The following tips, advice, and resources have been compiled by UTSC Philosophy’s staff and faculty. However, students may also find it useful to peruse the resources compiled by our other campus departments, UTM Philosophy and St. George Philosophy, many of which apply to philosophy students across the board.
How to write a philosophy paper
Q: I have this paper to write for my philosophy class — what the heck do I do now?
The resources here will help you answer that question:
- Jessica Wilson’s Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper (PDF)
- Jim Pryor’s Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper
- Paul Raymont’s ‘Tips for writing an argumentative philosophy paper (PDF)
Academic behaviour
The University of Toronto’s Governing Council produces a Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters (PDF). This Code addresses the responsibilities of faculty members and students as they co-operate in all phases of the teaching and learning relationship.
Links of interest to philosophers
- The Philosophical Gourmet Report publishes a biennial internal reputation survey of graduate programs in the Anglophone world; students interested in graduate study should look here early and often.
- PhilPapers is philosophy’s free internal catalog of books, journal articles, and manuscripts. Immensely useful categorization of the field; great search functions; easy to use links; lively discussion forums.
- Philosopher’s Index is a venerable catalog of journal articles in philosophy.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a free online resource which is the gold standard in reference articles on a very wide range of issues.
- Philosophy Updates provides information on events in the profession.
- The Leiter Reports is Brian Leiter’s (University of Chicago; Philosophical Gourmet Report) weblog, covering issues in philosophy and the broader academy, as well as issues concerning culture and politics. Very fruitful comment threads in which philosophers hash out their vision of the nature and future of the profession.
- An interesting discussion at Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog about weighing pros and cons of philosophy graduate studies.