Philosophical Writing: an Introduction

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: & ldquo;It & rsquo;s Sunday Night and I Have an Essay Due Monday Morning & rdquo; 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.