Philosophy Writing Guide

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What Your Professors Are Looking For

Sample Papers: Transitions

Transitions are what the name suggests: they move the paper from one subject or idea or issue to another, while showing the relationships between the things they connect. Transitions enable the reader to understand the connections between parts of the paper, and between the ideas discussed in each part.

(Transition statements or phrases are indicated in bold type.)

[…] What Prometheus is trying to say is that crafts can teach cause and effect. One learns though trial and error, testing one things and examining the result. Through craft knowledge we can learn the causes and can better determine what the effect will be. What we cannot understand is why that cause and effect happens the way it does, we can only understand how it happens.

Socrates can agree with this sentiment. When he examines the craftspeople he finds them to be much like the poets. He sees that they are very skilled and talented at what they do. The problem he has with the craftsmen is that they believe that their craft skill translates to other areas. He says in Apology, "because of his success at his craft, thought himself very wise in other most important pursuits" (Apology, 22d).

(Comment: Very nice, smooth transition and excellent connections between the two paragraphs.)

[…] Therefore, the development and progression of the knowledge of crafts, leads to understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, which provides a way to seek knowledge aside from depending on revelation from the gods.

Prometheus is being punished by Zeus for giving humankind knowledge of crafts and all the civilization and expansion that comes with that knowledge. Similarly, Socrates is on trial because of his attempts to further the wisdom of the men in Athens. His investigation of certain cause-and-effect relationships led people to believe he was attributing work of the gods to other factors […]

(Comment: Great connectivity between principal texts, characters, and themes.)

[…] By expressing his views, Socrates enraged many of the higher standing Athenians and even invited the thought that they may not be as knowledgeable as they may seem to be.

"Necessity" is the Greek word which the Athenians believed to be synonymous to the cause-and-effect relationship, and in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, Prometheus indicates that craft knowledge is weaker than Necessity.

(Comment: Excellent explanatory links between Necessity, cause-and-effect, Prometheus, and Athenians within the second paragraph, but needs a clearer transition between the two paragraphs; what word or phrase could be inserted?)