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Philosophical Essay Writing - 10 Tips for University Students


Are you struggling with your philosophical essay? Almost all students find it difficult to write essays, and if they have to write a philosophical essay, more pressure creates on them. This is because writing an essay is not an easy task. All essays need a well-formatted structure and appropriate information to defend a problem statement. On the other hand, philosophy is a complex subject, and philosophers use difficult language to express their complex thoughts.
Storytelling or scientific writing is easy writing that does not excite its readers to the extent philosophical writing does. Moreover, philosophy demands students to remember quotes and statements from different philosophers to defend arguments while writing. That's why it isn't easy to write philosophical essays. This article will define philosophical essays and how to write them.

What Is Philosophical Essay Writing?

A writer must prove some point using logical arguments in a philosophical essay. Philosophical writing is very different from storytelling or scientific writing. In scientific writing, we defend any problem with science and experiments. On the other hand, in philosophical writing, we need to support an argument using logical arguments. The beauty of this writing lies in the writer's language and how he explains his thoughts.

Understand The Philosophical Question:

Understanding the topic is the first step in writing almost all types of essays. Because once you understand what your problem statement is demanding from you, you can easily tackle that problem in an essay. Moreover, understanding the problem statement in philosophical writing is more important because of 2 reasons. First, the philosophical question will automatically bring arguments to your mind. Second, you can easily find which argument of philosophers to add to explain your viewpoint.

Write A Good Essay Plan:

After understanding the philosophical statement, the next step is to draft how you will tackle the problem statement. This means drawing the structure you will follow to write the whole essay. In philosophical essays, we normally write an introduction. Then we have to write some more sections. These sections will include a section explaining the views of some philosophers on that topic and a section explaining your viewpoint. Then using your viewpoints and philosopher's points, you explain the problem statement of the essay. One point you should never miss in an essay is to explain the philosophical problem in detail and tackle it nicely using arguments and statements.

Research For Material:

We have discussed in the opening that a philosophical essay needs logical arguments and statements of philosophers to defend the research argument. So it's recommended to search for the content before writing the essay. Understand the philosophical argument and then start searching for supportive content. Students normally start writing after reading the statement, and later they get confused about what to add. Moreover, in confusion, they create a mess in the paper. So, understand the statement and search for the sources you need to add to the essay. After collecting sources, re-read them and make sure they are all relevant.
After writing an essay plan, you get familiar with what you need to write in the paper. So researching for relevant arguments is a good step to follow after planning an essay structure.

Writing The Introduction To Philosophical Essay Writing:

Do not start your essay while writing general statements everyone used to write. For example, Do not write statements like "Socrates is one of the founding philosophers of western philosophy." Instead, you can write your philosophical statement in the beginning and tell your reader what your writing is about. Remember, there is a great difference between writing what your writing is about and which arguments you will define in the paper.
Keep your introductory paragraph short because you do not need to explain everything in the first paragraph. Moreover, write a summary of your article that can provide the reader with a road map and forces him to read the entire article. In short, keep the introduction short and crisp.

Use Examples:

Using examples in a philosophical essay can be a good decision because it's a more abstract subject. If you can explain any point using examples, this will engage the reader throughout the essay. But make sure to use only those examples that can help clarify your point of view instead of creating confusion.

Maintain Clarity While Writing:

Understanding philosophical essays is a tedious task; if the statements are unclear, this can create confusion for the reader. So make sure you write concise and clear statements that help the reader to understand easily.

Avoid Making Common Mistakes:

While writing an essay, avoid common writing mistakes in grammar and spelling. Do not try to fanaticise your essay. Only use simple but impressive and descriptive language. Moreover, try to add only that argument you remember in exact form because single words can change the meaning of statements. So to avoid common mistakes, is always recommended rather than writing on your own.

Read Write Opposing Points:

While explaining the philosophical statement, do not just write the statements in favour of the philosophical statement. Instead, add an opposing statement and viewpoints of different philosophers. This will engage your reader in the essay and helps him to understand the statement from both perspectives.

Proofread Your Essay:

Proofreading gives a good chance to the writer to remove errors and mistakes. Moreover, by reading, we can also check whether the essay's paragraphs are interlinked.

How To Write A Conclusion:

The conclusion is the most important part of essay writing. While writing a conclusion, you should focus on two points. First, write your problem statement and second, write a complete essay summary. You can also add the most relevant statement in your essay in summary.
Do not add any excess information to the summary. Write a concise summary of what you have defined in the article and the results of your philosophical statement.

Conclusion:

Writing a philosophical essay is not like writing regular essays. Therefore for writing it, first understand your problem statement and then research your topic for selecting statements and arguments to write in the essay. Finally, draw a structure for the essay and start . Make sure not to make any grammar or spelling mistakes.
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