© Michael Lacewing
Revising for the AQA AS Philosophy exam
There are lots of memory tricks for learning information for exams. This section isn’t
about those. Revision isn’t just about learning information, but also about learning how to
use that information well in the exam.
The structure of the exam
In revising for the exam, you need to bear in mind the structure of the exam and the
Assessment Objectives.
First, the questions in each section are all compulsory, and cover different areas of the
syllabus, so you’ll need to revise the whole syllabus. First, in each section, there are questions
that ask you to define or explain an important philosophical idea. On the specimen exam
papers, these take the form of one 2-mark and one 5-mark question, but they may take a
different form in the future (always adding up to 7 marks). Second, there are two 9-mark
questions that ask you to explain a more complex theory or argument. Third, there is one 15mark open-ended essay question that asks you to evaluate a philosophical claim.
Second, thinking about the 15-mark questions, structure your revision around the central
questions or topics that the syllabus covers. In Epistemology, these are perception,
knowledge, rationalism v. empiricism on knowledge, and the debate over innate ideas. In
Philosophy of Religion, they are the concept of God, the three arguments for the existence
of God, the problem of evil and religious language.
Third, the examiners mark your answers according to two principles, known as
‘Assessment Objectives’ (AOs). They are:
AO1: Demonstrate understanding of the core concepts and methods of philosophy
AO2: Analyse and evaluate philosophical argument to form reasoned judgements
So AO1 requires you to understand how philosophers have argued, and AO2 requires you to be
able to argue – to construct and evaluate arguments – yourself. Except for the 15-mark
questions, all the marks available are for AO1. For the 15-mark questions, 7 marks are for AO1
and 8 marks are for AO2. How well you write also makes a contribution, so it is important to
write clearly and grammatically, so that the examiner can understand what you mean. Don’t
try to impress using big words or long sentences – it just gets in the way of clarity and
precision.
Revision
AO1 tests your understanding of central concepts and claims in these areas and how arguments
are constructed for or against claims. We can break this down further. For the short-answer
questions,
R1: Learn the concepts and definitions that are central to the philosophical theories studied.
The glossary can help with this. For the 5- and 9-mark questions,
R2: Learn who said what. What are the most important claims they made? What arguments did
they use to defend their claims?
However, AO1 tests your understanding, not just your knowledge, of these claims and
arguments. So you will need to show how the arguments are supposed to work. What are the
premises and conclusion, and how is the conclusion supposed to follow from the premises?
R3: Spend time identifying the main claims and arguments involved in each issue you have
studied, putting arguments in your own words, stating clearly what the conclusion is and what
the premises are. Explain how the reasoning is supposed to work.
This is difficult, because philosophical ideas and arguments are abstract and complicated, so it
can be hard to know just what they mean. But the examiners also want precision. So it is
worth thinking further about whatever you find hardest to understand.
R4: Revise those concepts, claims and arguments that are hard to understand. Try to identify
the differences between different interpretations. Which interpretation is best and why?
The exam questions do not explicitly ask for examples, but examples can prove very helpful
when explaining a claim, objection or theory. If you are going to use examples, you want them
to be good – clear, relevant, and supportive of the point you want to make. You can either
remember good examples you have read, or create your own. In either case, you should know
precisely what point the example is making. An irrelevant example demonstrates that you
don’t really know what you are talking about.
R5: Prepare examples beforehand, rather than try to invent them in the exam. They must be
short and they must make the right point – so try them out on your friends and teachers first.
What about AO2? How do you revise evaluation? Fifteen-mark questions test you on how well
you build an argument, deal with objections, and come to a supported conclusion. The best
way to prepare for it is to spend time thinking about the arguments and issues. You might
know and even understand Hume’s arguments against rationalism, but you may never have
stopped to really work out whether you think they are any good. Get involved!
So think about the different kinds of objection that can be raised to claims and arguments.
Relate a particular argument to other arguments and viewpoints on the issue, and reflect on
whether the objections to an argument undermine it. Work through the arguments so that
you understand for yourself the pros and cons of each viewpoint.
R6: Think reflectively about the arguments and issues. Practise arguing for and against a
particular view. Think about the place and importance of the arguments for the issue as a
whole.
Your answer needs to work as an argument itself, a coherent piece of reasoning. This means
that what you write should also take the form of premises and conclusion. The premises will
be your judgements as you go along, in response to this view or that objection. These
judgements need to add up to a conclusion. You shouldn’t end your essay with a totally
different point of view than your evaluations in the essay support. In other words, do the
judgements you reach reflect the arguments you have presented?
R7: Think about how your judgements on the various arguments you have studied add up. Do
they lead to one conclusion, one point of view being right? Or do you think arguments for and
against one position are closely balanced?
These first seven revision points relate to taking in and understanding information. There are
two more points that will help you organise the information, learn it better, and prepare you
for answering exam questions. This is especially important in relation to the 15-mark
questions.
Fifteen-mark questions are open-ended, and so you will need to choose to discuss what is
relevant to the question being asked. Knowing what is relevant is a special kind of knowledge,
which involves thinking carefully about what you know about the theories in relation to the
question asked. A good way of organising your information is to create answer outlines or
web-diagrams for particular issues.
For example, you could create an outline or web-diagram for innate knowledge. Think
about the essential points, and organise them, perhaps like this:
1
2
3
4
5
What is innate knowledge? Is there more than one interpretation?
Who argued against innate knowledge? What are the main arguments?
Who argued for innate knowledge? What knowledge did they say was innate? What
arguments did they use?
What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the claim that there is innate
knowledge?
What is your conclusion on the issue, and why?
With an outline structured like this, you should be able to answer any question that comes
up on innate knowledge.
R8: Create structured outlines or web-diagrams for particular issues. Try to cover all the main
points.
Finally, once you’ve organised your notes into an outline or web-diagram, time yourself
writing exam answers. Start by using your outline, relying on your memory to fill in the
details. Then practise by memorising the outline as well, and doing it as though it were an
actual exam. You might be surprised at how quickly the time goes by. You’ll find that you
need to be very focused – but this is what the examiners are looking for, answers that are
thoughtful but to the point.
R9: Practice writing timed answers. Use your notes at first, but then practice without
them.