Table of Contents
Note
to the Fourth Edition x
Note
to the Third Edition xi
Note
to the Second Edition xii
Introduction
1
1
Author and Audience 8
1
The Professor as Audience 8
2
The Student as Author 11
3
Three Attitudes about Philosophical Method 15
2
Logic and Argument for Writing 17
1
What is a Good Argument? 17
2
Valid Arguments 21
3
Cogent Arguments 31
4
Quantification and Modality 35
5
Consistency and Contradiction 40
6
Contraries and Contradictories 43
7
The Strength of a Proposition 46
3
The Structure of a Philosophical Essay 51
1
An Outline of the Structure of a Philosophical Essay 51
2
Anatomy of an Essay 57
3
Another Essay 63
4
Composing 67
1
How to Select an Essay Topic 68
2
Techniques for Composing 69
3
Outlining 70
4
The Rhetoric of Philosophical Writing 70
5
Successive Elaboration 72
6
Conceptual Note Taking 81
7
Research and Composing 83
8
Sentences and Paragraphs 84
9
Polishing 87
10
Evolution of an Essay 89
5
Tactics for Analytic Writing 101
1
Definitions 102
2
Distinctions 108
3
Analysis 111
4
Dilemmas 119
5
Scenarios 123
6
Counterexamples 125
7
Reductio ad Absurdum 132
8
Dialectical Reasoning 138
6
Some Constraints on Content 146
1
The Pursuit of Truth 146
2
The Use of Authority 147
3
The Burden of Proof 150
7
Some Goals of Form 152
1
Coherence 152
2
Clarity 156
3
Conciseness 162
4
Rigor 165
8
Problems with Introductions 168
1
Slip Sliding Away 168
2
The Tail Wagging the Dog 173
3
The Running Start 175
9
How to Read a Philosophical Work 181
1
Find the Thesis Sentence 181
2
Precision of Words, Phrases, and Sentences 185
3
Proving the Case 186
Appendix
A: “It’s Sunday Night and I Have an Essay Due
Monday Morning” 190
Appendix
B: How to Study for a Test 193
Appendix
C: Research: Notes, Citations, and References 195
Appendix
D: Philosophy Resources on the Internet, by Neil Sinhababu 201
Appendix
E: On Grading 205
Appendix
F: Glossary of Philosophical Terms 208
Index
218
