(in Polish) Academic Philosophical Writing

obligatory courses

This course is meant to give students the tools they need to embark on the journey of writing and publishing an academic paper in the field of philosophy. Essentials like writing preparation, reference formats, and punctuation will be discussed, along with argumentative and writing best practices unique to academic writing. Students will also be presented with the process of publication, including reviews, publication types, and the like.

The course will cover a wide range of topics which can be roughly divided into two groups: the particulars of formal correctness in writing and the general picture of writing and publishing a paper.

Formal correctness:

Writing preparation – conducting research, preparing an outline, and the drafting process.

Core punctuation – rules and syntactic criteria behind fundamental punctuation that is shared between different style manuals and dialects.

Style manuals – the importance of style manuals (consistency). A number of style manuals will be introduced, starting with the basic forms of citations and references they mandate. The specifics of APA and CMoS will be covered in detail. Punctuation will be re-examined in the context of manuals, indicating broad differences between manuals as well as between dialects in general.

Writing and publishing:

Composition – how to put together a compelling piece of writing. That includes going over the basic guidelines for the tone of the paper, its precision, clarity, and coherence. Emphasis is also given to understanding the place of sections, paragraphs, and other forms of structural pacing.

Philosophical argumentation – different forms of argumentation and how they are situated in texts. In other words, how to convey a particular type of argument, and how to render it an argument to begin with.

Publishing – the ins and outs of the publication process. How to write an abstract, what to expect when submitting papers, and how to address reviews. Some details concerning rights will also be covered.

Coursework will include analyzing high quality examples from papers that have actually been published, written practice, and discussions.

A.P. Martinich. Philosophical Writing: An Introduction, 3rd edition. Padstow: Blackwell Publishing. 2005.

Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. Chicago: Chicago University Press. 2017.

E. Van Geyte. Writing: Learn to Write Better Academic Essays. London: Collins. 2013.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition. Washington: American Psychological Association. 2012.

The learning outcomes:

- the student is familiar with the basic punctuation rules in English

- the student knows how to write concisely, with clarity, and conforming to formal standards of academic writing

- the student knows how to compose a well-rounded, coherent text

- the student is able to find good sources for his or her paper and use them as textual support for the claims he or she is making

- the student is conscious of the importance of giving credit to others and knows how to do it proportionally to the kind of input others have in the student’s work

- the student can construct a philosophical argument and unfold it in writing

- the student knows how to structure an academic paper

- the student has the ability to start working towards publishing his own papers and construct abstracts that accompany academic papers

Grading criteria:

Midterm exam (50%)

- A basic exam covering the first half of the semester

- The exam can be retaken/made up once

Writing assignments (50%)

- Short writing assignments (1 page each) at the end of each of two modules

- Graded on the basis of previous material covered (grammar, punctuation, composition, etc.)

Number of absences: 2