180089 IK Introduction to Academic Writing in Philosophy (2017S)

Academic work in philosophy involves - among other things - the generation of smaller arguments, the publishing of essays in scientific journals, and the authoring of comprehensive monographs. It also covers oral presentations of philosophical positions - be it in collegial discussion or at conferences and workshops - and the teaching of academic courses. In preparation for said academic tasks and - more imminently - in light of central curricular requirements, the student of philosophy is charged with writing and defending written theses, with giving oral presentations, and last but not least with reproducing taught materials in written or oral exams.
Accordingly, the central aim of our course will be that of getting to know the methods, techniques, conventions, institutions and scientific materials forming the essential tool kit and resources for scientific work in academic philosophy and to probe the skills acquired for the first time in a safe and friendly environment.

To this end, participants will be guided towards choosing a topic for a 'mini-argument', conducting the required research in terms of different academic resources (various online resources and libraries), writing a properly structured and informative 'mini-argument' (1000-1500 words) respecting the conventional rules of academic writing, and finally towards presenting the results in one of two-three ‚conference-simulation’ sessions.

Didactically, the course will combine lectures by the instructor with group discussions and a joint effort towards achieving the required skills. Each step of our process will be accompanied by small homework assignments.

This course will teach you rules of citations, how to structure philosophical essays, how to compile a bibliography, how to research books and papers both in the library and online, how to administer one's research, and much more. These technical issues are no doubt necessary conditions to enable you to focus on the relevant issues in philosophy: dealing with the content of philosophical literature and writing essays. These tools are not the only things that are required for successfully studying philosophy though. For instance, they do not help with reading philosophical texts carefully and properly, in how to understand what is being read, leave alone in developing one's own arguments and criticisms, and neither do they help with speaking in front of an audience. These things can only in parts be taught by classical means. Rather, you must be given the possibility to actively try out things and train these skills. The IK Introduction to Philosophical Writing will provide room for training these things in a cooperative effort and with the feedback of the instructor.
A usual session will consist of 40-60 minutes of teaching. The rest of the time will be spend on discussing philosophical papers, small presentations by the students, and discussion of homework.
There will be mandatory readings for all sessions. These will encompass both philosophical texts and text introducing students to the philosophical (or generally academic) toolbox.
In addition to the mandatory readings, there will be weekly homework assignments, mostly little assignments such as text summaries, which should help you train the skills mentioned above. Moreover, there will be one bigger homework assignment, namely an essay (topics to choose from will be provided) of max. 1000 words. This essay will be graded and receive feedback, but this grade will not count towards the overall grade. You can choose whether you want to write another (1500 words) essay or give a presentation on a given topic. These essays or presentation will too receive feedback and grades and will count towards the overall course grade.

While the language of instruction will be German, the readings will often be in English. You are allowed to write your homework in either German or English.

Die vorgeschlagene Lehrveranstaltung bietet Philosophiestudierenden eine Einarbeitung in das wissenschaftliche Arbeiten. Sie teilt sich in vier Hauptsektionen auf, die jeweils einem Schwerpunkt gewidmet sind und dem Erwerb einer Schlüsselkompetenz dienen: Exegese schriftlicher Quellen; Textproduktion (Anwendung von Formalien, souveräner Umgang mit Quellen und Ressourcen); mündliche Wiedergabe und Präsentation von Thesen eines Dritten; Behandlung und Auseinandersetzung mit einem Thema im Form von Dialog und Diskussion.Die ersten beiden Teile fokussieren sich auf die individuelle Arbeit, die letzten zwei sollen verstärkt die Interaktion und Kommunikation anregen.

Als Übungsstoff für die erste Phase dienen einige klassische philosophische Texten, die zeitlich nah zueinander verfasst wurden und sich thematisch aufeinander beziehen (insbesondere arbeiten wir mit Auszügen aus den Werken von W. Dilthey, H.-G.Gadamer, E.Husserl, M.Heidegger, M.Buber). Anhand der Lektüre ausgewählter Aufsätzen werden einige für die heutige Debatte rund um die Kapitalisierung und Vermarktung des Wissens relevante Themen, wie dem Status geistigen Eigentums, der sogenannten „stofflosen Güter“, des Urheberrechts, sowie der Creative Commons-Bewegung und „Open Concept“ (Open access, Open content, Open source) als Anregung zur Diskussion in der zweiten Phase dienen.

The goal of this course is to introduce students to the formal standards of academic writing (i.e. citation styles, publication formats, and presentation formats), but also to indispensable techniques and tools for literature research, literature management, and scientific writing more generally.

This course specifically focuses on the tradition of analytical philosophy, which will be illustrated by reference to seminal papers of modern-day philosophy of mind (Putnam, Burge, Block, Chalmers). Texts will be used as a means for deploying the above-named tools and techniques. In particular, acquired skills will be put to the test in (1) an oral presentation, (2) written assignments, and (3) a final seminar paper.