Be sure to keep these discussions well organised and sign-posted. State your conclusion clearly and summarise the main points in support of it. Conclusions are also used to point to further research which could be made or further interesting directions to be taken, but which are not within the scope of the essay. The safest assumption to make is that you are writing for another member of the course, but one who has not studied your topic. So explain everything you would need explaining if someone was writing for you on a topic you had not studied.
Some people succeed in writing with much more ambitious assumptions, e.g., writing for their tutor.
Do this if you feel really confident about the issues, or relish risks. Originality You are expected to develop your skill in presenting your own ideas as you progress as a student of philosophy from your second to your third year. You are encouraged to be creative and use your imagination and certainly to put forward your own views on questions asked, but you need to do so within the discipline of philosophy. When it comes to presenting an argument in an essay, you may find that your own position is similar to another philosopher's. We don't expect you to come up with new answers altogether to the 'big questions'.