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100+ Philosophy Research Paper Topics
One of the most difficult tasks philosophy students faces each year is in having to come up with a philosophy topic to write a paper on. Students can get notifications of big projects months ahead of time and then spend weeks trying to figure out whether their philosophy essay topics are good enough to earn a good grade.
We get it. It’s hard to pull this task together with schedules and responsibilities. This is why we work to find philosophical topics that are current and relatable. We stick to important issues that are at the forefront of the discipline and bring them to you in one convenient philosophical topic for the essay list.
Finding the right philosophy topics can turn regular assignments into A+-winning assignments and we’ve done the work to help you and hundreds of other students get started with these philosophy paper topics. Here are our top 100 philosophy topics for the current school year:
Argumentative Philosophy Research Paper Topics
- Do people naturally have good and bad qualities?
- Do we need family support to find happiness?
- How humans can be happy without reproduction?
- What is the definitive explanation of happiness?
- Do most people feel they aren’t living their full lives?
- Would you marry for money if it meant you could never be happy?
- Would you like to live your life more than once?
- Would you rather work vocationalation job or a high-paying job?
- Are personalities unique or are they just template?
- Do you think that it is moral to follow all the rules?
Good Philosophy Paper Topics for All Levels
- Does one need to lead a moral life to achieve happiness?
- Why do people find life harder than expected?
- Which is the better teacher? Experience or learning?
- Do people always do what they want at that moment?
- Is truth universal or does it change because of perspective?
- Do animals have a better sense of morals than humans?
- Can people gain an education without proper schooling?
- Does one need to be literate to understand philosophy?
- Which ie preferable? Determinism or Free Will?
- Is capital punishment ethical in today’s world?
Controversial Topics in Philosophy
- How does society shape a person’s life and beliefs?
- Do you need a lot of money to live a rich life?
- Why are some people living without actually experiencing things?
- Is spiritual power more important than free will?
- Do genetics play a bigger role in the way people behave?
- What impact does the word “love” have on positivity?
- What is the real reason we live our lives?
- Is it possible to form a perfect world?
- Do religion and philosophy contradict one another?
- Can a world exist without laws or regulations?
Fun Philosophy Paper Topics for High School
- What would be your form ideal government?
- What are the different ways in which humans understand each other?
- How is the concept of happiness defined by different philosophers?
- Is existence simply a dream experienced by a larger being?
- If you can spend a week in any period, which would it be?
- Are we alone in our galaxy or are there other intelligent life forms?
- What does it mean to have free will versus determinism?
- If you can change one thing from your past, what would it be?
- Does religion limit our abilities to explore the meaning of life?
- What does it mean to be loved or to love others?
Topics for Philosophy Paper on the Classics
- What does it mean to understand our universe?
- Does happiness come from our actions toward others?
- Are our thoughts evidence that we exist?
- What is the definition of evil as it relates to the modern world?
- Could societies exist without laws and regulations?
- Are people born good or evil or are they raised to be one or the other?
- Is torture a justifiable form of punishment?
- How can past leaders influence today’s youth positively?
- Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder?
- Can we refocus our minds to think more positively?
Easy Philosophy Paper Topics for High School
- What does it mean to be moral in today’s world?
- Can wars be justified if it supports the greater population?
- What does it mean to be a postmodern philosopher?
- What are today’s most important life values?
- What is the current perspective on the definition of loneliness?
- How does one prepare for life after death?
- Would you like to repeat your life with full knowledge of the prior?
- Does something better than nothing always lead to benefits?
- Do people choose to suffer or is it a feeling beyond our control?
- Should people have to right to die by suicide?
Philosophy Topics to Write About Quickly
- Do we exist in some form after death?
- Do supernatural entities exist in the world?
- Are video games negatively impacting people’s moral values?
- How does one boost his or her ability to be creative?
- Is it important to spend your entire life learning?
- What does it mean to be mentally conscious?
- What is the definition of loneliness and have you experienced it?
- What are the most important character traits for leaders to have?
- Does one need a lot of money to be considered rich?
- Are we alone in the universe or is there another life?
Philosophical Topics for Essays on Current Issues
- Are parents responsible for how their children behave?
- Are the U.S. and U.K. meritocratic societies?
- Has social media had an impact on people’s morals?
- Do you agree with the notion that love only exists for 3 years?
- Are humans more likely to cause trouble because of boredom?
- Is capital punishment morally justified in modern society?
- Do humans have the same ideas about what is right and what is wrong?
- How does death affect how humans view life?
- Is it complicated to live a life of happiness?
- Should teenagers be given the responsibility to make their own choices?
Philosophy Thesis Topics for a Big Project
- Do religion and the belief in God change a person’s behavior?
- Are Machiavellian ideals still relevant in today’s government?
- Is animal experimentation ever justified to protect humans?
- What are the pros and cons of a utilitarian society?
- What are the pros and cons of a communist government?
- Why are humans the only species to be violent?
- Is economic justice more important than legal justice?
- Should women have univerabortion rightstion?
- What impact did the 20th-century wave of philosophy have on the U.S.?
- How do you know that you are different from other people?
Philosophy Research Paper Topics
- What are the tendencies we see most in humans?
- Are our morals connected to or influenced by culture?
- Would you live your life a second time?
- Should religion have a voice in a nation’s government?
- What do you think makes for an ideal society?
- Are truths relative to specific situations or circumstances?
- What is the most important aspect to gain human knowledge?
- What is something that veritably upsets you?
- What is something in your life that you would like to change?
- What is the most effective way to increase one’s IQ?
Getting a good grade on a philosophy research paper requires you to consider several different options and narrow down those options to a topic you feel you can conduct complete philosophy research on. The topic should also be something that interests you and verges into new areas in the discipline and area of study. This can be a difficult task for many students, so we create custom philosophy research topics to suit every situation. If you can’t find a topic you like from this list, just give us a call, email us, or send us a message via chat. We can direct you to a qualified philosophy expert writer to create a custom list of philosophical ideas to fit your assignment needs.
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Philosophy Dissertation Topics
Published by Grace Graffin at January 9th, 2023 , Revised On January 9, 2023
Introduction
The choice of dissertation topic is crucial for research as it will facilitate the process and makes it an exciting and manageable process. Several dissertation ideas exist in philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, aesthetics, deontology, absurdum, and existentialism. Philosophy dissertations can be based on either primary research or secondary research.
Primary data dissertations incorporate the collection and analysis of data obtained through questionnaires and surveys. On the other hand, secondary data dissertations make use of existing literature to test the research hypothesis . To help you get started with philosophy topic selection for your dissertation, a list is developed by our experts.
These philosophy dissertation topics have been developed by PhD qualified writers of our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.
You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting a brief research proposal from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an introduction to the topic, research question , aim and objectives , literature review along with the proposed methodology of research to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.
Check our dissertation examples to get an idea of how to structure your dissertation .
Review the full list of dissertation topics for 2022 here.
Philosophy Dissertation Topics of Research
Topic 1: an examination of women's perspective on feminist philosophy..
Research Aim: This study aims to look into the importance of feminism in a philosophical context. It will also identify the factors that lead to postmodernism and liberal feminism from women’s perspectives and will also focus on the impact of feminist philosophy on the development of modern society.
Topic 2: Sociological Functionalism- Investigating the Development and Beliefs
Research Aim: This research study will focus on new types of functionalism and get a deeper understanding of inner and outer circumstances in which different approaches take place. This study will also investigate how the researchers use social theory to acquire a better understanding of the environment in which these concepts are used. It will also promote sociology through informing and inspiring practices and research.
Topic 3: Assessing the History and Development of Philosophical Work from the 15th to 21st Century.
Research Aim: This study aims to find the history and development of philosophical work from the 15th and 21st Centuries. It will examine the theoretical foundations of the practice, applications, and social consequences. This study will also focus on different factors of how philosophy has evolved in these centuries and what changes have occurred.
Topic 4: A Comprehensive View of Social Development of Loneliness.
Research Aim: This study will comprehend how various theoretical points of view are connected or linked r to loneliness. This study will also present an argument for an interpretative social point of view by dissembling the sense of loneliness into key components. It will also focus on the problems and different behaviours of people.
Topic 5: What does it mean to live in an Ideal Society- Discuss using Plato's Philosophies.
Research Aim: Plato is well known for his monologue known as the Republic; he was also the classical political philosopher whose views influenced future political thoughts. Plato’s ideal society was created during a time when Plato was exceedingly optimistic about human nature and its ability to absorb knowledge. This study will conduct a deep analysis of Plato’s ideologies and his views and their impact on the western political world.
More Philosophy Dissertation Research Topics
Topic 1: why we should stop capital punishment and adopt permanent solutions to help solve crimes..
Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the importance of rehabilitation and counseling of criminals to bring them back to their usual walks of life. The whole idea is to eliminate crime, and capital punishment does not provide solutions where a clean society can be developed.
Topic 2: Should people always obey the rules? A closer look at the line between breaking rules and rebellion.
Research Aim: Rules are developed to maintain a balance in society and ensure discipline, which helps an individual in every sphere of their lives. But specific rules are created only for serving a group and not for the whole society’s best interest. This research aims at finding pieces of evidence where rule-breaking is a rebellion and for the upliftment of humanity and not in personal interest.
Topic 3: Loneliness: Reconstructing its meaning
Research Aim: This research aims at finding the meaning of loneliness, what it is to feel lonely, why some people are reclusive, isolate themselves. Loneliness is not always related to sadness, and some people feel better in isolation due to their bitter experiences of life.
Topic 4: Understanding why religion is paramount above anything else for many people around the globe.
Research Aim: Religion forms the basis of life and way of living for many people around the globe. People often get confused with religion and spiritualism, and the grandeur associated with religion becomes more important. The lack of knowledge and education forces blind faith. This research aims to find the reason for dependency on religion and how it negatively affects human lives.
Topic 5: What is the best way to boost a person’s creativity?
Research Aim: This research aims at finding the best possible way to boost a person’s creativity. The most important way is to motivate, inspire, and support them in their process of exploring innovative ideas. Recognition of talent can be the most effective method, which the research will investigate.
Topic 6: Morality and religion: Why are they different, yet they talk about the same thing?
Research Aim: The fundamental essence of religion is compassion and empathy for humans and ensures morality and ethics as a way of life. This research emphasises the primary aim of a religion and how people are getting disoriented and making rituals of religion the prime concern.
Topic 7: Wealth: Is it possible to be rich without having a lot of money?
Research Aim: Wealth and money are co-related as lots of money gives the power to buy anything. But a wealth of human life lies in their moral values, love, affection, proper health and wellbeing, and money cannot accept them. This research topic will speak about becoming wealthy, even with limited monetary wealth.
Topic 8: How can the custom of dowry be eliminated from people’s minds?
Research Aim: Dowry is a social parasite, and it is now a punishable offence by the law. But rules alone cannot change society. The research aims at eradicating the practice of dowry from people’s minds in the light of education.
Topic 9: To love or to be loved: Which is more important?
Research Aim: Love is the feeling of intense desire or deep affection. The most beautiful feeling gives a sense of satisfaction and grows through exchange between two individuals. To love and be loved are two co-related aspects as human expects love in return. The research focuses on the more critical dilemma, being on the giving or receiving side of love.
Topic 10: Why social behaviour and ethics cannot be separated?
Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the importance of ethics in social behaviour and why they cannot be separated. An ethical society is a proper place to thrive for every individual.
Topic 11: A more in-depth look at things that make human life meaningful.
Research Aim: Money, power does not always buy happiness. The research lays the foundation for the importance of care, compassion, empathy. Love and affection as the more essential aspects that make human life meaningful.
Topic 12: Is it possible to create an ideal society?
Research Aim: An ideal society is free from any crime and economic disparities where everyone is treated equally. This research will discuss whether a perfect community is attainable; it is practically possible or not.
Topic 13: A closer look at modern life values.
Research Aim: The research aims to focus on the change in values in modern times. The research’s primary purpose is to provide a comparative study of how modern people’s mindset has changed over time.
Topic 14: Euthanasia: Is it ethical?
Research Aim: A long time debate exists regarding the ethical side of euthanasia. Ending someone’s life can be considered unlawful as we do not have the right to end something we did not create. This research aims at providing evidence in favour of euthanasia and also the negative aspects.
Topic 15: What is the value of truth? Are there instances when lying is good?
Research Aim: The research aims to provide evidence where lying is not unethical. The study will give an example from Bhagwat Gita, where Lord Krishna lied to safeguard humanity.
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List of 200+ Philosophy Essay Topics and Questions For Students
Updated 04 Jul 2024
While the majority of university students may assume that choosing a philosophy essay topic is easy, it does not work well in practice. Depending on what philosophy school you would like to choose, you should think of a list that must be brainstormed. Therefore, our philosophy essay topics below are meant to keep you inspired and help you see practical examples that can serve as a starting point. You will also learn how to write a philosophy essay and how to tell a good topic from a poor one. When you have a good idea to start with, you will already overcome the challenges of finding a good topic.
✍️ Writing Philosophy Essay: Definition & Tips
Before you start with philosophy paper topics, ensure that you know the basics of essay writing. Begin with essay structure to academic features, take time to study your grading rubric and ask our essay service questions when something is unclear. Here is what you must consider:
- Ensure that you envision your philosophy essay’s topic by narrowing things down.
- Create an outline by choosing various key arguments.
- Read various literature dealing with the things that interest you.
- Focus on your weaknesses by looking up terms and facts.
- Choose your research methodology: persuasive, argumentative, explanatory, etc.
- Create a bibliography to support chosen ideas with reliable sources.
Your philosophy research paper topics structure should follow these aspects:
- Compose a strong thesis statement.
- Use your key arguments as the body paragraph topic sentences.
- Add a hook sentence to your introduction part.
- Provide evidence for each idea that is not yours.
- Present your ideas with the help of bridging words.
- Add counter-argument ideas if it is necessary to support your point.
Tips on Writing Philosophy Essay
- Explain a philosophical concept.
- Provide real-life examples to help your audience understand complex aspects.
- Compare theories by seeking contrasts.
- Structure your philosophical ideas from easy to complex.
- Provide personal analysis to support each argument.
Once again, always provide due evidence if you are using any external ideas!
What are some Philosophy topics?
Some topics may deal with the nature of human existence, the things we know, the definition of concepts, and moral ethics. It is also possible to choose case study examples by turning to the works of Socrates, Plato, or more modern philosophers like John McDowell.
📙 50 Philosophy Essay Topics
We shall start with not-so-difficult philosophical ideas that will deal with the general subjects related to this challenging field of science. While Philosophy is about thinking and analysis, your research writing should not be vague or unclear. Read your chosen topics aloud, change the wording, and see whether you can support some paradigms with good sources and explanatory analysis.
- The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Rights and Wrongs
- Existentialism in the 21st Century: Relevance and Application
- The Philosophy of Mind: Consciousness and Identity
- Stoicism as a Way of Life: Practical Applications
- The Impact of Nietzsche's Übermensch on Modern Society
- The Concept of Justice in Plato’s Republic
- Free Will vs. Determinism: The Philosophical Debate
- The Role of Suffering in Human Development According to Buddhism
- The Ethics of Genetic Engineering: Playing God or Advancing Humanity?
- The Influence of Social Media on Personal Identity
- The Philosophy of Language: Meaning and Interpretation
- Environmental Ethics: Responsibilities to Nature and Future Generations
- The Problem of Evil: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
- The Concept of Happiness in Aristotelian Ethics
- Feminist Philosophy: Theories and Implications
- The Intersection of Philosophy and Science: Conflicts and Complementarities
- The Philosophy of Education: Purpose and Approach
- The Concept of Liberty in Political Philosophy
- The Ethics of Care: A Challenge to Traditional Moral Theories
- The Philosophy of Art: Aesthetics and Meaning
- The Notion of Self in Eastern and Western Philosophies
- The Ethics of Animal Rights and Welfare
- The Philosophy of Religion: Faith vs. Reason
- The Impact of Technology on Society: A Philosophical Inquiry
- The Concept of Duty in Kantian Ethics
- The Philosophy of History: Patterns, Progress, and Purpose
- The Role of Intuition in Philosophical Thought
- The Ethics of Euthanasia: Autonomy and Morality
- The Philosophy of Space and Time: Understanding the Universe
- The Notion of Justice in Rawls vs. Nozick
- The Philosophy of Friendship: Aristotle’s View and Modern Perspectives
- The Concept of Beauty: Subjective vs. Objective Standards
- The Ethics of Globalization: Economic Justice and Human Rights
- The Influence of Hegel’s Dialectics on Contemporary Thought
- The Philosophy of Sport: Fair Play, Competition, and Virtue
- The Notion of Truth in Postmodern Philosophy
- The Ethics of Immigration: Rights, Policies, and Morality
- The Role of Logic in Philosophical Argumentation
- The Philosophy of Love: From Plato to Modern Times
- The Ethics of Surveillance: Privacy vs. Security
- The Concept of Power in Foucault’s Philosophy
- The Philosophy of Leisure: The Value of Free Time in a Productive Society
- The Ethics of Consumption: Materialism and Sustainability
- The Notion of Community in Communitarian Philosophy
- The Philosophy of Language and Technology: Communication in the Digital Age
- The Ethics of War: Just War Theory and Pacifism
- The Concept of Alienation in Marxist Philosophy
- The Philosophy of Humor: What Makes Something Funny?
- The Ethics of Cloning: Human Dignity and Reproductive Technology
- The Philosophy of Aging: Wisdom, Ethics, and the Value of Life
Remember that you can always narrow things down to what fits your essay!
📝Easy Philosophy Paper Topics
These easy Philosophy essay topics should provide you with a basic idea before we proceed with more complex ideas:
- The Concept of Happiness: What Makes Life Fulfilling?
- Free Will vs. Determinism: Do We Truly Have Choices?
- The Ethics of Animal Rights: Should Animals Have the Same Rights as Humans?
- The Impact of Technology on Society: A Philosophical Perspective
- The Philosophy of Friendship: What Makes a Good Friend?
- Introduction to Stoicism: How Can Stoic Principles Improve Our Lives?
- The Role of Education in Shaping Society
- Personal Identity: What Makes You, You?
- The Ethics of Euthanasia: Right to Die or Duty to Live?
- The Philosophy Behind Environmental Conservation
- Happiness vs. Pleasure: Understanding the Difference
- The Importance of Ethics in Business
- Understanding Empathy: Its Importance and Impact
- The Concept of Justice in Modern Society
- Mindfulness and Philosophy: Living in the Moment
- The Influence of Media on Public Opinion: A Philosophical Analysis
- The Philosophy of Art: What is Artistic Beauty?
- The Concept of Duty: Kantian Ethics Explained
- Philosophical Perspectives on Poverty and Wealth
- The Role of Intuition in Decision Making
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☝️ Argumentative Philosophy Essay Topics
They are meant for clear arguments where you make a stand with an aim to defend what you believe in or bring up arguments to discuss things with your fellow students. Here are some ideas:
- Is Morality Relative or Absolute?
- Can Free Will Exist in a Deterministic Universe?
- Is Artificial Intelligence a Threat to Human Existence?
- Do Humans Have an Obligation to Preserve the Natural Environment?
- Is the Concept of the Social Contract Relevant in Today's Society?
- Should Genetic Engineering Be Subject to Ethical Limitations?
- Is Democracy the Best Form of Government?
- Can War Ever Be Justified Ethically?
- Is Capital Punishment Morally Defensible?
- Does the Existence of Evil Disprove the Existence of God?
- Is Euthanasia Ethically Permissible?
- Should Wealth Redistribution Be a Central Aim of Society?
- Is Education a Right or a Privilege?
- Does Technology Enhance or Diminish Human Interaction?
- Is Animal Testing Justifiable?
- Can Objective Truth Exist in Morality?
- Is the Pursuit of Happiness a Worthwhile Life Goal?
- Should Privacy Be Sacrificed for Security?
- Is Censorship Ever Justifiable in a Free Society?
- Does Society Have a Duty to Provide Healthcare to All Its Citizens?
📚 Practical Philosophical Topics For Essays
If you can apply a school of philosophy or some subject in practice, take a look at these Philosophy essay ideas:
- The Ethics of Consumerism: Philosophical Perspectives on Consumption and Sustainability
- Philosophy in the Workplace: Ethical Leadership and Corporate Responsibility
- The Role of Philosophy in Education: Teaching Critical Thinking and Ethical Reasoning
- Mental Health and Well-being: A Philosophical Examination of Happiness and Fulfillment
- Digital Life: The Impact of Social Media on Identity and Relationships
- Environmental Ethics: Philosophical Approaches to Climate Change and Conservation
- The Philosophy of Science: Understanding the Limits and Possibilities of Scientific Knowledge
- Philosophical Perspectives on Gender Equality and Feminism
- The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Future of AI
- Philosophy of Religion: Faith, Rationality, and the Meaning of Life
- The Intersection of Philosophy and Art: Aesthetics and the Value of Art
- Philosophical Approaches to Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
- The Ethics of Healthcare: Patient Rights, Access, and the Doctor-Patient Relationship
- Philosophy and Political Activism: The Role of Ideas in Social Movements
- The Philosophy of Language: Communication, Misunderstanding, and Meaning
- Ethical Consumerism: The Moral Implications of Our Purchasing Choices
- The Ethics of Technology: Privacy, Surveillance, and Freedom in the Digital Age
- Philosophy of Education: The Purpose and Value of Learning
- The Ethics of Immigration: Rights, Policies, and Global Responsibility
- Philosophical Perspectives on Aging and Mortality
🌎 Worldview Essay Topics
This section is dedicated to those subjects that reflect how a person sees the world. It brings up philosophy essay questions that sum up what a person beliefs in. For example:
- The Influence of Culture on Moral Values: A Comparative Analysis
- Existentialism and the Search for Meaning in the Modern World
- The Impact of Religion on Worldviews: A Global Perspective
- Humanism vs. Spiritualism: Contrasting Life Philosophies
- The Role of Science in Shaping Contemporary Worldviews
- Eastern vs. Western Philosophies: Diverse Paths to Understanding Reality
- The Concept of Karma in Different Cultural Contexts
- Materialism and Consumer Society: Philosophical Critiques
- The Philosophy of Time: How Different Cultures Understand Time
- Environmental Worldviews: From Anthropocentrism to Eco-centrism
- The Digital Age and Its Impact on Human Perception and Interaction
- Fate vs. Free Will: Determining the Course of Our Lives
- The Notion of the Self in Philosophy and Psychology
- Globalization and Its Effects on Cultural Identity and Worldviews
- Postmodernism: Challenging Traditional Narratives and Beliefs
- The Concept of Utopia: Visions of a Perfect Society
- Ethical Relativism: Understanding Morality in a Pluralistic World
- The Intersection of Art and Philosophy in Shaping Worldviews
- Philosophical Perspectives on Death and the Afterlife
- Technology and Transhumanism: Redefining Human Nature and Future
📖 Plato Essay Topics
It is hard to find another personality that would be as important for the field of Philosophy as Plato. Here are several philosophy topics for essays that deal with Plato’s beliefs and the timeless heritage. For example:
- The Theory of Forms: Understanding Plato's Concept of Reality
- Plato's Allegory of the Cave: Interpretations and Implications
- Justice in Plato's Republic: An Analysis of His Ideal State
- Plato and Democracy: Critique and Perspectives
- The Role of the Philosopher-King in Plato's Ideal Society
- Plato's Concept of the Soul: Tripartite Structure and Its Significance
- Education in Plato's Republic: Methods and Philosophical Foundations
- Plato's Views on Art and Imitation: An Examination of the Ion and the Republic
- The Significance of Plato's Academy in the Development of Western Philosophy
- Comparative Analysis: Plato and Aristotle on Virtue and Happiness
- Plato's Symposium: Love, Beauty, and the Path to the Divine
- The Influence of Socratic Method on Plato's Dialogues
- Plato's Critique of Sophistry and Its Relevance Today
- The Concept of Eudaimonia in Plato's Ethical Philosophy
- Plato's Timaeus: Cosmology and the Nature of the Physical World
- Plato and the Theory of Knowledge: Justified True Belief
- The Role of Myth in Plato's Philosophy: From the Gorgias to the Phaedrus
- Plato's Political Philosophy: The Challenges of Realizing the Ideal State
- The Immortality of the Soul in Plato's Phaedo: Arguments and Critiques
- Plato's Influence on Christian Thought and Theology
💡 Enlightenment Essay Topics
This section explores interesting topics that relate to the period of Enlightenment. Here is the list to consider:
- The Role of Reason in the Enlightenment: A New Approach to Knowledge
- Voltaire and the Fight for Religious Tolerance
- The Impact of the Enlightenment on Modern Democratic Thought
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Concept of the Social Contract
- Enlightenment Critiques of Monarchy and the Path to Republicanism
- The Influence of Enlightenment Thought on the French Revolution
- Comparative Analysis of the Scottish and French Enlightenment
- Women of the Enlightenment: Contributions and Challenges
- The Enlightenment and Its Role in the Development of Modern Science
- Immanuel Kant and the Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Freedom
- The Enlightenment and the Arts: A New Aesthetic for a New Time
- Deism and the Enlightenment: Rethinking the Divine
- The Legacy of the Enlightenment in Contemporary Education
- Enlightenment Philosophers on Human Rights and Equality
- Economic Thought in the Enlightenment: The Beginnings of Modern Economics
- The Enlightenment’s Influence on Modern Legal Systems
- Critiques of the Enlightenment: Romanticism and Counter-Enlightenment Thoughts
- The Spread of Enlightenment Ideas Through Europe and Beyond
- The Enlightenment and the Birth of Modern Political Ideologies
- Philosophical Debates on Morality and Ethics During the Enlightenment
📜 Transcendentalism Essay Topics
In simple terms, Transcendentalism is a philosophy that came to be in the 19th century, aiming for self-sufficiency. The main belief states that people are originally good but are corrupted by society and the wrong teaching or negative examples. It is one of the most varied branches of philosophy as can be seen from the topics below:
- The Core Principles of Transcendentalism: An Introduction
- Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Philosophy of Self-Reliance
- Henry David Thoreau’s Walden: Living in Harmony with Nature
- Transcendentalism and Its Influence on American Literature
- Margaret Fuller: A Transcendentalist Feminist Perspective
- The Role of Nature in Transcendentalist Thought
- Transcendentalism and Its Critique of Materialism
- The Social and Political Activism of Transcendentalists
- Transcendentalism: A Predecessor to Environmental and Ecological Movements
- The Concept of Individualism in Transcendentalist Writings
- Transcendentalism and Education: The Legacy of Bronson Alcott
- The Influence of Eastern Philosophies on Transcendentalist Thought
- Transcendentalism in Contemporary Society: Relevance and Reflections
- The Relationship Between Transcendentalism and Romanticism
- Transcendentalist Views on Religion and Spirituality
- The Impact of Transcendentalism on Civil Disobedience and Social Change
- Transcendentalism and the Arts: Exploring Aesthetic Expressions
- Critiques of Transcendentalism: Limitations and Counterarguments
- The Legacy of Transcendentalism in Modern American Culture
- Exploring the Concept of the Over-Soul in Transcendentalist Literature
❓ Philosophy Essay Questions
When you choose a good Philosophy essay topic, always ask yourself a question. Take a look at how it has been done below:
- What is the nature of reality, and how can we truly know anything about it?
- Is free will an illusion, and are our choices predetermined by external factors?
- Can moral judgments be objective, or are they entirely subjective?
- What is the role of consciousness in defining personal identity?
- How do language and thought influence our perception of the world?
- Is it possible to achieve true happiness, and what would it entail?
- What is justice, and how can a society ensure its fair distribution?
- Can artificial intelligence ever attain consciousness or moral reasoning?
- What does it mean to live a good life, and how should individuals strive to achieve it?
- How should we balance individual freedom with social responsibility?
- Is there a universal standard for beauty, or is beauty entirely subjective?
- What is the significance of death in giving meaning to life?
- How do power dynamics shape ethical considerations and social structures?
- Can science and religion coexist, or are they fundamentally incompatible?
- What is the ethical responsibility of humans towards the environment and non-human life?
- How does the concept of the self evolve in the digital age?
- Is there an ethical obligation to pursue truth, even at the expense of personal happiness?
- What role does suffering play in personal growth and the development of character?
- How can societies best balance tradition and innovation in shaping the future?
- What are the ethical implications of genetic engineering and biotechnology on future generations?
What is a good topic for a philosophy paper?
One of the most popular topics in Philosophy today is whether people are born as good beings or we already come to this world with all the negative traits. While it is popular, you can narrow things down by focusing on criminals, youth gangs, or volunteers (as an example of the good ones).
How to Find Excellent Philosophy Essay Topics?
When you have a plethora of philosophy ideas, it is easy to get lost, which is why you should follow these simple Philosophy topic choice tips:
- Find something that truly inspires you. If your topic does not motivate you, it will always show.
- Choose a certain school of philosophy as your methodology.
- Read on various philosophers and examine their famous works.
- Narrow things down and change the wording.
- Research similar works on the topic.
When you have already chosen something, read it aloud and try to think about keywords by writing them down in a list. Once done, connect your essay topic with the thesis statement. Choosing the right philosophy essay topics can be overwhelming, so if you're struggling, you might consider seeking professional help to write my philosophy paper and ensure your arguments are well-structured and compelling.
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David is one of those experienced content creators from the United Kingdom who has a high interest in social issues, culture, and entrepreneurship. He always says that reading, blogging, and staying aware of what happens in the world is what makes a person responsible. He likes to learn and share what he knows by making things inspiring and creative enough even for those students who dislike reading.
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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > Philosophy > Theses and Dissertations
Philosophy Theses and Dissertations
Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.
On the Possibility of Secular Morality , Zachary R. Alonso
An Ecofeminist Ontological Turn: Preparing the Field for a New Ecofeminist Project , M. Laurel-Leigh Meierdiercks
Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023
Karl Marx on Human Flourishing and Proletarian Ethics , Sam Badger
The Ontological Grounds of Reason: Psychologism, Logicism, and Hermeneutic Phenomenology , Stanford L. Howdyshell
Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022
Interdisciplinary Communication by Plausible Analogies: the Case of Buddhism and Artificial Intelligence , Michael Cooper
Heidegger and the Origin of Authenticity , John J. Preston
Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021
Hegel and Schelling: The Emptiness of Emptiness and the Love of the Divine , Sean B. Gleason
Nietzsche on Criminality , Laura N. McAllister
Learning to be Human: Ren 仁, Modernity, and the Philosophers of China's Hundred Days' Reform , Lucien Mathot Monson
Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis , William A. B. Parkhurst
Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020
Orders of Normativity: Nietzsche, Science and Agency , Shane C. Callahan
Humanistic Climate Philosophy: Erich Fromm Revisited , Nicholas Dovellos
This, or Something like It: Socrates and the Problem of Authority , Simon Dutton
Climate Change and Liberation in Latin America , Ernesto O. Hernández
Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa as Expressions of Shame in a Post-Feminist , Emily Kearns
Nostalgia and (In)authentic Community: A Bataillean Answer to the Heidegger Controversy , Patrick Miller
Cultivating Virtue: A Thomistic Perspective on the Relationship Between Moral Motivation and Skill , Ashley Potts
Identity, Breakdown, and the Production of Knowledge: Intersectionality, Phenomenology, and the Project of Post-Marxist Standpoint Theory , Zachary James Purdue
Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019
The Efficacy of Comedy , Mark Anthony Castricone
William of Ockham's Divine Command Theory , Matthew Dee
Heidegger's Will to Power and the Problem of Nietzsche's Nihilism , Megan Flocken
Abelard's Affective Intentionalism , Lillian M. King
Anton Wilhelm Amo's Philosophy and Reception: from the Origins through the Encyclopédie , Dwight Kenneth Lewis Jr.
"The Thought that we Hate": Regulating Race-Related Speech on College Campuses , Michael McGowan
A Historical Approach to Understanding Explanatory Proofs Based on Mathematical Practices , Erika Oshiro
From Meaningful Work to Good Work: Reexamining the Moral Foundation of the Calling Orientation , Garrett W. Potts
Reasoning of the Highest Leibniz and the Moral Quality of Reason , Ryan Quandt
Fear, Death, and Being-a-problem: Understanding and Critiquing Racial Discourse with Heidegger’s Being and Time , Jesús H. Ramírez
The Role of Skepticism in Early Modern Philosophy: A Critique of Popkin's "Sceptical Crisis" and a Study of Descartes and Hume , Raman Sachdev
How the Heart Became Muscle: From René Descartes to Nicholas Steno , Alex Benjamin Shillito
Autonomy, Suffering, and the Practice of Medicine: A Relational Approach , Michael A. Stanfield
The Case for the Green Kant: A Defense and Application of a Kantian Approach to Environmental Ethics , Zachary T. Vereb
Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018
Augustine's Confessiones : The Battle between Two Conversions , Robert Hunter Craig
The Strategic Naturalism of Sandra Harding's Feminist Standpoint Epistemology: A Path Toward Epistemic Progress , Dahlia Guzman
Hume on the Doctrine of Infinite Divisibility: A Matter of Clarity and Absurdity , Wilson H. Underkuffler
Climate Change: Aristotelian Virtue Theory, the Aidōs Response and Proper Primility , John W. Voelpel
The Fate of Kantian Freedom: the Kant-Reinhold Controversy , John Walsh
Time, Tense, and Ontology: Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Tense, the Phenomenology of Temporality, and the Ontology of Time , Justin Brandt Wisniewski
Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017
A Phenomenological Approach to Clinical Empathy: Rethinking Empathy Within its Intersubjective and Affective Contexts , Carter Hardy
From Object to Other: Models of Sociality after Idealism in Gadamer, Levinas, Rosenzweig, and Bonhoeffer , Christopher J. King
Humanitarian Military Intervention: A Failed Paradigm , Faruk Rahmanovic
Active Suffering: An Examination of Spinoza's Approach to Tristita , Kathleen Ketring Schenk
Cartesian Method and Experiment , Aaron Spink
An Examination of John Burton’s Method of Conflict Resolution and Its Applicability to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict , John Kenneth Steinmeyer
Speaking of the Self: Theorizing the Dialogical Dimensions of Ethical Agency , Bradley S. Warfield
Changing Changelessness: On the Genesis and Development of the Doctrine of Divine Immutability in the Ancient and Hellenic Period , Milton Wilcox
Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016
The Statue that Houses the Temple: A Phenomenological Investigation of Western Embodiment Towards the Making of Heidegger's Missing Connection with the Greeks , Michael Arvanitopoulos
An Exploratory Analysis of Media Reporting of Police Involved Shootings in Florida , John L. Brown
Divine Temporality: Bonhoeffer's Theological Appropriation of Heidegger's Existential Analytic of Dasein , Nicholas Byle
Stoicism in Descartes, Pascal, and Spinoza: Examining Neostoicism’s Influence in the Seventeenth Century , Daniel Collette
Phenomenology and the Crisis of Contemporary Psychiatry: Contingency, Naturalism, and Classification , Anthony Vincent Fernandez
A Critique of Charitable Consciousness , Chioke Ianson
writing/trauma , Natasha Noel Liebig
Leibniz's More Fundamental Ontology: from Overshadowed Individuals to Metaphysical Atoms , Marin Lucio Mare
Violence and Disagreement: From the Commonsense View to Political Kinds of Violence and Violent Nonviolence , Gregory Richard Mccreery
Kant's Just War Theory , Steven Charles Starke
A Feminist Contestation of Ableist Assumptions: Implications for Biomedical Ethics, Disability Theory, and Phenomenology , Christine Marie Wieseler
Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015
Heidegger and the Problem of Modern Moral Philosophy , Megan Emily Altman
The Encultured Mind: From Cognitive Science to Social Epistemology , David Alexander Eck
Weakness of Will: An Inquiry on Value , Michael Funke
Cogs in a Cosmic Machine: A Defense of Free Will Skepticism and its Ethical Implications , Sacha Greer
Thinking Nature, "Pierre Maupertuis and the Charge of Error Against Fermat and Leibniz" , Richard Samuel Lamborn
John Duns Scotus’s Metaphysics of Goodness: Adventures in 13th-Century Metaethics , Jeffrey W. Steele
A Gadamerian Analysis of Roman Catholic Hermeneutics: A Diachronic Analysis of Interpretations of Romans 1:17-2:17 , Steven Floyd Surrency
A Natural Case for Realism: Processes, Structures, and Laws , Andrew Michael Winters
Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014
Leibniz's Theodicies , Joseph Michael Anderson
Aeschynē in Aristotle's Conception of Human Nature , Melissa Marie Coakley
Ressentiment, Violence, and Colonialism , Jose A. Haro
It's About Time: Dynamics of Inflationary Cosmology as the Source of the Asymmetry of Time , Emre Keskin
Time Wounds All Heels: Human Nature and the Rationality of Just Behavior , Timothy Glenn Slattery
Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013
Nietzsche and Heidegger on the Cartesian Atomism of Thought , Steven Burgess
Embodying Social Practice: Dynamically Co-Constituting Social Agency , Brian W. Dunst
Subject of Conscience: On the Relation between Freedom and Discrimination in the Thought of Heidegger, Foucault, and Butler , Aret Karademir
Climate, Neo-Spinozism, and the Ecological Worldview , Nancy M. Kettle
Eschatology in a Secular Age: An Examination of the Use of Eschatology in the Philosophies of Heidegger, Berdyaev and Blumenberg , John R. Lup, Jr.
Navigation and Immersion of the American Identity in a Foreign Culture to Emergence as a Culturally Relative Ambassador , Lee H. Rosen
Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012
A Philosophical Analysis of Intellectual Property: In Defense of Instrumentalism , Michael A. Kanning
A Commentary On Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's Discourse on Metaphysics #19 , Richard Lamborn Samuel Lamborn
Sellars in Context: An Analysis of Wilfrid Sellars's Early Works , Peter Jackson Olen
The New Materialism: Althusser, Badiou, and Zizek , Geoffrey Dennis Pfeifer
Structure and Agency: An Analysis of the Impact of Structure on Group Agents , Elizabeth Kaye Victor
Moral Friction, Moral Phenomenology, and the Improviser , Benjamin Scott Young
Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011
The Virtuoso Human: A Virtue Ethics Model Based on Care , Frederick Joseph Bennett
The Existential Compromise in the History of the Philosophy of Death , Adam Buben
Philosophical Precursors to the Radical Enlightenment: Vignettes on the Struggle Between Philosophy and Theology From the Greeks to Leibniz With Special Emphasis on Spinoza , Anthony John Desantis
The Problem of Evil in Augustine's Confessions , Edward Matusek
The Persistence of Casuistry: a Neo-premodernist Approach to Moral Reasoning , Richard Arthur Mercadante
Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010
Dewey's Pragmatism and the Great Community , Philip Schuyler Bishop
Unamuno's Concept of the Tragic , Ernesto O. Hernandez
Rethinking Ethical Naturalism: The Implications of Developmental Systems Theory , Jared J.. Kinggard
From Husserl and the Neo-Kantians to Art: Heidegger's Realist Historicist Answer to the Problem of the Origin of Meaning , William H. Koch
Queering Cognition: Extended Minds and Sociotechnologically Hybridized Gender , Michele Merritt
Hydric Life: A Nietzschean Reading of Postcolonial Communication , Elena F. Ruiz-Aho
Descartes' Bête Machine, the Leibnizian Correction and Religious Influence , John Voelpel
Aretē and Physics: The Lesson of Plato's Timaeus , John R. Wolfe
Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009
Praxis and Theōria : Heidegger’s “Violent” Interpretation , Megan E. Altman
On the Concept of Evil: An Analysis of Genocide and State Sovereignty , Jason J. Campbell
The Role of Trust in Judgment , Christophe Sage Hudspeth
Truth And Judgment , Jeremy J. Kelly
The concept of action and responsibility in Heidegger's early thought , Christian Hans Pedersen
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Philosophy Research Topics: 200+ Best Ideas To Explore
Philosophy is all about asking big questions and trying to understand things better. It helps us think about important stuff like what exists, what we should do, and what makes something beautiful. This blog will talk about excellent philosophy research topics that get you thinking.
There are so many cool things to explore – from questions about the mind and reality to how society should work. By learning about these ideas, you can get more intelligent and add to what humans know. Explore fascinating philosophical questions with us!
We’ll examine exciting research that makes you go “hmmm” and “whoa.” It’s an adventure to figure out life’s big mysteries. There is no need for fancy words – just curiosity and an open mind. Philosophy is for everyone who wants to learn. Let’s think deeply together and discuss philosophy research topics.
Why Philosophy Research Matters?
Table of Contents
Here are a few reasons why philosophy research matters
- It helps us understand people and big life questions better – Philosophy thinks about essential things like what is real, right and wrong, beauty, and what life means. Philosophical research gives new views on these big topics.
- It builds critical thinking skills – Studying philosophy improves skills like logical thinking, analyzing ideas, and making good arguments. These skills help us break down complex problems, evaluate ideas, and make sensible arguments. Philosophy trains the mind to think clearly.
- It provides foundations for other subjects – Many school subjects like physics, psychology, and linguistics build on philosophical foundations. Analytic philosophy has mainly influenced subjects like logic, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of science.
- It can impact society – Philosophical ideas have shaped laws, policies, social norms, and attitudes over history. Applied ethics examines how philosophical frameworks should guide moral issues like social justice. Philosophy can provide ethical analysis of new technologies like AI and bioengineering.
- It has value in itself – Some argue philosophy is worthwhile for its own sake, separate from any practical impact. Philosophical inquiry allows us to contemplate life’s biggest questions deeply. Many find this search for wisdom inherently meaningful.
In short, philosophy builds transferable skills, provides foundations for other subjects, tackles big questions, and has value in thinking deeply about life. At the same time, not always concrete, philosophical research enables reflection on what it means to be human and our place in the world.
How to Choose Philosophy Research Topics
Here are some tips on how to choose good philosophy research topics:
- Start with your interests – Consider philosophical, meaningful, or intriguing philosophical issues. Research flows more smoothly when you have a natural curiosity about the topic.
- Look for under-explored areas – Scan philosophy journals and databases to find gaps where a new perspective could contribute. New angles on existing debates are often good topics.
- Consider professors’ specialties – Many professors actively publish and have specific areas of expertise. A topic that aligns with their research can allow closer guidance.
- Select manageable focus areas – Don’t pick topics that are too broad or already thoroughly debated. Focus on a specific part that can be covered deeply, given time/resource constraints.
- Check if original research is feasible – For undergraduate papers, topics requiring original data may be unrealistic. Survey recent literature to ensure primary research is viable at your level.
- Run topics by your advisor – They can evaluate if the topic is reasonable in scope, offers enough academic sources, and aligns with program expectations. Their input is invaluable.
- Craft a robust research question – The research question drives the paper. Ensure it is arguable, not just factual, and identifies a tension/problem to resolve.
- Evaluate practical significance – What real-world implications might this topic have? How could the research be meaningful beyond academia? Consider the potential impact.
- Ensure philosophical depth – Topics should connect to fundamental philosophical debates and allow room for conceptual analysis. Seek substance over just novel observations.
The ideal topic has a compelling question grounded in philosophy, doable scope, available sources, significance beyond the paper, and alignment with your skills/interests. With focus and planning, you can develop these rewarding research experiences.
Philosophy Research Topics
Here’s a list of 200+ philosophy research topics categorized into different areas of philosophy:
Metaphysics
- The nature of existence: substance or process?
- Time: A metaphysical investigation.
- The mind-body problem: dualism vs. materialism.
- Free will and determinism: reconciling opposing views.
- Identity and individuation: What makes an object distinct?
- Causation: Understanding causal relationships.
- Realism vs. anti-realism in metaphysics.
- Essence and existence: Exploring essentialism.
- Universals vs. particulars: Are there abstract entities?
- Space: Investigating its ontological status.
Epistemology
- The nature of knowledge: Defining epistemic justification.
- Empiricism vs. rationalism: Sources of knowledge.
- Skepticism: Challenges to knowledge claims.
- Theories of truth: Correspondence, coherence, pragmatism.
- Reliabilism vs. coherentism in epistemology.
- Epistemic virtues: What makes a belief justified?
- Foundationalism: Justification through fundamental beliefs.
- Testimony and trust: The role of social epistemology.
- Epistemic norms: Standards for rational belief.
- Epistemic closure: Limits of justified belief.
- Moral realism vs. moral anti-realism.
- Ethical relativism: Is morality culturally determined?
- Virtue ethics: The role of character in morality.
- Deontological vs. consequentialist ethics.
- Utilitarianism: Maximizing utility as the basis of morality.
- Moral responsibility: Free will and accountability.
- Meta-ethics: Investigating moral language and concepts.
- Ethical egoism vs. altruism: The nature of self-interest.
- Feminist ethics: Gender, power, and moral theory.
- Animal ethics: Moral consideration for non-human beings.
Political Philosophy
- Social contract theory: Justifying political authority.
- Libertarianism vs. communitarianism in political philosophy.
- Democracy: Theory, practice, and critiques.
- Distributive justice: Fair allocation of resources.
- Global justice: Moral obligations beyond borders.
- Rights theory: The nature and scope of human rights.
- Political obligation: Duty to obey the law.
- Anarchism: Challenges to the legitimacy of the state.
- Environmental political philosophy: Ethics of sustainability.
- Multiculturalism: Balancing diversity and social cohesion.
Philosophy of Mind
- Consciousness: Exploring its nature and origins.
- Mental representation: How do minds represent the world?
- Intentionality: The aboutness of mental states.
- Personal identity: What makes a person the same over time?
- Mental causation: Mind-body interaction.
- Artificial intelligence: Philosophy of AI and machine minds.
- Embodied cognition: The role of the body in cognition.
- Phenomenal consciousness: The “hard problem” of consciousness.
- Dual-process theory: Analyzing intuitive vs. deliberative thinking.
- Explanatory gap: Bridging the gap between mind and body.
Philosophy of Language
- Meaning and reference: How words acquire meaning.
- Semantics vs. pragmatics in language understanding.
- Understanding how words acquire meaning in communication.
- Truth-conditional vs. non-truth-conditional semantics.
- Speech acts The performative nature of language.
- Language and thought: Do language structures shape thought?
- Interpretation and understanding: The hermeneutic circle.
- Contextualism vs. semantic minimalism in semantics.
- Indeterminacy of translation: Quine’s challenge to translation.
- Language acquisition: How do humans learn language?
- Private language argument: Wittgenstein’s critique of private meanings.
- The nature of beauty: Subjective vs. objective aesthetics.
- Art and Interpretation: Understanding artistic meaning.
- Aesthetic experience: The role of emotions in art appreciation.
- Artistic creativity: Exploring the creative process.
- Aesthetic judgment: Criteria for evaluating art.
- Artistic expression: The relationship between art and the artist.
- Art and morality: Can art be morally evaluated?
- Aesthetic realism vs. anti-realism.
- Philosophy of film: Analyzing the nature of cinema.
- Environmental aesthetics: The aesthetics of nature and the environment.
Philosophy of Religion
- The existence of God: Arguments for and against.
- Problem of evil: Theological responses to suffering.
- Religious pluralism: Coexistence of conflicting religious beliefs.
- Faith and reason: Compatibility or conflict?
- Religious experience: Nature and interpretation.
- The afterlife: Conceptualizing life beyond death.
- Divine attributes: Omnipotence, omniscience, omnibenevolence.
- Religious language: Can religious claims be meaningful?
- Theodicy: Justifying the ways of God to humanity.
- Mysticism: Direct experience of the divine.
Philosophy of Science
- Scientific realism vs. anti-realism.
- The demarcation problem: Distinguishing science from pseudoscience.
- Scientific explanation: Understanding the nature of scientific explanations.
- Confirmation theory: Assessing evidence and hypothesis testing.
- Theory change: How scientific theories evolve.
- Reductionism vs. holism in science.
- The scientific method: Evaluating its strengths and limitations.
- Laws of nature: Are they descriptive or prescriptive?
- Scientific progress: Criteria for evaluating scientific advancement.
- Ethics in scientific research: Balancing discovery with ethical concerns.
Philosophy of Mathematics
- Platonism vs. nominalism in the philosophy of mathematics.
- Mathematical realism vs. anti-realism.
- The nature of mathematical objects: Are they abstract entities?
- Foundations of mathematics: Exploring different foundational systems.
- Mathematical explanation: The role of mathematics in explaining natural phenomena.
- Mathematical knowledge: How do we come to know mathematical truths?
- Infinity: Philosophical implications of mathematical infinity.
- Intuitionism: A constructivist approach to mathematics.
- Mathematics and reality: Is mathematics invented or discovered?
- Gödel’s incompleteness theorems: Implications for mathematical knowledge.
Continental Philosophy
- Phenomenology: Husserl’s method of philosophical inquiry.
- Existentialism: The individual’s struggle for meaning and authenticity.
- Hermeneutics: Interpretive approaches to understanding texts and cultures.
- Critical theory: The Frankfurt School’s critique of society and culture.
- Poststructuralism: Derrida’s deconstruction of binary oppositions.
- Psychoanalysis: Freudian and post-Freudian perspectives on the psyche.
- Continental vs. analytic philosophy: Contrasting traditions and methodologies.
- Marxism: Materialist analysis of society and history.
- Postmodernism: Challenges to modernist conceptions of truth and knowledge.
- Feminist continental philosophy: Gender, power, and identity in continental thought.
Philosophy of History
- Historiography: The study of historical writing and methodology.
- Historical explanation: Understanding the causes of historical events.
- Exploring whether historical truths are relative to their context.
- Teleology in history: Is history driven by a purpose or goal?
- Historical materialism: Marxian analysis of historical development.
- Historical relativism: Are historical truths relative to context?
- Memory and history: The role of collective memory in shaping the past.
- The philosophy of historical progress: Evaluating historical optimism.
- Postcolonial philosophy of history: Decolonizing historical narratives.
- History and identity: How historical narratives shape individual and collective identities.
- History and ethics: Moral implications of historical interpretation.
Philosophy of Education
- The aims of education: What is the purpose of schooling?
- Curriculum design: Balancing breadth and depth in education.
- Pedagogical methods: Evaluating different approaches to teaching and learning.
- Investigating how different teaching methods impact student learning.
- Philosophy in education: The role of philosophy in the curriculum.
- Critical thinking: Fostering intellectual autonomy in education.
- Education and democracy: The relationship between education and citizenship.
- Multicultural education: Promoting diversity and inclusivity in schools.
- Philosophy of childhood: Understanding the nature of childhood and its implications for education.
- Educational equity: Addressing disparities in educational opportunities.
- Philosophy of higher education: The purpose and value of university education.
Philosophy of Technology
- Technological determinism vs. social construction of technology.
- Ethics of emerging technologies: AI, biotechnology, nanotechnology, etc.
- Examining ethical concerns in the development of artificial intelligence.
- Human enhancement: Ethical implications of technological augmentation.
- Technological unemployment: The impact of automation on employment.
- Information ethics: Privacy, surveillance, and digital rights.
- Technological singularity: Speculations on the future of artificial intelligence.
- Philosophy of the Internet: The implications of online communication and connectivity.
- Environmental philosophy of technology: Sustainable technology and ecological concerns.
- Philosophy of design: Ethical considerations in design processes.
- Techno-optimism vs. techno-pessimism: Attitudes toward technological progress.
Philosophy of Law
- Legal positivism vs. natural law theory.
- Legal realism: The role of judges in interpreting the law.
- Rights theory in law: The nature and scope of legal rights.
- Punishment and retribution: Justifying legal sanctions.
- Analyzing the role of judges in interpreting and applying the law.
- Jurisprudence of human rights: Philosophical foundations of human rights law.
- Legal responsibility: Moral and legal dimensions of accountability.
- Philosophy of criminal law: Justifying punishment and rehabilitation.
- Legal pluralism: Coexistence of multiple legal systems within a society.
- Feminist philosophy of law: Gender, power, and legal theory.
- Legal interpretation: The nature of legal reasoning and interpretation.
Philosophy of Emotion
- The nature of emotions: Cognitive vs. non-cognitive theories.
- Emotion and reason: Interactions between emotions and rationality.
- Emotional expression: How do we communicate emotions?
- Moral emotions: The role of emotions in moral judgment and behavior.
- Investigating the influence of culture on emotional expression.
- Emotional intelligence: Understanding and managing emotions.
- Aesthetic emotions: The emotional experience of art and beauty.
- Emotion and identity: How do emotions shape our sense of self?
- Emotional development: Theories of emotional growth and maturation.
- Emotion and culture: Cultural variations in emotional expression and understanding.
- Emotion and health: The impact of emotions on physical and mental well-being.
Philosophy of Literature
- The nature of literary interpretation: Hermeneutics and literary criticism.
- Fictional truth: How do fictional narratives convey truth?
- Literary realism vs. metafiction.
- Ethics in literature: Moral dimensions of literary works.
- Narrative identity: How do narratives shape personal identity?
- Literary genres: Exploring the boundaries and conventions of literary forms.
- Authorship and intention: The role of authorial intent in interpreting texts.
- The philosophy of the novel: Understanding the novel as a literary form.
- Literary value: Criteria for evaluating literary excellence.
- Literature and empathy: The role of literature in fostering empathy and understanding.
Philosophy of Mindfulness
- The nature of mindfulness: Definitions and conceptualizations.
- Buddhist philosophy of mindfulness: Origins and principles.
- Mindfulness and meditation: Practices and techniques.
- Mindfulness-based interventions: Applications in psychology and therapy.
- Mindfulness and well-being: The effects of mindfulness on mental health.
- Mindfulness in education: Incorporating mindfulness practices into schools.
- Mindfulness and ethics: Ethical dimensions of mindfulness practice.
- Mindfulness and neuroscience: The neurological basis of mindfulness.
- Mindfulness and self-awareness: Cultivating awareness of thoughts and emotions.
- Mindfulness in everyday life: Integrating mindfulness into daily routines.
Philosophy of Happiness
- The nature of happiness: Defining and conceptualizing happiness.
- Hedonism vs. eudaimonism: Theories of happiness and well-being.
- The pursuit of happiness: Strategies for achieving happiness.
- Happiness and virtue: The role of character in leading a happy life.
- Subjective vs. objective happiness: Is happiness a subjective experience or an objective state?
- Happiness and meaning: The connection between happiness and meaningfulness.
- Cultural variations in conceptions of happiness.
- The measurement of happiness: Challenges in assessing subjective well-being.
- Happiness and social justice: Distributive implications of happiness research.
- The philosophy of positive psychology: Philosophical foundations of the science of happiness.
Philosophy of Love
- The nature of love: Defining and understanding love.
- Theories of love: Eros, agape, philia, and other conceptions of love.
- Romantic love vs. platonic love.
- Love and attachment: The psychological and emotional dynamics of love relationships.
- Love and ethics: The moral dimensions of love and romantic relationships.
- Love and identity: How does love shape our sense of self?
- Unrequited love: Philosophical reflections on unreciprocated affection.
- Love and freedom: The tension between love and individual autonomy.
- Love and vulnerability: The risks and rewards of opening oneself to love.
- Love and mortality: The existential significance of love in the face of death.
These philosophy research topics cover a wide range of areas, offering excellent opportunities for research and exploration. Whether you’re interested in metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy, or any other branch of philosophy, there are numerous intriguing questions to investigate and discuss.
Tips for Conducting Successful Philosophy Research
Here are some tips for conducting successful philosophical research:
- Read philosophically – Don’t just read for content, but read actively. Highlight essential claims, arguments, and assumptions. Think critically about what you read.
- Understand the context – Research the historical and intellectual context around texts/topics. This background is crucial for insightful analysis.
- Take clear notes – Maintain organized notes of significant ideas, debates, author positions, arguments, and your thoughts. Cite sources.
- Engage with the literature – Let texts dialogue with each other through your analysis. Compare and contrast perspectives thoughtfully.
- Develop analytical skills – Think logically, spot fallacies, scrutinize reasoning, and identify implicit premises and weaknesses in arguments.
- Construct sound arguments – Build layered arguments with coherent logic, reasonable premises, and persuasive writing. Support claims thoroughly.
- Consider objections – Anticipate critiques or counterarguments to your position and develop your responses.
- Apply philosophical concepts – Use philosophical frameworks and questions to illuminate your topic and write insightfully. Tie ideas to ethical systems, epistemology, metaphysics, etc.
- Craft a unique thesis – Stake out your own position within existing debates. Offer a novel argument or approach using evidence.
- Explain complex ideas clearly – Use concise, precise, and plain language when appropriate without oversimplifying concepts. Define terms.
- Connect ideas across texts – Synthesize different theories and perspectives into broader commentary. Show philosophical links.
You can produce impactful philosophical research with close reading, context, concise notes, analytical rigor, clear writing, and creative connections.
Final Remarks
Exploring philosophy research topics opens doors to understanding life’s big mysteries. Through these inquiries, we engage with core questions about life, right and wrong, society, and the human experience.
Philosophy research improves intellectual pursuits and sharpens critical thinking skills for complex issues. By exploring diverse areas of philosophy, we widen our perspectives and add to ongoing philosophical discussions.
Remember, philosophy is for everyone, no matter your background or expertise. It’s about curiosity, open-mindedness, and willingness to ponder life’s big questions. So, let’s keep thinking deeply, exploring fascinating topics, and welcome the adventure of philosophical inquiry together.
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Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
Dissertations.
Last Name | First Name | Date | Thesis Title | Thesis Supervisor(s) | Real Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heine | Jessica | May 2024 | How Things Seem: Arbitrariness, Transparency, and Representation | Byrne | 06/26/24 |
Pearson | Joshua | May 2024 | Belief is Messy | White | 06/26/24 |
Thwaites | Abigail | May 2024 | Knowing How, Knowing Who, Knowing What to Do | Hare | 06/26/24 |
Hintikka | Kathleen | Feb 2024 | Speech Therapy | Haslanger | 06/26/24 |
Brooke-Wilson | Tyler | Sep 2023 | Green | 09/01/23 | |
Watkins | Eliot | Sep 2023 | Khoo | 09/01/23 | |
Grant | Lyndal | Feb 2023 | Setiya | 02/01/23 | |
Balin | Allison | Sep 2022 | White | 09/01/22 | |
Ravanpak | Ryan | Sep 2022 | Hare, Skow | 09/01/22 | |
Schilling | Haley | Sep 2022 | White | 09/01/22 | |
Webber | Mallory | Sep 2022 | Yablo | 09/01/22 | |
Wu | Xinhe | Sep 2022 | McGee | 09/01/22 | |
Räty | Anni | May 2022 | Schapiro | 05/01/22 | |
Atherton | Emma | Sep 2021 | Haslanger | 09/01/21 | |
Boulicault | Marion | Sep 2021 | Haslanger | 09/01/21 | |
Byrne | Thomas | Jun 2021 | Hare | 06/01/21 | |
Balcarras | David | Sep 2020 | Byrne | 09/01/20 | |
Baron-Schmitt | Nathaniel | Sep 2020 | Skow | 09/01/20 | |
Hodges | Jerome | Sep 2020 | Haslanger | 09/01/20 | |
Koslow | Allison | Sep 2020 | Byrne | 09/01/20 | |
Builes | David | May 2020 | Skow | 05/01/20 | |
Dorst | Kevin | Sep 2019 | White | 09/01/19 | |
Grant | Cosmo | Sep 2019 | Stalnaker | 09/01/19 | |
Lenehan | Rose | Sep 2019 | Haslanger | 09/01/19 | |
Phillips-Brown | Milo | Sep 2019 | Yablo | 09/01/19 | |
White | Patrick Quinn | Sep 2019 | Setiya | 09/01/19 | |
Hesni | Samia | Jun 2019 | Haslanger | 06/01/19 | |
Muñoz | Daniel | Jun 2019 | Schapiro, Setiya | 06/01/19 | |
Boylan | David | Sep 2018 | Stalnaker | 09/01/18 | |
Gray | David | Sep 2018 | Byrne | 09/01/18 | |
Jaques | Abby | Sep 2018 | Setiya | 09/01/18 | |
Schultheis | Virginia | Sep 2018 | White | 09/01/18 | |
Saillant | Said | Sep 2017 | White | 09/01/17 | |
Wells | Ian | Sep 2017 | White | 09/01/17 | |
Richardson | Kevin | Sep 2017 | Yablo | 09/01/17 | |
Jenny | Mathias | Sep 2017 | McGee | 09/01/17 | |
de Kenessey | Brendan | Sep 2017 | Setiya | 09/01/17 | |
Bianchi | Dylan | Sep 2017 | Byrne | 09/01/17 | |
Mandelkern | Matthew | Jun 2017 | Stalnaker and von Fintel | 06/01/17 | |
Ortiz-Hinojosa | Sofia | Sep 2016 | Byrne | 09/01/16 | |
Millsop | Rebecca | Sep 2016 | Haslanger | 09/01/16 | |
Marley-Payne | Jack | Sep 2016 | Stalnaker | 09/01/16 | |
Doody | Ryan | Sep 2016 | Rayo | 09/01/16 | |
Das | Nilanjan | Sep 2016 | White | 09/01/16 | |
Botchkina | Ekaterina | Sep 2016 | Haslanger and Yablo | 09/01/16 | |
Ali | Arden | Sep 2016 | Setiya | 09/01/16 | |
Schumacher | Melissa | Sep 2015 | Skow | 09/01/15 | |
Salow | Bernhard | Sep 2015 | White | 09/01/15 | |
Lenehan | Rose | Sep 2015 | Haslanger | 09/01/15 | |
Evans | Owain | Sep 2015 | Bayesian Computational Models for Inferring Preferences | White | 09/01/15 |
Horowitz | Sophie | Jun 2014 | White | 06/01/14 | |
Rochford | Damien | Sep 2013 | Stalnaker | 09/01/13 | |
Hagen | Daniel | Sep 2013 | Haslanger | 09/01/13 | |
Carr | Jennifer | Sep 2013 | Holton | 09/01/13 | |
Sliwa | Pauline | Sep 2012 | Holton | 09/01/12 | |
Hedden | Brian | Sep 2012 | Hare | 09/01/12 | |
Schoenfield | Miriam | Jun 2012 | White | 06/01/12 | |
Greco | Daniel | Jun 2012 | White | 06/01/12 | |
Emery | Nina | Jun 2012 | Skow | 06/01/12 | |
Walden | Kenneth | Sep 2011 | Holton and Langton | 09/01/11 | |
Santorio | Paolo | Sep 2011 | Stalnaker | 09/01/11 | |
Rinard | Susanna | Sep 2011 | White | 09/01/11 | |
Pérez Carballo | Alejandro | Sep 2011 | Stalnaker and Yablo | 09/01/11 | |
Manne | Kate | Sep 2011 | Holton | 09/01/11 | |
Graham | Andrew | Sep 2011 | Yablo | 09/01/11 | |
Almotahari | Mahrad | Sep 2011 | Stalnaker | 09/01/11 | |
Robichaud | Christopher | Feb 2011 | Langton | 02/01/11 | |
Vavova | Ekaterina | Sep 2010 | White | 09/01/10 | |
Urbanek | Valentina | Sep 2010 | Hare | 09/01/10 | |
Kwon | Hongwoo | Sep 2010 | Stalnaker | 09/01/10 | |
Krupnick | Ari | Sep 2010 | Stalnaker | 09/01/10 | |
Henderson | Leah | Sep 2010 | Stalnaker | 09/01/10 | |
Dougherty | Thomas | Sep 2010 | Holton and Langton | 09/01/10 | |
Logue | Heather | Sep 2009 | Byrne | 09/01/09 | |
Hosein | Adam | Sep 2009 | Langton | 09/01/09 | |
Holland | Sean | Sep 2009 | Haslanger | 09/01/09 | |
Hoffman | Ginger | Sep 2009 | Holton | 09/01/09 | |
Glick | Ephraim | Sep 2009 | Stalnaker | 09/01/09 | |
Ashwell | Lauren | Sep 2009 | Byrne, Holton & Langton | 09/01/09 | |
Moss | Sarah | Jun 2009 | Stalnaker | 06/01/09 | |
Briggs | Rachel | Feb 2009 | Stalnaker | 02/01/09 | |
Yalcin | Seth | Sep 2008 | Stalnaker & Yablo | 09/01/08 | |
Ninan | Dilip | Sep 2008 | Stalnaker | 09/01/08 | |
Etlin | David | Sep 2008 | Stalnaker | 09/01/08 | |
Kurtz | Roxanne | Feb 2008 | Cohen & Haslanger | 02/01/08 | |
Sin | Jessica | Sep 2007 | Holton | 09/01/07 | |
Finegan | Johanna | Sep 2007 | Thomson | 09/01/07 | |
de Bres | Helena | Sep 2007 | Cohen | 09/01/07 | |
Berker | Selim | Sep 2007 | Thomson | 09/01/07 | |
Batty | Clare | Sep 2007 | Byrne | 09/01/07 | |
Decker | Jason | Feb 2007 | Yablo | 02/01/07 | |
Swanson | Eric | Sep 2006 | Stalnaker | 09/01/06 | |
Bach-y-Rita | Peter | Sep 2006 | Thomson | 09/01/06 | |
Abdul-Matin | Ishmawil | Sep 2006 | Cohen | 09/01/06 | |
Nickel | Bernhard | Sep 2005 | Hall, Stalnaker, Yablo | 09/01/05 | |
Sveinsdottir | Asta | Sep 2004 | Siding with Euthyphro: Response-Dependence, Essentiality, and the Individuation of Ordinary Objects | Haslanger | 09/01/04 |
Roskies | Adina | Sep 2004 | Hall | 09/01/04 | |
John | James | Sep 2004 | Byrne | 09/01/04 | |
Doggett | Tyler | Sep 2004 | Byrne | 09/01/04 | |
Sofaer | Neema | Jun 2004 | Cohen | 06/01/04 | |
Egan | Andrew | Feb 2004 | Yablo | 02/01/04 | |
Hawley | Patrick | Sep 2003 | Stalnaker | 09/01/03 | |
Harman | Elizabeth | Sep 2003 | Cohen | 09/01/03 | |
Flaherty | Joshua | Sep 2003 | Cohen | 09/01/03 | |
Einheuser | Iris | Sep 2003 | Yablo | 09/01/03 | |
Sartorio | Carolina | Jun 2003 | Yablo | 06/01/03 | |
Koellner | Peter | Jun 2003 | McGee | 06/01/03 | |
Newman | Anthony | Sep 2002 | Byrne | 09/01/02 | |
McGrath | Sarah | Sep 2002 | Hall | 09/01/02 | |
Maitra | Ishani | Sep 2002 | Haslanger | 09/01/02 | |
Hoffmann | Aviv | Sep 2002 | Stalnaker | 09/01/02 | |
Simon | Steven | Jun 2002 | Stalnaker | 06/01/02 | |
Friedman | Alexander | Jun 2002 | Thomson | 06/01/02 | |
Pettit | Dean | Sep 2001 | Stalnaker | 09/01/01 | |
Meyer | Ulrich | Sep 2001 | Stalnaker | 09/01/01 | |
Elga | Adam | Sep 2001 | Hall | 09/01/01 | |
Jónsson | Ólafur | Jun 2001 | Thomson | 06/01/01 | |
Rayo | Agustin | Feb 2001 | McGee | 02/01/01 | |
Hernando | Miguel | Feb 2001 | Stalnaker | 02/01/01 | |
Gray | Anthony | Feb 2001 | Stalnaker | 02/01/01 | |
White | Roger | Sep 2000 | Stalnaker | 09/01/00 | |
Eklund | Matti | Sep 2000 | Yablo | 09/01/00 | |
Uzquiano | Gabriel | Sep 1999 | McGee | 09/01/99 | |
Streiffer | Robert | Sep 1999 | Thomson | 09/01/99 | |
McKitrick | Jennifer | Sep 1999 | Byrne | 09/01/99 | |
Brown | Rachel | Sep 1999 | Cohen | 09/01/99 | |
Sereno | Lisa | Feb 1999 | Stalnaker | 02/01/99 | |
Spencer | Cara | Sep 1998 | Stalnaker | 09/01/98 | |
Botterell | Andrew | Sep 1998 | Stalnaker | 09/01/98 | |
Graff | Delia | Sep 1997 | Stalnaker | 09/01/97 | |
Maciá Fábrega | Josep | Jun 1997 | Stalnaker | 06/01/97 | |
Feldmann | Judith | Feb 1997 | Stalnaker | 02/01/97 | |
Kermode | Robert | Jun 1996 | Byrne | 06/01/96 | |
Hinton | Timothy | Jun 1996 | Cohen | 06/01/96 | |
Stoljar | Daniel | Sep 1995 | Block | 09/01/95 | |
Szabó | Zoltán | Jun 1995 | Boolos | 06/01/95 | |
Stanley | Jason | Jun 1995 | Stalnaker | 06/01/95 | |
Koslicki | Kathrin | Jun 1995 | Thomson | 06/01/95 | |
Bumpus | Ann | Jun 1995 | Thomson | 06/01/95 | |
Jung | Darryl | Feb 1995 | Boolos | 02/01/95 | |
Lau | Yen-fong | Sep 1994 | Stalnaker | 09/01/94 | |
Hunter | David | Sep 1994 | Stalnaker | 09/01/94 | |
McConnell | Jeffrey | May 1994 | Block | 05/01/94 | |
Clapp | Leonard | May 1994 | Bromberger | 05/01/94 | |
Stainton | Robert | Sep 1993 | Bromberger | 09/01/93 | |
Picard | J.R.W. Michael | Sep 1993 | Cartwright | 09/01/93 | |
Womack | Catherine | Jun 1993 | Higginbotham | 06/01/93 | |
Ulicny | Brian | Jun 1993 | Higginbotham | 06/01/93 | |
Jeske | Diane | Sep 1992 | Brink | 09/01/92 | |
Reimer | Margaret | Jun 1992 | Cartwright | 06/01/92 | |
Isaacs | Tracy | Jun 1992 | Thomson | 06/01/92 | |
Stein | Edward | Feb 1992 | Block | 02/01/92 | |
Heck Jr. | Richard | Jun 1991 | Boolos | 06/01/91 | |
Galloway | David | Jun 1991 | Boolos | 06/01/91 | |
Dwyer | Susan | Jun 1991 | Higginbotham | 06/01/91 | |
Antony | Michael | Oct 1990 | Block | 10/01/90 | |
Ruesga | Albert | Jun 1990 | Higginbotham | 06/01/90 | |
Prevett | Elizabeth | May 1990 | Brink | 05/01/90 | |
Pietrowski | Paul | May 1990 | Stalnaker | 05/01/90 | |
Page | James | May 1990 | Boolos | 05/01/90 | |
Lormand | Eric | May 1990 | Block | 05/01/90 | |
Kaye | Larry | May 1990 | Stalnaker | 05/01/90 | |
Rodriguez | Jorge | Sep 1989 | Cartwright | 09/01/89 | |
Uebel | Thomas | Jun 1989 | Bromberger | 06/01/89 | |
Patterson | Sarah | Jun 1988 | Block | 06/01/88 | |
Lebed | Jay Aaron | Jun 1988 | Block | 06/01/88 | |
Lind | Marcia | Feb 1988 | Cohen | 02/01/88 | |
Segal | Gabriel | Jun 1987 | Block | 06/01/87 | |
Satz | Debra | Feb 1987 | Cohen | 02/01/87 | |
Cobetto | Jack Bernard | May 1985 | Cartwright | 05/01/85 | |
Akhtar Kazmi | Ali | Feb 1985 | Boolos | 02/01/85 | |
Gillon | Brendan | Sep 1984 | Higginbotham | 09/01/84 | |
McClamrock | Ronald | Jun 1984 | Block | 06/01/84 | |
Wetzel | Linda | Feb 1984 | Cartwright | 02/01/84 | |
Appelt | Timothy | Feb 1984 | Cartwright | 02/01/84 | |
Antognini | Thomas | Feb 1984 | Boolos | 02/01/84 | |
Pressler | Jonathan | Sep 1983 | Cohen | 09/01/83 | |
Russinoff | Ilene | May 1983 | Boolos | 05/01/83 | |
Poland | Jeffrey | May 1983 | Fodor | 05/01/83 | |
Christie | Andrew | May 1983 | Higginbotham | 05/01/83 | |
Berk | Lon | Sep 1982 | Boolos | 09/01/82 | |
Cannon | Douglas | Jun 1982 | Boolos | 06/01/82 | |
Krakowski | Israel | Jun 1981 | Block | 06/01/81 | |
Katz | Fredric M. | Jun 1981 | Boolos | 06/01/81 | |
Stabler, Jr. | Edward Palmer | Feb 1981 | Fodor | 02/01/81 | |
Levin | Janet Marchel | Sep 1980 | Block | 09/01/80 | |
Kamm | Frances Myrna | Feb 1980 | Herman | 02/01/80 | |
Smith | George | Jun 1979 | Cartwright | 06/01/79 | |
Rabinowitz | Joshua | Sep 1978 | Judith Thomson | 09/01/78 | |
Auerbach | David | Jun 1978 | Boolos | 06/01/78 | |
Prior | Stephen | Jun 1977 | Block | 06/01/77 | |
Mendelsohn | Richard | Feb 1977 | Cartwright | 02/01/77 | |
Foster | Susan | Feb 1977 | Herman | 02/01/77 | |
Levin | Harold | Sep 1976 | Boolos | 09/01/76 | |
Horowitz | Tamara | Jun 1976 | Apriority and Necessity. | Boolos | 06/01/76 |
Sparer | Alan | Feb 1976 | Political Obligation and the Just State. | Judith Thomson | 02/01/76 |
Soames | Scott | Feb 1976 | Bromberger | 02/01/76 | |
Siegel | Kenneth | Sep 1975 | Identity Across Possible Worlds. | Boolos | 09/01/75 |
Karp | David | Jun 1975 | General Ontology. | Brody | 06/01/75 |
Stecker | Robert | Feb 1975 | Moral Sense Theories. | Brody | 02/01/75 |
Lipton | Michael | Sep 1974 | Quine’s Criterion of Ontological Commitment. | Cartwright | 09/01/74 |
Weston | Thomas | Jun 1974 | Cartwright | 06/01/74 | |
Nishiyama | Yuji | Jun 1974 | The Structure of Propositions. | Katz | 06/01/74 |
Zaitchik | Alan | Sep 1973 | The Limits of Hypothetical Contractualism. | Judith Thomson | 09/01/73 |
Siemens | Warren | Sep 1973 | Theories of Scientific Change: Their Nature and Structure. | Bromberger | 09/01/73 |
Shelley | Karan | Sep 1973 | Theories of Scientific Change: Their Nature and Structure. | Bromberger | 09/01/73 |
Mellema | Paul | Jun 1973 | Bromberger | 06/01/73 | |
Harnish | Robert | Sep 1972 | Studies in Logic and Language. | Katz | 09/01/72 |
Kirk | Robert | Jun 1972 | Intermediate Logics and the Equational Classes of Brouwerian Algebras. | James Thomson | 06/01/72 |
Friedman | Kenneth | Jun 1972 | Foundation and Probability Theory and Statistical Thermodynamics. | Bromberger | 06/01/72 |
McEvoy | Paul | Sep 1971 | The Philosophy of Niels Bohr. | Graves | 09/01/71 |
Whitbeck | Caroline | Jun 1970 | The Concepts of Space and Time in the General Theory of Relativity. | Graves | 06/01/70 |
Boyd | Richard | Feb 1970 | A Recursion-Theoretic Characterization of the Ramified Analytical Hierarchy. | Cartwright | 02/01/70 |
Teller | Paul | Sep 1969 | Problems in Confirmation Theory. | James Thomson | 09/01/69 |
Leeds | Stephen | Jun 1969 | Arithmetical Degrees in the Hierarchy of Constructible Sets of Integers. | James Thomson | 06/01/69 |
Thomas | Stephen | Sep 1968 | Philosophical Model-Building and the Philosophy of Mind. | Judith Thomson | 09/01/68 |
Davis | Bernard | Sep 1968 | The Notion of Protomeaning. | Bromberger | 09/01/68 |
Martin | Edwin | Jun 1968 | Quantifying into Opaque Contexts: May We or May We Not? | Cartwright | 06/01/68 |
Boolos | George | Jun 1966 | The Hierarchy of Constructible Sets of Integers. | Putnam | 06/01/66 |
College of Arts & Sciences
Past Dissertations
Hyperlinked dissertations are available through Proquest Digital Dissertations .
Name | Year | Title | Mentor |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | John Greco | ||
2023 | Bryce Huebner | ||
2023 | David Luban | ||
2022 | Karen Stohr | ||
2022 | David Luban | ||
2022 | Quill R. Kukla | ||
2022 | Quill R. Kukla | ||
2022 | Bryce Huebner | ||
2021 | William Blattner | ||
2021 | Henry Richardson | ||
2021 | Maggie Little | ||
2021 | Mark Lance | ||
2021 | Bryce Huebner | ||
2021 | Quill R. Kukla |
Name | Year | Title | Mentor |
---|---|---|---|
Karen Rice | 2020 | Karen Stohr | |
Hailey Huget | 2020 | Margaret Little | |
Michael Barnes | 2019 | Rebecca Kukla | |
Matthew Shields | 2019 | Mark Lance | |
Quentin Fisher | 2019 | Mark Lance | |
Megan Dean | 2019 | Rebecca Kukla | |
Daniel Threet | 2019 | Henry Richardson | |
Joseph Rees | 2018 | Rebecca Kukla | |
Paul Cudney | 2018 | Nancy Sherman | |
Gordon Shannon | 2017 | Mark Murphy | |
Nabina Liebow | 2017 | Rebecca Kukla | |
Colin Hickey | 2017 | Madison Powers & Maggie Litte | |
Cassie Herbert | 2017 | Rebecca Kukla | |
Jacob Earl | 2017 | Maggie Little | |
Francisco Gallegos | 2017 | William Blattner | |
Laura Guidry-Grimes | 2017 | Alisa Carse | |
Chong Un Choe-Smith | 2016 | Mark Murphy | |
Trip Glazer | 2016 | Rebecca Kukla | |
Patricia McShane | 2015 | Mark Murphy | |
Torsten Menge | 2015 | Rebecca Kukla | |
Anne Jeffrey | 2015 | Mark Murphy | |
Oren Magid | 2015 | William Blattner | |
Anthony Manela | 2014 | Maggie Little | |
Travis Rieder | 2014 | Henry Richardson | |
Kyle Fruh | 2014 | Judith Lichtenberg | |
Emily Evans | 2014 | Tom Beauchamp | |
Diana Puglisi | 2014 | Wayne Davis | |
Ann Lloyd Breeden | 2014 | Henry Richardson | |
Richard Fry | 2014 | Tom Beauchamp | |
James Olsen | 2014 | William Blattner | |
Kelly Heuer | 2013 | Maggie Little | |
Marcus Hedahl | 2013 | Maggie Little | |
Yashar Saghai | 2013 | Maggie Little | |
Tony Pfaff | 2013 | Nancy Sherman | |
Nate Olson | 2012 | Henry Richardson | |
Luke Maring | 2012 | Henry Richardson | |
Christian Golden | 2012 | Gerald Mara, Mark Lance | |
Karim Sadek | 2012 | Terry Pinkard | |
Daniel Quattrone | 2011 | Steven Kuhn | |
Amy Sepinwall | 2011 | David Luban | |
Lee Okster | 2011 | Alisa Carse | |
Jeffrey Engelhardt | 2011 | Wayne Davis | |
David Bachyrycz | 2010 | John Brough | |
Justyna Japola | 2010 | Wayne Davis |
Name | Year | Title | Mentor |
---|---|---|---|
Lauren Fleming | 2009 | Maggie Little | |
Robert Leider | 2009 | Henry Richardson | |
Billy Lauinger | 2009 | Mark Murphy | |
Tea Logar | 2009 | Maggie Little | |
Kari Esbensen | 2008 | Madison Powers | |
Ashley Fernandes | 2008 | Edmund Pellegrino | |
Chauncey Maher | 2007 | Mark Lance | |
Michael Ferry | 2007 | Mark Murphy | |
Matthew McAdam | 2007 | Wayne Davis, Maggie Little | |
Jeremy Snyder | 2007 | Margaret Little | |
Matthew Rellihan | 2006 | Wayne Davis | |
Katherine Taylor | 2006 | Alisa Carse | |
Patricia Flynn | 2006 | Henry Richardson | |
Elisa A. Hurley | 2006 | Margaret Little & Nancy Sherman | |
Colleen MacNamara | 2006 | Margaret Little | |
Daniel H. Levine | 2005 | Henry Richardson | |
Michelle Strauss | 2005 | Margaret Little | |
Jennifer K. Walter | 2005 | Alisa Carse | |
Justin Weinberg | 2004 | Henry Richardson | |
Matthew Burstein | 2004 | Mark Lance | |
Todd Janke | 2004 | William Blattner | |
Thane M. Naberhaus | 2004 | John Brough | |
Nathaniel Goldberg | 2004 | Linda Wetzel | |
Sven G. Sherman-Peterson | 2003 | G. Madison Powers | |
Eran Patrick Klein | 2002 | Edmund Pellegrino | |
Harrison Keller | 2002 | Henry Richardson | |
Thaddeus Pope | 2002 | Tom Beauchamp | |
William H. White | 2002 | Mark Lance & Margaret Little | |
Stephen Scott Hanson | 2002 | Tom Beauchamp | |
Cynthia Foster Chance | 2000 | Terry Pinkard | |
Lauren Christine Deichman | 2000 | Alisa Carse | |
Kevin Fitzgerald, SJ | 2000 | LeRoy Walters | |
Jeffrey C. Jennings | 2000 | Edmund Pellegrino |
Name | Year | Title | Mentor |
---|---|---|---|
Frank Chessa | 1999 | Tom Beauchamp | |
Elizabeth Hill Emmett-Mattox | 1999 | G. Madison Powers | |
John J. Gunkel | 1999 | William Blattner | |
Michael P. Wolf | 1999 | Mark Lance | |
Laura Jane Bishop | 1998 | LeRoy Walters | |
Whitley Robert Peters Kaufman | 1998 | Henry Richardson | |
Jeremy Randel Koons | 1998 | Mark Lance | |
Sharon Ruth Livingston | 1998 | Steve Kuhn | |
Lester Aaron Myers | 1998 | Wilfried Ver Eecke | |
Randall K. O’Bannon | 1998 | John Langan | |
Julia Pedroni | 1998 | LeRoy Walters | |
Carol Mason Spicer | 1998 | LeRoy Walters | |
Susan Allison Stark | 1998 | Margaret Little | |
Carol R. Taylor | 1997 | Edmund Pellegrino | |
Andrew Cohen | 1997 | G. Madison Powers | |
Suzanne Shevlin Edwards | 1997 | G. Madison Powers | |
Robin Fiore | 1997 | G. Madison Powers | |
Kimberly Mattingly | 1997 | G. Madison Powers | |
Wilhelmine Davis Miller | 1997 | Alisa Carse | |
Frank Daniel Davis | 1996 | Edmund Pellegrino | |
Judith Lee Kissell | 1996 | Edmund Pellegrino | |
Ronald Alan Lindsay | 1996 | Self-Determination, Suicide, and Euthanasia: The Implications of Autonomy for the Morality and Legality of Assisted Suicide and Voluntary Active Euthanasia (Volumes 1 & 2) | Tom Beauchamp |
Robert S. Olick | 1996 | Deciding for Incompetent Patients: The Nature and Limit of Prospective Autonomy and Advance Directives | Robert Veatch |
William Edward Stempsey | 1996 | Fact and Value in Disease and Diagnosis: A Proposal for Value-Dependent Realism | Robert Veatch |
John J. DeGioia | 1995 | The Moral Theories of Charles Taylor and Alasdair MacIntyre and the Objective Moral Order | Terry Pinkard |
Susan Beth Rubin | 1995 | Futility: An Insufficient Justification for Physician Unilateral Decision Making | Robert Veatch |
Daniel Patrick Sulmasy | 1995 | Killing and Allowing to Die, Volumes 1 & 2 | Edmund Pellegrino |
Paul Fein | 1994 | We Have Ways: The Law and Morality of the Interrogation of Prisoners of War (Volumes 1, 2 & 3) | John Langan |
Catherine Myser | 1994 | A Philosophical Critique of the ‘Best Interests’ Criterion and an Exploration of Balancing the Interests of Infants or Fetuses, Family Members, and Society in the United States, India, and Sweden | LeRoy Walters |
Laura Shanner | 1994 | Phenomenology of the Child-Wish: New Reproductive Technologies and Ethical Responses to Infertility | LeRoy Walters |
Christine Grady | 1993 | Ethical Issues in the Development and Testing of a Preventative HIV Vaccine | LeRoy Walters |
Kevin Arthur Kraus | 1993 | Hoping in the Healing Process: An Integral Condition to the Ethics of Care | Edmund Pellegrino |
Patricia Von Gaertner Mazzarella | 1993 | Can Eternal Objects Be the Foundation for a Process Theory of Morality? | Edmund Pellegrino |
Cynthia Anderson | 1992 | Kant’s Theory of Measurement | Jay Reuscher |
Carol Jean Bayley | 1992 | Values and Worldview in Clinical Research and the Practice of Medicine | Robert Veatch |
Leonard Ferenz | 1992 | Social and Ethical Impacts of Life-Extending Technologies and Interventions into the Aging Process | Robert Veatch |
Aaron Leonard Mackler | 1992 | Cases and Considered Judgments: A Critical Appraisal of Casuistic Approaches in Ethics | Tom Beauchamp |
Dennis E. Boyle | 1991 | Geometry, Place Relations and the Illusion of Physical Space | Wayne Davis |
Dianne Nutwell Irving | 1991 | Philosophical and Scientific Analysis of the Nature of the Early Human Embryo | Edmund Pellegrino |
Robert A. Mayhew | 1991 | Aristotle’s Criticism of Plato’s Republic: A Philosophical Commentary | Alfonso Gomez-Lobo |
Cecilia Regina Ortiz-Mena | 1991 | From Existence to the Ideal: Continuity and Development in Kant’s Theology | Jay Reuscher |
Minerva San Juan | 1991 | Being Moved by Reasons: The Superiority of Kant’s Internalism | Henry Richardson |
Christopher Francis Schiavone | 1991 | The Contemplative Dimension of Rationality in the Thought of Karl Rahner: A Condition of Possibility for Revelation (Volumes 1 & 2) | Frank Ambrosio |
Virginia Ashby Sharpe | 1991 | How the Liberal Idea Fails as a Foundation for Medical Ethics, or, Medical Ethics “In a Different Voice” | Edmund Pellegrino |
Mary Louise Wessell | 1991 | Health Care for the Poor: A Critical Examination of the Views of Edmund A. Pellegrino and H. Tristram Engelhardt | Edmund Pellegrino |
Patrick Sven Arvidson | 1990 | Limits in the Field of Consciousness | John Brough |
Sigrid Fry-Revere | 1990 | The Social Accountability of Bioethics Committees and Consultants | LeRoy Walters |
Marilee R. Howard | 1990 | The Relevance of Catholic Social Teachings for Determining Priorities for Rationing Health Care | John Langan |
Jeffrey Paul Kahn | 1990 | The Principle of Nonmaleficence and the Problems of Reproductive Decision Making | Tom Beauchamp |
Mark Steven Mitsock | 1990 | Husserl on Modern Philosophy: A Study of Erste Philosophie | John Brough |
Maura Ann O’Brien | 1990 | Moral Voice in Public Policy: Responding to the AIDS Pandemic | LeRoy Walters |
William Charles Soderberg | 1990 | Genetic Obligations to Future Generations | LeRoy Walters |
Susan Sylar Stocker | 1990 | Husserl and Gadamer on Historicity of Understanding: Can Historicism Be Avoided? | John Brough |
Cornelia Tsakiridou | 1990 | The Death of Form: Artistic Being and Artistic Culture in Hegel | Wilfried Ver Eecke |
Bruce David Weinstein | 1990 | Moral Voice in Public Policy: Responding to the AIDS Pandemic | Robert Veatch |
Name | Year | Title | Mentor |
---|---|---|---|
Fatin Khalil Ismail Al-Bustany | 1989 | Scientific Change as an Evolutionary, Information Process: Its Structural, Conceptual, and Cultural Elements | George Farre |
David Dion DeGrazia | 1989 | Interests, Intuition, and Moral Status (Vol. 1) | Tom Beauchamp |
Jacqueline Jean Glover | 1989 | The Role of Physicians in Cost Containment: An Ethical Analysis | LeRoy Walters |
John Lawrence Hill | 1989 | In Defense of Surrogate Parenting Arrangements: An Ethical and Legal Analysis | LeRoy Walters |
Eric Mark Meslin | 1989 | Protecting Human Subjects from Harm in Medical Research: A Proposal for Improving Risk Judgments by Institutional Review Boards | LeRoy Walters |
Albdelkader Aoudjit | 1988 | A Critique of Existential Marxism | George Farre |
Mary Ann Gardell Cutter | 1988 | Explanation in Clinical Medicine: Analysis and Critique | Tom Beauchamp |
Marcella Fausta Tarozzi Goldsmith | 1988 | Nonrepresentational Forms of the Comic: Humor, Irony, and Jokes | Wilfried Ver Eecke |
Margaret McKenna Houck | 1988 | Derek Parfit and Obligations to Future Generations | LeRoy Walters |
Erna Joy Kroeger Mappes | 1988 | The Ethics of Care and the Ethic of Rights: A Problem for Contemporary Moral Theory | Tom Beauchamp |
Rolland William Pack | 1988 | Case Studies and Moral Conclusions: The Philosophical Use of Case Studies in Biomedical Ethics | Edmund Pellegrino |
Joseph Francis Rautenberg | 1988 | Grisez, Finnis and the Proportionalists: Disputes over Commensurability and Moral Judgment in Natural Law | Richard McCormick |
Najla Abri Hamadeh Osman | 1987 | Freud’s Theory of the Death Instinct and Lacan’s Interpretation | Wilfried Ver Eecke |
Devra Beck Simiu | 1987 | Disorder and Early Alienation: Lacan’s Original Theory of the Mirror Stage | Wilfried Ver Eecke |
Barry Kerlin Smith | 1987 | The Problem of Truth in Literature | John Brough |
James Winslow Anderson | 1986 | Three Abortion Theorists: A Critical Appreciation | LeRoy Walters |
Angela Rose Ricciardelli | 1986 | A Comparison of Wilfred Desan’s and Pierre Teihard de Chardin’s Thinking With Regard to the Nature of Man’s Survival in a United World | Sr. Virginia Gelger & Thomas McTighe |
Gladys Benson White | 1986 | A Philosophical Analysis of the Normative Status of the Family | LeRoy Walters |
Timothy Owen Davis | 1985 | The Problem of Intersubjectivity in Husserlian Phenomenology | John Brough |
Eric Thomas Juengst | 1985 | The Concept of Genetic Disease and Theories of Medical Progress | Tom Beauchamp |
Jameson Kurasha | 1985 | The Importance of Philosophy of Mind in Educational Theory | Wayne Davis |
Deborah Ruth Mathieu | 1985 | Preventing Harm and Respecting Liberty: Ethical and Legal Implications of New Prenatal Therapies | Henry Veatch |
John Marcus Rose | 1985 | Plotinus and Heiddeger on Anxiety and the Nothing | Thomas McTighe |
Dorothy E. Vawter | 1985 | The Truth and Objectivity of Practical Propositions: Contemporary Arguments in Moral Epistemology | Alfonso Gomez-Lobo |
Abigail Rian Evans | 1984 | Health, Healing and Healer: A Theological and Philosophical Inquiry | William May |
Sara Thompson Fry | 1984 | Protecting Privacy: Judicial Decision-Making in Search of a Principle | LeRoy Walters |
Michael Patrick Malloy | 1984 | Civil Authority in Medieval Philosophy: Selected Commentaries of Aquinas and Bonaventure | Thomas McTighe |
Ray Edward Moseley | 1984 | Animal Rights: An Analysis of the Major Arguments for Animal Rights | LeRoy Walters |
Jody Palmour | 1984 | The Ancient Virtues and Vices: Philosophical Foundations for the Psychology, Ethics, and Politics of Human Development (Volume 1) | Wilfried Ver Eecke |
Marcia Winfred Sichol | 1984 | The Application of Just War Principles to Nuclear War and Deterrence in Three Contemporary Theorists: Michael Walzer, Paul Ramsey, and William V. O’Brien | John Langan |
Donald Clare Bogie | 1983 | For an Ethical Individualism | Henry Veatch |
Katheryn A. Cabrey | 1982 | An Ethical Perspective on the Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources as Exemplified in the Federal Financing of Care to Renal Patients | LeRoy Walters |
Alan Lawrence Udoff | 1982 | Evil, History and Faith | Thomas McTighe |
William R. Casement | 1981 | Indoctrination and Contemporary Approaches to Moral Education | Jesse Mann |
John Francis Donovan | 1981 | Church-State Relations in Hegel’s Philosophy of Right | Thomas McTighe |
Fr. Thomas Joseph Joyce | 1981 | Dewey’s Process of Inquiry as the Basis of His Educational Model | Jesse Mann |
Josef Kadlec | 1981 | Aging – A New Problem of Modern Medicine | H. Tristram Engelhardt Jr. |
James Joseph McCartney | 1981 | The Relationship Between Karol Wojtyla’s Personalism and the Contemporary Debate Over the Ontological Status of Human Embryological Life | Richard McCormick |
Nina Virginia Mikhalevsky | 1981 | The Concept of Rational Being in Kant’sMetaphysics of the Groundwork of Morals | H. Tristram Engelhardt Jr. |
John MacMillan Simons | 1981 | Spirit and Time: Plotinus’s Doctrine of the Two Matters | Thomas McTighe |
Carol Ann Tauer | 1981 | The Moral Status of the Prenatal Human Subject of Research | Tom Beauchamp |
Charlotte Elizabeth Witt | 1981 | Essentialism: Aristotle and the Contemporary Approach | Alfonso Gomez-Lobo |
Emmanuel Damascus Akpan | 1980 | The Pseudo Deontology of John Rawls: In Defense of the Principle of Utility | Tom Beauchamp |
Johanna Maria Bantjes | 1980 | Kripke’s Interpretation of Wittgenstein’s Theory of Proper Names | George Farre |
Gary Martin Seay | 1980 | Prescriptivism and Moral Weakness | Tom Beauchamp |
Name | Year | Title | Mentor |
---|---|---|---|
Peter McLaren Black | 1979 | Killing and Letting Die | Tom Beauchamp |
Ileana Jacoubovitch Grams | 1979 | The Logic of Insanity Defense | Tom Beauchamp |
Sander H. Lee | 1979 | Does Moral Freedom Imply Anarchism? | Henry Veatch |
Francine Michele Rainone | 1979 | Marx and the Classical Tradition in Moral Philosophy | Henry Veatch |
Francis Joseph Kelly | 1978 | Structural and Developmental Aspects of the Formulation of Categoral Judgments in the Philosophy of Edmund Husserl | John Brough |
Richard Norman Stichler | 1978 | Ideals of Freedom | Tom Beauchamp |
Charles Coulter Verharen | 1978 | The Demarcation of Philosophy from Science and Art in the Methodology of Wittgenstein | George Farre |
Harold Bleich | 1977 | Herbert Marcuse’s Philosophy: A Critical Analysis | Wilfried Ver Eecke |
Andrea Beryl King | 1977 | Benevolent Dictatorship in Plato’s Republic | n.a. |
Emil James Piscitelli | 1977 | Language and Method in the Philosophy of Religion: A Critical Study of the Philosophy of Bernard Lonegan | Thomas McTighe |
Jane S. Zembaty | 1977 | The Essentialism of Kripke and Madden and Metaphysical Necessity | Tom Beauchamp |
Michael Jan Fuksa | 1976 | Logic, Language and the Free Will Defense | Henry Veatch |
Ann Neale | 1976 | The Concept of Health in Medicine: A Philosophical Analysis | Leroy Walters & Tom Beauchamp |
Richard Chibikodo Onwuanibe | 1976 | An Ethical Inquiry on Franz Fanon’s Revolutionary Humanism: A Critique of the Use of Violence | Henry Veatch & Jesse Mann |
Sue Ellen Sloca | 1976 | An Examination and Evaluation of Criticism Directed Against the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis | Wilfried Ver Eecke |
Michael Eugene Downey | 1975 | Language About God: Analytic, Synthetic, or Synthetic a priori? | Henry Veatch |
John Joseph Drummond | 1975 | Presenting and Kinaesthetic Sensations in Husserl’s Phenomenology of Perception | John Brough |
Thomas James Hickey | 1975 | Systems Approach to the Logic of Justification in Ordinary Language | George Farre |
Francis Ignatius Kane | 1975 | Heidegger’s Sein and Linguistic Analytic Objections | Thomas McTighe |
George John Marshall | 1975 | Can Human Nature Change?: A Tentative Answer in the Light of the Positions of Dewey, Sarte, and Their Critics | Wilfred Desan & Jesse Mann |
Michael Christopher Normile | 1975 | Individual and Society: Dewey’s Reconstruction and Resolution | Jesse Mann |
Kathleen Louise Usher | 1975 | A Clarification of Edmund Husserl’s Distinction Between Phenomenological Psychology and Transcendental Phenomenology | John Brough |
Debra Beth Bergoffen | 1974 | The Crisis of Western Consciousness: An Interpretation of Its Meaning Through an Analysis of the Temporal Symbols of Western Culture | Wilfried Ver Eecke |
Sister Marietta Culhane | 1974 | Philosophical Clarification of the Contemporary Concept of Self-Identity | Rocco Porreco |
James George Fisher | 1974 | The Distinction Between Substances and Principal Attribute in Descartes | Thomas McTighe |
Sister Patricia Hayes | 1974 | An Analysis of Kant’s Use of the Term ‘Metaphysics’ | John Reuscher |
Thomas Albin Mappes | 1974 | Inductive Reasoning and Moral Reasoning: Parallel Patterns of Justification | Tom Beauchamp |
Joseph Edmund Martire | 1974 | The Logic of Depiction and the Logic of Description: An Analysis of ‘The Picture Theory’ of the Tractatus and Its Criticisms in the Philosophical Investigations | George Farre |
John Patrick Mohr | 1974 | Self-Referential Language and the Existence of God in the Philosophy of Hegel | Wilfried Ver Eecke |
Sister Marilyn Clare Thie | 1974 | Whitehead on a Rational Explanation of Religious Experience | Louis Dupré |
Sister Mary-Rita Grady | 1973 | Time, The Form of the Will: An Essay on Josiah Royce’s Philosophy of Time | Jesse Mann |
Jerome Aloysius Miller | 1973 | The Irrefutability of Metaphysical Truths | Thomas McTighe |
Anne Rogers Devereux | 1973 | Der Vorgriff (The Pre-Apprehension of Being) and the Religious Act in Karl Rahner | Louis Dupré |
Thomas Toyoshi Tominaga | 1973 | A Wittgensteinian Inquiry into the Confusions Generated by the Question ‘What is the Meaning of a Word?’ | George Farre |
Sister Mary Elizabeth Giegengack | 1972 | Can God Be Experienced? A Study in the Philosophy of Religion of William Ernest Hocking | Louis Dupré |
Kevin Benedict McDonnell | 1971 | Religion and Ethics in the Philosophy of William of Ockham | Germain Grisez |
David Novak | 1971 | Suicide and Morality in Plato, Aquinas, and Kant | Germain Grisez |
William M. Richards | 1971 | A New Interpretation of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus | George Farre |
Joseph Michael Boyle | 1970 | The Argument from Self-Referential Consistency: The Current Discussion | Germain Grisez |
John Barnett Brough | 1970 | A Study of the Logic and Evolution of Edmund Husserl’s Theory of the Constitution of Time-Consciousness, 1893-1917 | Louis Dupré |
Rev. Martin Joseph Lonergan | 1970 | Gabriel Marcel’s Phenomenology of Incarnation | Wilfred Desan |
John Patrick Minahan | 1970 | The Metaphysical Misunderstanding of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus | George Farre |
George Francis Sefler | 1970 | The Structure of Language and its Relation to the World: A Methodological Study of the Writings of Martin Heidegger and Ludwig Wittgenstein | Wilfred Desan |
Thomas Joseph Shalvey | 1970 | The Philosophical Foundations of the Role of the Collective in the Work of Levi-Strauss | Wilfred Desan |
Olaf Philip Tollefsen | 1970 | Verification Procedures in Dialectical Metaphysics | Germain Grisez |
Name | Year | Title | Mentor |
---|---|---|---|
Michael Didoha | 1969 | Conceptual Distortion and Intuitive Creativity: A Study of the Role of Knowledge in the Thought of Nicholas Berdyaev | Wilfred Desan |
Joel Celedonio Ramirez | 1969 | The Personalist Metaphysics of Xavier Zubiri | Jesse Mann |
Raymond Michael Herbenick | 1968 | C.S. Peirce and Contemporary Theories of the Systems Concept and Systems Approach to Problem-Solving and Decision-Making: An Introductory Essay on Systems Theory in Philosophical Analysis | Jesse Mann |
Rev. Walter John Stohrer | 1968 | The Role of Martin Heidegger’s Doctrine of Dasein in Karl Rahner’s Metaphysics of Man | Wilfred Desan |
John H. Walsh | 1968 | A Fundamental Ontology of Play and Leisure | Wilfred Desan |
Loretta Therese Zderad | 1968 | A Concept of Empathy | Wilfred Desan |
Mary-Angela Harper | 1967 | A Study of the Metaphysical Problem of Intersubjectivity | Louis Dupré |
Elena Lugo | 1967 | Jose Ortega y Gasset’s Sportive Sense of Life: His Philosophy of Man | Wilfred Desan |
Carl Herman Pfuntner | 1967 | An Examination of the Extent of Philosophical Dependence, Methodological and Metaphysical, of John Dewey on Charles Peirce | Jesse Mann |
Rev. Rene Firmin De Brabander | 1966 | Immanent Philosophy and Transcendent Religion: Henry Dumery’s Philosophy of Christianity | Louis Dupré |
Joseph C. Mihalich | 1965 | The Notion of Value in the Existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre | Wilfred Desan |
Magda Munoz-Colberg | 1965 | An Evaluation of Auguste Comte’s Theory of Inequality | Wilfred Desan |
William A. Owen | 1964 | Whitehead’s Philosophy of Science the Concept of Substance | Jesse Mann |
Thomas E. Schaefer | 1963 | The Meaning of Chun Tzu in the Thought of Mencius | n.a. |
Eulalio R. Baltazar | 1962 | A Critical Examination of the Methodology of | Wilfred Desan |
Pierre Emile Nys | 1961 | Body and Soul: The Center of Metaphysics? | Thomas McTighe |
Paul R. Sullivan | 1961 | Ontic Aspects of Cognition in Poetry | Rudolph Allers |
Forrest H. Peterson | 1960 | The Study of Power in the Philosophies of Hegel and Marx | H. A. Rommen |
Name | Year | Title | Mentor |
---|---|---|---|
Rev. John R. Kanda | 1959 | Certain Intellectual Operations and the Neo-Scholastic Method | Edward Hanrahan |
Rev. Robert R. Kline | 1959 | The Present Status of Value Theory in the United States | Rudolph Allers |
Joseph G. Connor | 1958 | The Jesuit College and Electivism: A Study in the Philosophy of American Education | John Daley |
Robert P. Goodwin | 1958 | The Metaphysical Pragmatism of Charles Sanders Peirce | Rudolph Allers |
John Paul W. Fitzgibbon | 1958 | The Philosophy of Poetic Symbolism, Medieval and Modern | Rudolph Allers |
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Are you searching for ideas for a philosophical paper? Then you are in luck to have found our page. Our compilations of standardized research themes are sure to inspire you to write a grade A+ essay. You ought to know that the contents of your research must meet academic standards set for sciences, and our suggestions are meant to steer you in the right trajectory. The first step of the writing process begins by looking for research topics in philosophy. This post helps in providing you with lists of philosophy research topics for your paper. Check title ideas prepared by our papers writing service and get ready to write your own paper.
What Are Philosophy Research Topics?
Most philosophy paper topics require a good amount of devotion to writing. Philosophy involves the study of axiology, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, philosophy of science, philosophy of the mind, and aesthetics, to name just a few. Each of these branches can seem broad and complex, which is why most students find selecting a handful of philosophical research topics to be hectic. In fact, some people make the mistake of picking very intricate social science research topics of discussion in an attempt to impress their professors. The best approach, however, requires one to choose a simple but researchable subject matter. Identifying appropriate philosophy topics for a research paper is crucial in writing. Doing so narrows down your search significantly.
Characteristics of Good Philosophy Research Topics
Writers who earn high grades begin their research journey by choosing good research topics for philosophy. Doing so carries benefits, such as being able to write on a theme you like and understand well, which makes the process enjoyable. These merits later reflect in your final score on your philosophy paper. Looking out for these traits given below will allow you to find a unique subject matter for your essay easily. You should:
- Select a fascinating topic because it activates your imagination.
- If your theme is original, then you stand a higher chance of earning extra points compared to students who recycled from a list of overused philosophy research topics.
- Your preferred research issue ought to have plenty of information available in published resources, including books and the Internet.
Read more: What Is a Research Paper & How to Write It?
How to Choose a Philosophy Research Paper Topic?
Successful formulation of your research topic, to a great extent, determines your final grade. You want to avoid the mistake of picking a philosophy paper topic that exceeds your grasp of knowledge. For example, if you are in your first year of college, you cannot tackle a philosophy research paper topic in the Ph.D. category. When picking your preferred theme, you should:
- Consider the relevance of philosophy paper ideas to your specific area of study.
- Refer to your class assignments as a source of inspiration for developing your interests.
- Pick a topic that interests you, as this will allow you to research quickly in a fun and rewarding process.
- Ensure that your preferred research issue aligns with your professor's instructions.
- You need to discuss your selection with your instructor.
Top List of Philosophy Research Topics
In your search for writing ideas, you may consider top-tier philosophy topics to write a paper on. These themes, at times, prove to be a challenge. However, they are relatively popular, allowing you the chance to work with a vast amount of already existing resources. A wide variety of materials that are available and published make it easy to defend one's thesis with peer-reviewed findings. Here is a top-tier philosophy topics list.
- Free will from a philosophical perspective.
- An exploration of low moral standards.
- Irony through a philosophical lens.
- Are people morally obligated to be honest?
- Beauty standards from a philosophical stance.
- Aristotle's life and his influence on society.
- Philosophical role in the globalization process.
- The truth's relativity.
- Philosophical implications of the love-happiness dynamic.
- Race and justice in America.
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Interesting Philosophy Research Topics
There are numerous options within the interesting philosophy paper topics category. You need to have a good eye when picking from this collection because what you may consider attention-grabbing at times seems mundane to some people. Remember that your choice of essay topic should impress your professor. We have narrowed down the most thought-provoking themes and prepared a list of excellent philosophical paper topics that will captivate your instructor.
- Supernatural claims: real or myth?
- Can an individual find happiness despite them not having a family?
- Truth as a virtue and its value in society.
- Can one be rich without owning monetary wealth?
- Why do people kill for religious reasons?
- The psychology surrounding rules and obedience.
- Can the main characteristics that make a person be changed?
- Is it ethical to force people to observe science-backed traditions?
- Notable modern life values.
- Personal definition of happiness.
- Three approaches to the substance of thinking: monistic, dualistic, and populistic.
- French philosophies of the XIX-XX centuries.
- The essence of man is reflected in ancient philosophy.
- Comparing Plato's, Socrates', and Aristotle's philosophies.
- Common notion regarding life after death.
Easy Philosophy Research Topics
If you want to write your paper faster, it makes sense to look for easy research topics in philosophy. Such themes are not hard to come by as they address commonly encountered philosophical questions in people's daily lives. You may decide to note down two or three philosophy topics to talk about from the list below and discuss them with your instructor.
- What makes love last?
- Society's role in your personal life.
- The benefits of human emotions.
- What constitutes an ideal world?
- Good versus bad traits.
- The role education plays in your personal life.
- What are the principles of democracy?
- What would you choose between pursuing your passions and landing a well-paying job?
- Living without feeling alive.
- Strengths associated with the Determinist theory.
- In what ways does fear influence your everyday life?
- Does faith change human nature?
- Should abortion be made legal?
- Why do most countries not allow human cloning?
- What is harmony?
Fun Philosophy Paper Topics
Philosophical research topics can be fun and enjoyable, depending on the subject of discussion. Writing such themes is very engaging. Philosophy research paper topics in this category can be academic, informative, or for entertainment purposes.
- Morality as a virtue.
- Philosophical views in relation to space exploration.
- What your cat thinks of you.
- Why do people get irritated?
- The irony in poverty and its philosophical perspectives.
- Philosophical thoughts on what determines people's moods.
- Humor and mental health : Is laughter the best medicine?
- The irony of dying to live versus living to die.
- Video games and how they affect our perception of the comedy of tragedy.
- Machiavelli's ideas: Negatives and positives.
- Analyzing humanity in contrast to divinity.
- False beliefs about causes of death.
- Have you ever felt like a minority in any aspect of your life?
- Controversial aspect of modern life.
- Is joy the same as happiness?
Good Philosophy Research Topics
To assist you in succeeding in writing philosophical essays, we have availed a list of good philosophy research paper ideas to inspire your writing. Also, if you are a teacher in need of topics for a philosophy paper for each student, you can pick from the following list.
- Distinctions between humans and animals.
- Would you prefer to love or be loved?
- What does feminism mean to the world?
- The essence of time as it relates to philosophy.
- The age and wisdom.
- Have you faced any ethical dilemmas in the last decade of your life?
- Myths and the truth behind them.
- Science from a philosophical standpoint.
- Distinctions between ancient and modern life.
- Honor as a concept applied in medieval Europe.
- Top philosophers who lived in the 20th century.
- Examining the connection between power and reason.
- Possible rights of sentient robotics in the future.
- Science's significance in humanity's daily living.
- Is torture justifiable in any context?
We also have great ideas for psychology research topics and education research topics , to name a few. Browse our Blog for more title suggestions.
Intriguing Philosophy Research Topics
If you are looking for adequately formulated philosophy paper ideas, you are in luck, as we have a collection of topics that you may find very intriguing. You can share this resource with others who might be having a hard time acquiring topics for philosophy research paper for their writing assignments.
- Is the subconscious mind physiological or abstract?
- Similarities associated with ethics and behavior.
- Maturity age and marriage age as defined by the social realm.
- Pros and cons of total control over society's behavior by totalitarian regimes.
- Beauty's effects on an individual's self-esteem.
- The two sides of suicide: For and against it.
- How are parents, in general, responsible for the actions of a child?
- Ethical Issues surrounding the topic of experimentation on animal subjects.
- Pros and cons associated with artificial intelligence.
- Do animals have souls?
- Do animals perceive human emotional states?
- The ethics associated with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
- What is a "necessary evil?"
- Pros and cons associated with marriage.
- Is morality objective or subjective?
Philosophy Research Paper Topics for Students
Philosophy research topics are distinctively academic in nature. When presented with the task of delivering a philosophical essay, the best option for students is to read guides and examples of essays similar to the task at hand. Then they present proposed research topics in philosophy to their professor. The search can be odious, but we have made it easy for you to quickly settle on a topic and begin writing. Here is a list of philosophy topics for a research paper in high school or college.
Philosophy Research Topics for High School
Many high school students are searching for their next philosophy project ideas. If you are in such a situation, our philosophical paper topics resource below should at least help narrow your search.
- Voting age dilemma: 16 or 18-year-olds.
- The abstract nature of the subconscious.
- Abortion as a question in life and death cycle.
- Philosophical views on the subject of taxing the super-rich.
- What lessons can younger people learn from your generation?
- The philosophical view on forgiveness.
- Positive thinking techniques.
- Egg versus hen: Which came first?
- Ethics and euthanasia.
- Are social protests a practical approach to demand change?
- Your greatest possession or treasure in life.
- Utopia as critically reviewed through a philosopher's lens.
- Missing ethical values in immortality.
- What created the concept known as the " American dream ?"
- Importance associated with philosophical studies.
Philosophy Research Topics for College Students
If you have been stressing thinking about philosophy term paper topics and you are lost on where to start, you are in luck, as you have landed on the right page. Here you will get a free list containing unique philosophical paper topics that you can use for your essay and impress your professor.
- "Beauty of the Heart": is the concept probable?
- Balancing law and ethics.
- A philosophical view on reincarnation.
- Does the truth always win an argument?
- Philosophical thoughts on the epic of Gilgamesh and how it changed approaches to human conflict resolution.
- What it means to "be proud of something."
- Art's impact on children's creative thinking.
- Is excessive knowledge dangerous?
- Will technological advancements reach an end?
- Inside a lying person's mind.
- Do humans owe anything to robots?
- The cycle of life and death.
- Is "the bottom line" an American cultural phenomenon?
- Is predatory capitalism in American healthcare ethical?
- Celebrities as role models for the youth.
Extra Philosophy Research Paper Topics & Ideas
Philosophy is a broad discipline with numerous applications. It explores areas such as law, history, politics, art, ethics, and human life, among others. We have tried as much as possible to cover common philosophy research paper topics in our lists. You can navigate to any section in this post that relates to your current project and borrow philosophy paper ideas for free.
Ancient Philosophy Research Topics
Ancient philosophy research paper topics cover historical aspects. It is interesting to learn about early theories and developmental stages of philosophical notions. The advantage of selecting a theme from the category of ancient research topics in philosophy is that there are enough materials to base your paper on in numerous publications.
- An ideal world as dreamt by Plato.
- An in-depth look at Immanuel Kant.
- Beliefs in ancient Greece.
- Reality as conceptualized by Aristotle.
- The life and death of Socrates.
- Unique elements associated with Roman philosophy.
- Philosophy and mythology.
- Philosophy's role as a theoretical doctrine in ancient times.
- Philosophical aspects in anthropology that are no longer relevant today.
- Cosmological nature of early Greek philosophy .
- "Know Thyself": Socrates.
- Roman stoicism and the rise of Christianity.
- Positive social changes as a result of Seneca's stoicism.
- The concept of honor in medieval culture.
- The evolution of ancient philosophy.
Read more: History Research Paper Topics
Political Philosophy Research Topics
This section contains a list of political and philosophical research topics and ideas. Philosophy has a keen focus on politics in all aspects, including political science. This relationship allows for a variety of research areas that you can explore. Here are 15 philosophy topics for a research paper that you should consider.
- Enlightenment: political and philosophical ideas.
- Do political lies amount to abusing freedom of speech?
- Political revolution in Africa: Robert Mugabe.
- What drives people to engage in civil disobedience?
- Freedom and justice as political capital.
- How the synthesis of Freudianism and Marxism in Fromm's literature is reflected in the national policies of some countries.
- Political history as seen from a philosophical and ideological perspective.
- Human freedom and responsibility as reflected in the policies of certain countries.
- How politicians perceive the concept of superman in Nietzsche.
- Changes to the political foundations with respect to the challenge of unity and diversity.
- When does the truth become an epistemological and political problem?
- Pessimism and optimism as approaches to the development of society when considered political Strategies.
- Exploring the cultural and political self-determination of a human.
- National idea and its role in the formation of civil society.
- Roles of correctional institutions in punishment and criminal justice administration in America.
>> More ideas: Political Science Research Topics
Philosophy Paper Ideas on Ethics
Ethics and morality in philosophy is a branch that specializes in the idea of right and wrong. See our list of philosophy paper ideas. Checking through the compilation allows you to select a suitable philosophy research paper topic that makes you a candidate for a passing grade in your ethics essay .
- A philosophical review of standardized tests.
- Is evil naturally present in people?
- Ethical egoism: good or bad?
- Philosophical thoughts on the use of nuclear weapons.
- Philosophical metaethics in the context of experimental science.
- Same-sex marriages as seen through a philosopher's mind.
- Alcoholism in the modern age.
- Colonization in Africa and its moral implications.
- American corporate greed as the main drive for neoliberalism.
- Is venture capitalism evil?
- Neoliberalism's effects on global labor markets.
- An ethical and philosophical discussion of death sentence punishment.
- Political manipulation and its effects on social trust.
- Racism and gender discrimination's role in interstellar society.
- What is the most effective way to discipline your children?
Philosophy Research Topics on Human Life
Human life philosophy is concerned with the study of the status of human beings in the universe, and it also investigates the purpose and meaning of life. In an attempt to answer these critical questions, students may be asked to write essays that are based on research topics for philosophy. If you find yourself in need of assistance with ideas for your essay, our suggestions list for philosophical paper topics is an excellent place to start looking.
- Why happiness is such a complex life goal.
- Things that cause human life to seem senseless.
- Law and order as a recipe for peace.
- What qualifies human life as meaningful?
- What is a "perfect life" like?
- Why do Africans, especially children, have a high happiness index despite impoverished states?
- Would you desire to reincarnate?
- Role of culture in human life.
- Is there human-like life on other planets?
- Mental health and its effect on living standards.
- How AI will impact life in the next century.
- What modern life custom is likely to fade over time?
- What trajectory would life have followed without the Internet?
- Distrust in long-distance relationships.
- Do clones have souls?
Philosophy Research Topics About Art
Art is a testament to the creative human spirit, which links art to philosophy. If you are a student of art, you may be given a list of philosophy topics to talk about. Check out the art philosophy paper topics provided below.
- Philosophical Ideas in Poetry and Architecture.
- Leonardo da Vinci's painting is the true philosophy of the Renaissance.
- Is photography an art?
- Literature and philosophy as applied in political criticism.
- Ideality in creativity as a manifestation of consciousness.
- Creativity and art as a window to a person's inner spiritual world.
- Artistic value vs aesthetic value.
- Relationship between knowledge and creativity.
- Philosophical aspects and art.
- How will NFT (non-fungible tokens) usage change the future of art?
- Is art simply a human spiritual activity or ritual?
- Thoughts on art's lack of rational reproducibility and its bias towards symbolism and figurative forms of expression and cognition.
- Philosophical exploration: The intersection between art, religion, and science.
- Historical evolution involving the relationships between philosophy and history.
- Existentialism as noted by A. Camus, G. Marcel, and J.P. Sartre.
Philosophy Research Topics From Experts
If you are interested in conducting research in your area of expertise, the following are current philosophical research topics that you can consider depending on your specialty. Looking through our compilation of expert philosophy topics can help you identify a research gap in your field to gain several philosophy paper ideas for your project.
- An ideal world consisting of liberalism and fascism in political ideas.
- Philosophy and mediation, according to Rene.
- A summary: Charles Pierce's fixation on belief.
- A summary of Buddhist philosophical ideals.
- The ethics involving free will.
- Post-Colonial and feminist philosophy.
- Aristotle's friendship conditions.
- Is there evidence for God's existence?
- John McTaggart's unreality of time.
- Apology by Crito and Plato.
- A well-paid task versus a passion.
- Life after death: What is the popular African viewpoint?
- Modern life values that foster peace.
- The most prominent bother that comes with loneliness.
- How do religions die?
Philosophy Thesis Topics
Formulating proper thesis topics in philosophical subjects can prove challenging. Get started on any one of the philosophy topics for a research paper or thesis presented to you in this post. Our expert writers keenly formulated every proposition in the listing containing topics in philosophy for your thesis.
- The robotics industry as seen from a philosophical angle.
- A situation where humans have considered things as facts without evidence.
- Views on artificial intelligence in philosophy.
- The American dream's implications.
- The classical Socratic method.
- Hate crimes and how to combat them.
- The remarkable life and death of Plato .
- Honor was a social concept in ancient Rome.
- What thoughts does the term "a life based on reason" invoke in your mind?
- What is the ideal education in the 21st century?
- Intuition is a human trait.
- The power associated with slogans.
- The flaws of fixation of belief.
- Family values and how they influence personal character development.
- Implications of time's relativity.
Bottom Line on Philosophy Research Paper Topics
This post is meant to provide both students and professionals with a resource where they can look up philosophy topics for a research paper. The importance of topic selection as a critical step in the writing process is evident. It influences the process that follows after leading up to your final grade or the quality of your final essay. As long as you pick an interesting and researchable topic, you are not likely to encounter extreme difficulties in your writing process. We hope that you have found the research topics in philosophy in this post helpful.
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How to Write a Philosophy Paper
- Develop a Thesis
- Formulate an Argument
- Structure & Outline
- Grammar & Style
Developing Your Thesis
What is a Thesis?
The thesis is the most important part of your paper; it tells the reader what your stance is on a particular topic and offers reasons for that stance.
Since the rest of your paper will be spent defending your thesis--offering support for the thesis and reasons why criticism of the thesis may not be valid--it's crucial that you develop a strong thesis.
A strong thesis will:
- Answer a question;
- Be engaging; it can be challenged or opposed, thus also defended;
- Pass the "so what? why should I care?" test;
- Be supported by your paper;
- Not be too broad nor too vague.
Source: Writing Guide for Philosophy. George Mason University.
Image source: Sergui Bacioiu. Ripple effect on water. CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.
Thesis Resources
- Developing Your Thesis An overview of writing a thesis statement with guided questions for evaluating the quality of your statement. Everettcc.
- How to Write a Thesis Statement Emphasizes the characteristics of a well-developed thesis statement. Indiana University.
- Thesis Statements "...describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can discover or refine one..." University of North Carolina.
- << Previous: Begin
- Next: Formulate an Argument >>
- Last Updated: Jan 22, 2024 10:48 AM
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1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology
Philosophy, One Thousand Words at a Time
Welcome to 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology , an ever-growing set of over 180 original 1000-word essays on philosophical questions, theories, figures, and arguments.
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Moral Education: Teaching Students to Become Better People by Dominik Balg
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The Mind-Body Problem: What Are Minds? by Jacob Berger
Seemings: Justifying Beliefs Based on How Things Seem by Kaj André Zeller
Form and Matter: Hylomorphism by Jeremy W. Skrzypek
Kant’s Theory of the Sublime by Matthew Sanderson
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Philosophy of Time: Time’s Arrow by Dan Peterson
W.D. Ross’s Ethics of “Prima Facie” Duties by Matthew Pianalto
Aristotle on Friendship: What Does It Take to Be a Good Friend? by G. M. Trujillo, Jr.
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Epistemic Justification: What is Rational Belief? by Todd R. Long
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The Meaning of Life: What’s the Point? and Meaning in Life: What Makes Our Lives Meaningful? by Matthew Pianalto
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Saving the Many or the Few: The Moral Relevance of Numbers by Theron Pummer
Philosophy of Space and Time: What is Space? and Philosophy of Space and Time: Are the Past and Future Real ? by Dan Peterson
What Is Misogyny? by Odelia Zuckerman and Clair Morrissey
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“Can They Suffer?”: Bentham on our Obligations to Animals by Daniel Weltman
Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas”: Would You Walk Away? by Spencer Case
Indoctrination: What is it to Indoctrinate Someone? by Chris Ranalli
Agnosticism about God’s Existence by Sylwia Wilczewska
African American Existentialism: DuBois, Locke, Thurman, and King by Anthony Sean Neal
Conspiracy Theories by Jared Millson
Philosophical Inquiry in Childhood by Jana Mohr Lone
Essay Categories
- Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
- Africana Philosophy
- Buddhist Philosophy
- Chinese Philosophy
- Epistemology, or Theory of Knowledge
- Historical Philosophy
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- Logic and Reasoning
- Metaphilosophy, or Philosophy of Philosophy
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- Philosophy of Race
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* New categories are added as the project expands.
Popular Essays
* This is a selection of some of our most popular essays.
Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” by Charles Miceli and Descartes’ Meditations by Marc Bobro
Marx’s Conception of Alienation by Dan Lowe
John Rawls’ ‘A Theory of Justice’ by Ben Davies
The Ethics of Abortion by Nathan Nobis
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“God is Dead”: Nietzsche and the Death of God by Justin Remhof
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Pascal’s Wager: A Pragmatic Argument for Belief in God by Liz Jackson
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New to philosophy?! Perhaps begin with these essays:
What is Philosophy? by Thomas Metcalf,
Critical Thinking: What is it to be a Critical Thinker? by Carolina Flores,
Arguments: Why Do You Believe What You Believe? by Thomas Metcalf, and
Is it Wrong to Believe Without Sufficient Evidence? W.K. Clifford’s “The Ethics of Belief” by Spencer Case.
We have resources for students on How to Write a Philosophical Essay and How to Read Philosophy by the Editors of 1000-Word Philosophy .
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Philosophy essay writing guide
Introduction.
This guide is intended to give new students of philosophy some preliminary advice about writing philosophy essays at university. For many of you, writing a philosophy essay will be something of a new experience, and no doubt many of you will be a little unsure of what to expect, or of what is expected of you. Most of you will have written essays in school for English, History, etc. A philosophy essay is something a little different again. However, it is not an unfathomable, mysterious affair, nor one where anything goes.
Just what a philosophy essay is will depend a lot, as you'd expect, on just what philosophy is. Defining philosophy is always a more or less controversial business, but one way to think of what is done in university philosophy departments is to think of the difference between having a philosophy and doing philosophy. Virtually everyone "has a philosophy" in the sense that we have many basic beliefs about the world and ourselves and use certain key concepts to articulate those beliefs. Many of us initially come to thus "have a philosophy" (or elements of several philosophies) often only unconsciously, or by following "what's obvious" or "what everybody knows", or by adopting a view because it sounds exciting or is intellectually fashionable.
"Doing philosophy", on the other hand, is a self-conscious unearthing and rigorous examination of these basic beliefs and key concepts. In doing so, we try to clarify the meanings of those beliefs and concepts and to evaluate critically their rational grounds or justification. Thus, rather than having their heads in the clouds, philosophers are really more under the surface of our thinking, examining the structures that support - or fail to support - those who trust that they have their feet on the ground. Such examination may even help to develop new and firmer ground.
Doing philosophy, then, begins with asking questions about the fundamental ideas and concepts that inform our ways of looking at the world and ourselves, and proceeds by developing responses to those questions which seek to gain insight into those ideas and concepts - and part of that development consists in asking further questions, giving further responses, and so on. Human beings across the world have been engaged in this sort of dialogue of question and response for many centuries - even millennia - and a number of great traditions of reflection and inquiry have evolved that have fundamentally influenced the development of religion, art, science and politics in many cultures. The influence of philosophical thinking on Western civilization, in particular, can be traced back more than 2,500 years to the Ancient Greeks.
In philosophy, a good essay is one that, among other things, displays a good sense of this dialectic of question and response by asking insightful, probing questions, and providing reasoned, well-argued responses. This means that you should not rest content with merely an unintegrated collection of assertions, but should instead work at establishing logical relations between your thoughts. You are assessed not on the basis of what you believe, but on how well you argue for the position you adopt in your essay, and on how interesting and insightful your discussion of the issues is. That is to say, you are assessed on how well you do philosophy, not on what philosophy you end up having. Nonetheless, you ought to make sure that your essay's discussion is relevant to the topic. (See Section 5.2 below on relevance.)
It is hoped that you enjoy the activity of essay writing. If you have chosen to study Arts, it is likely that you will have a particular interest in - even a passion for - ideas and the variety of forms and genres in which ideas are expressed and explored. The argumentative or discursive formal academic essay is one such form, and one which can be a pleasure to read and to write. Thus, the assessment that is set in philosophy courses is primarily an invitation to you to pursue what is already (or, hopefully, soon to be) your own interest in writing to explore ideas. However, your immediate goal in writing an academic philosophy essay ought not to be to write a personal testament, confession or polemic. Rather, you should primarily aim at articulating, clearly and relatively dispassionately, your philosophical thinking on the topic at hand. Nevertheless, the kind and degree of personal development one can gain from taking up the challenge to think and to write carefully, clearly and thoroughly is certainly something to be greatly valued.
This guide is intended to help you get started in the business of writing philosophy essays. As you practise your philosophical writing skills, you will develop your own technique, and learn what is appropriate in each particular case. So you may well come to "work around" many of these guidelines. Nonetheless, it is important that you pass through that which you seek to pass beyond.* In addition to your own writing, your reading of other philosophers will help you to develop your sense of what constitutes good philosophical writing. As you read, note the various styles and techniques that philosophical authors employ in their treatment of philosophical issues. Practice and studying good examples, then, are the most valuable ways to develop your essay writing skills.
This guide is, moreover, only one of many publications that introduce philosophy students to essay writing. Some others you may like to consult include:
- A. P. Martinich, Philosophical Writing, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1997)
- J. Feinberg and R. Shafer-Landau, Doing Philosophy: A Guide to the Writing of Philosophy Papers, 2nd ed. (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 2001)
- Z. Seech, Writing Philosophy Papers, 4th ed. (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 2003)
- R. Solomon, "Writing Philosophy", Appendix to his The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy, 6th ed. (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 2001)
- S. Gorovitz et al., Philosophical Analysis: An Introduction to its Language and Techniques, 3rd ed. (New York: Random House, 1979)
Also, the websites of many philosophy departments in universities around Australia and the world contain downloadable essay writing guides or links to them.
*This phrase is adapted from Jacques Bouveresse, "Why I am so very unFrench", in Alan Montefiore, ed., Philosophy in France Today (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), p. 12.
What do I do in a Philosophy essay?
Philosophy essay topics are not designed to provide an intellectual obstacle course that trips you up so as to delight a malicious marker. They are designed to invite you to "grapple with" with some particular philosophical problem or issue. That is to say, they are designed to offer you an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of a particular philosophical problem or issue, and to exhibit your own philosophical skills of analysis, argumentation, etc. These twin goals are usually best achieved by ensuring that your essay performs two basic functions (your understanding and your skills apply to both):
an exposition of the problem or issue in question (often as it is posed in some particular text); and a critical discussion of the problem or text
These two functions can, but need not always, correspond to physically or structurally distinct sections of your essay. See Section 5.1.
The expository ("setting forth") aspect of your essay is where you should make clear what the issue is and why it is an issue. Where you are dealing with an issue as it is presented in some particular text, your aim should be to make clear what it is that the author in question meant in their text, what they see as the issue and why they see it as an issue. This does not involve merely quoting or paraphrasing a text. Of course, occasional quotation and paraphrase may be appropriate - sometimes necessary - but these ought not to constitute the sole or major content of your exposition. Where you do quote or paraphrase, make sure you attribute your sources in footnotes or endnotes. (See Section 7.)
Exposition is, then, primarily a matter of developing in your own words what you think the issue is or what you think the text means. In all expository work you should always try to give a fair and accurate account of a text or problem, even when the exposition becomes more interpretive rather than simply descriptive. You ought to be patient and sympathetic in your exposition, even if you intend later to criticise heavily the philosopher in question. Indeed, the better the exposition in this regard, usually the more effective the critique.
An important part of exposition is your analysis of the text or issue. Here you should try to "break down" the text, issue or problem into its constitutive elements by distinguishing its different parts. (E.g. "There are two basic kinds of freedom in question when we speak of freedom of the will. First, … . Second, …", or "There are three elements in Plato's conception of the soul, namely... He establishes these three elements by means of the following two arguments... ") This also involves showing the relationships between those elements, relationships which make them "parts of the whole".
As well as laying out these elements within a text or issue, you can also (when appropriate or relevant) show how a text or issue "connects up with" other texts, issues, or philosophical and/or historical developments, which can help to shed further light on the matter by giving it a broader context. (eg "Freedom of the will is importantly connected to the justification of punishment", or "Plato's tripartite theory of the soul bears interesting resemblances to Freud's analysis of the psyche", or "Kant's transcendental idealism can be seen as reconciling the preceding rationalist and empiricist accounts of knowledge".)
An exposition of a text need not always simply follow the author's own view of what it means. You should, of course, demonstrate that you understand how the author themself understands their work, but an exposition can sometimes go beyond this, giving another reading of the text. (eg "Heidegger might deny it, but his Being and Time can be read as developing a pragmatist account of human understanding.") A given text or issue may well be susceptible to a number of plausible or reasonable interpretations. An exposition should aim to be sensitive to such variety. When appropriate, you should defend your interpretations against rivals and objections. Your interpretation ought, though, to be aimed at elucidating the meaning or meanings of the text or issue and not serve merely as a "coat-hanger" for presenting your own favoured views on the matter in question, which should be left to your ...
Critical discussion
This is where your thought gets more of the centre stage. Here you should attempt to develop a response to the issues which your exposition has made clear, and/or, in the case of a discussion of some particular text, attempt to give a critical appraisal of the author's treatment of the issue. In developing a response to a philosophical problem, argumentation is, again, of central importance. Avoid making unsupported assertions; back up your claims with reasons, and connect up your ideas so that they progress logically toward your conclusions. Consider some of the various objections to and questions about your views that others might or have put forward, and try to respond to them in defence of your own line of thinking. Your goal here should be to discuss what you have expounded so as to come to some conclusion or judgement about it. ("Critical" is derived from the Ancient Greek for "to decide, to judge".) Critical discussion is thus not necessarily "destructive" or "negative"; it can be quite constructive and positive.
In the case of a critical appraisal of a particular author's text, you can negatively criticise the author's arguments by pointing out questionable assumptions, invalid reasoning, etc. If, on the other hand, you think that the text is good, then your critical discussion can be positive. This can be done by revealing its "hidden virtues" (that is, by showing that there is more to the author's arguments and views than what lies on the surface) and/or by defending an author against possible and/or actual criticisms. (eg "Norman Malcolm argues that Descartes is mistaken in assuming that dreams and waking episodes have the same content.* However, Malcolm fails to appreciate the subtlety of Descartes' argument in the First Meditation, which allows Descartes to claim . . .") Just to expound an author's arguments and then say "I disagree" or "That seems right" is not really enough - you need to "have something to say" about it. Of course, by all means go on, after finding fault with some philosopher, to answer in your own way the questions tackled or raised by the author. (eg "Simone de Beauvoir's analysis of women's oppression in The Second Sex suffers from serious weaknesses, as I have shown in Section 2 above. A better way to approach the issue, I shall now argue, is to . . .".)
Where you are not primarily concerned with evaluating or responding to a particular text, your critical discussion can be more focused on your own constructive response to the issue. (eg "Having used Dworkin's account to clarify the meanings of the concepts of 'the sanctity of life' and 'voluntariness', I shall now argue that voluntary euthanasia is morally permissible because its voluntariness respects what is of value in the notion of the sanctity of life" - where you now leave Dworkin behind as a source and move on to give your own account.)
* See Norman Malcolm, "Dreaming and Skepticism", in Willis Doney, ed., Descartes: A Collection of Critical Essays (London: Macmillan, 1967), p. 56.
Guide to researching and writing Philosophy essays
5th edition by Steven Tudor , for the Philosophy program, University of Melbourne, 2003.
This fifth edition of How to Write a Philosophy Essay: A Guide for Students (previous editions titled A Guide to Researching and Writing Philosophy Essays ) was prepared in consultation with members of the Philosophy program, the University of Melbourne. For advice and assistance on this and earlier editions, thanks are due to Graham Priest, Barry Taylor, Christopher Cordner, Doug Adeney, Josie Winther, Linda Burns, Marion Tapper, Kimon Lycos, Brendan Long, Jeremy Moss, Tony Coady, Will Barrett, Brian Scarlett, and Megan Laverty. Some use was also made of materials prepared by the Philosophy Departments of La Trobe University, the University of Queensland, and The Australian National University.
Disclaimer: University, Faculty and program rules
Please note: this booklet does not provide authoritative statements of the official policies or rules of the University of Melbourne, the Faculty of Arts, or the Philosophy program with regard to student essays and examinations or any other matters. Students should, therefore, not rely on this booklet for such information, for which they should consult the various appropriate notice boards, handbooks, websites, and/or members of staff.
Essay topics
What do philosophy essay topics look like? There are, very roughly, two basic kinds of philosophy essay topics: "text-focused" topics and "problem-focused" topics. Text-focused topics ask you to consider some particular philosopher's writing on some issue. (eg "Discuss critically David Hume's account of causation in Part III of Book I of his A Treatise of Human Nature " or "Was Wittgenstein right to say that 'the meaning of a word is its use in the language', in his Philosophical Investigations, Sec. 43?"). Problem-focused topics are more directly about a particular philosophical problem or issue, without reference to any particular philosopher's text. (eg "Is voluntary euthanasia morally permissible?" or "What is scientific method?")
There is another sort of topic, one which presents a statement and asks you to discuss it, where that statement is a "made up" or, at least, unattributed quote. (eg. "'Without belief in God, people cannot be moral'. Discuss.") I shall regard these as variations of the problem-focused type of topic. Where you are asked to discuss some such statement "with reference to" some specified text or philosopher, then that topic becomes more text-focused. (eg "'Without belief in God, people cannot be moral'. Discuss with reference to J.L. Mackie's Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong. ") Occasionally, a topic presents an unattributed statement, but the statement is, in fact, a quote from a particular philosopher you've been studying, or, at least, a good paraphrase of their thinking. (An example of the latter: "'All the ideas in our minds originate from either sense perception or our reflection upon sensory information.' Discuss.", in a course devoted to John Locke, whose views are summed up in the quoted statement, though those words are not actually his.) Should you take such topics as problem- or text-focused? Rather unhelpfully, I'll say only that it depends on the case. You might ask your lecturer or tutor about it. Whichever way you do take it, be clear in your essay which way you are taking it.
The difference between text-focused and problem-focused essay topics is, however, not very radical. This is because, on the one hand, any particular philosopher's text is about some philosophical problem or question, while, on the other hand, most philosophical problems (certainly virtually all those you will be given as essay topics at university) will have been written about by previous philosophers.
The basic way to approach text-focused topics, then, is to treat the nominated text as an attempt by one philosopher to deal with a particular philosophical problem or issue. The essay topic will, generally speaking, be inviting you to do philosophy with that philosopher, to engage with them in thinking about the issue, whether that engagement proves to be as an ally or an adversary. The chosen text will usually be one which has been (or deserves to be) influential or significant in the history of philosophy, but the task is not to pay homage to past masters. But, even if homage is your thing, the best way to do that here is to engage with the master philosophically.
With regard to problem-focused topics, you will often find your exploration of the problem aided by taking some text or texts which have dealt with it as reference points or prompts. This is not always strictly necessary, but many of you starting out in philosophy will find it helpful to do so - it can help you give focus to your response to the question. (Thus, you might, in an essay on the topic "Is voluntary euthanasia morally permissible?" take it upon yourself to use, for example, Ronald Dworkin's Life's Dominion and Peter Singer's Practical Ethics as reference points. Or, in an essay on the topic "What is scientific method?", you might set up your answer via a comparison of the two different accounts in Karl Popper's The Logic of Scientific Discovery and Paul Feyerabend's Against Method.*) How will you know which texts to adopt as reference points or prompts, if none is mentioned in the essay topic itself? One way is to consider what texts have already been mentioned with regard to the topic in your course reading guide and in lectures and tutorials. Another way is to do some of your own research. On this see Section 4 below.
* In this guide, in giving examples of how to go about answering an essay question, I am not necessarily giving any concrete or reliable advice for any particular topic. The examples are primarily to do with the form or style or strategy you might find helpful.
Researching your essay
To do research for your philosophy essay you need to do only two things: read and think. Actually, for problem-focused essays, thinking is the only truly necessary bit, but it's highly likely that you will find your thinking much assisted if you do some reading as well. Philosophical research at university is a little different to research in most other disciplines (especially the natural sciences), in that it is not really about "collecting data" to support or refute explanatory theories. Rather, the thinking that's involved in philosophical research (as part of one's preparation for philosophical writing) is more a matter of reflecting critically upon the problems in front of one. Researching the writings of other philosophers should, therefore, be primarily directed towards helping you with that reflection rather than aiming at gathering together and reporting on "the relevant findings" on a particular topic. In many other disciplines, a "literature review" is an important research skill, and sometimes philosophy academics do such reviews - but it is rare that philosophy students are asked to do one.
What, then, to read? It should be clear from your lectures and tutorials what some starting points for your reading might be. (All courses provide reading guides; many also have booklets of reading material.) Your tutor and lecturer are also available for consultation on what readings you might begin with for any particular topic in that subject. Independent research can also uncover useful sources, and evidence of this in your essay can be a pleasing sign of intellectual independence. Make sure, though, that what you come up with is relevant to the topic. (See Section 5.2 below on relevance.) Whichever way you proceed, your reading should be purposive and selective.
In the case of essay questions that refer to a particular text, you should familiarise yourself thoroughly with this text. Usually, such a text will be a primary text, i.e. one in which a philosopher writes directly about a philosophical issue. Texts on or about a primary text are called secondary texts. (Many philosophical works will combine these two tasks, and discuss other philosophical texts while also dealing directly with a philosophical issue.) Some secondary texts can be helpful to students. However, don't think you will only ever understand a primary text if you have a nice friendly secondary text to take you by the hand through the primary text. More often than not, you need to have a good grasp of the primary text in order to make sense of the secondary text.
How much to read? The amount of reading you do should be that which maximises the quality of your thinking - that is, you should not swamp yourself with vast slabs of text that you can't digest, but nor should you starve your mind of ideas to chew over. There is, of course, no simple rule for determining this optimal amount. Be wary, though, of falling into the vice of looking for excuses not to read some philosopher or text, as in "Oh, that's boring old religious stuff" or "She's one of those obscure literary feminist types", or "In X Department they laugh at you if you mention those authors in tutes". If someone wants a reason not to think, they'll soon come up with one.
Philosophical writings
Most philosophical writings come in either of two forms: books or articles. Articles appear either in books that are edited anthologies or in academic journals, such as Philosophical Quarterly or Australasian Journal of Philosophy. Some academic journals are also on the internet. Most articles in the journals are written by professional philosophers for professional philosophers; similarly with many books. But by no means let this put you off. Everyone begins philosophy at the deep end - it's really the only kind there is!
There are, however, many books written for student audiences. Some of these are general introductions to philosophy as a whole; others are introductions to particular areas or issues (eg biomedical ethics or philosophy of science). Among the general introductions are various philosophical dictionaries, encyclopedias and "companions". These reference works collect short articles on a wide range of topics and can be very useful starting points for newcomers to a topic. Among the most useful of the general reference works are:
- Edward Craig, ed., The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (10 vols.) (London: Routledge, 1998)
- Paul Edwards, ed., The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (8 vols.) (New York: Macmillan, 1967)
- Robert Audi, ed., The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999)
- Ted Honderich, ed., The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995)
- Simon Blackburn, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996)
- Thomas Mautner, ed., The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy (London: Penguin, 1998)
- J.O. Urmson and Jonathan Ree, eds., The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers (London: Routledge, 1993)
- Edward N. Zalta, ed., The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (an internet-based reference work: plato.stanford.edu/ )
Note taking
Note taking, like your reading, should not be random, but ought to be guided by the topic in question and by your particular lines of response to the issues involved. Note taking for philosophy is very much an individual art, which you develop as you progress. By and large it is not of much use to copy out reams of text as part of your researches. Nor is it generally helpful to read a great number of pages without making any note of what they contain for future reference. But between these two extremes it is up to you to find the mean that best helps you in getting your thoughts together.
Libraries and electronic resources
The University's Baillieu Library (including the Institute of Education Resource Centre), which is open to all members of the University, contains more than 2,500 years' worth of philosophical writings. The best way to become acquainted with them is by using them, including using the catalogues (including the Baillieu's on-line catalogues and subject resources web-pages), following up a work's references (and references in the references), intelligent browsing of the shelves, etc.
In the main Baillieu Library, the philosophical books are located (mostly) between 100–199 in the Dewey decimal system, and philosophical journals are located in the basement. The Reference section on the ground floor also has some relevant works. The Education Resource Centre also has a good philosophy collection.
In addition to hard-copy philosophical writings, there is also a variety of electronic resources in philosophy, mostly internet-based. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy was already mentioned above. Links to other useful internet sites (such as the Australasian Association of Philosophy website) can be found through the Baillieu Library's web-page and the Philosophy Department's web-page.
A strong word of warning, however, for the would-be philosophical web-surfer: because anyone can put material on a website, all kinds of stuff, of varying levels of quality, is out there - and new-comers to philosophy are usually not well placed to sort their way through it. Unless you have a very good understanding of what you're looking for - and what you're not looking for - most of you will be much better off simply carefully reading and thinking about a central text for your course, eg Descartes' First Meditation, rather than wandering about the internet clicking on all the hits for "Descartes". Exercise your mind, not your index finger.
Writing your essay
Planning and structuring your essay.
It is very important that you plan your essay, so that you have an idea of what you are going to write before you start to write it. Of course, you will most likely alter things in later drafts, but you should still start off by having a plan. Planning your essay includes laying out a structure. It is very important that your essay has a clearly discernible structure, ie that it is composed of parts and that these parts are logically connected. This helps both you and your reader to be clear about how your discussion develops, stage by stage, as you work through the issues at hand.
Poor essay structure is one of the most common weaknesses in student philosophy essays. Taking the time to work on the structure of your essay is time well spent, especially since skill in structuring your thoughts for presentation to others should be among the more enduring things you learn at university. A common trap that students fall into is to start their essay by writing the first sentence, then writing another one that seems to follow that one, then another one that sort of fits after that one, then another that might or might not have some connection with the previous one, and so on until the requisite 1,500 words are used up. The result is usually a weak, rambling essay.
There are, of course, no hard and fast rules about how to structure a philosophy essay. Again, it is a skill you develop through practice, and much will depend on the particular topic at hand. Nonetheless, it might be helpful to begin by developing an essay structure around the basic distinction between your exposition and your critical discussion (as discussed above). In this it will be important that you make clear who is putting forward which point, that is, make it clear whether you are presenting your own thoughts or are expounding someone else's. (Again, confusion in this regard is a common problem in student essays.) It can often help your structuring if you provide headings for different sections (possibly numbered or lettered). Again, this helps both your reader to follow your discussion and you to develop your thoughts. At each stage, show clearly the logical relations between and the reasons for your points, so that your reader can see clearly why you say what you say and can see clearly the development in your discussion.
Another key to structuring your essay can be found in the old adage "Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em. Tell 'em. Then tell 'em what you've told 'em", which provides you with a ready-made structure: Introduction, Main Body, and Conclusion.
In your Introduction, first introduce the issues the essay is concerned with. In doing so, try to state briefly just what the problem is and (if there is space) why it is a problem. This also applies, of course, to issues covered in text-focused essay topics. Next, tell the reader what it is that you are going to do about those problems in the Main Body. This is usually done by giving a brief sketch or overview of the main points you will present, a "pre-capitulation", so to speak, of your essay's structure. This is one way of showing your reader that you have a grasp (indeed, it helps you get a grasp) of your essay as a structured and integrated whole, and gives them some idea of what to expect by giving them an idea of how you have decided to answer the question. Of course, for reasons of space, your Introduction might not be very long, but something along these lines is likely to be useful.
In your Main Body, do what you've said you'll do. Here is where you should present your exposition(s) and your critical discussion(s). Thus, it is here that the main philosophical substance of your essay is to be found. Of course, what that substance is and how you will present it will depend on the particular topic before you. But, whatever the topic, make clear at each stage just what it is you are doing. You can be quite explicit about this. (eg "I shall now present Descartes' ontological argument for the existence of God, as it is presented in his Fifth Meditation. There will be three stages to this presentation.") Don't think that such explicitness must be a sign of an unsophisticated thinker.
A distinct Conclusion is perhaps not always necessary, if your Main Body has clearly "played out" your argument. So you don't always have to present a grand summation or definitive judgement at the end. Still, often for your own sake, try to state to yourself what it is your essay has achieved and see if it would be appropriate to say so explicitly. Don't feel that you must come up with earth-shattering conclusions. Of course, utter banality or triviality are not good goals, either. Also, your essay doesn't always have to conclude with a "solution" to a problem. Sometimes, simply clarifying an issue or problem is a worthy achievement and can merit first-class honours. A good conclusion to a philosophy essay, then, will usually combine a realistic assessment of the ambit and cogency of its claims with a plausible proposal that those claims have some philosophical substance.
What you write in your essay should always be relevant to the question posed. This is another common problem in student essays, so continually ask yourself "Am I addressing the question here?" First-class answers to a question can vary greatly, but you must make sure that your essay responds to the question asked, even if you go on to argue that the question as posed is itself problematic. (eg "To ask ‘What is scientific method?' presupposes that science follows one basic method. However, I shall argue that there are, in fact, several different scientific methods and that these are neither unified nor consistent.") Be wary, however, of twisting a topic too far out of shape in order to fit your favoured theme. (You would be ill-advised, for example, to proceed thus: "What is scientific method? This is a question asked by many great minds. But what is a mind? In this essay, I shall discuss the views of Thomas Aquinas on the nature of mind.")
This requirement of relevance is not intended as an authoritarian constraint on your intellectual freedom. It is part of the skill of paying sustained and focused attention to something put before you - which is one of the most important skills you can develop at university. If you do have other philosophical interests that you want to pursue (such as Aquinas on mind), then please do pursue them, in addition to writing your essay on the set topic. At no stage does the requirement of relevance prevent you from pursuing your other interests.
Citing Philosophical "Authorities"
There might be occasions when you want to quote other philosophers and writers apart from when you are quoting them because they are the subject of your essay. There are two basic reasons why you might want to do this. First, you might quote someone because their words constitute a good or exemplary expression or articulation of an idea you are dealing with, whether as its proponent, critic, or simply its chronicler. (eg "As Nietzsche succinctly put the point, 'There are no moral phenomena at all, only a moral interpretation of phenomena'.*") You may or may not want to endorse the idea whose good expression you have quoted, but simply want to use the philosopher as a spokesperson for or example of that view. But be clear about what you think the quote means and be careful about what you are doing with the quote. It won't do all the work for you.
The second reason you might want to quote a philosopher is because you think their words constitute an "authoritative statement" of a view. Here you want to use the fact that, eg Bertrand Russell maintained that there are two kinds of knowledge of things (namely, knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description) in support of your claim that there are two such kinds of knowledge of things. However, be very careful in doing this, for the nature of philosophical authority is not so simple here. That is to say, what really matters is not that Bertrand Russell the man held that view; what matters are his reasons for holding that view. So, when quoting philosophers for this second reason, be careful that you appreciate in what exactly the authority lies - which means that you should show that you appreciate why Russell maintained that thesis. Of course, you can't provide long arguments for every claim you make or want to make use of; every essay will have its enabling but unargued assumptions. But at least be clear about these. (eg "For the purposes of this essay, I shall adopt Russell's thesis* that ...").
* Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, trans. R.J. Hollingdale (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973 [first German ed.1886]), Sec. 108.
* See Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967 [first pub. 1912]), Ch. 5.
Philosophy is by its nature a relatively abstract and generalising business. (Note that abstractness and generality are not the same thing. Nor do vagueness and obscurity automatically attend them.) Sometimes a longish series of general ideas and abstract reasonings can become difficult for the reader (and often the writer) to follow. It can often help, therefore, to use some concrete or specific examples in your discussion. (Note that there can be different levels of concreteness and specificity in examples.)
Examples can be taken from history, current events, literature, and so on, or can be entirely your own invention. Exactly what examples you employ and just how and why you use them will, of course, depend on the case. Some uses might be: illustration of a position, problem or idea to help make it clearer; evidence for, perhaps even proof of, a proposition; a counter-example; a case-study to be returned to at various points during the essay; or a problem for a theory or viewpoint to be applied to. Again, be clear about what the example is and how and why you use it. Be careful not to get distracted by, or bogged down in, your examples. Brevity is usually best.
English expression
There's another old saying: "If you can't say what you mean, then you can't mean what you say" - and this very much applies to philosophical writing. Thus, in writing philosophically, you must write clearly and precisely. This means that good philosophical writing requires a good grasp of the language in which it is written, including its grammar and vocabulary. (See Section 9.3 for advice for people from non-English speaking backgrounds.) A high standard of writing skills is to be expected of Arts graduates. Indeed, this sort of skill will last longer than your memory of, for example, the three parts of the Platonic soul (though it is also hoped that some of the content of what you study will also stick). So use your time at university (in all your subjects) to develop these skills further.
Having a mastery of a good range of terms, being sensitive to the subtleties of their meaning, and being able to construct grammatically correct and properly punctuated sentences are essential to the clear articulation and development of your thoughts. Think of grammar, not as some old-fashioned set of rules of linguistic etiquette, but rather as the "internal logic" of a sentence, that is, as the relationships between the words within a sentence which enable them to combine to make sense.
Virtually all sentences in philosophical writing are declarative (ie. make statements), as opposed to interrogative, imperative or exclamatory types of sentences. There is some place, though, for interrogative sentences, ie. questions. (Note that, in contrast, this guide, which is not in the essay genre, contains many imperative sentences, ie. commands.) As you craft each (declarative) sentence in your essay, remember the basics of sentence construction. Make clear what the sentence is about (its subject) and what you are saying about it (the predicate). Make clear what the principal verb is in the predicate, since it is what usually does the main work in saying something about the subject. Where a sentence consists of more than one clause (as many do in philosophical writing), make clear what work each clause is doing. Attend closely, then, to each and every sentence you write so that its sense is clear and is the sense you intend it to have. Think carefully about what it is you want each particular sentence to do (in relation to both those sentences immediately surrounding it and the essay as a whole) and structure your sentence so that it does what you want it to do. To help you with your own sentence construction skills, when reading others' philosophical works (or indeed any writing) attend closely to the construction of each sentence so as to be alive to all the subtleties of the text.
Good punctuation is an essential part of sentence construction. Its role is to help to display the grammar of a sentence so that its meaning is clear. As an example of how punctuation can fundamentally change the grammar and, hence, meaning of a sentence, compare (i) "Philosophers, who argue for the identity of mind and brain, often fail to appreciate the radical consequences of that thesis." and (ii) "Philosophers who argue for the identity of mind and brain often fail to appreciate the radical consequences of that thesis." In the first sentence it is asserted (falsely, as it happens) that all philosophers argue for the identity of mind and brain; in the second, only some philosophers are said to argue for the identity of mind and brain. Only the punctuation differs in the two strings of identical words, and yet the meanings of the sentences are very different. Confusions over this sort of thing are common weaknesses in student essays, and leave readers asking themselves "What exactly is this student trying to say?"
It will be assumed that you can spell - which is not a matter of pressing the "spell-check" key on a word-processor. A good dictionary and a good thesaurus should always be within reach as you write your essay.
Also, try to shorten and simplify sentences where you can do so without sacrificing the subtlety and inherent complexity of the discussion. Where a sentence is becoming too long or complex, it is likely that too many ideas are being bundled up together too closely. Stop and separate your ideas out. If an idea is a good or important one, it will usually deserve its own sentence.
Your "intra-sentential logic" should work very closely with the "inter-sentential logic" of your essay, ie. with the logical relations between your sentences. (This "inter-sentential logic" is what "logic" is usually taken to refer to.) For example, to enable sentences P and Q to work together to yield sentence R as a conclusion, you need to make clear that there are elements within P and Q which connect up to yield R. Consider the following example: "Infanticide is the intentional killing of a human being. However, murder is regarded by all cultures as morally abhorrent. Therefore, people who commit infanticide should be punished." This doesn't work as an argument, because the writer has not constructed sentences which provide the connecting concepts in the various subjects and predicates, even though each sentence is grammatically correct (and possibly even true).
If you are concerned to write not only clearly and precisely, but also with some degree of grace and style (and I hope you are), it's still best to get the clarity and precision right first, in a plain, straightforward way, and then to polish things up afterwards to get the style and grace you want. But don't sacrifice clarity and precision for the sake of style and grace - be prepared to sacrifice that beautiful turn of phrase if its presence is going to send your discussion down an awkward path of reasoning. Aim to hit the nail on the head rather than make a loud bang. What you are likely to find, however, is that a philosophy essay which really is clear and precise will have a large measure of grace and style in its very clarity and precision.
Remember that obscurity is not a sign of profundity. (Some profound thought may well be difficult to follow, but that doesn't mean that one can achieve profundity merely through producing obscure, difficult-to-read writing.) Your marker is interested in what's actually in your essay, not what's possibly inside your head (or indeed what's possibly in some book you happen to have referred to in your essay). So avoid hinting at or alluding suggestively to ideas, especially where they are meant to do some important work in your essay. Instead, lay them out explicitly and directly. Of course, you won't have space to spell out every single idea, so work out which ideas do the most important work and make sure that you at least get those ideas clearly articulated. In expounding a text or problem that ultimately just is vague, muddled, or obscure, try to convey such vagueness, muddle or obscurity clearly, rather than simply reproducing it in your own writing. That is, be clear that and how a text or problem has such features, and then perhaps do your best to make matters clearer.
Despite these stern pronouncements, don't be afraid of sometimes saying things which happen to sound a little odd, if you have tried various formulations and think you have now expressed your ideas just as they should be expressed. Philosophy is often an exploratory business, and new ways of seeing and saying things can sometimes be a part of that exploration.
The need for clarity and precision in philosophical writing sometimes means that you need to stipulate your own meaning for a term. When you want to use a particular word in a particular way for the purposes of your essay - as a "technical term" - be clear about it. (eg "In this essay, I shall intend ‘egoism' to mean ...") Also, be consistent in your technical meanings, or else note when you are not. Be wary, though, of inventing too many neologisms or being too idiosyncratic in your stipulations.
With regard to what "authorial pronoun" to adopt in a philosophy essay, it's standard to write plainly in the first person singular ("I", "me", "my", etc.) rather than use the royal "we" (as in "we shall argue that ..."), or the convoluted quasi-legal indirect form ("It is submitted that ..."), or the scientific objectivity of a physics experimental report. Nonetheless, stick closer to "I argue", "I suggest", "my definition", etc., than to "I wish", "I hate", "my feeling", etc. A philosophy essay is still something more intellectual and formal than a personal reminiscence, polemic, or proclamation. In terms of audience, it's probably best to think of your reader as someone who is intelligent, open to discussion and knows a little about the topic you're writing on, but perhaps is not quite clear or decided about the issues, or needs convincing of the view you want to put forward, or is curious about what you think about the issues.
Try also to use non-discriminatory language, ie. language which does not express or imply inequality of worth between people on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and so on. As you write, you will be considering carefully your choice of words to express your thoughts. You will almost always find that it is possible to avoid discriminatory language by rephrasing your sentences.
Other things to avoid:
- waffle and padding
- vagueness and ambiguity
- abbreviations (this guide I'm writing isn't an eg. of what's req'd. in a phil. essay)
- colloquialisms (which can really get up your reader's nose)
- writing whose syntax merely reflects the patterns of informal speech
- unnecessary abstractness or indirectness
- unexplained jargon
- flattery and invective
- overly-rhetorical questions (do you really need me to tell you what they are?) and other flourishes
There are many guides to good writing available. Anyone who writes (whether in the humanities or the sciences, whether beginners or experienced professionals) will do well to have some on hand. Most good bookshops and libraries will have some. Among the most consulted works are (check for the latest editions):
- J. M. Williams and G. C. Colomb, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995)
- W. Strunk and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 4th ed. (New York: Longman, 2000)
- E. Gowers, The Complete Plain Words, 3rd ed. (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1987)
- R. W. Burchfield, ed., The New Fowler's Modern English Usage (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996)
- Pam Peters, The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1995)
- Australian Government Publishing Service, Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers, 5th ed. (Canberra: AGPS, 1995)
Vocabulary of logical argument
Closely related to the above points about English expression is the importance of having a good grasp of what can rather generally be called "the vocabulary of logical argument". These sorts of terms are crucial in articulating clearly and cogently a logical line of argument. Such argumentation will, of course, be of central importance in whatever discipline you are studying, indeed in any sphere of life that requires effective thinking and communication. I have in mind terms such as these (grouped a little loosely):
all, any, every, most, some, none, a, an, the that, this, it, he, she, they if . . . , then. . . ; if and only if . . . , then . . . ; unless either . . . or . . .; neither . . . nor . . . not, is, are therefore, thus, hence, so, because, since, follows, entails, implies, infer, consequence, conditional upon moreover, furthermore which, that, whose and, but, however, despite, notwithstanding, nevertheless, even, though, still possibly, necessarily, can, must, may, might, ought, should true, false, probable, certain sound, unsound, valid, invalid, fallacious, supported, proved, contradicted, rebutted, refuted, negated logical, illogical, reasonable, unreasonable, rational, irrational assumption, premise, belief, claim, proposition argument, reason, reasoning, evidence, proof
Most of these are quite simple terms, but they are crucial in argumentative or discursive writing of all kinds. (Many are themselves the subject of study in logic, a branch of philosophy). The sloppy use of these sorts of terms is another common weakness in students' philosophy essays. Pay close and careful attention to how you employ them. Moreover, pay close and careful attention to how the authors you read use them. For further discussion of some of these terms and others, see:
- Basic Philosophical Vocabulary, prepared by the staff of the Philosophy Department and available from the programs Office
- Wesley C. Salmon, Logic, 2nd ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1973)
- Antony Flew, Thinking About Thinking (London: Fontana, 1985)
- Graham Priest, Logic: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
- Joel Rudinow and Vincent E. Barry, Invitation to Critical Thinking, 4th ed. (Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace, 1999)
Revising your essay
It is virtually essential that you write a first draft of your essay and then work on that draft to work towards your finished essay. Indeed, several drafts may well be necessary in order to produce your best possible work. It is a rare philosopher indeed who can get things perfectly right on the first attempt, so be prepared to revise and re-develop what you write. Don't be too precious about what you have written, if it appears that it should be sacrificed in the revision process. There is usually a very marked difference between essays which are basically first draft rush-jobs done the night before they are due and those which have been revised and polished. Give yourself time to revise by starting writing early on. For most philosophy students, the greater part of the work in essay writing is in the writing, not in the preliminary researches and planning stages. So be wary of thinking "I've done all the research. I only need to write up my notes, which I can do the night before the essay's due". This is likely to lead to a weak, perhaps non-existent, essay (and very likely a sleepless night).
Stick to the word limit given for your essay. Why are word limits imposed? First, to give the markers a fair basis for comparing student essays. Second, to give you the opportunity to practise the discipline of working creatively under constraints. Skill in this discipline will stand you in very good stead in any sphere where circumstances impose limitations. Again, word limits are not constraints on your intellectual freedom. Outside your essay you are free to write without limit. But even there you'll probably find that your creativity is improved by working under a self-imposed discipline.
As a general rule, most student essays that fall well short of the word limit are weak or lazy attempts at the task, and most essays that go well over the limit are not much stronger or the result of much harder work - the extra length is often due to unstructured waffle or padding which the writer hasn't thought enough about so as to edit judiciously. If you structure your essay clearly, you'll find it easier to revise and edit, whether in order to contract or expand it. ("Hmm, let's see: section 2 is much longer than section 4, but is not as important, so I'll cut it down. And I should expand section 3, because that's a crucial step. And I can shift that third paragraph in the Introduction to the Conclusion.")
Plagiarism and originality
Plagiarism is essentially a form of academic dishonesty or cheating. At university level, such dishonesty is not tolerated and is dealt with severely, usually by awarding zero marks for a plagiarised essay or, in some cases, dismissing a student from the university.
When you submit your essay, you are implicitly stating that the essay is your own original and independent work, that you have not submitted the same work for assessment in another subject, and that where you have made use of other people's work, this is properly acknowledged. If you know that this is not in fact the case, you are being dishonest. (In a number of university departments, students are in fact required to sign declarations of academic honesty.)
Plagiarism is the knowing but unacknowledged use of work by someone else (including work by another student, and indeed oneself - see below) and which is being presented as one's own work. It can take a number of forms, including:
- copying : exactly reproducing another's words
- paraphrasing : expressing the meaning of another's words in different words
- summarising : reproducing the main points of another's argument
- cobbling : copying, paraphrasing or summarising the work of a number of different people and piecing them together to produce one body of text
- submitting one's own work when it has already been submitted for assessment in another subject
- collusion : presenting an essay as your own independent work when in fact it has been produced, in whole or part, in collusion with one or more other people
None of the practices of copying, paraphrasing, summarizing or cobbling is wrong in itself, but when one or more is done without proper acknowledgment it constitutes plagiarism. Therefore, all sources must be adequately and accurately acknowledged in footnotes or endnotes. (See Section 7.) Plagiarism from the internet in particular can be a temptation for a certain kind of student. However, be warned: there is a number of very good internet and software tools for identifying plagiarism.
With regard to collusion, it's undoubtedly often very helpful to discuss one's work with others, be it other students, family members, friends or teachers. Indeed, philosophy thrives on dialogue. However, don't kid yourself that you would simply be extending that process if you were to ask your interlocutor to join with you in the writing of your essay, whether by asking them to tell you what you should write or to write down some of their thoughts for you to reproduce in your essay. At the end of the day, you must be the one to decide what goes into your essay.
Originality
Students sometimes worry about whether they will be able to develop "original ideas", especially in light of the fact that nearly every philosophical idea one comes up with seems to have been thought of before by someone else. There is no denying that truly original work in philosophy is well rewarded, but your first aim should be to develop ideas that you think are good and not merely different. If, after arguing for what you believe is right, and arguing in way that you think is good, you then discover that someone else has had the same idea, don't throw your work away - you should feel vindicated to some extent that your thinking has been congruent with that of another (possibly great) philosopher. (If you have not yet handed your essay in when you make this discovery, make an appropriately placed note to that effect.) Don't be fooled, however, into thinking that plagiarism can be easily passed off as congruent thinking. Of course, if that other philosopher's ideas have helped you to develop your ideas, then this is not a matter of congruent ideas but rather of derivative ideas, and this must be adequately acknowledged. If, after developing your ideas, you discover that they are original, then that is an added bonus. But remember that it is more important to be a good philosopher than an original one.
Quotations, footnotes, endnotes and bibliography
Quotations in your essay should be kept to a minimum. The markers know the central texts pretty well already and so don't need to have pages thereof repeated in front of them. Of course, some quotation will usually be important and useful - sometimes essential - in both exposition and critical discussion.
When you quote the words of someone else directly, you must make the quotation clearly distinct from your own text, using quotation marks . (eg "Descartes said that 'it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once.'* He makes this claim …" - where the words quoted from Descartes are in 'single quotation marks'. Note that it is relatively arbitrary whether one uses 'single' or "double" quotation marks for "first order" quotations, but whichever style you adopt, use it consistently in the one essay.) Alternatively, where the quoted passage is greater than three lines, put the quoted words in a separate indented paragraph , so that your essay would look like this:
In his First Meditation , Descartes argues as follows:
Whatever I have up till now accepted as most true I have acquired either from the senses or through the senses. But from time to time I have found that the senses deceive, and it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once.* In this essay I shall argue that prudence does not in fact require us to distrust our senses and that Descartes's sceptical method is therefore seriously flawed.
In both cases, the quotations must be given proper referencingin a footnote or endnote.
When you are not quoting another person directly, but are still making use of their work - as in indirect quotations (eg "Descartes says that it is wise not to trust something that has deceived us before"*), paraphrases, summaries, and cobblings - you must still acknowledge your debts, using footnotes or endnotes.
* Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy , trans. John Cottingham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986 [first French ed., 1641]), p. 12.
Footnotes and endnotes
Footnotes appear at the foot of the same page on which the cited material appears, clearly separated from the main body of the text, each one clearly numbered. Endnotes appear at the end of the essay, again clearly separated from the main body of text, numbered and headed "Endnotes" or "Notes". Either method is acceptable, but you should choose one and stick with it throughout the one essay.
Below are some examples of how to put the relevant referencing information in footnotes and endnotes. This is not intended as an exercise in pedantry, but as a guide to how to provide the information needed for adequate referencing. The reason we provide this information is to enable our readers to find the sources we use in order to verify them and to allow them to pursue the material further if it interests them. In your own researches you will come to value good referencing in the texts you read as a helpful source of further references on a topic. Again, it is this sort of research skill that an Arts graduate will be expected to have mastered.
There are various conventions for writing up footnotes and endnotes. The Philosophy Department does not require that any particular convention be followed, only that you be consistent in your use of the convention that you do choose. For other conventions see the style guides mentioned above, or simply go to some texts published by reputable publishers and see what formats they employ.
Imagine, then, that the following are endnotes at the end of your essay. I will explain them below.
- James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy , 2nd ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993), p. 25.
- Philippa Foot, "Moral Relativism", in Michael Krausz and Jack W. Meiland, eds., Relativism: Cognitive and Moral (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1982), p. 155.
- Ibid., p. 160.
- Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, trans. H. J. Paton (New York: Harper and Row, 1964 [first German ed., 1785]), p. 63.
- Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, (London: Dent, 1973 [first pub. 1651]),p. 65.
- Rachels, The Elements, p. 51.
- Peter Winch, "The Universalizability of Moral Judgements", The Monist 49 (1965), p. 212.
- Antony Duff, "Legal Punishment", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2001 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2001/entries/legal-punishment/ at 15 June 2003, sec. 6.
Notes explained
- This is your first reference to a book called The Elements of Moral Philosophy. The title is given in full and in italics. If you are unable to use italics, then you should underline the title. The book's author is James Rachels. It's the 2nd edition of that book, which was published in New York, by the publishers McGraw-Hill, in 1993. The page you have referred to in your main text is page 25
- This is your first reference to Philippa Foot's article, "Moral Relativism", the title of which is put in "quotation marks". This article appeared in a book (title in italics) which is an anthology of different articles, and which was edited by Krausz and Meiland (names in full). The rest is in the same style as note (1)
- "Ibid." is short for "ibidem", which means "in the same place" in Latin. Use it on its own when you want to refer to exactly the same work and page number as in the immediately preceding note. So here the reference is again to Foot's article at page 155
- Ditto, except this time you refer to a different page in Foot's article, namely page 160
- This is reference to a book by Kant. Same book details as per note (1), except that, because this is a translation, you include the translator's name, and the date of the first edition in the original language
- This is a book reference again, so it's the same as note (1), except that, because it's an old book, you include the date of the original edition. (How old does a book have to be before it merits this treatment? There is no settled view. Note, though, that this convention is not usually followed for ancient authors)
- Here you are referring to Rachels' book again, but, because you are not in the very next note after a reference to it, you can't use "ibid.". Simply give the author's surname and a short title of the book, plus page reference. There is also a common alternative to this, whereby you give the surname, and write "op. cit." (which is short for "opere citato", which is Latin for "in the work already cited") and page reference (eg "Rachels, op. cit., p. 51.") Your reader then has to scan back over the notes to see what that "op." was exactly. The first option (author plus short title) is usually easier on the reader
- This is a reference to an article by Peter Winch in a journal called The Monist. The article's title is in "quotes", the journal title is in italics. The volume of the journal is 49, the year of publication is 1965, the page referred to is p. 212
- This is a reference to an article in the internet-based Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The article is titled "Legal Punishment" and was written by Antony Duff. The Encyclopedia was edited by Edward N. Zalta. Note that I have basically followed the mode of citation that the Encyclopedia itself recommends. (This is one sign of the site being a reputable one. Where a site makes such a recommendation, it's best to follow it.) I have, however, also added the date on which the article was retrieved from the site, and put the author's given name first, to be consistent with the other footnotes. I have also added the reference to section 6, in an effort to be more precise as to where in the article the material I used came from. Since web pages aren't numbered in the manner of hard copy works, it will help if you are able to refer to some other feature, such as paragraphs or sections, so as to pin-point your reference. In the absence of a site recommending a mode of citation to its own material, the basic information needed for adequate citation of internet-based material is (where identifiable) the author, the document title, the year the document was created, the website name, the uniform resource locator (URL) in <arrow-brackets>, date of retrieval, and a pin-point reference*
* I am here following the mode of citation of internet materials recommended in Melbourne University Law Review Association Inc, Australian Guide to Legal Citation , 2nd ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Law Review Association Inc, 2002), pp. 70-73. I have, though, added the desirability of a pin-point reference.
Bibliography
At the end of your essay (after your endnotes, if used) you should list in a bibliography all of the works referred to in your notes, as well as any other works you consulted in researching and writing your essay. The list should be in alphabetical order, going by authors' surnames. The format should be the same as for your notes, except that you drop the page references and should put surnames first. So the bibliography of our mock-essay above would look like this:
- Duff, Antony, "Legal Punishment", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2001 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2001/entries/legal-punishment/ at 15 June 2003
- Foot, Philippa, "Moral Relativism", in Michael Krausz and Jack Meiland, eds., Relativism: Cognitive and Moral (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1982)
- Hobbes, Thomas, Leviathan (London: Dent, 1973 [first pub.1651])
- Kant, Immanuel, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals , trans. H.J. Paton (New York: Harper and Row, 1964 [first German ed. 1785])
- Rachels, James, The Elements of Moral Philosophy , 2nd ed., (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993)
- Winch, Peter, "The Universalizability of Moral Judgements", The Monist 49 (1965)
Presentation of essays and seeking advice
Generally, you should present an essay that is legible (hand-writing is OK, but typed or word-processed essays are preferable), in English, on one side of pieces of paper that are somewhere in the vicinity of A4 size and are fixed together . You should attach a completed Cover Sheet provided by the Philosophy program. Plastic document covers, spiral binding and other forms of presentational paraphernalia are not necessary (nor are they usually even desirable, as they mostly just get in the marker's way).
Late essays
Late essays are penalised . (For details of penalties consult the Philosophy program's notice board.)
Essays not handed in
Essays not handed in at all get zero marks. An essay that is handed in but gets a mark below 50 (and so is technically a "failed" essay) still gets some marks. (At least, it will so long as it's not so extremely late that the deducted marks wipe out all the marks it would have received if handed in on time.) All marks received for your essay (whether pass or fail) go toward your final score in the subject. Therefore, even if you think your essay is bound to fail (but please let your marker be the judge of that), or the due date has already passed, or both, it is still in your interests to hand your essay in .
Tutors and lecturers
Philosophy staff are not there just to be listened to by you; they are also there to listen to you. So don't hesitate to contact your tutor or lecturer to discuss questions or problems you have concerning your work.
If you have a legitimate excuse, you may be granted an extension on the due date for your essay by the lecturer in charge. Similarly, special consideration may also be granted when illness or other circumstances adversely affect your work. Applications for special consideration are made online via the Special Consideration web page.
Student counselling
Some personal or non-philosophical academic difficulties you might have you might want to discuss with someone other than your tutor or lecturer. Student Counselling and Psychological Services are there for you to discuss all sorts of problems you might encounter. Please consult your student diary for details on the counselling service.
English language assistance
As noted above, good philosophical writing requires a good grasp of the language in which it is written. If you are from a non-English speaking background and are having difficulties with your English expression in an academic context, you might like to make use of the services provided by Student Services Academic Skills . Many native English speakers, too, can benefit from short "refresher" courses and workshops run by the Centre. Please consult your student diary for details about this service.
A bit on Philosophy exams
Essays of the sort discussed so far in this guide are not the only form of assessment in the Philosophy program - examinations are also set. What is to be said about them?
First, not much that is different from what's been said above about philosophy essays. This is because what you write in a philosophy exam is none other than a philosophy essay . Have a look at past philosophy exam papers, in the Gibson and Baillieu libraries, to get a feel for them. The only basic difference between essays and exams is the matter of what constraints you're working under. Essays have word limits; exams have time limits . Again, stick to them. (Actually, you'll be made to stick to them by the exam invigilators.)
It's best, then, to think about how long to spend writing on an exam essay topic, rather than about how many words to write on it. Simple arithmetic will tell you how much time to spend on each exam question. (eg if you have a 2-hour exam and have to answer 3 questions, each worth one-third of the exam mark, then spend 40 minutes on each question.) Avoid the trap of "borrowing time" from a later question in order to perfect your answer to an earlier question, and then working faster on the later questions to catch up on lost time - this is likely to get you in a tangle. There are no word limits in philosophy exam essays, but don't think that the more you scrawl across the page, the more marks you'll get. Nonetheless, use the time you've got so as to maximise your display of your philosophical understanding and skills in answering the question.
Planning and structuring remain very important in exam essays. With regard to the niceties of footnotes, endnotes and bibliographies, etc., these are not necessary, so don't waste time on these. However, if you quote or refer to a specific passage from a text, do indicate clearly that it is a quotation or reference. (The principle of being clear as to who is saying what remains central.) If you have the reference handy, just put it briefly in the text of your exam essay. (eg "As Descartes says in Meditation I (p. 12), . . ." or "'[I]t is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once' (Descartes, Meditation I, p. 12)".) Generally speaking, you will show your familiarity with any relevant texts by how you handle them in your discussion. This is also true for your non-exam essays.
Your preparation for the exam should have been done well before entering the exam hall. Note that various subjects have restrictions on what texts and other items can be brought into the exam hall. (Consult the Philosophy program's notice board for details.) Many subjects will have "closed book" exams. Even if an exam is "open book", if you are properly prepared, you should not need to spend much time at all consulting texts or notes during the exam itself.
You won't have time for redrafting and revising your exam essay (which makes planning and structuring your answers before you start writing all the more important). If you do want to delete something, just cross it out clearly. Don't waste time with liquid paper or erasers. Write legibly . Don't wr. "point form" sav. time. Diff. kn. mean. use incomp. sent.
Finally, read the instructions at the beginning of the exam paper. They are important. (eg it's not a good strategy to answer two questions from Part A, when the Instructions tell you to answer two questions, one from Part A and one from Part B.) Note the (somewhat quaint) University practice of starting Reading Time some time before the stated time for the exam. Philosophy exams usually have 15 minutes of reading time. (Check for each of your exams.) So, if your exam timetable says the exam is at 2.15 pm, with reading time of 15 minutes, then the reading time starts at 2.00 pm and the writing time starts at 2.15pm - so get to the exam hall well before 2.00 pm. Reading time is very important. Use it to decide which questions you'll answer and to start planning your answers.
Checklist of questions
- Do I understand the essay question ? Do I know when the essay is due ?
- Do I know which texts to consult? Do I know where to find them?
- Have I made useful notes from my reading of the relevant texts?
- Have I made a plan of how I'll approach the question in my essay?
- Have I given myself enough time to draft and redraft my essay?
- Have I written a clearly structured essay? Is it clear what each stageis doing? Do I do what I say I'll do in my Introduction?
- Have I clearly distinguished exposition and critical discussion ? Have I given a fair and accurate account of the author(s) in question?
- Is my response to the topic relevant ? Do I answer the question? Have I kept my essay within the general bounds of the topic?
- Have I displayed a good grasp of the vocabulary of logical argument ? Are my arguments logically valid and sound? Are my claims supported by reasons ? Am I consistent within my essay?
- Is my English expression clear and precise ? Are my grammar, punctuation and spelling correct? Have I said what I meant to say? Is my writing legible?
- Have I fully acknowledged all my sources in footnotes or endnotes? Are my quotations accurate? Have I included a bibliography ?
- Do I need to revise any part of my essay again?
- Have I made a copy or photocopy of my essay for myself?
- Have I kept the receipt for my handed-in essay?
Guide on How to Choose Philosophy Paper Topics
If you get lucky, you'll be able to choose philosophy paper topics instead of having to handle the complex prompts suggested by your tutors. At the same time, you need to pick topics very carefully to write a quality philosophy paper.
As an excellent philosophy essay is argumentative or persuasive in most cases, we recommend following these principles of topic choice from our custom term paper writing service .
How to Choose the Right Idea for a Philosophy Essay
The basic rule to follow when choosing philosophy essay topics is evaluating your knowledge about a discussed problem and the number of available sources to work with. We also recommend that you read definition essay topics .
Here is several more hint to make the right choice:
- Study classroom discussions and notes
Take notes during your classes. It helps to pick philosophy essay topics related to what you study.
- Come up with a list of options
Put down the best philosophy essay topics that you have to analyze on a separate sheet of paper. Look through them and decide which of the issues you can cover in-depth.
- Create content to persuade
The philosophy papers should explain why the prospected dispute is critical. Include some philosophical judgments to support your idea.
- Select something you have an opinion about
Your argument will sound bad in case you select the question you have no interest in.
- Choose a problem you can see both sides of
Do not be narrow-minded: it is up to you to pick a topic that has two sides, just like a coin. An opposite problem could be a good idea to discuss in a philosophical work. View the subject from multiple perspectives to have a stronger case while refuting the opposition.
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Good Philosophy Paper Topics
The tips above alone could be insufficient to understand how a great title for a philosophy essay should sound. Our write my dissertation service has listed philosophy paper topics to help students with their choices.
5 Easy Philosophy Research Paper Topics
If you are a freshman having no idea which theme to choose, we suggest that you take a look at these easy to write philosophy research paper topics.
- Reasons why animals inhabit this planet
- Missions that every man should accomplish during his life
- Are males and females that different as media present them?
- Causes and effects of living in a dream
- Why do I prefer blond hair?
Interesting Philosophy Paper Topics for Essay Writing
If you have a deep interest in studying philosophy, you may offer more unique issues to observe. Think about covering one of the following philosophy essay topics:
- Select a preferred account of specific particulars (e.g., alternative version or the Aristotelian theory) and interpret the concept of particular details that it endorses.
- Explain what the slingshot argument is and discuss its key assumptions
- What is the relation of exemplification?
- Offer and evaluate one of the claims adduced by Loux in support of Metaphysical realism
- Discuss Austere Nominalism with the help of a single argument of your choice
5 Political Philosophy Paper Topics
Most often, students will have to cover political philosophy paper topics in a thoughtful piece of writing. These topics might work:
- The pros & cons of violent and non-violent resistance/revolution
- Socialism VS Capitalism on unplanned and planned economics
- Locke VS Thoreau on the question of property
- Cultural unity VS multicultural plurality
- Bentham VS Mill on Utilitarianism
Easy Philosophy Paper Topics
There are some philosophy topics that are widespread and thus easy to write on:
- The Game Theory by J. von Neumann
- How does language influence people?
- Knowledge and imagination: what is prevalent?
- A prior and a posteriori
- The gens and how they influence people's behavior
Fun Philosophy Paper Topics
Sure thing, philosophy is a serious subject, but some topics may be funny to write essays on. Here are some examples.
- How do AI helpers like Siri or Alice affect our lives?
- Is there a human being without society? According to L.Tolstoi.
- The influence of comedies and dramas on human life perception.
- Does existentialism make sense in the 21 century?
- Extraterrestrial life: pieces of evidence and whether governments should reveal them to everyone.
Excellent Philosophy Essay Topics
- Is there a life after death? Discuss and prove with arguments.
- Family file traditions and principles.
- To Lie or not to lie? Discuss the cases when lying may be helpful.
- What is a perfect life?
- Is it possible to always be happy?
Interesting Philosophy Topics
- Ageism in 18 and 21 centuries.
- Feminism and religion.
- The use of genetic engineering research and how it affects our life
- How useful can preserving cultural heritage be?
- How important is achieving self-development?
After you choose the topic, do not forget to consult your tutor. Ask whether the issue is acceptable to discuss in your upcoming excellent philosophy essay. Now that we have an idea about how to select the right, we can move on to the next stage of crafting a good philosophy paper, which is writing a strong thesis statement.
If you want to pay someone to write your essay , contact us. Our professionals provide psychology, law, history essay help , or any other.
Discover How to Write a Thesis for a Philosophy Paper
If you wonder how to start a philosophy paper, think about a compelling thesis first. So, what is a thesis statement? A thesis is a central argument to defend. Compared to other types of essays, in a philosophy paper, a student often has to analyse the thesis offered by the distinguished author. Let's jump right to how to write a thesis statement for a philosophy paper.
When writing a thesis statement, you may decide which strategy to choose to support the claim of some philosopher:
- Interpret the thesis statement
- Propose an argument to support the thesis
- Come up with an objection
- Defend against a complaint to the thesis
- Assess points for and against the principal claim
- Think about the possible outcomes
- Define if some other argument commits one to the thesis
- Decide whether some different positions can be held consistently with the main argument
The last few options are more challenging than the first several, but such strategies make the paper much more interesting to read. It is more difficult to object one's opinion than defend it. A writer should find a defence versus the criticism of other sides, search for exact reasons to reject the theory of another person, include numerous counter-examples, and operate with credible data to object.
Anyway, here are some things to keep in mind that will help to support the thesis no matter which strategy you choose for your writing process:
- Add examples from both sources and real life;
- Compare & contrast the weak and strong points of the central argument;
- Make the thesis more plausible by offering alternative theories — show your objectivity;
- Imagine what would happen if the thesis - key arguments - were correct;
- Find out if some philosophers are committed to the argument by personal views;
- Proofread & edit the thesis several times to make sure it is specific, narrow, concise, compelling, reasonable, and has a hint concerning the rest of the paper.
Do you still wonder how to write a good thesis? How about the examples of thesis statements that could help you? Look at them to have an idea:
“I have to argue that Singer's thesis should be revised in light of Steve's criticism, but not entirely. I want to offer an improved version of Singer's central argument… And I should admit that this updated version avoids Steve's rejections. My final mission is to protect the updated thesis statement against other possible objections.”
“I should argue that if the fetus is an individual who possesses a right to live, abortion is moral even though it might not be viewed as an ethical activity. The fetus has no right to use the female's organism without her tacit consent. If the woman gets pregnant after a violent sexual act, she has all the moral rights to get rid of the fetus with the help of abortion.”
“I disagree with most of the positions that do not support the death penalty in this state. The one who took away the life of another one does not deserve to live. Murderers and papers should not be set free even after ages spent in jail as nothing can change a human being. By letting the serious criminals out, we put the lives of our children under threat!”
A Few Words About Evidence
Having proper evidence to support your claim is the critical success factor when it comes to writing a philosophy paper . Philosophers always find something to debate even when they leave empirical questions aside. On the one hand, what type of empirical evidence would be required to solve the problem might itself appear as a non-empirical issue that philosophers study. On the other hand, philosophers spend plenty of time discussing how various arguments are logically interconnected. An essential tool to use when rationalizing your statement is a reductio ad absurdum .
What Is Reductio ad Absurdum?
A reductio ad absurdum is an argument that aims to show how several views cannot be held consistently with each other. It may also point that even though a few ideas are consistent with each other, together, they entail an implausible final claim. Reductio allows having exact reasons to disagree with at least one of the offered premises.
Example of a Question-Begging
Another type of argument for your philosophical writing is a question-begging one . Here is how it looks like:
Keep in mind that ambitious terms like “religious experiences,” in our case, are a common issue, and can mask other pitfalls.
Another Way to Classify Arguments
It is possible to categorize arguments for the philosophy paper in a different way. The more popular division is deductive and non-deductive arguments.
A deductive argument is one that insists on the truth of the conclusion in case the premises are all true. An example could be, “They released 10,000 tickets for the Sweden Rock Festival. There will be no extra tickets, and the time is limited for all users to purchase them online. Thus, my chance of getting one ticket is 1 in 10,000.”
A non-deductive argument is one that states that there is just a high degree of probability for the conclusion. For instance, “All cats that I have ever met in my life will love playing with humans. Buffy is a cat. Therefore, Buffy will probably like playing with me.”
Checklist to Start a Philosophy Paper
- Study discussions and notes that you have made in a classroom
- Create a list of philosophy essay topics
- Explain why disputes are critical
- Select a topic you have an opinion about, and you can see both sides of its problem
- Choose a central argument to defend and write a thesis statement
- Find proper evidence to support your claim
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Daniel Parker
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2.6 Writing Philosophy Papers
Learning objectives.
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Identify and characterize the format of a philosophy paper.
- Create thesis statements that are manageable and sufficiently specific.
- Collect evidence and formulate arguments.
- Organize ideas into a coherent written presentation.
This section will provide some practical advice on how to write philosophy papers. The format presented here focuses on the use of an argumentative structure in writing. Different philosophy professors may have different approaches to writing. The sections below are only intended to give some general guidelines that apply to most philosophy classes.
Identify Claims
The key element in any argumentative paper is the claim you wish to make or the position you want to defend. Therefore, take your time identifying claims , which is also called the thesis statement. What do you want to say about the topic? What do you want the reader to understand or know after reading your piece? Remember that narrow, modest claims work best. Grand claims are difficult to defend, even for philosophy professors. A good thesis statement should go beyond the mere description of another person’s argument. It should say something about the topic, connect the topic to other issues, or develop an application of some theory or position advocated by someone else. Here are some ideas for creating claims that are perfectly acceptable and easy to develop:
- Compare two philosophical positions. What makes them similar? How are they different? What general lessons can you draw from these positions?
- Identify a piece of evidence or argument that you think is weak or may be subject to criticism. Why is it weak? How is your criticism a problem for the philosopher’s perspective?
- Apply a philosophical perspective to a contemporary case or issue. What makes this philosophical position applicable? How would it help us understand the case?
- Identify another argument or piece of evidence that might strengthen a philosophical position put forward by a philosopher. Why is this a good argument or piece of evidence? How does it fit with the philosopher’s other claims and arguments?
- Consider an implication (either positive or negative) that follows from a philosopher’s argument. How does this implication follow? Is it necessary or contingent? What lessons can you draw from this implication (if positive, it may provide additional reasons for the argument; if negative, it may provide reasons against the argument)?
Think Like a Philosopher
The following multiple-choice exercises will help you identify and write modest, clear philosophical thesis statements. A thesis statement is a declarative statement that puts forward a position or makes a claim about some topic.
- How does Aristotle think virtue is necessary for happiness?
- Is happiness the ultimate goal of human action?
- Whether or not virtue is necessary for happiness.
- Aristotle argues that happiness is the ultimate good of human action and virtue is necessary for happiness.
- René Descartes argues that the soul or mind is the essence of the human person.
- Descartes shows that all beliefs and memories about the external world could be false.
- Some people think that Descartes is a skeptic, but I will show that he goes beyond skepticism.
- In the meditations, Descartes claims that the mind and body are two different substances.
- Descartes says that the mind is a substance that is distinct from the body, but I disagree.
- Contemporary psychology has shown that Descartes is incorrect to think that human beings have free will and that the mind is something different from the brain.
- Thomas Hobbes’s view of the soul is materialistic, whereas Descartes’s view of the soul is nonphysical. In this paper, I will examine the differences between these two views.
- John Stuart Mill reasons that utilitarian judgments can be based on qualitative differences as well as the quantity of pleasure, but ultimately any qualitative difference must result in a difference in the quantity of pleasure.
- Mill’s approach to utilitarianism differs from Bentham’s by introducing qualitative distinctions among pleasures, where Bentham only considers the quantitative aspects of pleasure.
- J. S. Mill’s approach to utilitarianism aligns moral theory with the history of ethics because he allows qualitative differences in moral judgments.
- Rawls’s liberty principle ensures that all people have a basic set of freedoms that are important for living a full life.
- The US Bill of Rights is an example of Rawls’s liberty principle because it lists a set of basic freedoms that are guaranteed for all people.
- While many people may agree that Rawls’s liberty principle applies to all citizens of a particular country, it is much more controversial to extend those same basic freedoms to immigrants, including those classified by the government as permanent residents, legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, and refugees.
[ANS: 1.d 2.c 3.c 4.a 5.c]
Write Like a Philosopher
Use the following templates to write your own thesis statement by inserting a philosopher, claim, or contemporary issue:
- [Name of philosopher] holds that [claim], but [name of another philosopher] holds that [another claim]. In this paper, I will identify reasons for thinking [name of philosopher]’s position is more likely to be true.
- [Name of philosopher] argues that [claim]. In this paper, I will show how this claim provides a helpful addition to [contemporary issue].
- When [name of philosopher] argues in favor of [claim], they rely on [another claim] that is undercut by contemporary science. I will show that if we modify this claim in light of contemporary science, we will strengthen or weaken [name of philosopher]’s argument.
Collect Evidence and Build Your Case
Once you have identified your thesis statement or primary claim, collect evidence (by returning to your readings) to compose the best possible argument. As you assemble the evidence, you can think like a detective or prosecutor building a case. However, you want a case that is true, not just one that supports your position. So you should stay open to modifying your claim if it does not fit the evidence . If you need to do additional research, follow the guidelines presented earlier to locate authoritative information.
If you cannot find evidence to support your claim but still feel strongly about it, you can try to do your own philosophical thinking using any of the methods discussed in this chapter or in Chapter 1. Imagine counterexamples and thought experiments that support your claim. Use your intuitions and common sense, but remember that these can sometimes lead you astray. In general, common sense, intuitions, thought experiments, and counterexamples should support one another and support the sources you have identified from other philosophers. Think of your case as a structure: you do not want too much of the weight to rest on a single intuition or thought experiment.
Consider Counterarguments
Philosophy papers differ from typical argumentative papers in that philosophy students must spend more time and effort anticipating and responding to counterarguments when constructing their own arguments. This has two important effects: first, by developing counterarguments, you demonstrate that you have sufficiently thought through your position to identify possible weaknesses; second, you make your case stronger by taking away a potential line of attack that an opponent might use. By including counterarguments in your paper, you engage in the kind of dialectical process that philosophers use to arrive at the truth.
Accurately Represent Source Material
It is important to represent primary and secondary source material as accurately as possible. This means that you should consider the context and read the arguments using the principle of charity. Make sure that you are not strawmanning an argument you disagree with or misrepresenting a quote or paraphrase just because you need some evidence to support your argument. As always, your goal should be to find the most rationally compelling argument, which is the one most likely to be true.
Organize Your Paper
Academic philosophy papers use the same simple structure as any other paper and one you likely learned in high school or your first-year composition class.
Introduce Your Thesis
The purpose of your introduction is to provide context for your thesis. Simply tell the reader what to expect in the paper. Describe your topic, why it is important, and how it arises within the works you have been reading. You may have to provide some historical context, but avoid both broad generalizations and long-winded historical retellings. Your context or background information should not be overly long and simply needs to provide the reader with the context and motivation for your thesis. Your thesis should appear at the end of the introduction, and the reader should clearly see how the thesis follows from the introductory material you have provided. If you are writing a long paper, you may need several sentences to express your thesis, in which you delineate in broad terms the parts of your argument.
Make a Logical and Compelling Case Using the Evidence
The paragraphs that follow the introduction lay out your argument. One strategy you can use to successfully build paragraphs is to think in terms of good argument structure. You should provide adequate evidence to support the claims you want to make. Your paragraphs will consist of quotations and paraphrases from primary and secondary sources, context and interpretation, novel thoughts and ideas, examples and analogies, counterarguments, and replies to the counterarguments. The evidence should both support the thesis and build toward the conclusion. It may help to think architecturally: lay down the foundation, insert the beams of your strongest support, and then put up the walls to complete the structure. Or you might think in terms of a narrative: tell a story in which the evidence leads to an inevitable conclusion.
Connections
See the chapter on logic and reasoning for a developed account of different types of philosophical arguments.
Summarize Your Argument in the Conclusion
Conclude your paper with a short summary that recapitulates the argument. Remind the reader of your thesis and revisit the evidence that supports your argument. You may feel that the argument as written should stand on its own. But it is helpful to the reader to reinforce the argument in your conclusion with a short summary. Do not introduce any new information in the conclusion; simply summarize what you have already said.
The purpose of this chapter has been to provide you with basic tools to become a successful philosophy student. We started by developing a sophisticated picture of how the brain works, using contemporary neuroscience. The brain represents and projects a picture of the world, full of emotional significance, but this image may contain distortions that amount to a kind of illusion. Cognitive illusions produce errors in reasoning, called cognitive biases. To guard against error, we need to engage in effortful, reflective thinking, where we become aware of our biases and use logical strategies to overcome them. You will do well in your philosophy class if you apply the good habits of mind discussed in this chapter and apply the practical advice that has been provided about how to read and write about philosophy.
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Welcome to PhilPapers
Results of 2020 PhilPapers Survey posted 2021-11-01 by David Bourget We've now released the results of the 2020 PhilPapers Survey, which surveyed 1785 professional philosophers on their views on 100 philosophical issues. Results are available on the 2020 PhilPapers Survey website and in draft article form in " Philosophers on Philosophy: The 2020 PhilPapers Survey " . Discussion is welcome in the PhilPapers Survey 2020 discussion group .
Political philosophy
C L R James and America
The brilliant Trinidadian thinker is remembered as an admirer of the US but he also warned of its dark political future
Harvey Neptune
Thinkers and theories
Rawls the redeemer
For John Rawls, liberalism was more than a political project: it is the best way to fashion a life that is worthy of happiness
Alexandre Lefebvre
Knowledge is often a matter of discovery. But when the nature of an enquiry itself is at question, it is an act of creation
Céline Henne
History of ideas
All that we are
The philosophy of personalism inspired Martin Luther King’s dream of a better world. We still need its hopeful ideas today
Bennett Gilbert
Paper trails
Husserl’s well-tended archive has given him a rich afterlife, while Nietzsche’s was distorted by his axe-grinding sister
Peter Salmon
Philosophy of mind
Do plants have minds?
In the 1840s, the iconoclastic scientist Gustav Fechner made an inspired case for taking seriously the interior lives of plants
Rachael Petersen
Beyond the veil – what rules would govern John Rawls’s ‘realistic Utopia’?
A rare female scholar of the Roman Empire, Hypatia lived and died as a secular voice
Metaphysics
The enchanted vision
Love is much more than a mere emotion or moral ideal. It imbues the world itself and we should learn to move with its power
Mark Vernon
Philosophy is an art
For Margaret Macdonald, philosophical theories are akin to stories, meant to enlarge certain aspects of human life
Simple entities in universal harmony – Leibniz’s evocative perspective on reality
Our tools shape our selves
For Bernard Stiegler, a visionary philosopher of our digital age, technics is the defining feature of human experience
Bryan Norton
Stories and literature
Terrifying vistas of reality
H P Lovecraft, the master of cosmic horror stories, was a philosopher who believed in the total insignificance of humanity
Sam Woodward
A man beyond categories
Paul Tillich was a religious socialist and a profoundly subtle theologian who placed doubt at the centre of his thought
Social psychology
The magic of the mundane
Pioneering sociologist Erving Goffman realised that every action is deeply revealing of the social norms by which we live
Lucy McDonald
For Iris Murdoch, selfishness is a fault that can be solved by reframing the world
Against power
As a republican, Sophie de Grouchy argued that sympathy, not domination, must be the glue that holds society together
Sandrine Bergès & Eric Schliesser
‘My art is oratory, Socrates.’ An ancient warning on the power and peril of rhetoric
What awaits us?
Humanity’s future remains as unthinkable as the still-uncolonised galaxy or the enduring mystery of our own births and deaths
Jennifer Banks
On knowing who he was
Alan Watts, for all his faults, was a wildly imaginative and provocative thinker who reimagined religion in a secular age
Christopher Harding
We’ll meet again
The intrepid logician Kurt Gödel believed in the afterlife. In four heartfelt letters to his mother he explained why
Alexander T Englert
Dancing and time
For Rachel Bespaloff, philosophy was a sensual activity shaped by the rhythm of history, embodied in an instant of freedom
Isabel Jacobs
War and peace
The two Chomskys
The US military’s greatest enemy worked in an institution saturated with military funding. How did it shape his thought?
Chris Knight
Comparative philosophy
Forging philosophy
A 17th-century classic of Ethiopian philosophy might be a fake. Does it matter, or is that just how philosophy works?
Jonathan Egid
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Types of Philosophy Thesis Topics. Discuss the role of aesthetics in the study of philosophy. How epistemology has contributed to the growth in philosophical literature. Elaborate the role of ethics on the survivability of a society. How logic has been crucial in making rational decisions in a man.
If you can't find a topic you like from this list, just give us a call, email us, or send us a message via chat. We can direct you to a qualified philosophy expert writer to create a custom list of philosophical ideas to fit your assignment needs. This set of 100 research paper topics for projects in philosophy covers a wide range of areas ...
More Philosophy Dissertation Research Topics. Topic 1: Why we should stop capital punishment and adopt permanent solutions to help solve crimes. Topic 2: Should people always obey the rules? A closer look at the line between breaking rules and rebellion. Topic 3: Loneliness: Reconstructing its meaning.
n philosophical writing:Avoid direct quotes. If you need to quote, quote sparingly, and follow your quotes by expla. ning what the author means in your own words. (There are times when brief direct quotes can be helpful, for example when you want to present and interpret a potential amb.
Here are several philosophy topics for essays that deal with Plato's beliefs and the timeless heritage. For example: The Theory of Forms: Understanding Plato's Concept of Reality Plato's Allegory of the Cave: Interpretations and Implications Justice in Plato's Republic: An Analysis of His Ideal State ...
doubt what your thesis is. Provide a "roadmap" somewhere at the start of your paper explaining th. key steps of your argument. Guide your reader throu. h each step of your roadmap. Explicitly signal when you move from one step to another, and explain how each step s. argument.o Content clarity Define or explain every technical t.
Theses/Dissertations from 2021. PDF. Hegel and Schelling: The Emptiness of Emptiness and the Love of the Divine, Sean B. Gleason. PDF. Nietzsche on Criminality, Laura N. McAllister. PDF. Learning to be Human: Ren 仁, Modernity, and the Philosophers of China's Hundred Days' Reform, Lucien Mathot Monson. PDF.
Tie ideas to ethical systems, epistemology, metaphysics, etc. Craft a unique thesis - Stake out your own position within existing debates. Offer a novel argument or approach using evidence. Explain complex ideas clearly - Use concise, precise, and plain language when appropriate without oversimplifying concepts. Define terms.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Linguistics and Philosophy 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 32-D808 Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA p: 1.617.253.4141
Table 6: Dissertations from 1969-1960. Name. Year. Title. Mentor. Michael Didoha. 1969. Conceptual Distortion and Intuitive Creativity: A Study of the Role of Knowledge in the Thought of Nicholas Berdyaev. Wilfred Desan.
Philosophy Thesis Topics. Formulating proper thesis topics in philosophical subjects can prove challenging. Get started on any one of the philosophy topics for a research paper or thesis presented to you in this post. Our expert writers keenly formulated every proposition in the listing containing topics in philosophy for your thesis.
A senior thesis is a substantial piece of philosophical work undertaken at the undergraduate level during the senior (final) year of study. Theses are intended to serve as the culmination of a period of focused study of a topic, problem, theme, or idea within philosophy. It is the result of thorough research conducted by the student under the ...
In philosophy papers, your thesis will state a position or claim. The thesis is the most important part of your paper; it tells the reader what your stance is on a particular topic and offers reasons for that stance. Since the rest of your paper will be spent defending your thesis--offering support for the thesis and reasons why criticism of ...
A compare and contrast paper has a thesis, but supports it through a compare and contrast process. Compare and contrast papers can be directed towards many different parts of philosophy. For example, you may be asked to compare and contrast the ideas of specific philosophers, ideas in philosophical movements, or ideas in specific books or articles.
Welcome to 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology, an ever-growing set of over 180 original 1000-word essays on philosophical questions, theories, figures, and arguments.. We publish new essays frequently, so please check back for updates, follow us on Facebook, Twitter / X, and Instagram, and subscribe by email on this page to receive notifications of new essays.
Guide to researching and writing Philosophy essays. 5th edition by Steven Tudor, for the Philosophy program, University of Melbourne, 2003. This fifth edition of How to Write a Philosophy Essay: A Guide for Students (previous editions titled A Guide to Researching and Writing Philosophy Essays) was prepared in consultation with members of the ...
The basic rule to follow when choosing philosophy essay topics is evaluating your knowledge about a discussed problem and the number of available sources to work with. We also recommend that you read definition essay topics. Here is several more hint to make the right choice: Study classroom discussions and notes. Take notes during your classes.
Identify and characterize the format of a philosophy paper. Create thesis statements that are manageable and sufficiently specific. Collect evidence and formulate arguments. Organize ideas into a coherent written presentation. This section will provide some practical advice on how to write philosophy papers.
St Andrews is one of the leading international centres for philosophy in Britain. We offer graduate teaching at a level that matches the best graduate programmes elsewhere in the world, in a wide area of philosophy and the history of philosophy. ... This thesis defends that to better grasp the nature of human belief and why imagining can lead ...
PhilPapers is a comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy maintained by the community of philosophers. We monitor all sources of research content in philosophy, including journals, books, and open access archives.We also host the largest open access archive in philosophy.Our index currently contains 2,635,796 entries categorized in 5,942 categories.
A 17th-century classic of Ethiopian philosophy might be a fake. Does it matter, or is that just how philosophy works? Philosophy Essays from Aeon. World-leading thinkers explore life's big questions and the history of ideas from Socrates to Simone de Beauvoir, political philosophy to philosophy of mind, the Western canon and the non-Western ...
Agency machine: motives, levels of confidence and metacognition . Hall, Jonathan. J. (The University of Edinburgh, 2024-06-26) In this thesis I aim to advance philosophical understanding of human agency, and resolve some knotty philosophical puzzles, by engaging in a novel fine-grained analysis of conative and cognitive phenomenology.
A Thesis Fair takes place in the first weeks of the academic year where students can get in contact with possible supervisors and discuss possible research topics with them. The Thesis Fair will take place on Monday 9 October '23 this year. 2. The first appointment with your supervisor.