Senior capstone thesis

Phil 482

Spring 2004

INSTRUCTOR: WILLIAM IRWIN, Ph.D. EXT. 5493. wtirwin@kings.edu

Webpage: http://www.kings.edu/wtirwin

OFFICE HOURS: HAFEY-MARIAN 503 M 1-2, W 12-3, and by appointment.

Description and Objectives: This course is the culmination of the student’s work in the philosophy major. Upon completion the student will be prepared for graduate school and anything else academic that may await her or him. Students will craft a significant philosophy paper on a topic of their choosing, fifteen to twenty-five pages, presenting it in class at two different stages. Students will employ the writing strategy known as “successive elaboration,” starting small and building up. A new draft will be due each week. Along with a clean copy of the previous week’s draft, students should bring to class three copies of the latest draft for peer and prof editing. Students will collect the series of drafts in a writing portfolio. Students will present their papers for a third time outside of class to the philosophy faculty (and friends) at the end of the year lunch during final exams week. By the end of the semester students will have a philosophy paper ready for publication in an undergraduate philosophy journal.

Required Texts:

Philosophical Writing, A.P. Martinich.

Writing Philosophy, Richard A. Watson.

Writing Philosophy Papers, Zachary Seech.

GRADES TO BE DETERMINED AS FOLLOWS:

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION 10% (Active participation in class discussions is expected and appreciated. More than 3 unexcused absences (i.e. without a note from a physician or college official) will result in no credit for attendance.

First Presentation 10%

Second Presentation 10%

Final PAPER 70%

Class Schedule

January 12 Discussion of thesis topics and the writing process.

January 14 First draft due. Martinich, “Composing,” 67-95; “It’s Sunday Night,” 183-186.

January 19 Second draft due. Watson, “Writing an Article,” xi-13.

January 21 Seech, “First Things First,” and “Thesis Defense Papers,” 1-20. First Bibliography due.

January 26 Third draft due. Seech, “Writing and Revising the Paper,” 29-42. Martinich, “The Structure of a Philosophical Essay,” 52-66.

January 28 Revision workshop.

February 2 Fourth draft due. Second Bibliography due. Martinich, “Problems with Introductions,” 169-182; “Tactics for Analytic Writing,” 96-142.

February 4 Revision workshop.

February 9 Fifth draft due. “Some Constraints on Content” and “Some Goals of Form,” 143-168.

February 11 Revision workshop.

February 16 Sixth draft due. Watson, “Notes on Philosophical Writing,” 25-46; Seech, “Language,” 43-61.

February 18 Revision workshop. Annotated Bibliography due.

February 23 Seventh draft due. Seech, “Good Reasoning,” 63-72; “Formal Patterns of Logic,” 133-146. Martinich, “Logic and Argument for Writing,” 18-51.

February 25 Revision workshop.

March 1 Eighth Draft (first full-length draft) due. Martinich, “Glossary of Philosophical Terms,” 187-197.

March 3 Revision workshop.

March 15 Ninth Draft Due; First Presentations.

March 17 First Presentations Continued.

March 22 Tenth draft Due. Seech, “Editing Your Paper,” 113-121.

March 24 Revision workshop.

March 29 Eleventh draft due. Watson, “Conclusion: Suppose you publish, then what?” 90-91.

March 31 Revision workshop.

April 5 Twelfth draft due.

April 7 Revision workshop.

April 14 Thirteenth draft due.

April 19 Fourteenth draft due; Second Presentations.

April 21 Second Presentations Continued.

April 26 Fifteenth draft/Penultimate draft due.

April 28 Final Paper Due.