So I wanted to write a review on the Philosophy Honours Thesis module but I felt like putting it in a review format might be too restricting. The module content is basically all agent-relative so having a general review of it would not be super beneficial anyways. Instead I suggested writing a blogpost or something about it giving some advice for those who are considering whether to do it over other 4k modules, and for those who are already doing it, and… here we are.
I’ll do this in five parts:
Part 1 – Making the Decision (This one)
Part 2 – Choosing a Topic
Part 3 – The Readings
Part 4 – Presenting Your Thesis
Part 5 – Writing the Thing
While the blog series is separated in this way and organised in a sort of chronological order, this doesn’t mean that you should think of these parts independently, or without any chronological overlap. Yes, each subsequent part does build on the previous one, but there can also be some ‘backwards causation’. For instance, you may realise that some readings are less relevant once you start doing some of your writing, or some readings persuade you to change your topic (either in a positive or negative way). Because of this, you can also start doing some of the writing while researching or start reading to help choose a topic.
Take note that the main aim of this blog series is to help you have a good and interesting experience doing your thesis, rather than to help you get a good grade in it. Of course, you might end up getting a better grade because you followed some of the advice given here, but that isn’t its purpose. I’ve seen some people struggling through the semesters because of thesis-related concerns, both students and professors. I hope, through this blog series, I can help create a better experience for everyone. I may have certain biases and it may not be good advice, but I think it might still be helpful to look through and see if anything speaks out to you. Also, please don’t read me as being passive aggressive in this, because I’m not trying to be. Unless pointing that out already comes off as being passive aggressive? Oh no.
Disclaimer: For those who are planning to do an Honours Thesis in a major other than Philosophy, I’m not sure how much of this applies to you. Of course, you’re still welcome to read on, and you might be able to learn something!
What is HT?
The department actually has a pdf describing the module in some detail, but it isn’t super elaborate:
https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blog.nus.edu.sg/dist/f/847/files/2020/11/HT.pdf
You can get most of the crucial info there, just keep it somewhere safe so you can refer back to look at some of the important requirements. A lot of people don't know this exists until it's too late, so make sure to spread this around! However, I take it you’re still reading this because it doesn’t seem like enough, so here you go.
The Honours Thesis module is basically an Independent Study Module, stretched out for a whole Academic Year, and worth 15MCs. You choose a topic, choose a supervising professor (and hopefully they accept), and you just write a whole essay on the topic of about 12,000 words. Side note: There is also an ISM that’s worth 5MCs which only lasts for one semester, but I’ll expand more on that later in this post.
The timeline works (roughly) like this:
Semester 1 is your reading semester, so you just read up on the topic and research on it.
Semester 2 is your writing semester, which is when you start to formulate your thesis.
The distinction between the reading and writing semester is merely a suggestion: You can start writing as early as Sem 1, or you can put off writing until the end of Sem 2 and keep researching until then.
Throughout both Sem 1 and 2, you’ll have to meet your supervising professor, preferably on a routine basis. I met with my professor (Ethan Jerzak) every two weeks. Some people prefer it every week or starting off slower then ramping up until you reach the end. Talk to your professor to make an arrangement.
There’s also a presentation component, but it will depend on the AY, because I had it in Sem 2 but they recently moved it to Sem 1, so it’s a mystery when it will be when you’re doing it.
Grading
Grading Structure:
CA – 30%
Final Thesis – 70%
And… That’s it. That’s all the grading there is. Pretty scary, huh? I think this is what intimidates people the most about doing a thesis, that so much of your grade is dependent on your final product. It’s like having another O/A levels. Plus, this grade counts for 3 whole modules too.
However, here’s some hope: From another perspective, the thesis is just another part of your CA. You are constantly updating your thesis and getting feedback from your supervising professor, so that at the end, your final product isn’t something churned out overnight (hopefully), but it’s something that has been cultivated from the very beginning. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I will explain more about this in the next parts. I hope this at least takes some of the intimidation away.
What’s the 30% CA for then? This will primarily be composed of your professor’s scoring of how you do in your meetings with them and might also include how well you do on your presentation. This will depend on your supervising professor, so make sure to have a chat with them about it during the early stages if you can. I think as long as you’re enthusiastic and accepting of feedback, you’ll do perfectly well for CA.
Why Choose HT?
As I’ve mentioned before, you have a choice between taking a 5MC ISM versus taking this intimidating 15MC HT. Take note that this is a case of an exclusive ‘or’, so you cannot take both of them (they preclude each other). Well, actually, you can also take neither. The logical translation should rightly be (~ISM v ~HT). Compared to the thesis, the ISM is 5MCs with a much lighter workload. There are no predetermined assignments, all the grading and assignment workload is decided between you and the professor. But from what I heard from a friend who took it, the workload is very much like a normal module: Maybe a mid-term essay, and a 3,000-ish word essay at the end.
So, should you choose to do the HT module? As Prof Loy loves to say: Yes and no.
Pros:
Good practice for grad school
Let’s say you’re like me and you want to apply for graduate school, or at least considering it. (Almost) everything on this list is something that you should be striving for, or at the very least, be comfortable with. Doing a thesis is a good test of your independence and passion for philosophy, and it will definitely make for a good writing sample if done well.
You get to do what you like, with the Prof you like
Since you get to choose the topic you’re interested in, as well as your supervising professor, you get a certain freedom of choice here. Of course, there’s always a chance that you find out the professor you like so much doesn’t feel the same way about you. But putting that aside, the professor might want to pass you over to a colleague because some other professor has more experience in the particular topic that you chose. If you’re adamant about working with that particular professor, you could always just change your topic to suit their experience in it. This pro also applies to ISM, so this is mainly a pro for choosing ISM or HT, but for HT…
You get to develop your ideas
And in a whole lot more depth than your regular essays. This is especially since you’re taking a full year to work on this topic, and also because you have the freedom of having 12,000 words to play with. This doesn’t mean that you just pad your essays with fluff everywhere, of course, but it does mean that you get to expand on certain ideas that a 3,000 word essay prevents you from doing. The thesis also allows for a lot more original thought. While in regular essays, sometimes it feels like you’re spending most of the words explaining things and maybe proving something very minute, the word count for the thesis gives a bit more room to develop your original ideas so that it doesn’t seem that trivial.
4k Module Selection
… is not great. Just for perspective, the 4k topics for this semester were Nietzsche, Epistemology, and Applied Epistemology. For next semester, there’s Political Philosophy, Logic, Language and Kant. Now, of course, these are pretty good and interesting topics to some people. But if you’re the type of person who is averse to certain topics (I, for one, would rather commit philosophical suicide than take Political Philosophy), or if you’ve taken some of these modules in previous AYs, then your choices are restricted. Furthermore, the modules offered can vary across different AYs, so the topic you’re interested in might not be available for that AY. By doing a thesis, it’s a way to avoid having to do certain topics you’re not interested in just to complete your degree.
For the grade
You might have to check this, but when I was doing my thesis, it was a prerequisite for getting first class honours, now called Honours (Highest Distinction). In other words, if you didn’t do the thesis, the most that you could get was a second upper. So, in a sense, doing a thesis is good for your grades. But, if none of the other pros appeal to you and you’re doing a thesis solely because you want to get good overall grades, I would discourage you from doing it, because it’s really not worth it then. Hence why I placed this as the last of the pros.
Cons:
You do the same thing for an entire year
If you’ve ever taken a module on a topic that you just find to be boring, then you might know how it feels. Towards the later half of the semester, you’re just chugging along, trying to get things over and done with so you can move on to better things. But with regular modules, the module usually ends after one semester, and you can move on afterwards. Some of them are S/U-able, and at most it will only take up 5MCs. With a thesis, however, you’re stuck with it for an entire AY. You could choose to change the topic halfway through, but that just means there’s less time to develop your new ideas, and your previous efforts might just be wasted. So when you’re deciding whether to do your thesis, consider this: are you willing to work on the same topic throughout 2 semesters? Now, most of this can be circumvented if you have a topic you’re interested in already, but even then, sometimes you can lose interest. Only choose a topic you can see yourself working on for a whole year. (More on this in another part)
You need to be independent
With regular modules, there are clear deadlines set by the professors. Submit mid-term papers by a certain date, exams on a certain date, etc. When doing a thesis, there’s only one submission deadline for your thesis (mid-April for me, and likely for you too). That means that you have to set your own deadlines when reading papers, having drafts, and doing your revisions. You’ll also have to make sure that you understand the material and what you’re writing, because your professor isn’t going to do it for you, especially if there are readings they’re not entirely familiar with. This means that, during the meetings, you’ll have to clarify and ask the right questions. I’ve heard from some of my friends who’ve done their thesis under other professors that some Profs do set deadlines for their thesis students. Just take note that this is dependent on your supervising professor, and it’s not an obligation for them. In fact, I’ve heard stories of the opposite: Some of my friends end up chasing their professors for meetings instead. So if you do decide to do a thesis, prepare to be independent in your writing and research.
You need to come up with some original contribution
Well, this actually applies to all philosophical essays if you want to do well, but I felt like I should include it in this still. If you’re doing a thesis, I’m assuming you’re not taking it just for a passing grade. Either you want to do well or do something interesting. Hopefully both or at least the latter. Anyways, from what I’ve seen, the better essays tend to include some well thought out original contribution, so it may be one of the necessary conditions for doing well. And, from personal experience, the only essays that felt interesting to write were those where I felt like I made some original contribution. Whether I did so or not was a different story. So, based on my faux-Dilemma-Argument-plus-Hypothetical-Syllogism, the conclusion is that, if you’re doing a thesis, you need some original contribution, or at least to feel like you’re contributing originally. This is definitely not easy, so I hope you’re prepared for this before you decide.
Of course, some of you may find that the pros are actually cons or vice versa. This isn’t supposed to be a definitive classification, these are just some of the experiences I’ve had regarding the thesis. But if, after all that, you’re still willing to do a thesis (and not just for the overall grade), then I would say that you have a good reason to choose to do it.
Also, here’s more wisdom from Prof Loy, paraphrased because I have bad memory from when he said it last time: “Don’t do a thesis unless you want to for its own sake. Otherwise, you’ll just be wasting your time and the professor’s time.”
If there's anything in the series that I might not have covered or if you need some more personalised advice, feel free to message me on Telegram (I'm probably in one of the philosophy chat groups you are in too) or email me at jereldpanjy@gmail.com