RESEARCH IN PHILOSOPHY:
A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS

by Michael S. Russo

Molloy College, Dept. of Philosophy

There is more to writing a good research paper than just spending a few hours the night before the paper is due frantically hashing out yours ideas on paper. Indeed, the art of producing a research paper is much like the art involved in building a cathedral. No one in his right mind would begin to build a cathedral by haphazardly slopping together whatever raw material happened to be lying around and hoping that the finished product comes out professionally. This may be the way to build a shack for pigs, but it is not going to create the great Notre Dame Cathedral.

Before you begin building any structure, it is important to take the time to plan out the project and to carefully organize your building materials. Once you have detailed blueprints of the project developed, your raw materials gathered together, and have chosen a professional crew to do the actual work, the act of building itself becomes relatively simple.

The same is true in writing a research paper. The time you spend gathering and organizing raw data will ultimately help make the act of writing that much easier. It will also make your finished product far more coherent and well-written.

This guide has been created to assist you in the process of producing an academic research paper in the discipline of Philosophy. Various steps in this process have been laid out for you, which, if followed carefully, should enable you to improve both your research and writing abilities.

Molloy College   |    Department of Philosophy     |    Sophia Project 

   © 2000, Michael S. Russo.       For more information contact:  mrusso@molloy.edu