What We Are Looking For
Stance seeks papers concerning any philosophical topic. However, not every paper that earns an “A” in an undergraduate course is right for us. As with “A” papers in a course, papers for Stance must contain high quality evaluative writing excelling in accessibility, accuracy, brevity, completeness, clarity, creativity, importance, lucidity, motivation, organization, precision, readability, and rigor. However, a Stance paper will go above and beyond an “A” with regard to originality, depth, and audience appeal.
Stance seeks engaging and original works that advance a controversial thesis or interpretation. We are unlikely to accept largely exegetical work. Authors should justify a position on an issue and not merely organize the views of others. Stance authors write to make a standout contribution to the world of academic philosophy, not just to prove they understand classroom texts and discussions. The paper should seek to raise new questions or ask traditional ones in different, unique ways. When the reader has finished, she should not be able to ask herself: “So what?”
A focus on depth, and not merely breadth, is vital. While it may be noble to attempt a far-reaching argument across many topics, space in Stance is limited. Our readers benefit most from papers that answer one interesting question in a sophisticated way that makes clearer something that was unclear before. A smaller scope and focus will strengthen a paper, allowing the author to give more attention to the nuanced particulars in her argument.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a Stance paper will be interesting. While often focusing on details, the importance of the topic of a Stance paper to people beyond ivory-tower philosophers should be obvious. Educated lay people should want to learn more about the issue after reading a Stance paper. The audience should not feel like reading the paper is a chore; the paper must engage them. The audience should be able to read the paper’s abstract and say, “Heck yeah! I want to read this.”