Review

Review the sections, "Introduction: Doing Philosophy" and "Writing Philosophy," before starting this assignment. Often, students read the amount of information in the textbook dealing with philosophical writing and then fear that writing about philosophy will be arduous, daunting, and different from other types of academic writing.

While not required, it might be useful to watch Monty Python's "Argument Clinic" sketch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y to see the difference between a regular argument and a philosophical argument.

The Scenario

A friend of yours is interested in Philosophy, but the main reason she has never taken a course in Philosophy is because she is scared to death about having to write a philosophical essay. She looked online and found several things about writing philosophical papers, but they were all 17 or more pages long and seemed very confusing. Since you are taking this course, she has asked you to write a brief 500-750 word paper that will teach her how to write a philosophical essay. She is hoping that you can alleviate her fears, and she would like you to include everything from the two sections in our textbook that she would need to write outstanding philosophical papers if she decides to take this or some other Philosophy course. Keep in mind that she will not have immediate access to the materials you are using, so you will need to use APA style and include both in-text citations for quotations, paraphrases, and summaries and entries for all of your sources on a References page at the end.

Respond

Your essay should explain how to write a philosophical essay according to the information provided in the textbook.

Please ensure that your essay covers each significant main element and that your answer is well-organized, uses excellent, college-level prose, and makes judicious use of textual evidence. Your essay should be 500-750 words long and must not exceed the word limit.