The philosophical essay is one that deals with a topic of philosophy and is approached from a reflective and critical point of view, with arguments for or against a particular thesis or idea.
Unlike other types of works, the philosophical essay is deep and analytical, since it does not stop at exposing only opinions, facts or beliefs, but expresses ideas based on its own arguments.
The genre of the essay has as its fundamental characteristic, that it is a writing in which the author expresses a personal vision on a certain topic or problem in order to clarify doubts, so it is essential that it be written in an understandable and clear language.
Characteristics of the philosophical essay
The fundamental features of a philosophical essay are the following:
- In addition to stating facts, opinions or beliefs, this type of essay proposes arguments to defend or reject an idea or thesis.
- Like all essays, it has a personal or subjective style, addresses the subject with an argumentative and interesting approach and its purpose is persuasive.
- Unlike other types of texts, such as journalistic opinion articles, scientific or literary texts, the philosophical essay is a short work, always supported by demonstrable arguments.
- Generally, they are built on the basis of an idea previously defended by a philosopher, and tries to expose a critical point of view in which the weak points of the analyzed thesis are shown.
- You can also support and deepen the arguments in favor of an idea of another person. In any case, the important thing is not the position assumed by the author of the essay, but the quality of the arguments presented to support or reject an idea.
- The philosophical essay must show that there is a thorough understanding and mastery of the subject or problem on the part of the author, and that he also has the ability to critically discern about it and raise a hypothesis with property.
Language
To begin, it is necessary to be clear about the use of language. It should be simple, but elegant, with direct and concise sentences to avoid "going around the bush."
Another recommendation is to use the philosophical terms appropriately, so that they are understandable to all people with an average intellectual level.
Parts
The parts of a philosophical essay are normally the same as for an essay of another type:
- Introduction.
- Development.
- Conclusions.
- References.
The title should begin with the statement of the problem that is summarized in the title and the summary or summary.
Then comes the introduction, in which the problem or topic to be dealt with, the thesis of the analyzed author and the hypothesis of the essayist with its main argument is widely exposed.
Later, in the body of the essay, the argumentative elements are exposed to support the proposed thesis. Finally, the conclusions are written that are a summary of the work.
The structure of the essay must make the writer's argument well established, which must be exposed after explaining the idea that is to be supported or refuted, with its antecedents and contextualization (theoretical framework).
The purpose of the essay and the type of subject it deals with should also be substantiated. Because the structure of the essay, to a large extent, will be based on two categories: in the construction of an idea or in the defense of the argument.
In the first, one starts from a paraphrase, which is an explanation or comment formulated to explain a text that is difficult to understand.
For example, the meaning of the allegory of the cave in Plato's metaphor. That would be the first category of analysis.
In the second, one starts from the defense of a concept, for example abortion, whose practice is defended or rejected from the ethical point of view.
References
- Philosophy Essays. Retrieved November 28 from ukessays.com/
- How to write a philosophical essay or article. (PDF) s / n Recovered from ocw.usal.es
- A Brief Guide to Writing the Philosophy Paper - Harvard Philosophy. (PDF) s / n Recovered from philosophy.fas.harvard.edu
- What is a philosophical essay? Consulted of aboutespanol.com
- Characteristics of the philosophical essay. Consulted of educacion.elpensante.com
- Goody Clairenstein. The structure of a philosophical essay. Consulted of ehowenespanol.com