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Research for philosophy mostly involves reading. You will do three types of reading:
- set reading,
- reading for understanding.
- reading for assignments.
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VITAL NOTE! Use the library! You cannot work from the internet alone. By looking through the books and journals in the library you will discover far more useful and/or interesting material than you will find by searching on line. And Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable academic resource. |
VITAL NOTE! Before you read anything, make complete notes of the author, title, year, publisher, etc. If you don’t, you will need to go back and get all that information when you are referring to that work. And you will find that someone has taken it out of the library and won’t return it for six months. |
1. Set reading
Your instructor has set a textbook, and/or a collection of readings, and/or a list of readings for you to find and read by yourself.
Do it.
Dr. Blenkinsop will expect to see these readings reflected in and referenced in your assignments. Your examinations will probably require a thorough knowledge of them as well.
2. Reading for understanding.
General: As with most subjects, it is helpful to get a general idea of the topic before you plunge into details. Reading outlines, introductions, and summaries will help.
Specific: this is reading to get a better understanding of a particular topic or part of the topic.
Start your general reading when you start the course. Don’t leave it till later. The sooner you get a general grasp of the issues, the better. It will also help you to understand the lectures and the specific reading.
The specific reading will support the details of the lectures, andyou will need to do specific reading for the assignments.
3. Reading for assignments.
You have to write an essay on a particular question. You need to understand the question, and find arguments to include in the essay. (Have you read the Instant essay guide?)
Where to start.
1. Books with titles like “Introduction to philosophy”, “Introduction to Ethics”, etc.
Look through the table of contents and the index, and look for summaries and outlines.
2. Many collections of readings have an introductory chapter in which they give an overview of the topic. Quite a few also give useful introductions to each reading.
3. Dictionaries and encyclopaedias of philosophy.
