Philosophy Term Paper How-to Guidelines to Produce High Grades

Term papers for philosophy often strike fear into the hearts of students. A myth perpetuates that philosophy term papers need to employ complex language and circular debates in order to succeed and impress the professor.

However, the best philosophy term papers are those that demonstrate that the student understands the essential purpose and goal of philosophy: the study of reason. If you need to write a term paper for philosophy, consider the following guidelines as you prepare your essay:

• Organize your philosophy term paper around one core argument of the philosopher or theory that you have chosen to examine. Focus your rational faculties on one element of the theory. It can be an element that you agree with, or one that you disagree with, as long as it is an element that you fully understand. Pursue the action of proving or disproving this one core tenet through the introduction, body, and conclusion of your essay.
• Use language that is appropriately academic for your philosophy term paper, but refrain from using complex words simply because you are trying to sound like you are writing about philosophy.  Language remains secondary to the reasoning skills that you demonstrate in the paper. The most complex and erudite language will not garner you higher marks if your reasoning is faulty or weak.
• Employ quotes to bolster the logic you demonstrate. Do not rely on the quotes to make your point for you. Make your logical point first, and then follow it up with a quote from the philosopher or from another scholar.
• Use footnotes to explain or expand upon a point raised in the text. Often philosophical theories are vehemently argued or defended by scholars, and some of these discussions are useful and insightful for the reader. However, references within the text need to focus exclusively on the logical argument that you pursue. Anything outside of that belongs in the footnotes.
• Depending upon the age of the philosophical movement or theory your paper discusses, keep the references within 10 years of the time of writing. This will allow you to circumvent hours of research and offer a relatively contemporary take on the philosophical problem.