Philosophy – Course Assignments

Guide to Evaluating Philosophical Arguments

Writing in academic philosophy has a distinct style that differs greatly from most other disciplines. An important aspect of philosophical writing is the structure of the essay. The following gives a general idea of how to organize a paper that evaluates a philosophical argument.

Begin by stating what argument you are going to evaluate

• Clarity is highly valued in philosophical writing. Thus, writers should get right to the point rather than writing an elaborate introduction
• Example: ‘In this paper I will be evaluating Philippa Foot’s argument in ‘Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives” that moral judgments are only hypothetical imperatives.’

Provide a roadmap

• In this segment, you should basically give an outline of how your paper is going to unfold. Again, philosophers like to get right to the point by giving the reader a general understanding of the structure of the paper at the beginning.
• Example: “In this paper I will first explain Foot’s argument. Next, I will highlight some problems for her position. Then I will proceed to offer a possible fix for her view.”

Thoroughly explain the argument in question

• You should spend a significant amount of time describing exactly the argument that you’re evaluating.
• The explanation should be thorough enough that someone who has never read a philosophy paper before should be able to understand the argument without any confusion.

Explain the potential problems for the argument

• Here you should go over any potential issues with the argument that you have been evaluating.
• You should be evaluating whether or not these possible problems weaken the philosopher’s argument.

Conclude by restating what you have shown in the paper

• After all of the arguments and objections you have considered, again state what you have tried to prove about the argument in question.