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Group for those who do OCR A2 Philosophy & Ethics [Post Exam Discussion]

Hi - Was wondering who else was doing:

- A2 Philosophy: Monday 13th June (AM)
- A2 Ethics: Monday 13th June (AM)

Was thinking we could discuss topics/share exam/study techniques etc. :h:

(edited 12 years ago)

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Reply 1

Been_22

hey i am too!
Currently I am struggling a lot with ethics but doing fine in philosophy - got 65% in my ethics mock and 90% in philosophy! how are you finding each subject?

Reply 2

Macroverse

I've got to get two low B's to get an A overall at A2 but then I have a biology exam in the afternoon as well. All my exams are in the space of 7 days! :frown:

Oh well, onward Christian soldier (:

Reply 3

Noodlzzz

Hey guys, count me in! Revision is going better than AS but it's still my hardest subject by far!

Reply 4

Beth112

Hey!! I am too.... i appear to be doing the same in both.... 76% in both the mocks but i struggle a lot more with philosophy (though that might be the teachng style). Am i weird that i like meta ethics?? just wondering if anyone else does because everyone else in my class think i'm a freak!!

Reply 5

S1800

Me too

But got a maths exam the same morning :frown:

Anyone know any past exam questions?

Reply 6

No.1 Loner

What philosophy topics are likely to come up?

Reply 7

phiddy23

Me too, and also wondering which topics are likely to come up. Last year I used student room for AS and just revised the topics everyone said would come up - got 100% in both so I think its a technique which could be beneficial. It helps if anyone knows the topics that have come up in the last 3 or 4 exams - obviously the ones that have come up several times consecutively are unlikely to come up again. Got 4 exams in one day on the 13th. Loving life.

Reply 8

phiddy23

just found this, these are the questions that came in Jan 2010 and the specimen:

Specimen:
1. Evaluate the claim that corporate religious experience is no more than an illusion
2. Critically assess Dawkins claim that since life is no more than DNA reproducing itself there can be no life after death.
3. 'If God knows what we are going to do he has no right to reward the good and punish the wicked' Discuss
4. Critically compare the use of symbol with the use of analogy to express human understanding of God

Jan 2010:
1. Critically assess the philosophical problems raised by the belief that God is omniscient
2. Evaluate the claim that belief in miracles leads to a belief in a God who favours some but not all of his creation.
3. Evaluate the claim that there can be no disembodied existence after death
4. Critically assess the views of Paul Tillich on religious language

It was on another forum, it's a bit old now though - it is likely that these topics could come up again unless they were in the subsequent June (2010) and January (2011) exams.

Reply 9

SpriteOrSevenUp

Hey, I'm doing this exam too!

Last year I was pretty confident with Philosophy, but this year I'm really scared :frown:

I'm up for revising with anyone on here!

Reply 10

No.1 Loner

DOES ANYBODY HAVE THE erm, JANUARY 2011 PAPER!?

Reply 11

Wanttobeasucess

My teacher is so rubbish, she never turns up and hasn't taught us half the topic SO
do you think it will be okay to miss out Meta Ethics and Conscience in Ethics ?!
Seeing as we only need to answer 2 questions out of 4!
Basicly, is there any chance that 2 meta ethics questions will come up? or 2 conscience questions???

Reply 12

jbarfie

I have the June 10 questions, could someone get Jan 11?

1. Evaluate the claim that analogy can be a successful way to express human understanding of god
2. "Boethius was successful in his argument that god rewards and punishes justly" Discuss
3. Critically assess, with reference to William James, arguments from religious experience
4. To what extent is a belief in an afterlife necessary in solving the problem of evil?

Reply 13

Clareicles

Hi guys,

January 2011:

Philosophy:
1. To what extent can God reveal himself through sacred writings?

2. Critically compare the use of myth with the use of analogy to express human understanding of God.

3.'Resurrection is more likely than reincarnation.' Discuss.

4. Evaluate Hume's claim that miracles are the least likely of events

Ethics:
1. Critically assess the claim that conscience is the voice of reason

2."The environment suffers because business has no ethics" Discuss

3. "Our ethical decisions are merely the result of social conditioning" Discuss

4. ‘Natural Law is the most reliable approach when making decisions about premarital sex.’ Discuss.

Hope this helps,

Clareicles

Reply 14

phiddy23

These questions all look so much harder than the AS level ones. WAY harder. Not surprising, but it hits me like a slap in the face. Also what about June 10 ethics questions?

Reply 15

purplefrog

Is this all we need to know on miracles (self teaching here so please help :smile:

)
- Hume's definition
- Holland's definition
- Purpose of miracles
- One or two examples from Bible (Joshua 10, Water --> Wine, Walking on water, Resurrection)
- Doubting existence of natural laws / acknowledging we don't know all of them --> thus miracles might not exist
- Hume's criticisms of miracles
[indent]1) Insufficient number of reliable witnesses
2) People are drawn to the unusual and put reason on the side --> making them susceptible
3) miracles are from uncivilised societies
4) multiple faiths all claim their miracle stories are true [/indent]
- Evaluating Hume's criticising points
- Maurice Wiles' moral objection
- Evaluating Wiles' objections

Anything else I need to know? Is all the info correct so far? please quote when replying. could really do with some reassurance

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 16

RoshniDiya

Ethics is so ****ing boring this year.

Reply 17

Oxbridge-Rawr

I know this is kinda off-topic, but I'm taking philosophy and ethics next year(as my fourth subject) and I was wondering; how did you guys find it? On a scale of 1-10, how hard did you find it? and how relevant do you thing it is to medicine?

And Good Luck with your exams! A2 seems so much harder than GCSEs (which I assume it is :tongue:

)

Reply 18

Noodlzzz

Original post by Oxbridge-Rawr

)

My hardest subject, very enjoyable if you like debating, problem solving and 'big ideas'. Very relevant to medicine in terms of ethics. It's a great arts contrast if your doing a lot of sciences (presumably for medicine) and apparently helpful for interviews.

Reply 19

purplefrog

Original post by Oxbridge-Rawr

)

I'm a medic applicant (taking bio/maths/chem/rs) and find it to be my easiest subject, but also my favourite and most interesting. It isn't really directly relevant to medicine content-wise apart from perhaps touching a bit on IVF treatments. Though, most importantly, it equips you with the ability to critically analyse and communicate arguments cogently. Obviously this could be done via English Lit/History too but RS allows a greater emphasis on the nature of the argument rather than the content. While not directly relevant to medicine, it allows for a lot of scope to transfer and apply skills but at the end of the day, it is what you make of it. It will neither advantage or disadvantage you as a subject on its own.

If you have any other med or rs questions, feel free to pm me :smile: