Kim Johnston's Philosophy writing tips (last updated, Summer 2016):

There are 4 general important things to get right when you are writing an assignment for a philosophy class.
I'll take each of the 4 in turn:

1. Learning and engaging with the material

1. The most important thing here is doing the readings, attending lectures, and thinking
through the material for yourself.
2. Ask questions in lecture, section or office hours if you don't understand the material.
3. Reading outside sources (especially from the internet) is almost certain to make your paper worse.
1. The internet is full of stuff that is completely wrong, and if you are having a hard time you probably
won't be able to tell the difference.
2. If you aren't having a hard time and just want to learn more about the subject, I recommend going to
me or the professor for advice on further reading.
2. Logistics
1. The most important thing here is paying attention, coming to class, checking your email and
reading and following the instructions.
2. Saying that some things are logistical is not to say that they are unimportant.
1. Anonymous grading is important to make sure that you get the most fair grade possible.
2. Word or page limits are an important part of the assignment. It is easier to get clear on something if
you have unlimited space to explain it. Here, the assignment is to see how well you can explain
complicated ideas in a short space. This is a better test of understanding.
3. Citations are not only important for plagiarism issues, but also for me to understand your work. I'm
not able to check your claims if you don't tell me where you got them from.
1. You should know the difference between quotes, citations and works
cited/references/bibliography. You should also know when to use each of these things. These are
college writing skills you will need again and again and if you are not clear on them you should
contact me or go to the writing center.
3. Structure
1. The most important thing here is carefully reading the prompt and making sure you understand it
(if there is one provided) or writing a good prompt of your own that is appropriate for the length,
and writing a clear and detailed outline before you begin. A clear and detailed outline will have all
of the important elements listed in a good order for reader understanding and will not include
anything irrelevant.
2. Put in all and only what you need. This will vary depending on the type of writing you are doing.
1. (Hint: you will never need a dramatic opening line.)
2. If you have been given a prompt, put in all and only what is required by the prompt. Read the prompt
clearly and respond to all parts of the prompt.
3. The most important thing to keep in mind while you are writing is your goal. Be accomplishing some
goal with every part (paragraph, section, etc.) of your paper. The goals of every part of your paper
should be contributing to the main goal of your paper. You should also make it obvious what the goals
of the parts are and how they fit together. This is the structure of your paper, which is necessary for
any part of your paper to make sense.
3. What should determine the order of the elements of your paper are: the relationship between the ideas,
and reader understanding.
1. Do not write something more in the style of a book report than a focused answer to a philosophical
question. If you are talking about ideas in a reading in the order in which they were presented in the
paper that you are writing about, you should be worried. (But, that's not always a bad thing.)
2. An example of a relationship between ideas that will determine order: if you need X in order to explain
Y, then you should explain X in your paper before you explain Y.
3. Another example: If you are presenting a view, A, and then an objection, B, make sure you fully explain
A, then move on to explaining B. Mixing up the original view and the objection can be very confusing.
4. To help reader understanding, don't save your conclusion to the end. Make it clear up front what the
main project of your paper is.
1. Use of the word I is fine, you should constantly tell us what you're up to.
1. Examples: I will now...; I intend to show...; I will be assuming...etc.
 4. Clear explanation
1. The most important thing here is making sure you are explaining everything you need to slowly
enough and proofreading for clarity. If you have already set out a good outline, then you already
know what it is that you need to explain. Then the trick is making sure that you hit the right sub-
points so that the reader understands the main moves in the paper.
2. Don't assume that I know what you mean. One thing to watch out for in this area is the words that you use.
Some words have been used so many ways by so many different philosophers, that it is hard to tell which
version is being used in a given context.
1. Some examples of words that I do not understand (seriously): absolute, abstract, objective, subjective,
essentially, internal/external, intrinsic/extrinsic, naturalism, normative, pre-supposes.
2. Explain all technical terms. You can use words from the previous bullet point as technical terms, but
explain what they mean. The smaller the words you use in your explanations, the better. The more
you can use words you use every day, the better.
3. Have a friend who isn't a philosopher read your paper. They should understand it perfectly.
3. Paraphrase main ideas that you are taking from the readings in your own words.
1. I can only grade you on your own original work. If your paper is mostly a series of quotations, I have
nothing to grade you on. That you can pick out the appropriate quotes does now show me that you
understand the material. Explain every quote that you use in your own words. (Why professional
philosophers use quotes.) Over-use of quotes can significantly harm your grade. If I were you, I
wouldn't use any quotes.
4. Giving examples often helps. The more everyday and down to earth the better.
1. A good example shows that you understand the main ideas.
2. A good example helps someone else understand the main ideas.
3. When giving an examples, make it clear what the relevant aspects of the example are.
5. It helps to talk about motivations for main ideas. Why should someone believe this view?
6. It might help to talk about some consequences or results of the idea you are trying to explain.
7. Pay attention to flow between sentences. There are two ways you can convey meaning in a paper. One is
the meaning of the sentences themselves, and the other is how you decide to order them in your paper.
The order in which the sentences occur is the more important of the two for me to figure out if you
understand the material. In putting two sentences together you are communicating something about the
relationship between the ideas. For instance, it's common that if one sentence follows another, the second
is interpreted as an explanation of the first. Consider the following two examples:
1. John went to Istanbul. He has family there.
2. John went to Istanbul. He likes spinach.1
3. Diotima claims that people in love create beautiful things. Creating beautiful things is a way that
people approximate immortality.
4. Diotima claims that people in love create beautiful things. She says that love is not a god because love is
not beautiful and good.
8. Make sure you understand general writing mechanics and grammar. If there is anything sloppy about your
writing it will be harder for me to understand what you are trying to say, and it will hurt your grade.
1. One thing in particular to be careful about is anaphoric/cataphoric/exophoric reference. Examples:
There, that, this, it, he, she, they. Make sure it is very clear what these words are referring to.
1. Note why this is so confusing: Shelly handed Linda that book. She gave her a piercing look. She
got really mad about it.
9. Don't use a thesaurus. Ever. It is okay for you to repeat the same word over and over again. That will make
your argument more clear.
10. Be Terse. (For example, don't use these words, they probably aren't contributing to the meaning of your
sentence: actually, essentially, fundamentally, basically, ultimately, totally, truly.)
11. Proof read, then proof read, then proof read, then have someone else proof read, and then proof read again.
Then read it again after you've had some tea or taken a nap. Then do it one more time the next day.
1. It helps to read it out loud to someone else or have someone else read your paper out loud to you.

1 Example from Jerry Hobbs.