"A philosophy paper presents a reasoned defense of some thesis. So a philosophy paper typically does at least one of the following:
- Defend a thesis by offering plausible reasons to support it
- Defend a thesis by showing that arguments against it are unconvincing
- Criticize a thesis by showing that the arguments for it are unconvincing
- Contrast two or more views on a given issue and argue for one view over the other."
Source: Bumpus, Ann. Writing the Philosophy Paper. Dartmouth University. 2004.