Supervisions are small-group discussions between a supervisor (me) and one, two, or sometimes three students. They involve an in-depth discussion of a piece of writing on an agreed topic, submitted 24 hours in advance for the supervisor to mark. Go back to the previous page to find syllabi for the papers I supervise.

Key points:

• The essay is due one full working day before the supervision.
• It should be at most 2,500 words.
• It should be emailed to hrs53 at cam.ac.uk as a pdf typeset in EB Garamond with line height 1.5, justified margins, font-size 12, and wide margins with space for comments.¹

The most important rule for writing philosophy papers is omit or explain. That means that everything that goes into the paper should (a) help to answer the titular question or prompt and (b) be explained in the text. If it does not do both (a) and (b) it should be omitted.

Beyond that, the paper should

• explain and frame what the question is getting at (in the introduction),
• outline how the essay plans to answer the question (in the introduction),
• clarify the aim of each section (that is, ‘signpost’),
• explain all technical vocabulary,
• explain all quotations,
• explain all referenced views,
• use the same words for the same things throughout (avoid the thesaurus),
• use the standard (dictionary) meanings for all words,
• justify significant claims,
• use easy-to-understand, concrete examples to illustrate abstract ideas,
• demonstrate familiary with the primary readings,
• consider and evaluate at least one central argument in depth, and
• consider and evaluate at least one objection to that argument.

Some useful resources are

• the library search service,
• the faculty’s essay writing guide,
• Jim’s Pryor’s guidelines on writing a philosophy paper, and
• the faculty’s reading lists for part IA, IB, and II.

There are many ways to approach essays. Here is one step-by-step guide which can be useful for students who find it difficult to recall what they have read while writing. Students should modify this guide to fit their own ways of working.

1. Read (only) the required papers in advance.
   1. Practice identifying the key arguments and counterarguments.
   2. Use questions from past exam papers to scaffold (1). These tell you what the course wants you to focus on.
2. Go to the lecture.
   1. Use the lecture as a map and compass that guides you, not as another text to cite and quote.
   2. Spend more time listening than note-taking.
3. Choose a question.
4. Skim an overview of the topic on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy or the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
5. Reading-writing. Make a new document. Carefully read what seems like the most fruitful article for answering your question (3) based on what you have learned in (1), (2), and (4).
   1. First, read the introduction and conclusion; then, read the rest of the essay. Write down a concise summary of the aims of the article.
   2. While reading, start writing your own answer to the question, following the structure of the paper you are reading.
   3. While reading, quote key passages (along with page numbers) and write your own corresponding paraphrases (i.e. explain what the quotes mean).
   4. Repeat (5.1-5.3) with another article. Use the same document in the second round. At the end, you will have a draft with a bad structure, but with all the quotes, references, and paraphrases you need. In addition, you will have written down the majority of your own thoughts. As a result, you will remember the reading better and have done more work before beginning the next stage.
6. Outlining. Make a new document, in which you outline the general structure of the essay. Fill in outline elements with your notes, quotes, and paraphrases from (5).
7. Write-up. Make a final document. On the basis of your outline document, write up the full essay.

For extended essays it is expected that key passages and key articles have been read many times with careful attention to details.