Welcome to Writing in Philosophy
Focused, direct instruction in the writing skills necessary for successful research papers in Philosophy and Religious Studies. Different topics are chosen for each offering, based on student's interests and needs. McDaniel Plan: Departmental Writing
About
This is a practicum for writing in Philosophy. It will involve a great deal of work writing, not a great deal spent in discussing the fine points of metaphysics. That being said, it absolutely requires active and timely participation by all members of the class. Be here. Everyday. When it is your time to submit work for peer review, do so. The class will not function without students.
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Notes
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Description
Focused, direct instruction in the writing skills necessary for successful research papers in Philosophy and Religious Studies. Different topics are chosen for each offering, based on student's interests and needs. McDaniel Plan: Departmental Writing
Structure
The first half of the semester will be spent doing little 'exercises' to improve philosophic writing. During the second half, you'll be working on your own to develop you paper.
Skill-based classes:
Grading As with any skill-based class, people will move at different rates. To allow for this, I've structured the grading system more like a coach or sensei would. At the end of this syllabus, there is a list of tasks you must complete, along with their maximal point value. The first half have due dates for the first half of the semester. As you complete these, you earn points. If you rewrite one, you'll earn more points.
Honor Code
As members of the McDaniel college community, I expect that we are all committed to upholding and abiding by our honor system. That means that I will do everything I can to make possibly ambiguous assignments clear and that you are obligated to report any violations. I require that all written work be submitted with the signed honor pledge "I have neither given or received unauthorized aid on this piece of work, nor have I knowingly tolerated any violation of the Honor Code". I will not grade any assignment without such a signature.
Finally, when in doubt, ask. There will be cases, if not in this class, then in others, where the line between citation and plagiarism is vague. And there will be cases in which the line between helping a friend and doing their work will be crossed. Your best bet in finding the line is to ask me. If you ask before hand, you have nothing to worry about. If you wait until after, it might be too late.
Objectives
- To develop philosophic writing skills: conciseness, rigor, clarity and argumentation.
- To produce instances of different forms of argumentation common in philosophic writing.
- To become proficient in the use of philosophic research tools, such as the Philosopher's Index.
- To produce a philosophic paper that meets the standard of the discipline at the undergraduate-major level, suitable for use as a writing sample for graduate school applications.
Materials
- Martinich, A.P. Philosophical Writing Blackwell 9781405131674
Requirements
The college believes that "liberally educated men and women think and act critically, creatively and humanely." I expect nothing less. Whether it be in the classroom, in written assignments, and in your preparation for class, I expect you to think and act critically, creatively and humanely.
Workload: The college's policy on workload reads:
In accordance with the Mission Statement of McDaniel College, undergraduate courses are designed to promote liberal learning in an academic environment where students take charge of their own education. Academic coursework is constructed, determined, and defined by faculty members and is intended \u201cto develop the unique potentials of the student through the cultivation of reason, imagination and human concern.\u201d
McDaniel\u2019s 4-credit courses are based on the expectation of a minimum total of 10 hours per week of student academic work in a regular semester. Online courses are held to the same standard as courses offered on campus. In order to ensure that a course meets the minimum standards, instructors determine the amount of time necessary for a typical student to complete assignments and meet course objectives.
This class is obviously a writing-intensive, rather than a reading-intensive course. So I can't estimate a page count. Writing, and especially research, is labor-intensive, so I've tried to balance the tasks below to approximate the 7hours/week you should expect. The longer (30-point) papers should require multiple weeks work.
Attendance: Given the active nature of the course, regular attendance is mandatory. Attendance and participation are a major part of your overall grade (10-15%) and every absence counts. If you must miss a class, please inform me before the class begins so I can restructure the session if necessary. A quick email is sufficient. If you miss more three times, it will begin impact your grade significantly.
Classroom conduct: No cellphones! (or text messaging, pagers, blackberry, PDAs, etc. UNLESS they are being used for taking notes, recording discussions, etc).
The readings and/or assignments noted on the calendar below must be completed before the class begins. These are the readings we will be discussing in class, so if you haven't read the material, you won't have anything to add to the discussion.
Information Technology: Even though I pretty much hate blackboard, I'll make a copy of this syllabus available there. I post lecture notes and other documents on my faculty website at http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/pbradley/. Just follow the menu to 'Courses->Current'. In case of conflict or confusion regarding due dates or scheduled readings between the website and this document, the website always takes precedence.
Special Accommodation: If you are in need of special accommodation, please see me at least 48 hours before the event for which you would need accommodation. I can be very flexible if approached in a timely manner. Making changes after the fact is difficult if not impossible.
Assignments / Evaluative Criteria
Blogs: Over the course of the term, you will produce a large number of small, more or less informal pieces of writing. Some of these are simple exercises, others will lead you through the process of writing you paper. In order to organize and keep track of these, I request / require that you get a blog and use it. I also request that you get a twitter account and link it to your blog. I will walk you through these processes on the first day of class.
Papers & Peer Review: As you will note below, in order to complete the course to a passing level, you will have to both contribute to peer review sessions as well as submit a completed paper to peer review. That will happen in the 2nd half of the semester.
One last note on academic honesty. It is good academic practice to quote only from primary sources. It is also good practice to use clear, original examples to illustrate your point. If you follow both of these rules, many of the so-called 'borderline' plagiarism cases will never arise.
In addition to this schedule, there are a number of exercises that work best if everyone is completing them together. These will be assigned in class, with due dates to be determined by me.
Tasks and Point Value
| 8/29 | Task 0: What is a philosophical question? |
| 5 Pts | Write 5 questions about the film assigned. Note (but do not share) which you believe to be philosophic questions |
| 9/5 | Task 1: Theses / basic argumentation |
| 10 Pts | Write a page-long argument on a topic assigned by the professor. Distribute it to the class, and defend it. |
| 9/10 | Task 2: Concept Mapping |
| 10 pts | Read "The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them" by Joseph D. Novak & Alberto J. Caņas.
Create a concept map taxomizing a field of discourse in Philosophy (ethics / mind-body problem and its solution, etc). Then share with the class and adjust after critique. |
| 9/13 | Task 3: Argument mapping |
| 2 Pts | Read "Creating Argument Diagrams by Mara Harrell
Create an argument map of the argument assigned by the professor. Then: |
| 8 Pts | Create an argument map on a topic of your choice. Distribute to the class and defend it. |
| 9/17 | Task 4: More Concept Mapping |
| 10 pts | Create a concept map of a topic you think you might want to write about. Share and critique others. |
| 9/24 | Task 5: Succicntness / Clarity. |
| 10 pts | Read "A bad writer bites back" by JUDITH BUTLER and "The professor of parody" by Nussbaum.
Revise an essay assigned by the professor. Bring and share. |
| 10/8 | Task 6: Conceptual Analysis |
| 30 Pts | Write a conceptual analysis paper - there are actually 3 steps to this task, each with its own point value. This basic structure is called 'The Mumford Method', from Stephen Mumford (@SDMumford), a Philosopher at UNottingham. 1. (for 5 points) Write and abstract: less that 100 words, articulating exactly what you want to say. 2. (for 10 points) Turn that in to a handout. 3. Present that handout to the class and talk about your idea. 4. Adjust as necessary (more points for each revision). 5. (for the remaining 15 points) write the paper. |
| 10/8 | Task 7: Bibliography |
| 10 pts | Create an bibliography on your topic of at least 10 sources. You MUST use the Philosophers' index for a philosophy paper, the ATLA index for Religious studies. |
| 10/10 | Task 8: Counterexamples |
| 10 Pts | Create a scenario that will serve as a counterexample to your analysis above. Follow the Mumford Method in the preparation of the paper. |
| 10/17 | Task 9: Dilemma |
| 10 pts | Create a dilemma out of your analysis / counterexample. As before, follow the Mumford method. |
| 10/22 | Task 10: Reducto |
| 30 Pts | Write a reducto on a topic related to your main idea for the term. Follow the Mumford method. |
| 11/5 | Task 11: Dialectic |
| 30 pts | Write a dialectic argument on your main idea for the term. Follow the Mumford method. |
| | Task 12: Annotated Bibliography |
| 20 pts | Create an annotated bibliography for your paper of at least 10 sources. You MUST use the Philosophers' index for a philosophy paper, the ATLA index for Religious studies. |
| 11/12 | Task 13: Final Thesis |
| 10 pts | Create your abstract. Make sure you have supporting details, including an essay map, outline, concept map, etc. |
| 11/14 | Task 14: Handout |
| 15 pts | Present your handout to the class. Revise. |
| Task 15: 14+n More presentations / revisions |
| 5-10 pts (each) | Present / revise and so on. |
| 11/26 | Task 16: submit full draft to peer review |
| 25-50 pts | The schedule will be determined in class. |
| Task 17: Final, Revised paper, formally presented |
| 30 pts | The schedule will be determined in class. |
| Total |
| 245-280 pts | Grade Scale: |
| Grade scale | D- 185
D 100
D+ 120
C- 140
C 160
C+ 180
B- 200
B 220
B+ 240
A- 260
A 280
Note: If you get no points in step 14, and your maximal grade is an A-. To get an A, you MUST submit revisions through the peer-review process. |
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Dr. Peter Bradley