[轉錄]劍橋HPS網站 Peter Lipton〈Writing Philosophy〉
選修歷史研究與討論，
可以加強對研究方法的理解，以及練習歷史寫作。
底下是我在網站上看到的文章，覺得簡潔有力，篇幅不多，適合論文寫作的初學者。
可惜是英文的...大家有空努力看看吧。
(^^+ 偶們逼陳珮瑩翻譯出來給大家看好了！花哈哈~)
http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/research/wp.html (原始網址)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writing Philosophy
Peter Lipton
"Style is the feather in the arrow, not the feather in the cap"
I. Awkwardness (拙劣的文章)
Awkward writing makes the reader uncomfortable. It is ungrammatical, unclear,
choppy, or just too difficult to follow. One case of awkward writing is not
using your own words. Instead, you rely on the phrases and constructions
of the author you are discussing. The resulting mixture of your author's style
and your own is almost always awkward. Even if you are describing someone
else's views, use your words. The most general and important cause of
awkwardness, however, is simply the failure to revise. Most writers produce
awkward sentences the first time around; good writers take the time to review
their writing and know how to spot awkwardness and how to eliminate it.
You should assume that the first draft of each sentence will have to be fixed
up. Writing on a word processor may make the revision easier and less
time-consuming. The best way to test for awkwardness is to read your draft
aloud. Most people have a better ear than eye, and if it sounds good it will
usually read well. If you do have any doubts about your ear, W. Strunk and
E. B. White, The Elements of Style, London: Macmillan, 1979 (3rd ed.) is a
good guide to awkwardness.
II. Empathy (同理心)
Once you understand something, it is difficult to remember what it was like
not to understand it; but you have to do this to get your point across. To
write effectively you must put yourself in the reader's shoes. (Pretend that
your reader is a friend not in the class rather than the teacher.) The reader
cannot read your mind and she hasn't just pent five hours thinking about your
topic. So she needs plenty of help. Don't just make your point, explain it.
Give an example. Approach it from several angles. Above all, keep your writing
concrete, even in as abstract a subject as philosophy, because abstract
writing loses the reader. In addition to keeping your reader on board,
empathy helps you to figure out what it will take to convince her that what
you write is true. You already believe it yourself, but your reader needs an
argument. Think of yourself as selling your point of view, or as defending
yourself in front of a jury.
III. Choreography (編架的藝術)
An essay is not a list of sentences: it has structure. The structure should
be obvious to the reader. Write informative introductions and conclusions.
The introduction should not only introduce the topic, it should introduce
your argument. That means that you should tell the reader what you are going
to prove and how you are going to prove it. Unless the introduction gives the
reader a clear map of the essay, she is likely to get lost. Be direct and
specific. Replace sentences like 'Throughout the centuries, the greatest minds
have pondered the intractable problem of free will' with 'In this essay,
I will show that free will is impossible'. The conclusion of the essay should
tell the reader what has been accomplished and why the struggle was worthwhile.
It should remind the reader how the different moves in the body of the essay
fit together to form a coherent argument.
Think of your essay as composed of a series of descriptive and argumentative
moves. Each major move deserves a paragraph. Generally speaking, a paragraph
should start with a transition sentence or a topic sentence. A transition
sentence indicates how the paragraph follows from the previous one; a topic
sentence says what the paragraph is about. Both types of sentences are really
miniature maps. In the middle of a paragraph you may want to give another map,
explaining how the move you are making here is connected to others you have
made or will make. The order of your paragraphs is crucial. The reader should
have a clear sense of development and progress as she reads. Later paragraphs
should build on what has come before, and the readers should have a feeling
of steady forward motion. To achieve this effect, you must make sure that your
sentences hang together. Think about glue. You can get glue from maps, from
transition sentences and words, and especially from the logic of your
argument
IV. Originality (原創性)
There is roon for originality even when you are out to give an accurate
description of somenone else's position. You can be original by using your
own words, your own explanations, and your own examples. Of course in a
critical essay there is much more scope for original work: most of the
arguments should be your own. This worries some beginning philosophy
students, who think they don't know how to come up with their own arguments.
Do not deceive yourself: Plato did not use up all the good and easy moves,
nor do you have to be a Plato to come up with original philosophy. It is
difficult to teach creativity, but here are three techniques that may help.
First, make distinctions. For example, instead of talking about knowledge in
general, distinguish knowledge based on what others tell you from knowledge
based on your own observation. Often, once you make a good distinction,
you will see a fruitful and original line of argument.
Second, consider comebacks. If you make an objection to one of Plato's
arguments, do not suppose that he would immediately admit defeat.
Instead, make a reply on his behalf: the resulting 'dialectic' will help you
with your own arguments.
Lastly, play the why game. As you learned as a child,whatever someone says,
you can always ask why. Play that game with your own claims. By forcing
yourself to answer a few of those 'why's' you will push your own creativity.
The technique of the why game suggests a more general point. Often the problem
is not lack of originality; it is rather that the originality is not exploited.
When you have a good point, don't throw it away in one sentence.
Make the most of it: explain it, extend it, give an example,
and show connections.
Push your own good ideas as deep as they will go.
Postscript
A couple of useful items:
Eric Hoffman (ed.), Guidebook for Publishing Philosophy,
Bowling Green 1997 (contains advice on writing for publication;
copy on reserve in the Whipple Library)
Jonathan Bennett and Samuel Gorovitz, 'Improving academic writing',
Teaching Philosophy 20:2 (1997), 105-20
(witty, but somewhat prejudiced; copy in folder in the Whipple Library)
--
They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains the hottest blood of all.
～Whales Weep Not
(Quoted by William Shatner (Capt. Kirk) in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 123.195.38.14
※ 編輯: chimales 來自: 123.195.38.14 (09/28 22:42)