05Cutting Cards 101: Tags, Warrants, Citations

Find credible sources, extract the warrant, and tag properly.

  • Sources: PhilPapers, JSTOR, law reviews, UN/NGO reports.
  • Copy the paragraph with the warrant; include author, year, publication.
  • Tag the warrant (mechanism), not just the conclusion.
  • Underline internal warrants; keep cites consistent.

Checklist: expertise, recency (for empirics), clear mechanism, and offense relevance.

Example card (tag → cite → warrant)

Tag: Freedom of movement is a basic right.

Carens 1987, political theorist — Ethics & International Affairs: “If we take rights seriously, then restrictions on movement unjustifiably treat individuals as property of states…”

Warrant: rights are person-centered and not state-contingent.