AQA Philosophy Unit 1 tips

These are a few general tips and things to consider for the Unit 1 AQA Philosophy specification.

• Spend ten minutes maximum on question a - it doesn't need to be long or exhaustive, well explained and concise answers with illustrations will be more highly rewarded.
• This leaves 30 minutes for question b - spend 25 minutes planning your essay, with consideration that points lead to you conclusion and spend 5 minutes checking both sections. You should spend 5 minutes on 2 points.
• Answer questions as if it is a discussion that you are having e.g. one reason why the view that the mind is a tabula rasa at birth is convincing...

Reason and Experience

• Don't use a general, downloaded conclusion or answer in general - make sure that the points you select and the conclusion is specific to the question and refers to the terms mentioned in the question. Keep referring to this to avoid going off topic.
• Try to critique the topic mentioned in the question rather than evaluate alternate theories.
• Your conclusion must follow on from your points/argument and shouldn't be forced.
• NB/ A unicorn is not an abstract idea. An abstract idea is justice, beauty…