20 practical, difficulty-rated ways Philosophy students at Hobart and William Smith Colleges can use AI — 10 easy, 6 medium, 4 hard. They start at “Summarize a Kant reading” and run up to “Design an experimental philosophy study”, drawing on 13 tutorials between them. Every card carries a starter prompt already written for Philosophy, so you can copy it and go.
Before you use these on graded work: check your professor’s policy on AI.
It differs by course, and these examples are study aids — not permission.
All Philosophy AI use cases
Easy
Summarize a Kant reading
Distill a dense Critique passage into accessible points. The linked tutorial covers MacMost's copy-paste method — pull an article into reader view, paste it into ChatGPT after 'summarize this:', then ask for a set word count or a 10-bullet version; also how to grab a YouTube transcript to summarise a video, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayHow to compress a long reading or video into a summary of the exact length you need, and why pasting the source keeps it accurate — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Summarize a Kant reading — Distill a dense Critique passage into accessible points.
Give me (1) a three-sentence summary, (2) five bullet-point key claims, and (3) anything the author asserts without supporting evidence. Text below:
[PASTE THE TEXT HERE]
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Explain epistemology, deontology, and qualia clearly. The linked tutorial covers ChatGPT's Study Mode (type /study), an interactive tutor that guides you with questions step by step instead of just handing over the answer, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayHow to switch ChatGPT into tutor mode so it drills you on terms and ideas rather than doing the thinking for you — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Define philosophical terms — Explain epistemology, deontology, and qualia clearly.
Define each term in one clear sentence, then give a concrete example of each in context. Once I've read them, quiz me on them one at a time and tell me what I got wrong and why.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Walk through the trolley problem and its variations. The linked tutorial covers a 10-step ChatGPT prompt system — standard definition, an explain-it-to-a-10-year-old version, real-life analogies, a simple diagram, then a comparison table — that you aim at any concept you're stuck on, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA repeatable prompt sequence that turns a confusing idea into a definition, an analogy and a diagram you can check against your course notes — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Explain a thought experiment — Walk through the trolley problem and its variations.
Start with a one-sentence definition, then explain it as if I'm 10, then give a real-world analogy. Finish by flagging anything scholars genuinely disagree about — and tell me what you're unsure of.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Generate arguable positions on free will and determinism. The linked tutorial covers three brainstorming methods in ChatGPT — a reusable custom-instructions 'brainstorm paradigm', an AI-diagram tree that fans one topic into dozens of branches, and a SWOT prompt to pressure-test an idea, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayThree prompt patterns you can reuse to go from a blank page to a categorised list of options, plus a way to stress-test the one you pick — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Brainstorm paper theses — Generate arguable positions on free will and determinism.
Give me 10 options grouped into 3 themes, then mark the 3 most original and explain what makes them stronger.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Explain affirming the consequent with everyday examples. The linked tutorial covers a 10-step ChatGPT prompt system — standard definition, an explain-it-to-a-10-year-old version, real-life analogies, a simple diagram, then a comparison table — that you aim at any concept you're stuck on, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA repeatable prompt sequence that turns a confusing idea into a definition, an analogy and a diagram you can check against your course notes — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Clarify a logical fallacy — Explain affirming the consequent with everyday examples.
Start with a one-sentence definition, then explain it as if I'm 10, then give a real-world analogy. Finish by flagging anything scholars genuinely disagree about — and tell me what you're unsure of.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Write a response engaging with a utilitarianism seminar prompt. The linked tutorial covers AI Academy's approach to long-form writing: never ask for the whole essay at once — break it into smaller prompts across two tabs and a document so you keep control of the argument, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA workflow that automates the writing but not the thinking, so the argument stays yours and the draft stays checkable — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Draft a discussion post — Write a response engaging with a utilitarianism seminar prompt.
Help me write this, don't write it for me. First ask me 3 questions about my argument, then propose a thesis and a section plan. Do not draft full paragraphs until I approve the plan.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Lay out premises and conclusion of Anselm's ontological argument. The linked tutorial covers a 10-step ChatGPT prompt system — standard definition, an explain-it-to-a-10-year-old version, real-life analogies, a simple diagram, then a comparison table — that you aim at any concept you're stuck on, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA repeatable prompt sequence that turns a confusing idea into a definition, an analogy and a diagram you can check against your course notes — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Explain an argument's structure — Lay out premises and conclusion of Anselm's ontological argument.
Start with a one-sentence definition, then explain it as if I'm 10, then give a real-world analogy. Finish by flagging anything scholars genuinely disagree about — and tell me what you're unsure of.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
List cases challenging a definition of knowledge. The linked tutorial covers three brainstorming methods in ChatGPT — a reusable custom-instructions 'brainstorm paradigm', an AI-diagram tree that fans one topic into dozens of branches, and a SWOT prompt to pressure-test an idea, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayThree prompt patterns you can reuse to go from a blank page to a categorised list of options, plus a way to stress-test the one you pick — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Suggest counterexamples — List cases challenging a definition of knowledge.
Give me 10 options grouped into 3 themes, then mark the 3 most original and explain what makes them stronger.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Compare virtue ethics and consequentialism in brief. The linked tutorial covers ChatGPT's Study Mode (type /study), an interactive tutor that guides you with questions step by step instead of just handing over the answer, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayHow to switch ChatGPT into tutor mode so it drills you on terms and ideas rather than doing the thinking for you — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Define ethical frameworks — Compare virtue ethics and consequentialism in brief.
Define each term in one clear sentence, then give a concrete example of each in context. Once I've read them, quiz me on them one at a time and tell me what I got wrong and why.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Restate a Heidegger sentence in plain language. The linked tutorial covers three proofreading prompts run over the same document in ChatGPT — 'suggestions for improvement', 'proofread for clarity', then 'proofread for punctuation' — before editing in your own word processor, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayThree targeted passes that catch different problems, and the habit of applying the edits yourself rather than pasting output wholesale — enough to use on Philosophy work this week.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Rephrase dense prose — Restate a Heidegger sentence in plain language.
Do three passes: (1) clarity, (2) grammar and punctuation, (3) concision. Show every change as a list with a reason — don't silently rewrite. Text below:
[PASTE YOUR TEXT HERE]
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Map Descartes' Meditations reasoning into a formal outline. The linked tutorial covers using ChatGPT across the research-paper workflow — finding a topic where a genuine gap exists, then structuring the paper around it, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayHow to pick a defensible topic and lay out the sections before you start writing — worth checking against your Philosophy course material before you lean on it.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Reconstruct a philosopher's argument — Map Descartes' Meditations reasoning into a formal outline.
Give a topic-sentence outline only — not full prose. For each section, state the argument it makes and the evidence it would need.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Contrast Rawls and Nozick on justice and distribution. The linked tutorial covers a compare-and-contrast prompt in ChatGPT (demonstrated on Buddhism vs Hinduism) that asks for similarities and differences, then expands any point you want more depth on, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA prompt for structured comparisons, and how to push ChatGPT to elaborate on the specific dimension you care about — worth checking against your Philosophy course material before you lean on it.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Compare competing theories — Contrast Rawls and Nozick on justice and distribution.
Give me a table of the key similarities and differences, then one short paragraph on which difference matters most and why.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Synthesize proof rules and truth tables into review sheets. The linked tutorial covers building a custom study plan with ChatGPT using the Ultralearning why/what/how framework — benchmarking how others learn it, then a week-by-week plan with deliverables and grading rubrics, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA prompt sequence that produces a personalised study schedule with checkable milestones, plus a pass where ChatGPT critiques the plan as an expert — worth checking against your Philosophy course material before you lean on it.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Build a symbolic logic study guide — Synthesize proof rules and truth tables into review sheets.
I have [X hours per week] and my exam is on [DATE]. Build a week-by-week plan with specific deliverables, and for each week give me a way to check I've actually learned it.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Evaluate whether a syllogism is sound and where it fails. The linked tutorial covers ChatGPT's Study Mode (type /study), an interactive tutor that guides you with questions step by step instead of just handing over the answer, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayHow to switch ChatGPT into tutor mode so it drills you on terms and ideas rather than doing the thinking for you — worth checking against your Philosophy course material before you lean on it.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Analyze an argument for validity — Evaluate whether a syllogism is sound and where it fails.
Define each term in one clear sentence, then give a concrete example of each in context. Once I've read them, quiz me on them one at a time and tell me what I got wrong and why.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Combine scholarly interpretations of Nietzsche on morality. The linked tutorial covers ResearchRabbit — seed it with one paper, then explore the citation network visually to surface related work and spot gaps, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA way to map a literature landscape from a single starting paper instead of searching keyword by keyword — worth checking against your Philosophy course material before you lean on it.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Synthesize secondary literature — Combine scholarly interpretations of Nietzsche on morality.
Group the sources below into themes, show where they agree and disagree, and name the gap that's left. Do not invent sources.
[PASTE SOURCES OR ABSTRACTS HERE]
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Design pro and con cases on moral realism for class. The linked tutorial covers using ChatGPT across the research-paper workflow — finding a topic where a genuine gap exists, then structuring the paper around it, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayHow to pick a defensible topic and lay out the sections before you start writing — worth checking against your Philosophy course material before you lean on it.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Plan a debate structure — Design pro and con cases on moral realism for class.
Give a topic-sentence outline only — not full prose. For each section, state the argument it makes and the evidence it would need.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Use a logic tool to verify natural deduction proofs. The linked tutorial covers pasting a broken snippet into ChatGPT with the prompt 'scan the following code for potential problems' — it finds the bug (a divide-by-zero), explains why it happens and returns a fixed version, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA debugging prompt formula, plus the habit of re-running the fixed code to confirm the error is actually gone — bring the result to a Philosophy professor or TA before it goes near graded work.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Formalize proofs with a solver — Use a logic tool to verify natural deduction proofs.
Tell me what's wrong, explain why it happens, then give the corrected version. Walk through the fixed code line by line with a concrete input.
[PASTE YOUR CODE AND THE ERROR HERE]
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Create a GPT that questions students to test arguments. The linked tutorial covers building a Custom GPT from scratch in ChatGPT and feeding it your own past writing so its output sounds like you rather than generic AI, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayHow to set up a reusable assistant with your instructions baked in, so you stop re-explaining context every session — bring the result to a Philosophy professor or TA before it goes near graded work.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Build a custom Socratic-tutor GPT — Create a GPT that questions students to test arguments.
Draft the name, description, instructions and 4 conversation starters for this Custom GPT. The instructions should tell it to ask clarifying questions and to admit when it doesn't know.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Write code checking validity of propositional logic statements. The linked tutorial covers pasting a broken snippet into ChatGPT with the prompt 'scan the following code for potential problems' — it finds the bug (a divide-by-zero), explains why it happens and returns a fixed version, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA debugging prompt formula, plus the habit of re-running the fixed code to confirm the error is actually gone — bring the result to a Philosophy professor or TA before it goes near graded work.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Model formal logic computationally — Write code checking validity of propositional logic statements.
Tell me what's wrong, explain why it happens, then give the corrected version. Walk through the fixed code line by line with a concrete input.
[PASTE YOUR CODE AND THE ERROR HERE]
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
Design a survey testing intuitions about knowledge attributions. The linked tutorial covers designing a study end-to-end in ChatGPT — research questions, hypotheses, survey items, sample size and sampling method, R code for the analysis, then implications and titles, and the starter prompt below already frames it for Philosophy.
What you'll take awayA full research-design workflow, including how to answer a reviewer who says your sample is too small — bring the result to a Philosophy professor or TA before it goes near graded work.
Starter prompt — paste into ChatGPT
I'm a Philosophy student at HWS. My task: Design an experimental philosophy study — Design a survey testing intuitions about knowledge attributions.
Propose a research question, hypotheses, method, sample and sampling strategy, and the analysis plan. Then critique the weaknesses of your own design.
Keep the terminology, examples, and level of detail appropriate for an undergraduate Philosophy course.
This page lists 20 practical AI use cases written specifically for Philosophy students at Hobart and William Smith Colleges — 10 easy, 6 medium, 4 hard by difficulty. They range from everyday coursework help such as summarize a kant reading and define philosophical terms through to project-scale work like design an experimental philosophy study. Each one comes with a starter prompt you can paste straight into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.
Which AI use cases should a Philosophy major try first?
Start with the 10 rated Easy — they need no setup and work on the first try. For Philosophy that means summarize a kant reading, define philosophical terms and explain a thought experiment. Once those feel routine, move up to the Medium tier, which includes reconstruct a philosopher's argument and compare competing theories.
What do I need to start using AI as a Philosophy student?
A free account with ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini is the whole list — no coding, no paid subscription, and nothing to install. The 20 Philosophy use cases here draw on 13 tutorial videos between them, and each card ships with a starter prompt already framed for Philosophy coursework, so the first thing you do is paste, not write.
Is it OK to use AI for Philosophy coursework at HWS?
Your Philosophy professor decides, and the answer changes from course to course and even between assignments — so read the syllabus before any of this touches graded work. Everything on this page is a study aid: a use case like "Design an experimental philosophy study" exists to get you through Philosophy material faster, not to produce something you submit as your own. If the syllabus is silent, ask before you use it.