Guide on How to Write Philosophy Essay

Guide on How to Write Philosophy Essay Is there a meaning to life? Do we have a free will? Is there a God? These are some of the so-called â€Å"Big Questions† that often motivated philosophers of the past, are intriguing to academically trained philosophers of the present and will be stimulating intellectual discussions among a more general audience in the future. Such questions may become a topic for your philosophy essay assigned at the university. For many students, writing a philosophy essay is something of a new experience and you might be a little unsure of what you should expect, or of what is expected of you. In this philosophy essay writing guide, you will find some preliminary advice about writing philosophy essays at the university that will help you determine where you should direct your efforts to achieve the best result. What Is a Philosophy Essay? First of all, you should realize that philosophical essays are different from essays in most other subjects. Wondering why? Philosophy essays are not written for the sake of literary self-expression and they can’t be approached like ordinary research papers. They don’t summarize that different scholars have had to say on a certain topic. They don’t present the latest findings of scientific experiments, tests or surveys. And they don’t present your personal impressions, opinions, feelings. Instead, a philosophy essay is a reasoned defense of a thesis. When writing assignments in your philosophy classes, you have to be doing philosophy. You need to ask insightful questions about fundamental ideas and concepts and provide reasoned, well-argued responses to these questions. You need to establish logical relations between your thoughts. Your task is to convince your reader that your thesis is correct so you have to use the method of rational persuasion. To write a strong philosophy essay, you should demonstrate your ability to think critically about certain issues and present your independent thought by offering new analogies, new examples, and counter-examples of familiar points or even a novel argument. What Do You Do in a Philosophy Essay? Your philosophy essay can’t consist of a simple report of your opinions on a particular topic or present a report of the opinions of other philosophers, it must present an argument. Your task is to defend the points you claim in your essay so you must offer convincing reasons to believe your claims. That’s why you can’t merely state: â€Å"My view is that S.† Instead, you must write something like: â€Å"My view is S. I believe it is true because†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"I think the following ideas †¦ provide a convincing argument for S.† Typically, you should start with your thesis and then make one of the following steps: Provide reasons to believe your thesis; Give counter-example to your thesis; Provide examples that may help to explain your thesis; Criticize the thesis; Defend your thesis against someone’s criticism; Explain the consequences that the essay’s thesis would have if it were true; Revise the thesis. No matter what purpose for the essay you set, you need to present convincing reasons to accept the claims you make and try to persuade other people to believe you. Philosophy Essay Topics Typically, a list of philosophy essay topics you can choose from is provided by your instructor. The topics are usually designed to invite you to deal with some specific philosophical issue or problem. They might be challenging but they give you a good chance to demonstrate how you understand a certain philosophical issue or problem and show your own skills in doing philosophy that is doing analysis, providing argumentation etc. You may be asked to respond to a certain philosophical statement, provide the explanation of a concept or a theory, give the detailed interpretation of a certain text, critically evaluate a philosophical theory or present your own answers to fundamental philosophical questions. Such philosophical questions may concern ethics and morality, science and technology, the universe and reality, human nature and human consciousness etc. Here are some examples of such philosophical questions that you are free to use as topics for your philosophy essays. Is Human Society Moving in the Right or Wrong Direction? Is There any Purpose in Life? Are There any Limits to What Human Mind Can Comprehend the Nature of Reality? Does Math Accurately Represent the Reality? Can Rational Thinking Exist Without Language? How Would You Define Human Creativity? Does It Have any Limits? Do Animals Have Morals? What is Your Definition of Morality? Is Poverty Inevitable? What is the Biggest Threat to Our Society? Before you start writing, you should make sure you understand the assignment. If you were given a longer prompt, pay attention to such words as â€Å"compare†, â€Å"evaluate†, â€Å"explain† or â€Å"outline†. You should present your own answers, give reasons, answer objections, and critically evaluate alternative approaches. Make an Outline and Structure Your Essay You should start with organizing your thoughts on the given topic. A good outline will increase your chances to make your philosophy essay logical, clear, and coherent. Besides, you will be able to see if you miss some elements in your argument. Your outline may look like this one: Introduction – draft your thesis statement; Analysis – provide a summary of your evaluation of the key points of your topic; Arguments – make a bulleted list of the major arguments you are going to make to defend your thesis; Counter-arguments – think about at least one objection to your argument; Summary – summarize your key points in response to your topic. Your next step is to think about a clear structure of your essay that will help your audience follow your argument and reduce the chances that your readers may get confused. Typically, your essay should follow the outline we have presented above and consist of the introduction, body paragraphs where you present your arguments and counterarguments, and the conclusion that summarizes your key points. Write a Draft Philosophical problems are complex and writing a philosophy essay requires careful and extended reflection. You can’t do it during the night before your essay is due so it’s important to start thinking about your topic as early as possible. Most likely, you will need to write more than one draft and make a lot of revisions to ensure that your essay is logical, clear, and concise. So it’s best to start working on your essay as soon as it is assigned to you. When writing your essay, you should use simple, straightforward words and keep your paragraphs and sentences short. Try to avoid complicated language when you can find simple ways to communicate the same idea exactly. Introduction Begin your introduction with formulating your thesis. You inform your reader what your essay sets to achieve – what your thesis is and how you are going to support your point of view. e.g. In this essay, I will argue that Mr. Smith †¦ I will use the following approach †¦ You should also explain some technical terms that you use in your argument to avoid ambiguity and help your readers grasp your ideas. Besides, you can provide motivation for your reader to read your essay to the end and explain why your argument is important and why your readers should care about it. If necessary, you should clarify how you are going to present your argument and lay out the structural plan for your essay to make the structure of your essay obvious to your readers and help them follow it. If your task is to critically evaluate someone’s argument, you will need first to explain this argument to your audience and only after that you should provide your critique. Keep in mind that you will need to present the argument in your own words and make your explanation concise and precise. Body Paragraphs In the body of your essay, you need to give your own argument on a specific essay topic and use plenty of examples and definitions. Philosophic claims are very abstract and difficult to understand and examples may help to make those claims clearer to the audience. You should write as many paragraphs as you have the key points and devote one paragraph to one point of your argument. It’s the most critical part of your essay because it will actually show your understanding of the subject and your ability to make your points concisely, thoroughly, and coherently. When discussing views of other people, you can use direct quotations or paraphrases and reference them properly according to the citation style specified by your instructor. But you should quotations and paraphrases to the minimum because it’s your essay and your instructor is interested to see your own words. Your argument will be stronger if you anticipate possible objections to it and respond to them. Very often this is an essential part of your philosophy essay. It actually provides support to your main argument and makes your key points more compelling. There can be different objections to your thesis but you should always think about the strongest objections and reply to them. Don’t take the unconvincing objections you can easier respond to. If you can’t formulate a decisive reply to these objections, you should admit it as well. Sometimes, your assignment may be to think about and provide several objections to your thesis and defend it against them. When presenting your argument and providing objections, you should to be very precise and state exactly what you mean. In this way, you will minimize the chances of being misunderstood. Commonly, you should expect to complete a short essay of about 3 double-spaced pages so you should avoid using too many arguments because too many arguments will confuse your readers. Keep your structure simple, focus on your topic, and stick to your thesis and arguments. Keep in mind that your essays in philosophy don’t necessarily have to provide a straight affirmative or negative answer to your question or a definite solution to a problem. It’s OK to ask questions in your essay even if you can’t answer them. You can use the following structure for your essay to make it flow smoothly. Thesis statement Argument 1 a. Counter-argument 1 Reply Argument 2 a. Counter-argument 2 Reply Conclusion Conclusion Your conclusion should be brief. Tell your audience what you think your argument has established. You should restate your thesis statement and give a short summary of your argument. You should be creative and don’t copy your introduction. In this part of your essay, you want to emphasize the most important limitations and implications of your own argument. Don’t provide any new information. Revise Your Draft, Edit, and Proofread: Tips from Experts When you finish your rough draft, put it aside for a couple of days and then revise it several times, considering the structure of your argument and your word choice as well. Typically, you will need to revise your draft several times and you should save all your drafts as you go along. That will allow you to go back if you decide to change your mind. Your final draft should provide the clearest version of your final argument. When revising your draft, you can make the following steps: Revise your introductory and concluding paragraphs to ensure that you have a clear thesis and that both the paragraphs support each other. Revise the structure to ensure that your argument is clear and logical. Delete any unnecessary sentences and words that don’t bring value to your argument. You may also need to add some sentences or words to make your argument clear but in this case, you should be very brief. When you are satisfied with the structure and content and are sure you won’t need any such changes anymore, you need to check spelling, grammar, and punctuation and fix mistakes if there are any. You can use some grammar and spell checking tools online. You should proofread your philosophy essay very carefully to fix minor mistakes and typos. A good idea is to find someone to read your essay. Your family member or a friend may notice some mistakes that you may overlook on your own because of the typical writer’s blindness. Before you submit your essay, make sure you have done everything possible to make it the best it can be.

Create and Interpret a table that compare the prevalence of Diabetes Essay

Create and Interpret a table that compare the prevalence of Diabetes in the US(age 18+ age adjusted Males and Females) Mountain and pacific regions from 2000-2012 - Essay Example The trend indicates that there is prevalent decrease in diabetes over the years from 2002 to 2012. The overall rudimentary prevalence was similar for males (Attaining 24.9 percent in 2012) and females (Attaining 17.6 percent in 2012) (National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases 65). Trends across the different regions in America show similarity in rudimentary prevalence for males and females in the two regions under study. The pacific region shows even a lower level of diabetes prevalence throughout the years and across the sexes. Generally, the rates decreased from 36.9 percent between 2002 and 2004, to 27.1 percent by the close of 2012. A notable aspect between the mountain region and the pacific region is that fewer males get diabetic in the pacific region as compared to the mountain region. However, the pacific region still indicates a decrease in the trend across the years for the two sexes. Murphy, Sherry., Xu, Jiaquan and Kochanek, Kenneth. Division of Vital Statistics CDC/NCHS, Deaths: Final data for 2010. National vital statistics reports; vol 61 no 4. Hyattsville, MD: NCHS; 2012. Accessed September 18, 2014 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_04.pdf National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases. National Diabetes Statistics Fact Sheet, 2005. Bethesda, MD, U.S: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health,

Strategic Marketing Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Marketing Plan - Assignment Example There exists cut throat competition and rivalry with nearly all cafes coming up with certain packages, promotions, and offers to attract clients, as the service being offered is highly homogenous. Our firm wants to operate in such a competitive environment and wants to get the major chunk of the market share, attract customers, and develop loyalty towards our services. Our organization aims at developing a cyber caf that provides the teenagers and the office and retired people a complete new experience of the internet as well as entertainment. The cyber caf will have a coffee shop in addition to the usual internet access that the ordinary cyber cafes offer. Thus the people visiting our cyber caf will get addicted to come again due to the relaxation and a complete new experience offered here. Our target market is mainly the students and the teenagers but we also focus the office going people and the retired old persons that can spend a new life here and enjoy the coffee and experience and search a massive amount of interesting and informative information on the internet. The corporate objectives of the business are to achieve at least 5 percent of the market share of the current i... Mission statement To provide our customers with a complete new experience of internet access and relaxation and to provide employee satisfaction to our employees Corporate objectives To become a market leader in the industry of internet cafes by providing the best services to the customers The corporate objectives of the business are to achieve at least 5 percent of the market share of the current industry in the forthcoming year. These are the least set objectives but the company aims to achieve more than that. The company aims to achieve sales of roughly $275,000 in the first year and then this figure increasing at least 10% annually. 3. Application of Strategic Management Tools & Techniques SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis is a double impact tool that analyses both internal and external factors influencing an organization on the whole; Strengths and Weaknesses are internal, while Opportunities and Threats are external factors. As understandable by the name, internal factors are within the spam of control of the organization while the external ones are not. The application of SWOT to an environment ensures that resource allocation can be analyzed and the strengths can be appropriately capitalized, while minimizing the weaknesses' impact for assuring maximum from the opportunities and minimizing the threats. Following is the application of SWOT analysis to Hot Coffee Cyber Caf: S Strengths -The entertainment offered by the caf which is not available at other cafes -The awesome internet speed and the equipment offered to the customers -Quality of services provided to the customers -Quality of the coffee and other beverages provided -Qualified Staff that can

Early childhood education Essay Example for Free

Early childhood education Essay Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (1782-1852) was a German educator born in Oberweisbach. He is known as the founder of â€Å"Kindergarten† and was one of the most influential educational reformers of the 19th century. Froebel had a difficult childhood. His mother died when he was still young, and his father, a pastor, and stepmother neglected to care for him. Finally, an uncle took over his care and ensured that he receive a high school education. It was there that young Froebel grew up with a love for nature and strong Christian faith, which led him to seek happiness and unity in all things. Froebel’s faith also led him to think as an educationalist. Froebel studied at the University of Jena for a short time. In 1805, while studying architecture in Frankfurt, he was persuaded to become a teacher by the model school at Frankfurt. He then studied with Pestalozzi at Yverdon, before returning to the University of Gottigen and Berlin in Germany. Froebel believed that there was something missing in Pestalozzi’s theory- the ‘spiritual mechanism’. According to Froebel, this was the basis of early childhood education. â€Å"Pestalozzi takes man existing only in appearance on earth,† he said, â€Å"but I take man in his eternal being, in his eternal existence. † (Shapiro, 1983, p. 20. ) Froebel took a break from studying to join the army for a year from 1813-1814. Afterwards, he received a position at the mineralogical museum in the University of Berlin. Two years later, he founded a school at Greisheim (which later mover to Keilau) which he called the Universal German Educational Institute. It was there that he taught his methods to other teachers. Froebel opened the first Kindergarten in the year of 1837 in Bad Blankenburg. Later, he also founded a Kindergarten training school at Liebenstein. Froebel felt that children, like plants in a garden, need to be cared for and shielded from outside influences. Froeble believed that children need to imitate a teacher’s values and morals. Therefore, teachers need to be respected, receptive, and easily approachable. Among Froebel’s subordinates, however, there were constant disputes, which he was unable to control. He encountered more problems when the Prussian government did not approve of his ideas. In 1851, an edict was issued, which forbade the establishment of Kindergartens. This decree was repealed almost 10 years later- in 1860. Froebel was not alive at that time and had no idea of the impact he left on the school system worldwide, and especially in the United States. The philosophers of his times, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) and Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling (1775-1854), also influenced Froebel’s educational ideas. He placed an emphasis on self-activity, physical training, and pleasant surroundings in the development of children. His most important work was the book he wrote in 1826 called Menschenerziehung (tr. The Education of Man, 1877). References: Lilley, Irene M. , (1967). Friedrich Froebel: A Selection from His Writings. Kilpatrick, William H. , (1916). Froebels Kindergarten Principles Critically Examined. Retrieved from http://www. uv. es/EBRIT/micro/micro_221_12. html Froebel, Friedrich. (1896). The Education of Man, trans. W. H. Hailman. New York: Appleton. Retrieved from http://www. answers. com/topic/friedrich-wilhelm-august-fr-bel.

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  Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the Nazi Party ; National Socialist German Workers Party). He was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. Hitler was at the centre of Nazi Germany, World War II in Europe, and the Holocaust. Hitler was a decorated veteran of World War I. He joined the German Workers' Party in 1919, and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923, he attempted a coup d'à ©tat in Munich, known as the Beer Hall Putsch. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoir, Mein Kampf . After his release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. After his appointment as chancellor in 1933, he transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism. Hitler's aim was to establish a New Order of absolute Nazi German hegemony in co...

Advantages and Disadvantages to Society Essay

Humans have become so dependent on electricity and society’s evolution to a great extent has been based on it. In the absence of lights, computers, most methods of transportation and communication, the last hundred years of advancement could be set back. With these things considered, electricity could clearly be regarded as man’s greatest discovery. However, in as much as electricity has played a major role in the progress of humankind, it has also contributed widely into the sluggish destruction of society. Therefore, electricity has both an advantageous and disadvantageous effects on society. Electricity is an invisible form of energy created by the movement of charged particles, a phenomenon that is a result of the existence of electrical charge. It flows into our homes along wires and can be easily converted into other energy forms, such as heat and light. It can be stored in batteries or sent along wires to make electric trains, computers, light bulbs and other devices work. The comprehension of electricity has directed to the invention of generators, computers and nuclear-energy systems, X-ray devices, motors, telephones, radio and television. (Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge, 2002) Everything in the world, including humans and the air they breathe, is made of atoms. Each of these tiny particles has a positively charged center, named as nucleus, with smaller, negatively charged electrons whizzing around it. Electricity is created when one of the electrons jump to another atom. This can be caused by the magnetic field in a generator, by chemicals in a battery, or by friction (rubbing materials together). Early History The breakthrough discovery that an electric charge could be created by rubbing two materials together was first made by the Greek Philosopher Thales around 600 BC. He found that if he rubbed the fossilized tree sap, amber, with silk, it attracted small light objects such as feathers and dust. However, the first realistic device for the generation of electrical energy was not invented until 1800 when the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta constructed the first crude battery. For centuries, this strange, puzzling property was thought to be limited to amber. Two thousand years later, in the 16th century, William Gilbert provided evidence that many other substances are electric. He gave these substances the Latin name electrica, originating from the Greek word elektron (which means â€Å"amber†). According to the 2008 Encyclopedia Americana, the word magnet, comes from the Greek name for the black stones from Magnesia in Asia Minor. Sir Thomas Browne, an English writer and physician, first used the word electricity in 1646. Relationships between electricity and magnetism were devised in 1820 by the Danish physicist H. C. Oersted and the French physicist D. F. J. Arago from studies of the effects of a current-carrying conductor on a compass needle or iron filings. That same year, the French physicist Andre Ampere showed that an electric current flowing through a wire created a magnetic field similar to that of a permanent magnet. In 1831, the English physicist Michael Faraday conceived a device for converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. Faraday’s machine, the first dynamo (DC generator), was made up of a copper disk rotating between the poles of a permanent magnet. A year later, Hippolyte Pixii of France, built both an AC generator and a DC generator, the latter being fitted with a commutator. Such primeval generators were widely used for experimental purposes. Nonetheless, they could not generate a great deal of power because the field strength of their permanent magnets was slight. In 1866, the German inventor Werner von Siemens initiated the use of electromagnets instead of permanent magnets for the field poles of a DC generator. In 1870, the Belgian inventor Zenobe Gramme further improved the performance of DC generators by using armatures of iron wound with rings of insulated copper wire. Powered by counteracting steam engines, Gramme’s generators were used to supply current for arc lamps in lighthouses and factories. Electric arc street lamps were installed in Paris in 1879, in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1879, and in New York City in 1880. However, the carbon filament incandescent lamp invented by Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan in 1880 provided a far better and more suitable source of light than arc lamps did. This invention created a great demand for electric power as it marked the beginning of the electric power industry. Electricity was a mystifying force. It did not seem to occur naturally at initial appearance, except in the frightening form of lightning. Researchers had to do an atypical thing to study electricity; they had to manufacture the phenomenon before they could analyze it. We have come to realize that electricity is everywhere and that all matter is electrical in nature. Many innovators in the study of magnetism and electricity become known between the late 1700s and the early 1800s, many of whom left their names on several electrical units. These scientists include Charles Augustin de Coulomb (the unit of charge), Andre Ampere (current), George Ohm (resistance), James Watt (electrical power), and James Joule (energy). Luigi Galvani gave us the galvanometer, a device for measuring currents, while Alessandro Volta gave us the volt, a unit of potential, or electromotive force. Similarly C. F. Gauss, Hans Christian Oersted, and W. E. Weber all made their mark and established their names on electrical engineering. Only Benjamin Franklin failed to leave his name on any electrical unit, despite his noteworthy contributions. All of the afore-mentioned scientists contributed to the study of electricity. However, the two real giants in the field were 19th century Englishmen, Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell. The widespread use of electricity as a source of power is largely due to the work of pioneering American engineers and inventors such as Nikola Tesla, and Charles Proteus Steinmetz during the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2002). One of the most well-known perhaps is Thomas Alva Edison, most famous for his development of the first commercially practical incandescent lamp. He was one of the most prolific inventors of the late 19th century and his greatest contribution is the development of the world’s first central-electric-light-power-station. By the time he died in West Orange, New Jersey, he had patented over 1000 inventions. (Jenkins, R. 2000) II. BODY Electrical activity takes place constantly everywhere in the universe. Electrical forces hold molecules together. The nervous systems of animals work by way of weak electric signals transmitted between nerve cells called neurons. Electricity is generated, transmitted, and converted into other forms of energy such as heat, light and motion through natural processes, as well as by devices built by people. Over the period from 1950 to 1999, the most recent year for which data are available, annual world electric power production and consumption rose from slightly less than 1,000 billion kilowatt hours to 14,028 billion kwh. A change also took place in the type of power generation. In 1950, about 2/3 of the electricity came from thermal or steam-generating sources and about 1/3 from hydroelectric sources. In 1998, thermal sources produced sixty-three percent of the power, but hydropower had declined to nineteen percent, and nuclear power accounted for seventeen percent of the total. The growth in nuclear power slowed in some countries, markedly the United States, in reaction to concerns about safety. Nuclear plants generated twenty percent of U. S. electricity in 1999; in France, the world leader, the figure was 76 percent.

Timeline History of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)