Philosophical Writing

A. P. Martinich is the Roy Allison Vaughan Centennial Professor of Philosophy and Professor of History and Government at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author or editor of thirteen books, including Hobbes: A Biography (1999), The Philosophy of Language (4th edn., 2001), and A Companion to Analytic Philosophy (Blackwell, 2001).

Table of Contents.Note to the Third Edition.Note to the Second Edition.Introduction.1 Author and Audience.The Professor as Audience.The Student as Author.Three Attitudes about Philosophical Method.2 Logic and Argument for Writing.What is a Good Argument?.Valid Arguments.Cogent Arguments.Consistency and Contradition.Contraries and Contradictories.The Strength of a Proposition.3 The Structure of a Philosophical Essay.An Outline of the Structure of a Philosophical Essay.Anatomy of an Essay.Another Essay.4 Composing.How to Select an Essay Topic.Techniques for Composing.Outlining.Successive ElaborationConceptual Note Taking.Research and Composing.Polishing.Evolution of an Essay.5 Tactics for Analytic Writing.Definitions.Distinctions.Analysis.Dilemmas.Scenarios.Counterexamples.Reductio ad Absurdum.Dialectical Reasoning.6 Some Constraints on Content.The Pursuit of Truth.The Use of Authority.The Burden of Proof.7 Some Goals of Form.Coherence.Clarity.Conciseness.Rigor.8 Problems with Introductions.Slip Sliding Away.The Tail Wagging the Dog.The Running Start.Appendix A: "It's Sunday Night and I have an Essay Due Monday Morning".Appendix B: How to Study for a Test.Appendix C: Scholarship: Notes and References.Appendix D: Philosophy Resources on the Internet.Appendix E: On Grading.Appendix F: Glossary of Philosophical Terms.Index.