# Writing > General Writing >  Stupid Philosohpy Professors Expecting Me to be Concise

## cuppajoe_9

The outline for my epistimology essay already contains as many words as the actual essay is supposed to (650). Who else thinks really low upper word limits on essays are unnecesary?

----------


## Logos

Well how ironic, but fitting, given the subject! My usual parameters are 1500-2500 and I'm an obsessive compulsive perfectionist. Often my rough draft blossoms to 3500+ but I like to think my editing skills are _précis_.  :FRlol:  Good luck with it.

----------


## Virgil

> The outline for my epistimology essay already contains as many words as the actual essay is supposed to (650). Who else thinks really low upper word limits on essays are unnecesary?


If he's only asking for 650 words, then you are over doing your assignment. He's not asking for a thesis, just an undserstanding of the work.

----------


## cuppajoe_9

What he is asking for, specifically, is an answer to whether or not it is possible to have absolute knowledge on moral whether moral claims such as "Killing an innocent person is morally wrong", and an at least implicit outline of my personal theory of knowledge. And yes, I am definintely overdoing my assignment, but I feel the question lends itself to a novel more than a couple of double-spaced pages. The paper isn't due for another two or three weeks, so I can probably trim it down to about 700. That's probably only room for one illustration though.

----------


## SleepyWitch

how can anyone write an essay on epistemology that's only 650 words?
well, you could always try using highly abstract expressions that you don't really understand yourself but sound great... that usually passes for a profound understanding of the question with most profs  :FRlol:

----------


## jon1jt

Ahem... "brevity is the soul of wit." 

"Stupid philosophy professor"?? GASP!

----------


## cuppajoe_9

Stupid in the sense of 'prone to making unreasonable demands', not stupid in the sense of 'unintelligent'. He's fairly brilliant, though I disagree with him about virtually everything.

----------


## Charles Darnay

I agree that a 650 philosphy essay is too little, however, 650 word introduction is too much, you probably have some uneeded filler in there that could be removed

----------


## cuppajoe_9

It's not my introduction, it's the outline for the whole thing. I haven't even attempted an introcution yet.

----------


## cuppajoe_9

Ok, second draft is done and it's exactly 1200 words long. I hope Thiessen doesn't have plans this weekend...

----------


## Virgil

> Ok, second draft is done and it's exactly 1200 words long. I hope Thiessen doesn't have plans this weekend...


Good luck. Let us know how you did.

----------


## cuppajoe_9

Thanks Virg. Will do.

----------


## SleepyWitch

Who's Thiessen?
Your prof? I looked him up, is he Elmer John Thiessen?
too bad, I thought the name sounds German but it looks like he's Canadian after all? If he was German I'd have adviced you to tell him straight to his face that you wrote 1200 words because 650 aren't enough and tell him all your reasons why you did it and why you think 650 words will never do. He might have accepted it and thought what a committed and exceptional young man you were  :Smile:

----------


## cuppajoe_9

That's the man. He's Canadian, probably of German ancestry. I talked to him, and he was quite understanding about the word limits, considering how broad the topic is, and I've managed to trim it a bit. (For example: I took out the part discussing whether banning soup crackers is moral or not. What the hell was I thinking?)

----------


## cuppajoe_9

A-  :Banana:

----------


## Jtolj

> What he is asking for, specifically, is an answer to whether or not it is possible to have absolute knowledge on moral whether moral claims such as "Killing an innocent person is morally wrong", and an at least implicit outline of my personal theory of knowledge. And yes, I am definintely overdoing my assignment, but I feel the question lends itself to a novel more than a couple of double-spaced pages. The paper isn't due for another two or three weeks, so I can probably trim it down to about 700. That's probably only room for one illustration though.


I think that you are going overboard. I might be oversimplifying it, but he wants an outline of your idea, not your idea.

----------


## cuppajoe_9

> I think that you are going overboard. It's a simple question. Are there moral absolutes? Yes, because a black and white also exists seperate of occurence and no because in different situations, what's more beneficial to your human beings might not follow the black and white.


Too late, I already wrote it. The question is not whether or not there _are_ moral absolutes, just whether or not it is possible to _have knowledge_ of whether there are or not. It's a distincition that many of my classmates failed to grasp, or so I understand.

----------


## Jtolj

> Too late, I already wrote it. The question is not whether or not there _are_ moral absolutes, just whether or not it is possible to _have knowledge_ of whether there are or not. It's a distincition that many of my classmates failed to grasp, or so I understand.


I would then just cut out your examples.

----------


## cuppajoe_9

> I would then just cut out your examples.


That's what I did. I got an A-. You're behind the times, friend.

----------


## amanda_isabel

congratz on the a-, cuppajoe_9.

oh, and a thought... i just don't think philosophy and stupid go in the same sentence.

----------


## cuppajoe_9

> congratz on the a-, cuppajoe_9.
> 
> oh, and a thought... i just don't think philosophy and stupid go in the same sentence.


Sure they do, check it out.

----------


## dejitaru

> Who else thinks really low upper word limits on essays are unnecesary?


A person will need to read dozens of these, preferably without impeding his busy schedule. Follow directions and cut the filler. Make it 500 words.

http://www.poynter.org/content/conte...w.asp?id=50351

----------


## SleepyWitch

congrats cuppa!
Interesting link, deji, only cuppa's essay wasn't a story but a piece of academic writing. 
As for stories, isn't writing more than you actually need to what literature is all about? I mean, how interesting a story is this: There was this princess, who was bewitched by an evil old fairy. and slept for 100 years. Then there came a prince who saved her and they lived happily ever after.
or: There was a black guy who passed for a Jew. When he got old he had an affair with a cleaner and they got killed by her ex-husband. (The Human Stain by Philip Roth)

----------


## cuppajoe_9

Also: In the begining there was nothing. Then humanity fell. Then Jesus died. Then the world ended.

----------


## dejitaru

> congrats cuppa!
> Interesting link, deji, only cuppa's essay wasn't a story but a piece of academic writing. 
> As for stories, isn't writing more than you actually need to what literature is all about? I mean, how interesting a story is this: There was this princess, who was bewitched by an evil old fairy. and slept for 100 years. Then there came a prince who saved her and they lived happily ever after.
> or: There was a black guy who passed for a Jew. When he got old he had an affair with a cleaner and they got killed by her ex-husband. (The Human Stain by Philip Roth)


Those stories can be truncated. A story needs an intro, buildup, and release. In those examples, you're cutting out the _wrong_ parts. 

"His shoe had a dark stain on it, though hardly visible in the dim light."
^That's a detail, but not a story. Get my drift?

----------


## chasestalling

how would you feel if the roles were reversed? i'd make every effort to follow the teacher's guideline.

----------

