Philosophy Help Centre
Sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and the College of Arts and Science
The Department of Philosophy's Help Centre offers tutoring in philosophical writing and in logic and critical thinking.
The writing tutors offer essay tutoring for philosophy essays. Philosophy tutors will read first drafts and give advice about how to strengthen the argument(s) of essays, offer suggestions for improving organization, and point out weaknesses and places where more detail or clarity is needed.
The Philosophy Essay Tutors cannot provide philosophical advice or provide judgments about the material students are writing about. For this sort of help, students must see their Professor and/or Teaching Assistant for their course. The Help Centre is strictly for help with strengthening the structure and general argumentation in philosophy essays.
Students in Philosophy 110, 120, and 133 are especially encouraged to make use of this service; students in any philosophy class are welcome.
Students taking a logic or critical thinking course can get help with the course material and logic during logic tutor hours. Students taking introductory philosophy can also get help from the logic tutors in understanding any critical thinking or logic content in their courses.
2025- 2026
The Philosophy Help Centre is operating in person
ARTS 607
Hours for Fall term 2025:
Essay clinic hours | Logic help hours |
Mondays 2-4pm Tuesdays 3-5 pm Wednesdays 2-4 pm Thursdays 3-5pm |
Mondays 12-2pm Wednesdays 12-2pm Fridays 12-2pm |
Frequently Asked Questions
Any University of Saskatchewan undergraduate student writing a philosophy or other argumentative essay.
Graduate and advanced undergraduate philosophy students.
Tutors will give advice about how to organize your essay and will read your first draft and offer suggestions for improving it, pointing out weaknesses and places where more detail or clarity is needed.
The tutors may also give some advice about the content of your essay, but they are not going to write your essay for you and will expect you to go to your professor if you are having difficulty understanding the material in the course or the articles or books relevant to the essay topic you are working on.
It is best if you have written a complete first draft of your essay, after having done the reading and research on the essay topic; since tutors can then give you more specific advice about the organization and presentation, and point out weaknesses or arguments needing more detailed or clarity. Bring a copy of the assigned essay topics with you to your appointment.
If you do not have a full draft ready, you will need to have at least some of your ideas written out before seeing a tutor.
The University Help Centre (first floor of the Main Library) offers one-on-one help and seminars in essay writing.
Related Resources
- USask Student Learning Services
- USask Online Writing Help
- USask Library: Citation Style Guides (APA, MLA, Chicago Style, and others)
- MLA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue University Online Writing Lab)
- Evaluating Internet Information (Virginia Tech)
- William Strunk Jr.: The Elements of Style (Project Bartleby)