Hi Jimmmy,
Would you have any tips on what you should pre-study for Philo, what demeanor to use in class and how to study for assessments? I'm entering Unit 2 Philo in two weeks and some advice would be appreciated, especially someone like you who's currently doing the new study design.
Hi Nathan! Good to see another Philosophy face around here.
I've got a couple of things to mention, so I'll do it in list form;
1) In relation to demeanor in class; ask lots of questions, but make sure you have thought the question through. Philo is very dense, so sometimes you might ask a question that, if you had thought about for a few more minutes, you could've answered yourself. It's probably one of the few subjects where I'd give that advice, but it's definitely beneficial. This year (for our class at least), our teacher has left us a lot to our own devices to research and come up with arguments/rebuttals, so getting into that habit early puts you a step ahead.
2) In terms of study? I found Y11 very different to 12 in that you don't study set texts in 11 but do in 12. I'd suggest practice (as I've listed in (3)), and if you get bored of the set texts for next year, I'd highly suggest David Armstrong's 'Nature of Mind' if you have spare time. In Philo, the more you read, and more understanding you accumulate, the better you'll go.
3)3&4 Philosophy has set texts, and only those set texts that you must refer to in each AOS. There's not much, but it's quite dense so if I were you, I'd start investigating those texts and getting a grasp of them before next year. It's something I would've done, but the *annoyingly* new study design coming out late ruined that. Make sure that by next year, you know the set texts like the back of your hand.
4)The next step, EVALUATION! The majority of Philo marks (extended response, essay) require your own arguments, ideas etc., now this is where people get a bit confused. You
can use philosophers who aren't listed in the study design in evaluations and critically compare questions, despite the fact they're not technically 'your arguments'. Considering that, after taking a look at the set texts, I would highly suggest browsing some rebuttals, and counter-arguments to the set texts that you can discuss
in detail. Think of the set texts logically, there's always going to be holes. Like a philosophy teacher once told me, 'if any of these philosophers had solved any of these problems, they'd have nobel prizes'.
5)Make sure you like Metaphysics! In Year 11, we did Epistemology, Metaphysics, Logic, Ethics and even touched on Aesthetics. Year 12 is
strictly Metaphysics, with Logic being sort of 'pre-required' knowledge. I was always a big knowledge fan, so in all honesty I'm not enjoying Year 12 quite as much as last year. That said, it's still a wonderful study design and some may find it much more enjoyable.
I hope that was somewhat helpful, and if you have any other questions please ask
Always up for a Philo chat.