philosophical reflection

Organize your thoughts

Before writing your reflection, organize your thoughts by outlining them. Prepare an outline of your points or ideas you wanted to argue or explore.

Be simple

Writing a philosophical reflection need not be profound, pompous, and obscure. Instead, it should be simple and straightforward.

Be clear

Express clearly what you want to say so that your readers don't have to spend their time trying to figure out what you mean. Use common vocabularies to express your thoughts.

Be human

Convey your ideas in such a way that you believe and are convinced by the ideas that you are presenting. Share your personal experience about these ideas.

Use example

In order to strengthen your ideas or points, provide examples. Examples serve as your evidences. Choose evidences that are appropriate to your ideas.

Argue your point

To argue is to establish your viewpoint by giving reasons. An argument begins with a statement that you can assume your reader already accepts and proceeds to some other views that your reader may not accept at all.

Consider criticism

Prepare for possible objections and alternatives when writing your philosophical reflection. Anticipate some critic. It helps to have someone specific in mind as you write who will respond to your views and your arguments with objections and examples. By doing this you can be able to enrich further your points or ideas.

Define your specialized terms

If you introduce a technical term that is not common, define this term and stick to that meaning.

Use the history of philosophy

Bring in the opinions of other philosophers to support your view. You can repeat their arguments with an acknowledgement that you are doing so. You can quote them.