Philosophy A2 AQA - Ethics and Philosophy of Mind

I am absolutely devastated considering I ran out of time (I know) due to my initial stressing regarding making my first answers read 'logical'. I received an A (89UMS) in AS and thus aspired to gain an A* on this paper, but I only provided short answers for the last two questions (12 mark featured two comparative points, whereas the 25 basically outlined functionalism, qualia and Block's Chinese mind issue). I am terrified I will be short of an A :/

Extremely irritating as I knew practically all the questions asked, but I became overwhelmed and distracted by ensuring that my answers were 'perfected'. I hope the grade boundaries are as low as they were for the AS paper

EDIT: considering I received 89UMS on AS, does that entail I only need a B (71UMS) at A2 for an A overall? Furthermore, is this what universities use?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 61

Sainsbizz

3

Original post by ancienthistory

I am absolutely devastated considering I ran out of time (I know) due to my initial stressing regarding making my first answers read 'logical'. I received an A (89UMS) in AS and thus aspired to gain an A* on this paper, but I only provided short answers for the last two questions (12 mark featured two comparative points, whereas the 25 basically outlined functionalism, qualia and Block's Chinese mind issue). I am terrified I will be short of an A :/

Extremely irritating as I knew practically all the questions asked, but I became overwhelmed and distracted by ensuring that my answers were 'perfected'. I hope the grade boundaries are as low as they were for the AS paper

EDIT: considering I received 89UMS on AS, does that entail I only need a B (71UMS) at A2 for an A overall? Furthermore, is this what universities use?

Yes, you only need 71 ums on this paper. May I ask if you only included functionalism for the last 25 marker, and why?

Reply 62

Isobel Sweeney

1

For the last twenty five marker I wrote:
1) Introduction
2) Conceivability argument with objection
3) Zombie argument with objection
4) Knowledge argument with objection
5) Interactionist substance dualism and Elisabeth's argument with Descartes response
6) The problem of other minds and the argument from analogy (for both substance and property dualism)
7) Type identity theory
8) Ryle's rejection of substance dualism for having made the category mistake
9) Conclusion

I ran out of time so didn't get round to criticising physicalist theories!! I probably wasted my time doing both the zombie and the knowledge argument. Does this seem enough for twenty marks? I really need an A in this paper (one mark off last year) but I doubt I've managed it

Reply 63

lecaitlind

1

It was not pretty. Hadn't even heard of Moral Realism before and had to guesstimate, thanks lecturer. Mostly the 12 markers weren't so fab, and I had to wing it on the responses to some of the issues on the 25 markers - reminded me a lot of what i did last year. And i did OK last year.. so hopefully they'll take my blabbing.

Surprised I can remember them shockingly, was aiming to remove all this info from my brain as soon as I finished the exam lol
25 Markers for Ethics I basically did this:

INTRO: Kant outline with the Imperatives, line of argument.. (that its OK but theres better alternatives)
P1: #1 Formulation (the universalisability or whatever.. idk anymore) - Issue with Kant, response, evaluation.
P2: #2 Formulation (principle of humanity) - Issue with Kant, response, evaluation
P3: Aristotle/Virtue Ethics, issue of circularity, response from Aristotle, evaluation.
CONCLUSION: Basically concluding that Aristotle is a more preferred ethical theory lol
(my issues weren't even fully related to Kant's formulations either.. hahahaa... the first one was (conflicting duties), and then I realised I didn't have an issue relevant to the principle of humanity so just went for the 'cold' nature of Kant's ethics...)

and the joyous 25 marker for philosophy of mind:

INTRO: Brief outline weighing up phys/materialism against dualism... (line of argument - for Dualism)
P1: Descartes Substance Dualism, Problem of Interaction, Response from Descartes (pineal gland), evaluation
P2: Eliminative Materialism, Issues x2, Response from Churchlands (insufficient tbh, hate EM), evaluation saying its naff etc
P2: Jackson's Knowledge Argument against Phys/Mat and for Property Dualism (thought I'd make it easier for myself ha), Issue of Propositional Knowledge, Jackson's Response, evaluation
CONCLUSION: Saying Substance Dualism is OK, not the best, but Property Dualism is OK. Materialism/Physicalism is rubbish.

Reply 64

Bhakar

1

Hi does anybody have example answers from an denotological and virtue ethicist view when answering a 12 mark question for any sceniro (such As war or stimulated killing?) this will be really helpful !

Reply 65

tryingmybest2015

9

Does anyone have any A2 notes they could send me? Id appreciate it so so much!!

Reply 66

Hardy236

10

Original post by Bloody Stupid

These questions came from the specimen paper so topics such as cognitivism and non-cognitivism (which was a 5 marker on the paper) will likely come on our paper in a different form (i.e. a 12 marker)

What does it mean to say an ethical theory is deontological? (3 marks)
Briefly explain ethical naturalism (5 marks)
Explain the difference between cognitivist and non-cognitivist theories of ethics (5 marks)
How might a utilitarian attempt to justify preventative imprisonment (imprisoning someone to prevent a crime rather than because they have committed a crime)? (12 marks)
How is Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean useful for making moral decisions? (25 marks)
-
What are qualia? (3marks)
Briefly explain the philosophical zombie argument for property dualism (5 marks)
Briefly outline Descartes’ indivisibility argument (5 marks)
What are the similarities and differences between interactionist dualism and epiphenomenalist dualism? (12 marks)
Are mental states ontologically reducible to brain states? (25 marks)

Predictions for 25 markers:

Assess property dualism
'The mind is behaviour'. Is this claim true?
Is the mind physical?
Assess utilitarianism
Assess the claim that moral language expresses facts about the world.

Can they ask about meta-ethics, nothing about knowing the responses to meta-ethics is in the specification.

Reply 67

GeorgeGreyman

1

Is your exam on the 9th of June???
I did my AQA A2 Philosophy of Mind + Ethics this Monday gone (5th).
I'm assuming they're different exams or something but I don't see any differences?

Philosophy A2 AQA - Ethics and Philosophy of Mind

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