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A level edexcel synoptic implications

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Reply 20
were all screwed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply 21
king4321
were all screwed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


i know the feeling!!! I just can't get over how few reasources there are!
I'm starting to get the hang of writing essays for the Ayer text but the Donovan one is just so hard!
I'm studying the Ethics set, but the way we tackled it may well be useful -

We split the passage into smaller sections, and created headings for each (based on our first impressions), and then used sub-headings to create questions/highlight the main points. We then answered the questions/explained key words etc. This meant that we each had a personalised copy of a brief 1 A4 page (ish) overview, which made it look less scary.

Yep, it's time consuming, but it was quite useful.

I presume we've all seen the same example question! As long as you write something, seeing as they've messed up a fair bit, vaguely related to the question & bring in other area's of the course, all we can do is hope!

Good luck!
Reply 23
I'm hopeful, seeing as we are all the "guinea-pigs" of this new exam, the grade boundaries will be nice and low!
Reply 24
weve only gone through the papers but If anyones got any notes or stuff on this could you send it to me at [email protected]???????
Cheers
Reply 25
Can I ask what the implications paper is out of? Cos after my disasterous unit 3 paper :mad: stupid edexcel i wanna try and figure out with the mark i think i got wat i could end up with
Reply 26
the question will be out of 40 marks on the paper
In UMS it's out of 150 - worth the same as Unit 3.
Reply 28
Thanks our class has been basically studying the extract, we were told not to do Westphal either but we went over it, I really want Ayer to come up theres so much to argue about whereas Donovan repeats himself.

Basically the gist of what to do is to for part a.) get as much knowledge to wider things the passage could be linked to e.g. talking about intuition link it to love, about terrorism, religious language, existence of God, to atheism and evil and suffering

And for part B say what you think, the argument against it and then just bang on about implications for society e.g. if God is proved untrue ecetera

I am really worried I will panic and have a block but I think they will go easy on the marking I hope but then again it's Edexcel :mad:
Reply 29
who has the sample answer for ayer?
Reply 30
grr! synoptic is really doing my head in!, my answer to part a) is just going to be loads of linkages to other theories, made up real life examples and definitions of key words.
part b) im a lil unsure about, but im getting the impression that i should just weigh up the points ive made in part A, nd then judge them according to how they would affect non religious people, or religios people....thas what ive bin told to do neways...if any of u guys have anyhting ive missed out lemme know! lol

i REALLY need to get a B in this!...i know for sure that ive got an E for the 'developments' part on the 6th...so hopefully with the B in this exam it should pull my grade up to at least a D! :frown:...rite?

anyways...ive started a seperate thread for all the people doing the ethics part to this exam. thought it would be a good idea seeing as it can get confusing hearing about all the other anthologies and philosophers.
Reply 31
u lot think uv got it bad im doin sumthin completely different doin 3 of the ethics essays modern moral philosophy, personal relationshios, and method and moral philosophy
A few people have mentioned sample answers for the Philosophy of Religion questions distributed by Edexcel ... does anyone have a link? Or something they can email me?

I feel like I'll have enough to say in the exam, I just don't know how to structure my answers. We haven't really done any essays in class.

Ugh, I hate being a guinea pig...
I'm doing ethics... I seriously hope the last reading doesn't come up, the crappy historical drivle one, because we don't get to choose which we answer a question on, right? I want to do the first one and rant about Kierkegaard!

Lawdy, I'm confused.
Reply 34
Am doing the philosophy paper too, was good to find this link and see that most of you have overlooked the Westphal text too! My teacher kept banging on about how it was unlikely and that the examiners had hinted that it wouldnt come up, but being the worrier I am I'm convinced it bloody well will!!!
Be great to share ideas on here!!
Also, does anyone have any contextual info on Donovon or Westphal?? Here's a bit for Ayer...
He was a Logical Positivist (which is evident in the extract) and was responsible for bringing the movement to Britain. Extract from book "Language, Truth and Logic." He later crticised his work.

Would love to hear any ideas you have on the texts, will post mine as I go through :smile:
Ah, Sincere Bird, 'Modern Moral Philosophy' what a gem.. What a particularly awful gem it is.
It's complete waffle about nothing in particular, but if you know your emotivism/utilitarianism/intuitionism and basic Aristotelian/Kantien ethics, it shouldn't be too hard to prattle on about.

With any luck, it wont come up. My teacher, who went to the conference thingie, seems to think it's highly unlikely.

No, we don't get to choose.. it would be an awful lot easier if we could!
Reply 36
so are philosophers forgetting about westphal? because to be honest i just don't have time, but im scared he'll come up and i'll be screwed!

does anybody know how to structure a and b?
and does anybody know exactly what it means when it asks for the implications it has on human experience.. what is it referring to exactly?
please help.. im screwed for this!!! :frown:
Reply 37
marksykid
so are philosophers forgetting about westphal? because to be honest i just don't have time, but im scared he'll come up and i'll be screwed!

does anybody know how to structure a and b?
and does anybody know exactly what it means when it asks for the implications it has on human experience.. what is it referring to exactly?
please help.. im screwed for this!!! :frown:


Im not going to ignore Westphal completely, just in case, but it seem VERY unlikely it'll come up. After all the examiners wouldnt suggest it wasnt then put it on there - they want us to pass after all, esp since its the first time the exams been set. So im planning to revise Ayer (fingers crossed!) and Donovan in depth and just touch on Westphal for piece of mind!!

Not sure for a set structure for the question, get the impression there isn't a set structure as the model answers are completely different!! I usually start A with a little background info about the philosopher and the text, and then go through the extract chronologically.
An implication can be any effect the argument(s) would have on society if they were true. For example, Ayer argues that just because we have a word for something doesn't mean that it exists, as unless it is empirically verifiable then it cannot be said to symbolize anything. He argues that the existence of the noun creates an illusion that the thing in question actually exists. He concludes by saying that when we discover what God's attributes are and hence discover that he is not a genuine noun, that it is completely meaningless.
If this were true the implications for society would be...
1. Fiction would have no effect on the physical world, so books wouldnt bring pleasue? (although that last link may be a bit of a jump...)
2. If cannot prove something, then it is meaningless, but what about emotions like love? We cannot empirically prove its existence, but almost everyone would argue that it exists.
3. Would result in no religion, as people are unable to prove that God exists, so he must not. Ayer doesn't allow for maybes. Be massive change for society as a great number of people are theists.
Hope this helps! :smile:
Reply 38
thankyou that helped so much.. just spent the last 3 hours going over ayer and still not finished so god knows if i'll ever get round to westphal :frown:

thankyou again
Reply 39
Thats ok, glad it helps! Yeah i've been doing Ayer today as well, sounds like a fun bloke! lol :smile:

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