What makes a good first-year philosophy essay?
Summary: • It focuses on the way arguments are put together • It has a clear thesis and a logical structure Karen: Writing in Philosophy is much more precise than writing in some other disciplines. It focuses more on the structure of arguments than on information you gather on a topic. We do not require a vast bibliography, but where articles are cited, we like citations to be to the precise page in which an argument occurs. It is quite possible for a very good and long philosophy essay to be written about a quite short argument. In philosophy, we value analytical skills which focus on finding ambiguities in arguments, discussion of the plausibility of the premises, recognition of the implications of accepting the argument as a good one, and counter-arguments which show that arguments which look plausible are not valid (that is to say their conclusions do not follow from their premises). Graham: A good essay will have a clearly identified thesis that will be argued for – and a logical
