How To Write A Philosophical Essay

What is philosophical writing?

Philosophical writing is a system of academic writing in defense of some reasonable claim.

In philosophical essay writing the writer advances a specific claim on a given body of knowledge. The writer through the philosophical essay attempts to support the veracity of the claim. For an essay to be considered a philosophical essay, it must have a basic claim and there must be an attempt to defend the argument or thesis advanced. Philosophy essay writing service provides a key input to students as they attempt to write their papers by providing essential tips for philosophy essay writing.

Topic Choice

The topic choice for philosophical essay writing is essential. It is important for the writer to determine a good branch of study within philosophy. The writer would be best advised to seek philosophy essay help. The philosophy essay topics should not only be interesting but be capable of withstanding academic inquiry. The philosophy essay topics of choice should also not be obvious. This is a critical noting that the subject matter will be subjected to critical thought. It would thus not make sense to adopt an obvious topic, where the writer is incapable of determining the topic for philosophy essay help should be sort. There are 5 branches of philosophy, namely: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Politics and Esthetics.

Thus, philosophical essay topics should be within these branches.

Topics could include

  • Philosophy of Education
  • Philosophy of History
  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Philosophy of Religion
  • Political and Legal Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Science
  • Buddhist philosophy
  • Chinese philosophy
  • Christian philosophy
  • Continental philosophy
  • American philosophy
  • Analytic philosophy
  • Ancient philosophy
  • Feminist philosophy
  • Digital philosophy
  • Greek philosophy
  • Hindu philosophy
  • Islamic philosophy
  • Medieval philosophy
  • Neurophilosophy
  • Synoptic philosophy
  • Social philosophy
  • Reformational philosophy etc.

philosophical essay writing

 

How to write a philosophical essay

The writer should create an essay structure to provide a blueprint of the essay. The philosophy essay structure begins with philosophy essay outlining of the various components of the essay e.g. introduction, body and conclusion.

Essay structure

The philosophy essay outline helps the writer with how to write a philosophy essay.It provides the writer with the structure for the essay. The structure allows the writer to determine the order in which the terms should be discussed. It enables the writer to set up the paper in preparation for the main argument.

Introduction

The introduction as the foremost part of the essay should be concise and straight to the point. The introduction lays the groundwork for the rest of the paper. This part should introduce the topics for philosophy essay in general terms. It should give the reader a general understanding of what the essay is all about and how to write a philosophy essay.

Thesis Statement

The thesis is the statement that summarizes the claim presented in the paper. The thesis statement should be extremely concise and clear. The statement should establish the direction which the philosophy essay topic ideas will go towards. The thesis statement must be debatable; the writer should be able to provide both sides of the arguments with relative ease.

Examples of a thesis statement:

  1. Ethics are bad for the corporate world.
  2. Religion is responsible for the rise in instances of radicalization of the Youth.
  3. The purpose of Life is to serve humanity.

Conclusion

The conclusion provides a general summary as to the gist of the paper. The conclusion summarizes the arguments and counter-arguments propagated in the essay. The draft for philosophy essay should contain the points to be elaborated in the conclusion. This is essential noting, the philosophy essay conclusion will provide closure for the essay’s reader as to the writer’s standing on the philosophy essay hooks.

Essay organization

The body paragraphs within the whole paper should be approximately 6-8 sentences in length. The number of paragraphs is dependent on the length of the essay. Each paragraph should constitute a single argument for the claim or against the claim of ideas for philosophy essay.

Some of the connective words that can be utilized in the philosophy essay introduction and conclusion for philosophy essay include:

  • additionally
  • accordingly
  • also
  • as well
  • even
  • furthermore
  • in addition
  • indeed
  • let alone
  • moreover
  • not only

These words and phrases ensure that the essay flows in a smooth and coherent manner from the introduction for philosophy essay to the end. Some philosophy essay tips note the importance of ensuring that the essay is written in a clear prose.

Sources for essay choice

Ideas for the philosophical essay can be sourced from a number of sources. These sources cannot be limited only to academic sources. This is essential noting that philosophical questions are not limited solely to academic circles. Thus, ideas can be sourced from anywhere. However, the topic choice should be limited to sources that have valid academic backing. The topic of choice will be expected to withstanding academic inquiry. Thus, pristine choices can be sourced from academic journals, books, philosophical publications and reports. These sources can be accessed from the internet and physical libraries. Students can access these sources by logging onto the internet and searching for philosophical publications on search engine indexes. This is the simplest means for finding information on philosophical essays.

Finalizing the essay

In finalizing the essay prior to submission it is essential to review it to ensure it is up to the expected standard. The essay should be revised to ensure that it is coherent with regard to the outline for philosophy essay. The essay should have a singular idea that is reflected throughout the essay. Further to this, the essay should provide a clear argument for the claim that is presented in the thesis statement. The revision exercise ensures that the defense mounted for the claim is sufficient and that all counter arguments are adequately disposed of. The revision provides the writer with the opportunity to review the argument advance. Where arguments are unclear, the philosophy essay outline can be changed to ensure that the arguments are clear and easy to understand. The writer should also strive to ensure that the language level is low. The use of terminologies will only contribute to confusing the writer. The philosophical essay should be easily understood by a third grade learner. Where the learner notes that the language is too complex for a young learner to appreciate, steps should be taken to reduce the complexity of the language used.

The essay should undergo proofreading to ensure that there are no grammatical mistakes. Such mistakes reduce the opinion of a philosophical essay in the eyes of a reader. A reader is unwilling to accept arguments propagated, where the writer is careless enough to allow grammatical mistakes to continue uncorrected. The proofreading also looks into sentence structure and whether the dictums on the English language are adequately followed in the essay.

Referencing and Citations

The writer should reference academic sources to provide credibility to his work. The writer can choose from a number of referencing styles to use e.g.

  • APA
  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • Oxford

The American Psychological Association (APA) style is the most common. It follows the structure below:

Author’s last name, First Name. Title of the book. Place of publication: Publisher.

APA sample reference

McGillian, David. (2015). Analytical study of the works of Plato and Aristotle. Sydney: Bloomberg.

The citations should be from academic journals, books and reputable publications only. The title choice should be reflective of the content. The title should ensure that the reader can understand what the general subject of the essay is.

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