Writing overview 3

You know the difference between clear and unclear writing. Sometimes you read a paper and you know exactly what it's arguing for, and how the argument is meant to go. That's clear writing, and it's what you need to aim for. It is difficult to over-emphasise the importance of clear writing to a philosophy dissertation. But how to

Writing overview 5

• Outline of the dissertation

The reader of a dissertation wants to know what to expect. In the first section, explain what the following sections/chapters are about and how they hang together. The outline is usually written when everything else is done because it is easiest to explain what you have done after you have done it. From your perspective, this might look boring. From the reader’s perspective, it is not boring.

• Introductory Chapter

Explain what the main issue of the dissertation is. Explain some of its background. Explain its relationship to other debates or its status within some philosophical sub-discipline. Explain why you have chosen this topic (if there is anything interesting to say about it) and assess its importance.

• Main Chapters

There is no general recipe for how to construct the main parts of your dissertation. Think about how the ideas you present are most accessible. Think about the logical structure in terms of what presupposes what, what is a side issue and how does the main line of thought develop. Depending on the complexity, it is often a good idea to divide sections into subsections and even further division might be appropriate. But do not overdo it. If you are not Wittgenstein, you probably do not need a section 2.1512.

• Conclusion

Writing overview 1

In philosophy, we try to think clearly. Awareness of what one is doing is very important. You do not portray yourself as thinking clearly if you do not show that you are aware of what you are doing. This awareness influences your style of writing as well as its structure. Keep the reader informed about the status of your thoughts in the overall argumentative structure. For example, tell the reader that in the next paragraph/section you will discuss an objection to one of the supporting considerations of your argument. Distinguish objections which try to show that what you took to be a supporting consideration is actually false from objections which are supposed to show that the supporting consideration, though true, fails to support what you thought it would support. Arguments can be complex. Awareness of what you are doing means to inform the reader about this complexity.

Writing overview 2

With any essay you write, it will be helpful to think of what you are producing as an artefact with a three-part structure: Introduction – Body – Conclusion. To get a more determinate idea of the material each of those sections should contain, think of the essay as T-A-R: Thesis – Argument – Review.

• You state your Thesis in the Introduction.
• You Argue for your thesis in the body of the essay.
• You Review what you have established and what else needs to be done in the conclusion.

Here we have been speaking about an individual essay. But usually your dissertation will have several such parts. Each of these will be a chapter or section. Obviously, the overall length of the dissertation will influence how much internal structure the dissertation has: how many chapters and sub-sections you divide it up into. Why structural sub-division is important: It’s important because the sort of complex case you are arguing for in your dissertation will need “connective tissue” or stitching together. You will need to say what you have done so far, and where you need to go next, and why these things fit together in the way they do. People often leave this sort of material out, and it is amazing how much weaker it makes a dissertation if you do not pause to tell the reader why you are doing what you are doing.

Writing overview 4

Example introduction 5

Do not be tempted to “forestall immediate objections”. That is just introducing a distraction. If an objection is worth considering at all, give it appropriate attention at the proper time, once you have stated the case to which it is an objection.

Example introduction 4

An over-ambitious plan

Example introduction 1

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that strategy is paramount and you need to make your strategy explicit. This is the main business of an introduction, and what we had in mind when we said you should start by stating your thesis.

Example introduction 2

Example introduction 3

Example argument 1

It is often helpful to think of a dissertation as an extended argument, one which comprises several sub-arguments. For example, if in my dissertation, I wish to defend the view that having a mind, i.e. being a rational animal, requires having a language, I might go about it by (i) presenting Davidson’s arguments for that claim and then (ii) defending the argument from influential objections. A dissertation of this sort would have a master argument, namely,

• the most prominent objections to Davidson’s argument are X, Y, and Z;
• because of R, X is not an effective objection;
• because of S, Y is not an effective objection;
• because of T, Z is not an effective objection;
• consequently, there are no effective and influential objections to Davidson’s argument;
• hence, having a mind, i.e. being a rational animal, requires having a language.

and several sub-arguments, namely,

• a summary of Davidson’s argument for the view that having a mind, i.e. being a rational animal requires having a language;
• a summary of objection X and an argument of the form: because of R, X is not an effective objection;
• a summary of objection Y and an argument of the form: because of S, Y is not an effective objection; and
• a summary of objection Z and an argument of the form: because of T, Z is not an effective objection.

Example argument 2

An unclear presentation of an argument

Example conclusion 1

Example conclusion 2

Example essay 2

The following shows one way in which you could go about writing an essay (3,000 words), starting with a detailed plan. The essay question I have chosen to answer is: ‘Is Peter Singer’s Utilitarian Argument about Abortion Tenable?’ It is not my intention to write the best possible essay. Instead, I am aiming to write an essay that would get a good pass mark (somewhere above 60%). To do that I need to do at least five things. These are:

1. Answer the question, demonstrating an awareness and understanding of the main issues studied on the course in connection with the text or texts we have looked at.
2. Give references in the correct form and in a way that shows that I have a good understanding of the primary text(s).
3. Write in a clear, straightforward manner.
4. Develop a clear argument, particularly by making sure that there are explicitly articulated connections between my introduction, the points I make in the main part of the essay, and my conclusion.
5. Demonstrate a constructive use of secondary sources.

You should be able to see the clear connection between the essay structure and the plan. I have made a real effort to stick to the plan, even when I thought that I could have made an interesting point by deviating from it. That is because I know that the plan is coherent, and that by following it I will produce a well-structured and consequently understandable piece of writing.

All in all, it took me about 7 hours to write: 3 hours to produce the first draft, and the remainder to edit, revise and cross-check it against my original plan. Thus, I discovered for myself the truth of what we always say to students: checking and editing your work is the most important part of writing an essay. It is not something you should do hastily if at all.

I also passed the final draft to a friend, in order to get another person’s judgement on it. I didn’t ask them to criticize the individual points I had made; rather, I asked them to tell me if anything I had written was difficult to understand. I am not concerned whether they agree with me or not, but only whether they can follow what I argue.