In this essay, you will engage in a
philosophical critique of one or more of the readings from the class. Students will choose the
topic for their essays (this is part of the challenge!) and may use portions of their previous
Expository Essay in this paper.
In this essay, you will engage in either an external (comparative) critique or an
internal (immanent) critique of one or more author’s argument. Rather than simply
addressing any one particular author’s argument, your critique should be based upon a selfgenerated question, to which your thesis statement is a response. In a critical-expository
philosophical essay, one identifies a pressing concern, situates it in relation to a text
(exposition), and assesses the degree to which the text does or does not provide a sound and
valid answer to the question at issue. Critique must be based in sound exposition,
which, in turn, is based in good close reading. At the same time, you will be called upon
to exercise your own judgment and interpretive faculties to identify what is at stake in a given
text, and whether or not the thinkers you engage articulate a reasonable response to that issue.
Formatting—Standard academic formatting is required, using either Chicago/Turabian, APA,
or MLA style guidelines—see the link in the course syllabus to online citation resources. Use
whatever style you choose consistently for both manuscript formatting (i.e. margins, headers,
etc.) and citations (i.e. footnotes, endnotes, in-line citations). Please do not waste paper with a
title page; instead, please include the title page information as the heading at the beginning of
the paper.
Workshop—By Tuesday, April 23, students should (1) have identified a central
concern/question-at-issue (2) have identified the text or texts that address this concern, and (3)
have drafted an argumentative thesis concerning the adequacy of that response. Students must
additionally prepare an outline (including any secondary sources being used) of the essay that
reflects how the texts will be engaged, key concepts/ideas/themes, and how the justification for
the thesis will be expressed.
Sources—A critical expository essay has the same requirements for sourcing that an expository
essay has. Sources outside the course readings or in-class lectures must be scholarly (i.e. no
Wikipedia) and properly cited. Using online databases (e.g. the Philosopher’s Index, available
through the library’s web site) or philosophical encyclopedias (i.e. the Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy [plato.stanford.edu] or the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy [iep.utm.edu]) is
not only permitted, but encouraged. Remember to ask of every source: how does this
contribute to my overall argument? If you do not have a good answer, do not
include that source.
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Basic Outline—A critical expository essay can take one of two forms. It either involves
assessing the way that a given thinker responds to a particular concern or question by
comparison with another thinker, or by identifying flawed or inconsistent assumptions,
inferences, or justifications within the text itself. The thesis of a critical expository essay should
articulate an answer to the critical question that you have developed and against which you
measure the text. This question does not necessarily have to appear in the body of your essay:
nonetheless, you should have a sense of the overall concern that you are trying to address in
your critique. For questions to be useful in generating an argument, they should not
invite “yes” or “no” answers. This will help guide you to a thesis that is not a simple
affirmation or negation of an author’s thinking, but an articulation of the reasoning and
judgments within the text that are the object of your critique. Keep in mind that “critical
evaluation” of an argument is about whether the premises of the argument are true, and whether
the reasoning that leads from these premises to the author’s conclusion is valid (i.e. it follows a
logical progression). Philosophical critique involves addressing both of these questions to some
extent or another.
The body of the essay should balance exposition with critical argumentation. Throughout, you
should be supporting your thesis by citing textual evidence from the reading or readings.
Though there is no necessary structure required (e.g. the “5 paragraph essay”), the essay’s form
should reflect the structure of the thesis statement throughout, and should show a clear
organization of thought and be easy for a reader to follow from beginning to end.
Philosophical Writing—Philosophical writing differs from other forms of writing only insofar
as it especially aims for comprehensiveness and completeness. In a critical expository essay, this
means considering both the positive argument for your thesis, including justifications for your
claims based upon cited evidence from sources, as well as addressing potential
counterarguments. In order to execute a philosophical exposition in an essay of this size, one
must appropriately circumscribe the focus of the thesis, so that it can be adequately supported
in the space allowed.
