1. Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals Trans. Douglas Smith 978-0199537082 Oxford
2. Arendt, Responsibility and Judgment 978-0805211627 Schocken
ORGANIZATION
INTRODUCTION
· State your Thesis: …Socrates is not usually read as a contract theorist; however in Plato’s “Crito” there is evidence that he is a Social Contract Theorist. (NOTE: make sure that you list the authors and the texts that you will be using).
· Keep it short and sweet: 1-3 sentences. You do not need to make claims about general humanity or about your own relation to the text. (What not to do: “Beauty is an important concept and it has been treasured by everyone throughout all history”).
BODY OF THE PAPER
· Define your terms: make sure your audience understands your key terms. (What is Social Contract Theory? What is Dignity?)
· Supporting Evidence in the form of quotations: These should be short 1-2 sentence quotes which prove your argument.
· Explain Your Quotes: This will often mean paraphrasing your quote and explaining to your audience how the quote supports your argument.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
· Do not skip steps in your argument. An argument is like a staircase. Help your reader climb the stairs step by step.
· Each paragraph should express only one idea.
· Each paragraph should lead into the next. If the connection between paragraphs is not immediately apparent, then tell your readers what you are going to talk about. For instance, if your first paragraph presents Crito’s argument as to why Socrates should flee jail and your next paragraph addresses Socrates’ response, then your second paragraph should begin with a phrase like: “After Crito presents his argument, Socrates responds with a complicated rebuttal.”
CONCLUSION
· Restate your thesis.
· Explain whether or not you have proved your thesis: Summarize your argument and explain whether or not you think it is good enough to support your thesis.
· NOT MANDITORY: State why (if) your thesis is important and further conclusions that might be reached.
QUOTATIONS
· All quotations must be properly cited. This means that following the quote you must provide a parenthesis which includes the author’s name and the page that you are quoting from (Plato, 2).
· Quotation marks should be placed around all quotations which take up less than three lines in your paper. Quotations which are longer than three lines should appear single space and indented. They should not be surrounded by quotation marks.
· All quotations should be properly introduced. This usually means writing something like: Socrates argues that “then begin quoting.”
· More often than not explanations of a quotation should follow the quote and not precede it. The reason is that you’re trying to get your reader to see that you interpretation of the quote is correct—they need to be able to read the quote before they evaluate your argument.
· Quotations should be short. There will rarely be a reason to use block quotations in a short paper. Since you’re working closely with the text your quotes should only be one or two sentences long.
PARAPHRASING
· Paraphrasing is when you transpose an idea from a text and put it into your own words. All paraphrasing must be followed with the citation for the page where you took the original text.
· You should ONLY paraphrase if you are providing information which is helpful for the narrative of your paper but does not further the argument itself. For instance, Crito’s argument does not help me prove that Socrates was a Social Contract theorist, but I might want to outline his argument in order to help my readers understand how Socrates begins his own argument. In that case I might paraphrase Crito’s argument in a sentence or two. If you’re not sure if you should quote or paraphrase always use a quote.
TITLES
· Films: Quotation marks or italics
· Books: Italics
· Essays and articles: Quotation marks
CLARITY
· Always use precise language. Be direct and making sure that you are using appropriate terms to express your ideas. Do not use words that you do not understand. Remember, the OED is your best friend.
· Use present tense when discussing a text.
· Avoid wordy sentences. Sentences should be simple and direct.
· Avoid passive voice and wordy sentence structures.
· For instance: Incorrect: “Socrates was in jail and had been sleeping when Crito
found him.”
Correct: “Crito finds Socrates asleep in jail.”
THINGS TO AVOID:
· Avoid Cliché’s. A cliché is a phrase that has lost its meaning due to over use. Claims like “money cannot buy happiness” will not further your argument.
· Avoid using philosophical terms without defining them. Do not say that Socrates is interested in “the Good” without defining what “the Good” means.
· Avoid using contractions and abbreviations as they make your writing look less polished.
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