Entry requirements

180 credits, or equivalent, including 60 credits in philosophy, aesthetics, musicology, literature or art history. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course the students are expected to:

• have an increased understanding of how empirical claims, thought experiments, and other elements of a philosophical dialectic are used efficiently when defending a philosophical thesis or argument
• be familiar with how to employ common philosophical argumentative strategies in one's writing, such as the use of counter-examples, intuitions, and debunking explanations
• have reflected on the role of writing in the process of sharpening and articulating one's philosophical ideas
• have reflected on how different styles of prose and different forms of exposition may affect a reader's uptake and interpretation of a text.

Content

What does it take to write a good philosophical paper? What can we do to become better philosophical writers? And how does writing philosophy relate to actually doing philosophy? The purpose of the course is to address these and related issues about philosophical writing, presentation, and thinking. The course will have both practical elements, such as writing exercises and paper workshops, and theoretical ones, concerning e.g. the understanding of concepts that tend to be central in philosophical argumentation.

Instruction

Lectures, seminars, workshops, and writing tasks. The lecture-style will be thoroughly interactive. Students are expected to participate and contribute.

Assessment

Three short writing assignments to be completed throughout the course, and a longer writing assignment at the end of the course.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Other directives

The content of the course overlaps with the course 5FP054 Writing and Doing Philosophy at advanced level. The two courses may not be used in the same degree.