Guidelines on Paper Writing

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Guidelines on Paper Writing
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Topics

• Basic Information
• Topic Selection
• Format
• Organization and Content
• Writing Process
• References

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Basic Information

• Purpose
• To examine a controversial issue related to
  science and philosophy and argue for your own
  position.
• Weight 100
• Words
• Chinese (3700-4000 words, punctuation marks
  included) or English (2000-2200 words). Excluding
  Abstract and Bibliography.
• Typed but not hand-written. Word-count at the
  end.
• Due date
• ______ 2008 ( __ weeks after the last class, 22
  May).

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• Method of submission
• Send it by post to me through the Department of
  Philosophy, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
  The date of submission is as given by the
  postmark.
• Remarks
• i. Important notice about plagiarism and late
  submission from the Student Handbook
• ii. It is strongly suggested that the planning of
  the paper be carried out earlier so that good
  ideas would be given enough time to develop.

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• Marking criteria (roughly in the order of
  importance wrt this course)
• Grammatical correctness, clarity, conciseness,
  preciseness of expression
• E.g. proof-reading
• Rigour of reasoning and correct application of
  argumentative skills
• E.g. the difference between self-contradiction
  and self-defeating
• Quality of philosophical content
• E.g. significance and originality of ideas
• Academic profile
• E.g. format and structure

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Topic Selection

• Selection criteria
• Related to science and philosophy
• Confirm with me.
• Topic suggestions see lecture notes.
• Controversial topic argumentative essay
• E.g. Do near-death experiences justify life
  after death?
• What you really want to argue about
• Make connections to your deeper concerns or
  important personal experiences

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• Narrow down the scope of the topic
• Near-death experiences too board and general
• Near-death experiences a case study
• Near-death experiences a strong case for the
  existence of life after death
• The physiological mechanism of near-death
  experiences
• The physiological mechanism of near-death
  experiences its implications for the
  non-existence of life after death

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Format (cf. format.doc)

• Title page
• Essay title, course code and name, and your name
  and student number
• Abstract ??
• English lt100 words Chinese lt150 words
• Main structure
• Introduction - Body - Conclusion
• References / Bibliography
• In-text citations, indented quotations, and
  footnotes

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Organization and Content

• State and defend a clear, definite thesis (??)
  about a specific issue.
• Express your own point of view about the topic
  and present arguments for it.
• Dont merely report what other people have said
  about the topic.

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• Abstract
• Summarizes your topic, thesis, and main
  arguments.
• Introduction
• The general background of your topic (e.g. why it
  is important)
• The specific problem treated in the paper.
• State your thesis. (You may need to summarize the
  positions others have taken on the problem.)
• May include a brief summary of the foregoing
  sections.

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• Body
• If needed, explain in more detail the issue you
  are discussing, why it arises, and what its
  significance is.
• Explain and critically evaluate other scholars
  views about it.
• Be sympathetic and fair. Assign stronger
  position.
• Present your own view and the reasons that
  support it.
• Show how your view solves or avoids the problems
  facing others views.
• Be honest and modest about how much your
  arguments show and their potential weaknesses.

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• Try to identify possible objections to or
  difficulties for your view and suggest how they
  might be answered.
• Conclusion
• Summarize your thesis and main arguments or some
  concluding remarks.
• Clarify the significance of your work
• If possible, suggest future research that would
  develop or apply your work.
• Drafting an outline (??) may prove helpful.
• http//phil.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/wmkwok/sp/file/samp
  le_outline.doc

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Writing Process

• Three steps
• Preparing and planning
• Writing
• Revising
• Preparing and planning
• Write an outline during this whole stage in order
  to guide your thinking.
• Explore the issue and gather relevant
  information.
• Formulate and evaluate your initial view.

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• Evaluate opposing views.
• Determine and evaluate your final position.
• Consider the order and structure in which to
  argue for your thesis.
• Choose an informative title for the paper.
• Writing
• Use outline to develop your ideas.
• Explain everything in suitable details.
• Lazy, stupid, and mean readers as reminder
• Be clear, concise and precise.
• Work on it patiently, step-by-step and bit-by-bit.

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• Revising
• (a) After writing first draft (??), put your
  paper away for one or two days
• (b) Then read it from the viewpoint of a critical
  reader.
• (c) Ask another person to comment on your paper.
• (d) Revise to fix the problems.
• Repeat (a) to (d) until the paper is satisfactory
  (or . . . the deadline!).

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References

• Guidelines on writing a philosophy paper
• http//www.sfu.ca/philosophy/writing.htm
• http//www.sfu.ca/philosophy/checklst.htm
• http//www.princeton.edu/jimpryor/general/writing
  .html
• Sample argumentative essay
• http//phil.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/wmkwok/sp/file/samp
  le20argumentative20essay.pdf
• Any volunteers for discussion on paper planning
  at the last class?