In the quest to understand how to write a philosophy paper accurately, many students plunge themselves into several online sources to get the help they need. But are all sources reliable when it comes to a philosophical topic? This guide promise to get you the help you need if you follow the guidelines given. The information provided is not only accurate but based on set standards too.

A lot of patience, careful planning, and eagerness to learn the basic requirement for your assignment is essential for writing a philosophy paper. While writing, keep your audience in mind because a good research paper does not just demonstrate your knowledge; it shows the extent to which portray your critical thinking. Aside from educating, it should be engaging and give your reader a good reason to keep reading until the end.

You will find it easier to prepare your initial draft if you outlined your plan and follow all the details given. But writing an educational philosophy paper is not as easy as it seems. There are a lot of things you ought to consider, and it’s pretty easy to forget some. However, the onus lies in these three: your writing style, your paper structure, writing quality, and formatting style.

What is a philosophy paper?

A philosophy of education paper is one that generally requires you to write using modest, clear cut and careful steps. You will be asked to consider some thesis or structure an argument. This is often a thesis previously presented by another philosopher. Such a thesis can be either true or false. You have to provide facts and evidence to support or write against its relevance. An ideal philosophical argument involves logical steps from a true premise to an unobvious conclusion.

How to start a philosophical paper?

The first thing you should note here is that philosophical writing must not be written in the form of an assignment in literally self-expression. It is not a story of what different professors or scholars have to say about the topic; neither is it a presentation of the latest finding of an incident. With these in mind, you should have a good start with this research paper guide.

Define your topic

Your topic should state as clearly as possible what your paper is all about and what you are trying to prove. When writing a philosophy paper, you must give careful thought to your topic. This is not as easy as it sounds. And it is the bedrock of every philosophy research paper – the thesis statement.

Prepare the thesis statement

The best way to prepare your thesis statement is to have a rough idea (one that is not clearly expressed) of it. Whether you are writing your philosophy thesis statement elsewhere as a draft or right inside your philosophy education paper, you should be able to use a single sentence to describe what you want to prove. This is essential if you are searching for how to write a hook for essay.

Choose the main philosophical claims

This will help you to convince the reader that your thesis is accurate. By all means, employ rational persuasion in your philosophical thesis statement alongside your claims to make it logical and concrete. This is the stage where many student seeking for how to write a philosophical paper get it wrong. No matter how clear or true your thesis statement seems to be, it will lack relevance if it’s not backed with the logical philosophical claims or argument.

Philosophy paper outline

Your work should follow the required philosophy paper structure, as outlined below.

Introduction

It should include a question that states what the paper will argue and why. E.g., why is the philosophy of education is required to teach?

The position of the paper concerning the question.

How the argument will be structured.

Background information

Definition of terms used: define the meaning of philosophical education.

Parameters: Who should take a course on the philosophy of ed. and why?

Body Paragraphs

The first reason why teachers should take a philosophy of ed course.

State your reason

Site work from other philosophers that supports your reason.

Objections anticipated

Objections refuted

Transition to the next reason

The second reason why teachers should take a philosophy of ed course.

State your second reason

Site work from another philosopher that supports your reason.

Objections anticipated

Objections refuted

Transition to the next reason

The third reason why teachers should take a philosophy of ed course.

State your third reason

Site work from other philosophers that supports your reason.

Objections anticipated

Objections refuted

Transition to the next reason

To sum up

This should be your stand concerning the thesis statement. As much as possible, your conclusion should create an interesting thought in the mind of the reader as well as food for thought.

Philosophy paper format

There is no single philosophical paper citation style that anyone writing such paper must stick to coherently. However, if you want to learn how to write a research paper, you must become familiar with all the styles (APA, Chicago, and MLA).

APA

(American Psychological Association) APA citation style is mostly used in writing philosophical essays. When using this citation style, do it in this order: Author’s last name. (Year published). Title of the book. Location: Publisher.

For example, Maxwell (2011). Philosophical writing made Easy. New York: Tender Prints.

MLA

Modern Language Association (MLA) is a commonly used philosophical paper citation style that is double spaced. And you will only use the relevant elements to your source.

It is written in this order: Author’s Last name, First name. Title of Source. Title of Container, other contributors, version, publisher, publication date, location. For example, William Kennedy. Programmer. Coding basics: Wilford R., Joseph W., v.2, TWF Press, 2001, New Jersey.

Chicago

The Chicago Manual of Style is mostly used when writing a philosophy paper and historical works. To reference a book following this citation style, it is done in this order: Last name of the author, First name. Book title. City of publication: Name of publisher, Year of publication. For example, William Catherine. The Elements of Law. Los Angeles: Twin Than, 2005.

Good philosophy paper topics

Below are some good topics for research paper writers.

Can knowledge impact free will, and to what extent?

Is truth a relative term?

Can love be a negative word?

Is there any perfect word?

Writing a philosophy paper is not an easy process. At some stage in your writing, you might feel you have already exhausted all your creative ideas and left with nothing to complete it. This guide discussed the relevant points to take note of as you write, as well as providing the help and inspiration you need.