2009 Philosophy Proseminar Instructional Notes on Developing your Philosopohical Voice

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During the last two classes, we'll try to find a few minutes to talk about philosophical voice. Here are some of the ideas I'm working on for that:

"Philosophical Voice" might itself be a controversial philosophical topic. After all, not all disciplines would ask about this during formation of its majors. Do philosopher's have distinctive voices? Are they more than just their literary voice, which comes with good writing? Examples from literary philosophers, like Sartre or de Beauvoire are undeniable. But perhaps we should acknowledge that this just confirms a possibility for the influence of voice, not the necessity of an influence.

Ways to notice voice:

-Noticing the rhetorical structure of the way philosophical texts begin or operate.

-Listening to your rhetoric in papers. Are you the ameliorist, apologist, critic, or advocate? Do you have a tendency to point out certain kind of things in your philosophical musing or academic writing?