Wednesday, March 17, 2010

“How to Write a Good Philosophy Paper - Associated Content” plus 3 more

“How to Write a Good Philosophy Paper - Associated Content” plus 3 more

How to Write a Good Philosophy Paper - Associated Content

Posted: 17 Mar 2010 08:53 AM PDT

Keys for Good Philosophical Writing

Philosophy is dense material and writing a paper about it can be daunting. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about philosophy is that topics you are interested in can be more challenging to write about rather than less! Have no fear. Writing a philosophical paper doesn't have to be torture, and once you've learned the basics, it can be as simple as any other paper. Follow the suggestions below and you'll be well on your way to being a philosophy paper-writing star!

Choose a Narrow Topic

You've probably noticed that, when you're reading philosophy, the author seems to really exhaust the topic and explain it almost to death. One of the goals of philosophy is to fully address a problem, anticipate objections, and answer them. A good philosophy paper thoroughly addresses a topic, including objections to the topic, which is why you cannot pick a broad topic. Let's say you've just read "The Prince" and have a paper assignment. "Why the form of government advocated by Machiavelli Is Immoral" is an interesting topic, but unless you're writing a dissertation or book, it's way too long. Pick one component of Machiavelli- his attitude about the press, or executions, or war, for example, and write about that instead.

Have a Clear Thesis

Unless your assignment is to summarize something, your philosophy paper should argue something. It should not just be an accounting of what the author said. If you're having trouble coming up with an argument, think about something you've agreed or disagreed with that the author of the work you're writing about has said. Narrow that down to a good paper topic, and write about that. Your paper needs to have a clear thesis at the end of the introductory paragraph. The thesis, like the topic itself, should be a narrow thesis and not a broad one. Bad Thesis: Machiavelli's theory of government would never work. Good thesis: Machiavelli's ideas about the death penalty are based on incorrect suppositions and poor evidence.

Summarize and Introduce the Topic

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Philosophy of science: Must do better - Eureka! Science News

Posted: 17 Mar 2010 07:49 AM PDT

Jon Butterworth responds to philosopher Nicholas Maxwell's assault on science and scientistsI strive to retain respect for philosophy and philosophers, really I do. Some of my best friends are philosophers. I would hate to dismiss a whole area of intellectual endeavour as a sterile playground for clever people creating and demolishing pointless intellectual fashions.But you can tell I am struggling hard right now, and it is all Nicholas Maxwell's fault. His entry into the heated debate on climate science rained blow after blow on my patience. I will resist, and will not damn all philosophy. But I do want to respond to his piece, since the debate he stumbled into is real and important.On communication: There is clearly a problem with the public perception of science. The criticism that Maxwell makes about too much "specialised gobbledygook" may be hilarious, coming from a philospher, but it is a fair criticism in...

Read the whole article on The Guardian - Science

More from The Guardian - Science

Related

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Tom Farley: School district must shift philosophy - madison

Posted: 17 Mar 2010 07:13 AM PDT

Can Madison afford a new School Board member who requires time to understand the issues, study the research, or develop a good relationship with board members and union leaders? These are all certainly desirable objectives, and over time it is important that they occur. Yet these are exceptional times for Madison and its public school system.

The federal government has demanded that educational leaders in every community must start demonstrating a willingness to challenge the status quo, seek innovative solutions, and begin executing change management efforts. Only those school districts that show a willingness to radically alter their approaches to education, in order to achieve real results, will be supported and funded. The time has come to bring that level of leadership to the Madison School Board.

Management of the Madison School District cannot continue operating in its present form, or under its current philosophies. We have called for additional funding and referendums to increase taxes, and this has not produced the promised results. Clearly, it is not lack of money that hinders our education system; it is the system itself. That needs to change.

However, before we embark on the proactive approaches to changing our system, we are faced with the reactive need to balance our current budget. Here is what I propose: We return to the idea that school districts are charged with the education of our children. That means that budget cut evaluations begin with any program or expense that does not start and end with direct K-12 classroom education. Operating under this approach, any teaching or support position under contract would need to be in schools — those not facing a room full of students on a daily basis are an expense that is at risk. Education funds designated for recreation need to be refocused on our children — any district recreation funds that do not directly support students in our schools (such as for adults, seniors) are an expense that is at risk. And so on.

These are tough decisions, but they are ones that least affect the education of our kids. And Madison needs people who will make those decisions. Madison does not need board members looking at what the research tells us. That's not the point. It's a pretty good bet that there are few programs in place within the Madison School District that research hasn't indicated as producing a positive result. Once again, that's not the point.

As we make these hard choices we will need creative solutions to remedy the problems of our school district, and creative minds to help our district explore new approaches to education. We need to embrace the charter school concept for its unique ability to exploit the positive effects of diversity, and turn our rich cultural differences into educational assets (and ultimately, community assets as well).

Madison has a national reputation for being a creative class city. Now is the time to showcase that culture by transforming our educational system into a national model. Our response to the call for such radical change and innovative approaches in our nation's education system should be, "Who better than Madison, Wisconsin?" After all, that's our brand. So let's ensure that the Madison School Board has people who can deliver that creativity — and the willingness to make the tough decisions that will get us there.

Tom Farley and James Howard are facing off in the only contested election on April 6 for the Madison School Board.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Do you go overboard for Easter? - Newark Advocate

Posted: 17 Mar 2010 01:47 PM PDT

A recent survey forecasted that the average person will spend nearly $120 on Easter this year, on items ranging from candy to gifts to food.

What's your philosophy for filling your child's Easter basket — if you do at all? Do you include video games or other nontraditional gifts, or stick to staples like candy and eggs? How much is too much for you?

Feel free to share your thoughts with Advocate reporter Abbey Roy at (740) 328-8546 or amroy@newarkadvocate.com.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
Posted by at

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)