So, after a semesters worth of work, I succeeded in writing a piece of argumentative philosophy. The concept itself isn’t bad. 15 years ago a rather well known welfare state advocate by the name of James P. Sterba wrote a detailed argument to libertarians expressing how they need to embrace his welfare state theories. Actually it was an interesting piece of work, and I set myself out to bring to light several criticisms I found with it.
Several months of poor sleep later, I wrote a paper, in dire need of reworking -– but certainly a paper describing those inadequacies. The paper wasn’t the hardest thing. That would be the people. Unsurprisingly doing a lecture of a concept you wrote, and then field 30+ minutes worth of questions designed to either clarify or DESTROY your paper can be… stressful. However it helps if you
A) Have a large ego
It turns out that in order to present any thoughts and concerns you must believe that you matter. It’s not enough to hope that you’re going to be listened to out of respect, nay good reader! You must be the center of their universe for a period of time ranging from 1 to 4 hours. Can’t do that? Then you’re not ready.
B) Never back down
Prior to my presentation I observed a colleague give their presentation. As my friend fielded questions from peers and professors he wavered from what he said in the paper and presentation to a less controversial, albeit ineffectual, viewpoint. When asked critical questions (and really, 85% should be) be firm in what you stated in the paper. If they’re asking you to defend some controversial point, you cannot say they have misinterpreted your claim and present some weaker form. (caveat: if they actually are misinterpreting your point, you’re better off showing them how that is). You wrote your paper because you thought you were right (and they may be wrong), don’t forget that.
C) Respect your audience
Despite the super massive black hole of an ego required to do a reasonable presentation, you must expect the people you are speaking to to: 1) understand the presentation, 2) be respectful enough to listen to it and 3) come up with interesting questions. Without this we’re no better off than a debate presentation.
Tags: Senior Thesis
April 29, 2009 at 1:25 pm
That’s one way to encapsulate our Senior Thesis experience. I would argue that the first thing shouldn’t be “Have a Big Ego;” it should be “Know Your Shit.” I knew my paper inside and out, upside down, and backwards. I was demolished in the defense, but that’s because I have issues with standing my ground.
I’ve decided that thesis presentations aren’t the best for how philosophy presentations should go. Take the time to submit a paper to a conference. That’s a fabulous experience. They tried to tear apart my paper in OK, but they also gave me great suggestions on how to improve it!