7 Unexpected and Unsolicited Copywriting Insights from Philosophy

What Plato, Sartre and doughnuts taught me about writing…

Here are a few lessons from the world of philosophy that have helped me on my copywriting journey, beginning with the practical and ending with the philosophical.

The Art of Philosophy and the Craft of Copywriting

1. Clarity is King, Queen and Monarch. It reigns supreme.

What this means:

In a first year Philosophy lecture, after our first round of assignments, a student asked the professor what made the best essays stand out. He said that they were the clearest. This answer summed up one of the core values of modern writing: “Clarity”.

We were advised to communicate complex ideas clearly so an intelligent reader with no knowledge of philosophy would be able to follow our arguments. For me, this was one of those watershed moments that really helped me to improve my writing.

Why it’s important for copywriters:

Communicating clearly is important in most writing. But it’s essential in copywriting. You have a very small number of words to capture your reader’s attention and help them to understand what you are selling before they lose interest.

I learnt this the hard way. During my copywriting qualification, I got a bit carried away with an extended puma metaphor for a Ford spec ad. My tutor gently pointed out that it might confuse my reader a tad. As a philosophy grad, I really should’ve known better. As a newbie copywriter, I learned that confused customers don’t buy.

2. Consider intentions vs. consequences.

What this means:

What’s more important? Someone’s intentions or the consequences of their actions?

Dave tried out a new recipe at his doughnut shop. Unfortunately, he poisoned his customers. His intention was to create the most delicious doughnut the world had ever seen. The consequence was sick customers.

Did Dave do the right thing, from a moral point of view?

Dave’s twin, Diana, took over the doughnut shop after Dave went to prison. She used Dave’s recipe to try to poison her high school bully, Bella. It turned out, Diana got the recipe wrong and cured Bella of chicken pox.

Which is the evil twin?

Why it’s important for copywriters:

Moving away from ethics, writers can suffer from the mismatch between intentions and consequences.

Dave’s back and needs a personal rebrand. He posts his prison diaries on his business blog. His intention? Jump on the authenticity trend. The consequence? Customers who had forgotten all about his prison jaunt are now reminded of it.

The solution: Go back to your original intentions. Is there a way to achieve your goal but anticipate the consequences this time? Perhaps Dave can post a behind-the-scenes video log of a day in the café, or a blog about his personal favourite doughnuts.

3. Intellectual virtues exist. And they help you think better.

What this means:

You’ve probably come across extremely intelligent people who still seem to come to irrational conclusions. Conspiracy theorists, anyone? Perhaps they have developed some intellectual virtues at the expense of others.

They display intellectual bravery in questioning established beliefs. They show attention to detail through their in-depth research and the ability to recall evidence that supports their point of view (often to the dismay of their family members!).

On the other hand, they may not show the virtue of intellectual humility: they refuse to entertain the notion that they could be wrong, or to take evidence that contradicts their opinion seriously. This leaves them vulnerable to cognitive biases, such as confirmation bias.

Why it’s important for copywriters:

When you’re editing or evaluating your work, think about which intellectual virtues come naturally to you. Think about what you may be missing.

Imagine you are writing a thought leadership article. Are you so excited about your opinion that you’ve ignored an important piece of evidence that supports the other side of the argument? Or perhaps you’ve made the opposite mistake: you’ve shown so much intellectual humility that you’ve played it safe and written something that parrots the status quo, not really saying anything. Perhaps you need to find the intellectual courage to say something new and challenging.

Here’s a list of intellectual virtues for your edification.

4. Artistic value can be contextual

What this means:

A fun debate in the Philosophy of Art is whether a perfect copy of an artwork should be as valuable as the original. What if the two were swapped and nobody noticed?

This opens a whole can of worms into what makes artistic pursuits valuable, beneficial or worthwhile. Is it the effort or skill that went into making them or the ideas behind them? Is it the context in which the artwork was made or the creative way it’s been repurposed throughout history?

Why it’s important for copywriters:

AI has exploded these issues. If LLMs are trained on others’ writing without permission, is this a form of plagiarism? Does it matter if the artist or author is human? If the concept is mine but the image is AI-generated, who is the real artist?

Whatever your beliefs, as a writer it’s no longer considered navel gazing to wonder what makes our work valuable. It’s essential for our marketing strategy.

A Philosophical Mindset for Copywriting

5. Keep working, whether you have a job or not.

What this means:

I recently picked up At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being & Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell. It tells the life stories of the existentialist philosophers and outlines their ideas in a quirky, entertaining way. One thing I was struck by was the work ethic of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Through the tumultuous 20^th Century, they worked, regardless of whether they had a job or what else was going on. Their work was so important to them that it didn’t depend on being attached to a job. They wrote endlessly and were keen diarists and letter writers.

Why it’s important for copywriters:

As a freelancer, business owner or solopreneur, you are always working, whether you’re being paid for it or not! If you aren’t working for a client, you’re working for yourself: blogging, pitching by email or posting on social media. What makes it worthwhile in between gigs is that it’s important to you. I’m all for fair compensation, by the way. Strictly anti-burnout too. I’m just saying that what keeps us going is the love of it.

6. Knowledge can be redefined, even after thousands of years.

What this means:

What is knowledge? Western philosophy was influenced by Plato’s definition of knowledge as true, justified belief for over 2000 years.

Dave sets up a new website for his shop, creatively named Dave’s Doughnuts. To his delight, he receives an influx of online orders and comes to believe that his website is a success. But does this count as knowledge?

According to the justified, true belief definition, Dave knows his website is a success because it’s true and he is justified in believing so because of the increase in orders.

Enter Edmund Gettier. In his 1963 paper, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?”, Gettier presented two examples where someone had justified, true belief but not knowledge.

Despite devastating the philosophy world, Gettier’s examples were exceedingly dull. He could’ve done with a copywriter. So let’s stick with Dave.

Dave’s thinking, “My website is bringing customers into my business.” He’s correct and justified: nearly all his orders are coming in from his website. But what he doesn’t know is that his new employee, Copywriting Claire, has written a stellar marketing email that takes customers to a landing page, feeding into his website order form. This is lucky, because the website itself is terrible. Dave’s skills as a webmaster haven’t progressed since he set up his first Myspace page in 2005.

So his website is bringing in customers, but not for the reasons he thinks. Does he really know that his website is working, or is he just lucky that Claire’s email is doing the heavy lifting?

Why it’s important for copywriters:

Without going too far down the philosophical wormhole, responses to Gettier examples usually focus on strengthening our definition of justification or adding further conditions for knowledge. In any case, it’s a reminder to look more closely at the evidence and justification behind our beliefs… or marketing campaigns.

It’s also an encouragement to keep questioning received wisdom. Nobody would have predicted a short paper with just a couple of examples could have such an impact.

7. People have been asking the same questions for thousands of years.

What this means:

Throughout history, philosophical traditions from around the world have focussed on different philosophical problems. Still, there are questions that humans seem to keep coming back to. What is the nature of reality? What does it mean to live a good life? What should I value above all else?

Why it’s important for copywriters:

Copywriters are familiar with the idea of appealing to readers’ emotions. But readers are people – who also have deeply held beliefs, values and worldviews. These are part of a complex emotional story of how someone sees the world and their place in it, as well as what they are seeking in life. Writing that speaks to people at this level hits deeper and goes beyond simply pushing emotional buttons. It’s about making a connection with readers at a soul level.

Next time you write, think about the deeper values your audience holds. How can your message speak to their worldview, not just their desires?

Suddenly concerned your doughnuts aren’t selling for the reasons you thought they were? Let me overthink it for you!