PHIL 271 Philosophical Writing at Coastal Carolina University became a requirement for philosophy majors about 7 years ago. We hoped to give students an opportunity to develop their writing skills before they advanced to upper-level coursework in philosophy.
My aim was to improve student writing by focusing on reading and summarizing skills and by breaking down the writing process into distinct steps to show students that they could improve their writing by deliberately working on it and avoiding the strategies they had used in the past, namely, skimming papers and scraping together a paper the night before it was due. We also focus on using metacognitive and reflective strategies to focus on the learning process itself.
After teaching the class for a year or two, our English composition courses adopted Graff and Birkenstein’s 2010 book, They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing, so most students were familiar with that template for writing papers. Ultimately, too many of the templates in that book needed to be modified for use in philosophy, but I could refer students to the overall structure of papers and certain rhetorical tools such as return sentences and using quotations. My colleague, Dennis Earl, adapted their template method of writing for philosophy papers (Earl 2015), and I used a modified version in my writing classes.
I use a “sequencing and scaffolding” method of teaching reading and writing. Tasks are introduced sequentially: beginning with generating a philosophical question, then reading an article that proposes an answer to that question, identifying the main line of reasoning and objections considered, summarizing the argument, recognizing ways to respond to the argument, generating and defending a thesis and considering and responding to objection. Along the way, students focus on details such as using quotations to support a claim, using transitions, lead-ins, return sentences and other rhetorical tools, revising, etc. The scaffolding method involves the instructor modeling these activities, then supporting students as they do them, then providing feedback on students’ independent efforts. For example, I demonstrate how to formalize an argument defended in a paper we read, then students do this together in class, then they do it on their own. We also regularly invoke metacognitive practices to think about what we strategies we are using and how well we are using them and reflect on the strategies and thoughts we used to get to where we are now. For example, for each paper students answer questions about the writing process they used, how they found their thesis, or difficulties they had with the writing or the topic; and they prepare a portfolio at the end of the term in which they reflect on what they learned in the course and provide evidence of their development as a philosophers and writers.
A drawback of the course is that there are quite a few small assignments that require grading. I am fortunate to have very small classes (5-15 students). Still, I use a simple rubric for small assignments (viz., for reading questions, outlines, and drafts), essentially a “pass/fail” schema and reserve more detailed assessment for the papers. It is a lot of work for students, but I grade generously if they do the work and participate in class. I try to convey that their effort and their respect for the writing process pays off in the final product.
One of the challenges of teaching this class was choosing a topic for students to read and write about. I wanted students to be doing philosophy as they developed their writing skills, but I did not want the content of the course to overlap with other courses too much or to be too technical since the only prerequisite is one course in philosophy (other than logic). The first couple of years that I taught the course, I selected readings on the ethics of abortion because they were accessible and exemplified the type of argumentative and philosophical writing students need to learn to do. This topic got old rather quickly, and after a lot of contemplation and research, I switched to metaphilosophy. My paper, “A Course in Metaphilosophy for Undergraduates” (Smith 2017), describes the topics in metaphilosophy we address in the class.
I am happy with the content of the course and students seem to appreciate it too. They report that they feel much more confident writing philosophy papers after taking the course and adopting the step-by-step methods for understanding and responding to the reading. (One student proudly showed me an argument diagram she did of a reading for another class.). They also feel much more secure about having chosen philosophy as a major; and they are eager to talk about what philosophy is, how it is done, and what its value is. Students are supposed to take this course before they begin their upper-level coursework in philosophy; however, it is not a requirement and many students put off taking the course until later. These students inevitably report that they wished they had taken the course earlier because it would have made them more successful in their other courses.
If you are interested in learning more about this course, please see the attached syllabus and check out my paper in Teaching Philosophy. I would also be happy to answer your questions about teaching philosophical writing or metaphilosophy.
Works Cited
Earl, D. (2015). The four-sentence paper: A template for considering objections and replies. Teaching Philosophy, 38:1: 49-76.
Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2010). They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. New York, NY: Norton.
Smith, R. J. (2017). A course in metaphilosophy for undergraduates. Teaching Philosophy,40(1): 55-83.
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Renée Smith
Renée Smith is a professor of philosophy at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC. She specializes in philosophy of mind, particularly on phenomenal consciousness and introspection, and philosophy pedagogy.
