: "I agree!" Then I say, "I think it's wrong because those murdering so and so's should be tortured slowly instead!" Now, because you didn't wait to hear my reason you have, or you have at least given me the appearance that you have bought into my rather shocking belief - but more than likely you would want to disagree with me. People can agree on the same points but for different reasons and some of the reasons may be good and others may be bad. Another quick example: You and I both agree that the sum of 2 + 2 is not 5. You (rightfully) believe that 2+2 does not equal 5 because it actually equals 4 while I (wrongfully) believe that 2+2 does not equal 5 because it equals 17. Accordingly, you must consider both the premises and conclusion before making a final judgement. Think of paragraphs as an opportunity for the writer to offer a somewhat self-contained argument. Each self-contained argument then may be intended to substantiate some larger position of the author. Premise and conclusion indicator words will often (but not always) help you distinguish the different parts of the arguments as well as distinguish arguments from non-arguments. These words that indicate or signal that there is a reason (or premise or evidence, justification etc.) being offered in support of a viewpoint (or conclusion) include 'Because, Since, Due to, It follows from...' etc. Conclusion indicators include: "Therefore, Accordingly, So, Hence, Thus...' etc. If there are no indicator words and you suspect that you are dealing with some part of an argument, try inserting an indicator word of your choice to see if makes sense. Making notes in the margin is useful. For example, you might put a couple of words beside each paragraph that highlight the topic of the paragraph. Don't simply underline every word since not every thing the author will say will be significant and/or relevant to the main thesis. He/she might provide you with background factual information, introductory comments, personal asides, etc. Look for stipulative definitions where the author defines what he/she means when he/she uses a certain term (e.g., "Universal health care means that everyone receives health care regardless of their ability to pay, regardless of where they live, are regardless of the amount of responsibility or 'blame-worthiness' that they have for causing their own injury or illness"). See if he/she offers distinctions between his/her views and those of other writers (e.g., "It is a mistake to believe that a persistent vegetative state is the same as a permanent vegetative state.") As well, look for the use of other writers' ideas either as supporting evidence or as positions that the author wants to refute (e.g., "In 1993, Balderson argued (rightly/wrongly) that..."). Next, try to put the main arguments (the premises and the conclusions) of the paper in your own words. The challenge, later on, is to see if what you believe the author is arguing for is, in fact, what the author intended. Notice what has happened. 1) You've skimmed over the article to get a general sense of what it is about. 2) You've put the conclusion (or what you think is the conclusion) in your own words. 3) You've gone back to carefully re-read the article to draw out the various arguments that the author raises or rejects in his/her paper (Remember, not everything that the author says is going to be a positive thesis. They will often argue against other people at the same time, attempting to show why their opponent's view is unsatisfactory, and, subsequently why their own views are right.) 4) You've taken these points (many of which you've jotted down in the margins) and listed them on a piece of paper. 5) Now take a moment to look at what you've got. Do you follow the flow of the paper? Perhaps you can draw arrows and diagrams connecting the various points. Do you understand what the writer has said and why he/she has said it? If not, guess what you need to do. Yes, you can read it again, and if that fails, ask well-formed questions of you instructor or peers. For example, try phrasing the question as: "On page 34, the author states X, but I don't see how this fits with the conclusion Z. Is the author saying that X leads to Y and Y leads to Z?" Once you understand the article only then can you go back and evaluate it. To be continued...... --

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