PHILOSOPHY

HIGHER LEVEL

PAPER 3

SPECIMEN PAPER

1 hour 30 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

• Do not turn over this examination paper until instructed to do so.

• Read the text and answer the question.

In answering this question, candidates are expected to:

• Develop a philosophical response in an organized way

• Use clear, precise and appropriate language

• Identify what doing philosophy means in the text

• Take an independent position about the nature of philosophical activity in relation to the

ideas developed in the text

• Draw upon, and show a holistic appreciation of the skills, material and ideas developed

throughout the course

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Unseen text – exploring philosophical activity

Read the text below then write a response to it (of approximately 800 words). In your answer

include:

• A concise description of philosophical activity as presented in the text

• An exploration of the pertinent issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text,

relating this to your experience of doing philosophy throughout the whole course

• Appropriate references to the text that illustrate your understanding of philosophical

activity

• Your personal evaluation of the issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text

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Wonder is probably as old as humanity; it is also the starting point of philosophy.

Karl Jaspers describes those moments that so often give rise to philosophical reflection. He speaks of them as times of either joy or despair that jar a person into a state of wonderment, where all former answers and beliefs are called into question. We all have probably had such experiences. We are all philosophers on at least some occasions.

Humans can certainly function practically in an immediate ‘survival’ mode without wondering about the above matters. But a lifetime of such shortsightedness may begin to

feel unfulfilling. Of course, one could take a shortcut and bypass philosophical inquiry by embracing a pre-packaged ideology which provides ready-made answers to our fundamental questions. The philosopher, however, strikes out on his or her own, searching for wisdom in a reflective fashion. It is this that we call the philosophical quest.

Here it might be helpful to contrast the informal sense of ‘having’ a philosophy, or philosophising, where we scrutinize our experiences and beliefs in a search for insight and

understanding. In the first sense, each of us already has a philosophy; indeed, we are creating our philosophy of life – more or less unconsciously – all the time. “Don’t trust

people,” “there is life after death”: such viewpoints, held unreflectively, influence our daily lives and guide our decisions. In contrast, when we engage directly in doing philosophy, it is a time to take inventory of our preconceptions and challenge them. With this more formal sense of philosophizing comes an emphasis on reason, analysis, and argumentation.

In fact, philosophy could be understood as the discipline that criticizes received opinions, in all subjects, from daily life to aesthetic and religious experience. In this sense we can say that philosophy is radical in the most literal meaning of the word; for whereas practitioners of a religion or citizens of a state may take for granted the validity of the assumptions of their belief systems, philosophers question those assumptions. Philosophers go to the ‘roots’ of ideas by clarifying, questioning, and evaluating our most basic assumptions. Often this challenge to accepted norms and ideas can lead to views that are at odds with one’s culture.

In this way, philosophy never rests, never reaches the final answer; all past answers are subject to continuing scrutiny and revision by those who come after. Philosophy is, in short, a radical critical inquiry into the fundamental assumptions of any field of inquiry, including itself.

One doesn’t have to be a professional ‘philosopher’ to philosophize; wherever assumptions are being questioned, and opinions are challenged, philosophizing is going on. Anyone willing to observe the overlooked, to reflect, to analyze, and to put forth an argument can be a philosopher. However, those who make philosophical reflection a lifetime habit perhaps deserve the label ‘philosopher’ most. For, with practice, comes skill. The more one philosophizes and studies the philosophies of the past, the more likely one is to gain real philosophic insight.

[Source: The Philosophical Quest: A Cross Cultural Reader Gail M. Presbey, Karsten J. Struhl, Richard E. Olsen New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 1995 pp. xv-xvi]

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MARKSCHEME: SPECIMEN PAPER – PHILOSOPHY (Higher Level – Paper 3)

Unseen text – exploring philosophical activity

Read the text below then write a response to it (of approximately 800 words). In your answer include:

• A concise description of philosophical activity as presented in the text

• An exploration of the pertinent issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text, relating this to your experience of doing philosophy throughout the whole course

• Appropriate references to the text that illustrate your understanding of philosophical activity

• Your personal evaluation of the issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text

This paper consists in a response to an unseen text. The purpose of the exercise is to allow students to reflect upon the nature, function, methodology and meaning of philosophical activity, relating this to the students’ experience of doing philosophy throughout the whole course. Students may reflect this in very different ways in their responses, giving examples which draw from their experience of the course. The following points – referring to the text extract – might be included in a response:

Key Points

• Wonder and amazement as the starting points of philosophical activity

• Opportunities that stimulate philosophical reflection

• The human person as questioner

• Human existence as questionable

• Accepting pre-packaged ideologies versus developing a philosophical perspective

• Having a philosophy versus doing philosophy

• Philosophising as an activity critical of commonly received and accepted positions

• The way philosophy involves a radical inquiry into the assumptions of all disciplines, even its own

• The inconclusive nature of philosophical activity

• Philosophical inquiry approaches all fields of inquiry

Discussion

• Is philosophical activity the domain of trained professionals?

• Is it necessary to be trained for philosophical activity?

• What can you learn by studying the philosophies of the past?

• Does there exist one method of doing philosophy?

• How do different cultures conceive of philosophical activity?

• Is doing philosophy as commonplace as living life?

• Must we approach all aspects of life in a philosophical manner? Is this possible? Is this probable? Is this desirable?

• Does questioning the grounds of all assumptions help you live a better life?

• What is the difference between a casual, common-sense approach to important aspects of human existence as opposed to a more philosophical approach?

• Is there a possibility of considering multi-cultural approaches to the activity of philosophising?