ChevronRichmond Refinery Fire (2012)Tips for Writing a Phil

ChevronRichmond Refinery Fire (2012)Tips for Writing a Philosophy Paper Here are some writingtips that should be useful to both graduate and undergraduate students. Whenwriting a philosophy paper: 1. Do not write a mere ‘opinion’ paper. You needto state more than your own views, brilliant as they may be. Lay out argumentsof the authors you are discussing, and offer counterarguments of your own—seeTip 6. A decent paper would devote substantial space to fairly and clearlypresenting the author’s views (claims made, arguments in favor of those claims,examples and illustrations, etc.), and then substantial space to presentingpossible counterclaims, counterarguments, and counterexamples. Both of thesetasks require imagination and discipline. 2. It is okay to usethe first person singular. Despite what some people may say, there is nothingwrong with saying ‘I think that James ought to have considered…’ or’In my view, this idea has certain strengths, but also some objectionableconsequences, as follows:…’ But don’t overdo it—consider Tip 1. 3. Start writing early. Give yourself enough time to thinkabout things. Don’t wait until the night before. Try to sketch out (outline)arguments and responses before sitting down to write them up. Use awordprocessor so that editing of various drafts of the paper can be doneeasily. 4. Do not expect thereader to fill in gaps in your reasoning, even if you know they have read thesame things you have. Write as if you were trying to explains things to one ofyour friends who is not taking the class. You might even test this by having a friendread the first draft. 5. Do not waste time with flowery introductory paragraphs orgrandiloquent claims about the importance of issues. Get right to the issues athand. 6. Give any views you oppose the most convincing formulationthat you can. If you assert simply that your opponent is a fool, then you willnot have accomplished anything special by refuting him or her. But if yourefute a very smart opponent, you have achieved something significant. So paintyour opponent in the best possible light (clearly, fairly, honestly) beforelaunching your refutation. 7. Make sure thatyour thoughts flow easily and logically from the beginning to the end of thepaper. The transition from sentence to sentence should make sense to theaverage reader. Similarly, make sure there is an easy and logical transitionfrom one paragraph to the next. 8. Do not panic ifyou discover that you do not understand the issues as well as you thought youdid. The point of doing the writing is to give you an opportunity to think thingsthrough, to organize your thoughts, and to try to present them in a form thatmight be helpful to others—see Tip 3. 9. A short philosophypaper cannot and should not be a research project. You are allowed to consideroutside sources, but this is not required—see Tip 1. But be sure to place anydirect quotes in quotation marks or in a block-indented format, and cite thesource in parentheses. Also, if you state that the author says such-and-so,whether you give a direct quote or not, clearly cite where the author makesthat claim. You can use the short form for assigned texts (MacKinnon 146). Givemore information for outside reading (author, date, page number(s)). Yoursources should be provided in a list of references at the end of the paper. 10. The overallstructure and organization of the paper requires some discipline, persistence,and clear thinking. It should begin with a clear statement of the topic andthesis of the paper, or perhaps an engaging question to be addressed in thepaper. It should end with a similar statement (or a conclusion, if the paperbegins with a question), modified to some extent by reference to theintervening material. The concluding section should identify the point, thepunch-line of the paper in some effective way. Your paper should have adefinite point to make. The intervening material should include three distinctkinds of discussion: clearly and fairly present the topic or question that youare concerned with, giving quotes and explanations of specific chunks of text fromthe readings; • present options andalternatives, as you see them yourself or as presented in other readings; and • present yourevaluations of these options—not just a statement of a preference; givereasons, arguments, for how and why you compare and contrast the options theway that you do. You could do this in three separate paragraphs, or in a largernumber of paragraphs that leapfrog through these three kinds of concerns in aprincipled way—but include all three kinds of discussion in your paper. Theconclusion of the paper should summarize the result you have come to in thecourse of your discussion. 11. The paper should not be too short or too long. But don’tmanipulate the length by fiddling with the font-size and margins. Use a 12-pttype, with one-inch margins, and double-space the text if possible. It shouldbe easily readable, with space for the instructor’s comments. Length should notbe a problem if you choose a good (and tractable) issue that interests you andcompels you to explore what it involves. 12. Number your pages. Correct all typos, spelling errors,and grammatical mistakes. Use a wordprocessor! Sloppy presentation will loweryour grade. Make sure your name is on the first page of the paper, and staplethe pages together in the top left corner.Research Paper Using this document as a guide, write a research paper that focuses on theengineering decision-making in your assigned case. Your paper must have the following sections, with the following headings (in bold):I.Part One: Case Presentation [This section of your paper must be at least 600words—orroughly 2pages—long.]1. In a section titledCase Narrative, offer a well-sourced,linear narrative of your case. Who are the engineers (individuals and/or companies) involved in your case? Are there any non-engineers who are key players in your case? Who, if anyone, was harmed? Who, if anyone, benefited?2. In a section titledMorally Significant Decisions and Actions, identify any morally significant decisions made and/or actions taken by the engineers in your case. Why were these decisions/actions critical? Did any of the non-engineers (managers, owners, clients, etc.) in your case aid or interfere with these decision/actions in any significant way?3. In a section titledValues of the Engineers, identify any values (efficiency, profit, safety, reputation, power, innovation, etc.) that you believe drove (explicitly or implicitly) the engineers in your case to make the decisions and/or take the actions that they did. Why do you believe that these were, in fact, the values in play?II.Part Two: Value Analysis [This section of your paper must be at least 900words—orroughly 3pages—long.]1. In a section titledBetter Decisions/Actions, say whatyou thinkshould have happened in your case. Could any of the engineers in your case have made better decisions or taken better actions? If so, identify these decision/actions and explainhow andwhy your proposed alternative(s) would have been better. If not, explainwhy you believe this case is nonetheless ripe for value analysis.2. In a section titledBetter Values, say which value(s)you thinkshould have guided the decision-making of the engineers in your case. Why are these the values that ought to have been the ones driving/motivating the actions/decisions of the engineers in the case?3. In a section titledMoral Lessons, say which moral lesson(s) (i.e., lessons about moral values and the resolution of moral dilemmas) an engineer can learnfrom your case? Why are these important lessons to learn? [Remember that moral lessons do not look exclusively to the past; instead, they look primarily to the future and seek to inform the decision-making of engineers who have learned these lessons.]III.Works Cited: Include all and only sources cited within the paper. [Because this research paper is most importantly aphilosophy essay, you should be sure to give thorough consideration to the questions raised in Part Two above. In addition to telling us what happened in your case, you are going to be making anargument about the ethics of your case. This will require exposing your point of view, taking a position on the moral value of the decisions and actions relevant to your case, and defending your own view of who is morally responsible and how engineers can learn from your case.]**If your paper does not contain substantial consideration of the engineering decision-making in your case, then your paper will be treated as “off-topic” and will be returned to you for a re-write. A substantial penalty will also be assessed in such a case.**Length: 1500-2100 words long (or roughly 5-7 pages) + Works Cited page; typed in 12-point font; double-spaced.Please be sure to cite all sources that you use in the paper, whether you quote directly from these sources or paraphrase from them.

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