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AQA AS Philosophy (new 2014 onwards spec) Thread!

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I remember doing this last year and my whole class getting D-U grades, despite being predicted A/Bs- It was so hard.

But the most important thing is to get your structure right for your answers and know everything!!!

Good luck

Reply 41

clucky_chick

Original post by brobs123

I literally can't get past a D, revising isn't working I don't really know what to do. How do you revise this subject? You can't be brief about anything so revision notes/flashcards/mindmaps aren't helpful

Original post by 221Breezeblocks

I know what you mean, you really need to know everything to do well... :s-smilie:

I have found however that flashcards are good for me if you basically make a tonne so that you include all the specifics and details that you need to know. Flashcards are good because they're small bits of important information that you can test yourself on quickly, so you basically learn all the wording you need. HOWEVER, actually making all these flashcards is what is getting me down because it takes quite a while and the exam is literally in a week :frown:

If it's really last minute then I suggest just sitting down and learning all the premises and conclusion arguments that you need. :smile:

Flashcards are fab. I use www.brainscape.com to revise all of my notes. The only other thing which is really boring, but really does help is by doing practice questions. :smile:

Reply 42

221Breezeblocks

Original post by clucky_chick

Flashcards are fab. I use www.brainscape.com to revise all of my notes. The only other thing which is really boring, but really does help is by doing practice questions. :smile:

You have just saved my life.

Reply 43

clucky_chick

Original post by 221Breezeblocks

You have just saved my life.

Aw, haha. I am glad to help! :biggrin:

Reply 44

clucky_chick

Specification paper. This should help rule out a few questions. However, there is a lot of parallelism between the specification paper and the 2015 paper: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-2175-AS-W-SQP.PDF

Reply 45

MarthaMae19

Hi everybody!
I am retaking this exam after ending up with a D grade last year (was predicted a B) because of redundancy! :frown:

I was wondering if anyone had their take on:
"Outline Plantinga's Ontological Argument"; as we have been given many different versions in class!

If anyone has any questions for me, I can see if I can help!

Good luck! <3

Reply 46

MarthaMae19

Original post by Platopus

I got 94% UMS :smile:

Hi Platopus (amazing name btw!)
I am also taking the A2 exam this year, and i'm resitting the AS.

I was wondering if you have any killer AS and A2 advice, on how you've revised, or anything helpful that your teacher may have got you to note down?

Thank you, I really appreciate it,
Let me know if you have any A2 questions!

Martha :smile:

Reply 47

clucky_chick

Original post by MarthaMae19

Hi everybody!
I am retaking this exam after ending up with a D grade last year (was predicted a B) because of redundancy! :frown:

Hey,

Ah redundancy sucks! I always lose some marks for it too. Being so concise can be very difficult. Plantinga's argument is split into two parts: The notion of possible worlds and necessary being. These are my revision notes on it:

Part One:

Spoiler

Part 2:

Spoiler

(I'm sure you already know this, but remember in 5 / 9 mark questions to always give an overview of the ontological argument before explaining Plantinga's argument and try and integrate them well.

Hope this helps, and if it needs any clarification, let me know.
Good luck! :smile:

Reply 48

MarthaMae19

Original post by clucky_chick

Spoiler

Part 2:

Spoiler

Thank you! This is really helpful!
Let me know if I can return the favor in any way :smile:

Reply 49

Platopus

Original post by MarthaMae19

Good luck! My main pointer would be to know the primary texts on the anthology inside out. My teachers aren't very good so my work has all been pretty much independent study. If you're finding anything difficult to understand, the Hodder textbook is amazing :smile:

Reply 50

brobs123

Original post by clucky_chick

Flashcards are fab. I use www.brainscape.com to revise all of my notes. The only other thing which is really boring, but really does help is by doing practice questions. :smile:

Thank you so much!!

Reply 51

clucky_chick

Original post by MarthaMae19

Thank you! This is really helpful!
Let me know if I can return the favor in any way :smile:

Aw, you're very welcome. I'm glad it helped. Let me know if you need any more notes. Aw, thanks. I think I am okay at the moment. Just doing my best to cram all these notes! :biggrin:

Original post by brobs123

Thank you so much!!

You're very welcome. I hope it helps. :biggrin:

Reply 52

pollyycatherine

Original post by clucky_chick

Spoiler

Part 2:

Spoiler

Hey!! Really helpful but what do you mean about an overview/intergrate? xx

Reply 53

pollyycatherine

how would you write a "what do we perceive essay"?? Does anyone have one say arguing for indirect realism? im trying to write one now and i know what arguments to use but i'm a bit lost on the explanation section, e.g why the argument from illusion works. Also do you write objections to each individual argument or for indirect realism as a whole? x

Reply 54

clucky_chick

Original post by pollyycatherine

Hey!! Really helpful but what do you mean about an overview/intergrate? xx

Hey, glad to know that it helps.

Apologies in advance if I use wrong terminology, I'm currently in the psychology mind-frame at the moment. :smile:

Okay for 5 / 9 mark questions, doing a quick overview of the theory is a really good idea. In 15 mark questions, its just an expectation.

5 Markers:

Spoiler

For a 9 mark question, you would structure it similarly, yet with a bit more explanation.

Spoiler

Integration / links is probably one of the worst parts of answering the questions. It is basically making sure that your answers flow, and that you understand how they link between them. Examples include:

- This is problematic for ... because ...
- In other words
- Moreover
- Thus suggesting

Any connectives or short phrases which make your answer flow better.

Hope this helps. Let me know if it requires any more clarification or any other questions. :smile:

Reply 55

clucky_chick

Original post by pollyycatherine

Okay. Firstly you need to decide your line of argument. Are you in favour or indirect realism or not? Then you base your whole essay on that. If you are arguing in favour, you would be required to respond to all the problems that you include in your essay, as you are basically trying to convince the examiner that your point of view is right. If you are arguing against, then it may be best to leave one of the strongest problems without a response, or use a weaker response, and show how it still does not undermine the problem.

For explanation, that is just simply knowing your notes inside and out, and just making sure that you keep clear and concise about it. Illusions works for indirect realism as illusions are when one's perception of events misrepresents reality, suggesting that we do not have direct access to the external world, and in fact, that we have indirect access. Since indirect realists believe that we perceive things through a 'veil of perception', and mind-dependently, then this would support the idea that our mind could misrepresent the reality. (e.g. stick submerged in water which is straight (in reality / external world) but in fact appearing bent (in the mind).

It's best to talk about the theory generally, and then look at the supporting evidence, and then look at problems, and responses evaluatively. When writing about problems / responses, you would explain these, and then link them back to indirect realism.

For example:

Spoiler

Hope this helps. :smile:

Reply 56

221Breezeblocks

Hi guys,

(Trying not to think about the impending doom that is Thursday :smile:

)
Anyway, I'd like to ask for people's opinion on something.

On the AQA website there are several documents for sample answers and comments for the various types of questions that we might get.

Is it me or do the sample answers that seem to get full marks seem rather underdeveloped, or rather, just not very, well, long?
For example the given answer to the nine marker is two very short paragraphs - but still apparently would score full marks.
As with the 15 marker. We (at least) have been taught that you'd need to write at least double what the example answer has written to get top band results... Is this likely to just be a case of a rubbish representation of the marking standard?
Seeing those answers makes me feel much better but I'm fairly sure that's not what one would get in reality . . .

The marker has also written a pretty weird comment at the end of the 15 marker sample. :s-smilie:

Here are these sample answers:
2/5 marker: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-W-2175-SAMS-2-5M.PDF
9 marker: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-W-2175-SAMS-9M.PDF
15 marker: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-W-2175-CEX-N.PDF

Thankssss x

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 57

clucky_chick

Original post by 221Breezeblocks

Hi guys,

(Trying not to think about the impending doom that is Thursday :smile:

Hey,

I discussed this with my English teacher as well, as we were looking at AQA essays, which were definitely not worth what they were awarded. Basically, they are probably quite crap examples, and should only be used as a guideline to build on. Just follow the structures which you have learnt, and probably ignore those structures. It's not very fair, but when applied to a real mark scheme, like you said, it probably won't be worth as much.

Reply 58

Bloody Stupid

Hey. How would you guys answer these questions?

Explain why Hume’s fork attacks knowledge innatism. (9 marks)
Explain the empiricist arguments against intuition and deduction (see Hume's fork question) (9 marks)
I wrote an answer for the first question but I wrote a whole packed paragraph explaining knowledge innatism/rationalism after explaining Hume's fork.

Got an E last year, which I think is due to redundancy. I remember my teacher banging on about how I'm not concise in my answers and how I'm not making all the right links to the question.
I'm struggling with empiricism and rationalism. I haven't got a textbook with me atm so if anyone has any notes on this topic, would be extremely grateful. Trying to do some last minute revision now.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 59

khaleesi98

Hello philosophers ☺️

I'm someone else resitting AS. Slightly worried I'll actually do worse than last year... Anyways, I'm not going to post again before the exam, but I'll be back afterwards to see how everyone found the paper!

Good luck x
PS fun fact... 36/80 marks are for 9 mark questions