Introduction to Ethics Lecture 15 Writing Philosophy Papers By David Kelsey

Guidelines Here are some general guidelines for writing a philosophy paper: 1. Your philosophy paper will make an argument. 2. The philosophy paper you will write in this course will be of 2 kinds: –a. The positive approach: –b. The negative approach:

Keep it modest & starting the writing process 3. Keep the scope of your paper modest. 4. How do you start the paper writing process? –Read and think about it –Work backwards

Start early & be simple 5. Start the paper early, at least a few weeks in advance of the due date. –Finding your thoughts on a subject can be difficult. 6. Be Simple: –Simple straightforward prose

Make the structure obvious and Be concise yet fully explain 7. Make the structure of your paper obvious: 8. Be concise yet fully explain –Cover one or two small points but do fully explore them

Chuck out what’s unnecessary 9. Chuck out unnecessary paragraphs: –Each paragraph should be necessary in making your argument –Each sentence should be a necessary part of its paragraph –Each word should be a necessary part of its sentence

Avoid vagueness and ambiguity, anticipate objections & editing your draft 10. Avoid vagueness and ambiguity. 11. Anticipate objections:Imagine the reader of your paper is a devil’s advocate in the worst kind of way. 12. Read and re-read your draft

Writing an Ethics Paper When writing an Ethics paper make sure to follow the guidelines for writing a philosophy paper. –1-your paper will make an argument –2-your paper will offer either a positive or negative thesis –3-keep the scope modest –4-start the paper early & do some research –5-be simple –6-make the structure of your paper obvious –7-Be concise and fully explain –8-Chuck out unnecessary paragraphs, sentences and words –9-avoid vagueness and ambiguity –10-anticipate objections –11-read and re-read your first draft

Critiquing a moral argument A paper that challenges a moral argument: –If your paper is a critique of a moral argument, remember that if you disagree with the conclusion of a moral argument you must show some premise of the argument is false. –2 ways to show a moral principle false: 1-Find a counterexample to the moral principle. 2-Find something the principle leads to which is absurd. –Examples: abortion is unnatural

Critiquing a normative theory A paper that challenges a moral theory: –You can show a theory false by 1-finding a counterexample to it. 2-showing that it leads to an absurdity. Examples:

A more positive approach A positive thesis: Besides critiquing moral argument’s and theories, in an Ethics paper we can offer a more positive thesis by offering support in favor of either a moral argument or theory. –We can support a moral theory or principle by: 1-Offering different examples in which the principle seems to give us the correct answer. 2-Offering other considerations in favor of the principle. –Capturing our intuitions about what we want from a moral principle. »For example, we have the intuition that we reason about consequences all the time. »We have the intuition that intentions matter. Even if we did the wrong thing, if we intended to do the right thing this is somehow better. And even if we did the right thing if we intended wrong this is somehow worse.

Vagueness Remember Rule 10 –Avoid vagueness and ambiguity A vague statement is one whose meaning is indistinct, imprecise or lacks details. Degrees: Vagueness isn’t all or nothing. It comes in degrees. –Apartment example

Clarifying vagueness Desirable vagueness: sometimes vagueness is actually desirable. –Being Romantic Clarify: If we come across a vague statement we can simply try to clarify the lack of detail or indistinct-ness. –Job example

Vagueness and Propositions A vague statement –it is unclear what proposition the sentence asserts at all. –It could be any one of a number of propositions

Ambiguous Claims An ambiguous claim is one that is subject to more than one interpretation. Claim x   –P1 P2

Semantic Ambiguity A sentence that is semantically ambiguous is one which contains an ambiguous word or phrase. For example: Fixing the ambiguous word

Syntactic Ambiguity A sentence is syntactically ambiguous when it is ambiguous because of its grammar or the way it has been structured or put together. When you have come across a semantic ambiguity you can simply alter the grammar Or you might need to re-write the claim altogether.