PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS:
This is not a traditional essay assignment, though the commentary section should resemble a traditional essay. Find
a brief argument made by a philosopher on a topic of your choice. Ideally, the argument should be given in a page
or less of text. Do a step by step, line by line analysis of the argument. You should show how each line of the
argument works. Next, you will need to think about what assumptions are necessary (but are likely not stated in the
text) for the argument to succeed. Finally, provide several paragraphs of commentary on the topic. In this
commentary, I am looking for pointed, sharply targeted statements about the arguments presented – avoid overly
general statements and fluff at all costs! The assignment should be long enough to cover all of the arguments in
detail, probably 5-10 pages – when in doubt, more detail about the steps of the arguments is better. The challenge
in this assignment is in being able to distill an argument from a text in a very structured fashion. If you have
questions about what I am looking for in this assignment, please email me and consider using my draft policy (see
below). A sample paper is also available on the course website. Though there is a temptation to only use the
original text itself when writing this paper, it is often very beneficial to read what others have had to say about
the text. For this, I recommend searching for articles and books through the KSU library (many of which are
available online). You can also get assistance by visiting the library and talking with the staff directly. For
philosophy: http://libguides.kennesaw.edu/philosophy. The librarians can be very helpful in finding material that is
relevant to what you are researching.
Philosophical Analysis Template
Use this template (copy and paste, then fill in the sections if you like) as a starting point for the Philosophical Analysis paper assignment.
Using this template will ensure that you have all of the right components for the paper. Please note that simply filling in the template does
not guarantee an A on the assignment. Your research, writing, research, original thought, research and research must still be high quality
(notice the trend there!).
Title
The title should clue the reader in to what you’re trying to accomplish in the paper, not just the name of a philosopher. So, “An essay on
David Hume” doesn’t help the reader in the way that “Why Hume’s account of causality was historically conditioned and wrongheaded”
does.
Text of the original passage you will be analyzing
Cite the original text in full, complete with an APA citation of the work. This means having an author and page number so that I can find it. I
do look them up when I’m not already familiar with them or when there’s a question about a particular word in translation, for example.
PLEASE NOTE! The original passage you choose needs to be SHORT. In most cases, a few sentences is all that you will have space to
analyze since you’re looking at the smallest details of how the argument works and why each word was chosen. Do not pick something
that’s half a page or longer. If your argument spans multiple pages, try to clip out only the quotes that comprise the argument’s essential
steps so that you’re analyzing something sufficiently short and then discuss the material you clipped out in the paper itself.
Bullet points describing each step of the argument, line by line
Analyze the argument down to the smallest detail so that you can reveal exactly how it works. To do this, you need to identify what’s being
said (and not merely rephrasing it), explaining what it means for that particular author and why they chose to say it in that way and in that
work. Why does the argument make sense for their overall philosophy. Having an understanding of only a few pages of their work is not
good enough. You need to have done research in general on the author so that you can understand the significance of the argument.
Whenever you allude to other portions of their philosophy cite it. Quote it if that would be better. Do research on how the idea was
received by others at the time. If you’re talking about Anselm, you’re probably going to need to mention Gaunilo. If you’re talking about
Hegel, you should mention Schopenhauer. If you’re talking Schopenhauer, you need to mention Nietzsche, etc. Any time you do this, cite
the resource.
Then, see if you can find several books that address the passage you’re analyzing in particular. This is really essential for this
assignment!!! If you try to reinvent the wheel and understand everything from scratch, you’re definitely doing it the hard way! Make your
life easier by leaning on scholars who have spent their entire lives studying the thought of that particular person. What they have to say
about the argument you’re analyzing will GREATLY increase the depth of your analysis and discussion
At the end of the bullet points, include a bullet that sums up the entire argument
The summary should be brief, clear and precise. It’s harder to describe a complex idea using only a few words than you might think. Take
time to extract the marrow of what’s being said.
Bullet points describing the assumptions necessary for the argument
This is the hardest part of the assignment. You need to describe what wasn’t explicitly stated in the passage, but may either be (1)
explicitly stated elsewhere in the philosopher’s works, or (2) an assumption that even they may not be fully aware of (but we can be much
more easily since we have the benefit of history, other philosophy and scholarship since that time).
Several paragraphs of targeted commentary
Discuss the surrounding ideas, the history that led up to this philosopher saying what they said in the way that they said it. Cite sources –
not just Wikipedia (please don’t cite Wikipedia) and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Those are great starting points. But if you’re
not using books from the library, you’re probably not going to do well on this assignment.
That said, you can find electronic copies of books and PDFs of articles from the library on your phone or computer very quickly and easily.
So this doesn’t have to be a painful process. Just specify search terms for your particular passage (e.g., “Descartes Meditations
ontological argument explanation”) with the library, google scholar, semantic scholar, etc. and see what you can find. You’ll probably find
individual chapters to be the most useful – so look first for the table of contents and don’t waste your time with irrelevant material. This is a
skill, but it’s useful for all of your classes. If you’re not sure how to do it, take some time to go to the library and work with a librarian. What
you will learn in half an hour will make the rest of your academic life easier!
Discuss the ideas in detail. That means breaking things down and focusing on particularly strange things that were said or bits that
scholars don’t agree on (why did Socrates start the Republic by saying “I went down”? Was it like a descent to the underworld? Stepping
down from philosophical sophistication to do something simpler? Etc.). Cite sources. Again, read scholars who have written on the topic
and see how they agree or disagree. The areas of disagreement there will be ripe for this discussion.
Finally, if you have any questions at all, email me or – better yet – send me a draft, however incomplete, and I will help you find sources
and provide suggestions for the paper.
Good luck!
