HL-Philosophy
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N15/3/PHILO/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX – 2 – N15/3/PHILO/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX In your answers you are expected to: Philosophy • argue in an organized way using clear, precise language, which is appropriate to philosophy Higher level • demonstrate knowledge and understanding of appropriate philosophical issues Paper 1 • analyse, develop and critically evaluate relevant ideas and arguments • present appropriate examples providing support for your overall argument • identify and analyse counter-arguments Thursday 5 November 2015 (afternoon) • provide relevant supporting material, illustrations and/or examples • offer a clear and philosophically relevant personal response to the examination question. 2 hours 30 minutes Section A Instructions to candidates Answer one question from this section. Each question in this section is worth [30 marks]. Do not open this examination paper until instructed to do so. Core Theme: What is a human being? Section A: answer one question. Section B: answer two questions, each chosen from a different Optional Theme. 1. Read the following passage and develop your response as indicated below. The maximum mark for this examination paper is [90 marks]. ‘”Animal” is a negative term, but only because man has been made inappropriately privileged. It has been argued that whereas the traditional view supports Hamlet’s exclamation, “How like a god,” Pavlov emphasizes “How like a dog.” But is that a step too far? A god is the archetypal pattern of an explanatory fiction, of a miracle-working mind, of the metaphysical. Man is much more than a dog, but like a dog he is within the range of scientific analysis. [Source: adapted from B F Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), pages 200–201] Write a response (of approximately 800 words) in which you: • identify a central philosophical concept or philosophical issue in this passage that addresses the question, “what is a human being?” • investigate two different philosophical approaches to the philosophical concept or philosophical issue you identified • explain and evaluate the philosophical concept or philosophical issue you identified. 8815 – 5601 5 pages © International Baccalaureate Organization 2015 – 3 – – 4 – N15/3/PHILO/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX 2. Look at the following picture and develop your response as indicated below. Section B Answer two questions from this section, each chosen from a different Optional Theme. Each question in this section is worth [30 marks]. Optional Theme 1: Grounds of epistemology 3. Evaluate the claim that certainty of the truth of a proposition should be proportionately dependent on the strength of the evidence it presents. Please go to this link: 4. Explain and discuss the view that reason plays a dominant role in our attempt to gain knowledge. http://www.notdesking.co.uk/unhappy-youre-a-commuter/ Optional Theme 2: Theories and problems of ethics 5. Evaluate the claim that for utilitarianism the purpose of ethics is the increase of happiness. 6. Evaluate the claim that moral judgments are simply expressions of positive or negative feelings. Write a response (of approximately 800 words) in which you: Optional Theme 3: Philosophy of religion • identify a central philosophical concept or philosophical issue in this picture that addresses the 7. “Matters of religion are like matters of sexual preference: they are not discussed in public, and question, “what is a human being?” even the abstract questions are discussed only by bores.” Discuss and evaluate this claim with • investigate two different philosophical approaches to the philosophical concept or philosophical reference to social conformity and personal religious commitment. issue you identified • explain and evaluate the philosophical concept or philosophical issue you identified. 8. With reference to one or more of the philosophies of religion you have studied, evaluate the issue of relativism and its role within religion. Optional Theme 4: Philosophy of art 9. “When I see a tiger in a picture, I do not feel moved to run away; and the painted clouds in a Monet do not prompt me to check whether I have my umbrella with me. Art is about seeing for the sake of seeing, and realizing to the full the potential freedom of the see-er.” Evaluate this view of the process of art. 10. Evaluate the extent to which the intellect should be involved in an appreciation of an artist’s work. Turn over N15/3/PHILO/BP2/ENG/TZ0/XX – 5 – N15/3/PHILO/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX Optional Theme 5: Political philosophy Philosophy 11. “An earthquake achieves what the law promises but does not in practice maintain: the equality of all men.” Evaluate the idea that all humans should be equal before the law. Higher level and standard level Paper 2 12. Explain and discuss what makes government legitimate. Friday 6 November 2015 (morning) Optional Theme 6: Non-Western traditions and perspectives 1 hour 13. With reference to one or more of the non-Western traditions you have studied, evaluate the distinction between, and meaning of, living beings and non-living objects. Instructions to candidates • Do not open this examination paper until instructed to do so. • Answer one question. 14. With reference to one or more of the non-Western traditions you have studied, evaluate the • The maximum mark for this examination paper is [30 marks]. possible political and economic relations with other cultures and societies, especially considering liberty, equality and civil rights. Optional Theme 7: Contemporary social issues 15. Evaluate the claim that stratification (the ranking of different groups dependent on status) of a society is both inevitable and desirable. 16. Evaluate the claim that the government of a state has a duty to grant equality to all members of its community. Optional Theme 8: People, nations and cultures 17. Evaluate the view that a nation can be defined as “a daily referendum dependent on the will of its people to continue living together”. 18. Evaluate the grounds on which a member of one culture might claim to be able to judge the practices of another. 8815 – 5602 4 pages © International Baccalaureate Organization 2015 – 2 – N15/3/PHILO/BP2/ENG/TZ0/XX – 3 – N15/3/PHILO/BP2/ENG/TZ0/XX In your answer you are expected to: René Descartes: Meditations • argue in an organized way using clear, precise language, which is appropriate to philosophy, and 9. Explain and discuss Descartes’s claim that intellection (conception) is the essential feature demonstrate an understanding of the author’s specific terminology of thought. • show an understanding of the specific demands of the question • give references to the ideas and arguments presented in the text • present appropriate examples providing support for your overall argument 10. Explain and discuss Descartes’s claim that “natural light” guarantees the transparent clarity of • identify and analyse counter-arguments cognition and is the ultimate ground for truth. • provide relevant supporting material, illustrations and/or examples • develop a critical evaluation of the ideas and arguments of the text • offer a clear and philosophically relevant personal response to the position expressed by the author. John Locke: Second Treatise on Government Answer one question. Each question is worth [30 marks]. 11. Explain and discuss Locke’s concept of property. Bhagavad Gita 12. “In his Second Treatise Locke wants to show that there can be a legitimate state: one that is 1. Explain and discuss the different meanings of dharma and its relation to heroism and war. consistent with its citizens’ natural rights.” Discuss and evaluate. 2. Evaluate the meaning of yoga and its different types and functions. John Stuart Mill: On Liberty 13. Evaluate Mill’s view that the objective of humans ought to be seen as the cultivation of individuality, Confucius: The Analects that is, the highest and most harmonious development of human powers to a complete and consistent whole. 3. Evaluate the extent to which the emphasis on moral refinement as the primary purpose of education presents a conservative picture of education in The Analects. 14. Explain and discuss Mill’s view on the liberty of thought and discussion. 4. Evaluate the use of familial relations as an essential part of encouraging good rapports in society. Friedrich Nietzsche: The Genealogy of Morals Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching 15. Evaluate Nietzsche’s claim that a man of action is closer to justice than a reactive man. 5. “The Taoist sage exercises non-intrusive or non-interfering action in the government of the empire.” Discuss and evaluate. 16. Evaluate Nietzsche’s claim that slave morality begins when ressentiment itself becomes creative and gives birth to values. 6. Evaluate the claim that the concept of the Tao might be interpreted both in a metaphysical and in an ethical sense. Bertrand Russell: The Problems of Philosophy 17. Evaluate Russell’s treatment of the problem with going beyond specific personal experience, or Plato: The Republic, Books IV–IX memory of experience, to knowledge of things that have never been personally experienced. 7. Evaluate the claim that one must look upon everyone he or she meets as a brother or sister, father or mother, son or daughter, or one of the children or parents of these. 18. Explain and discuss the distinction that Russell makes between knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description. 8. Explain and discuss the nature of dialectic. Turn over – 4 – N15/3/PHILO/BP2/ENG/TZ0/XX N15/3/PHILO/BP2/ENG/TZ0/XX/M Hannah Arendt: The Human Condition 19. Explain and discuss how freedom and plurality are central features of Arendt’s idea of action. 20. Evaluate Arendt’s claim that the modern age is a world of alienation. Simone de Beauvoir: The Ethics of Ambiguity Markscheme 21. Evaluate de Beauvoir’s distinction between ontological freedom and moral freedom. Evaluate de Beauvoir’s understanding of ambiguity. 22. November 2015 Charles Taylor: The Ethics of Authenticity 23.