Unseen Text

Unseen text—exploring philosophical activity

Purpose and nature of the unseen text

The purpose of the unseen text in the paper 3 examination is to allow students to demonstrate an understanding of philosophy as an activity by means of a holistic application of the philosophical skills, knowledge and ideas they have developed throughout the course. The text will be chosen to reflect the nature, function, methodology and meaning of philosophy as a reflective activity. To help students prepare for the exercise, these aspects of doing philosophy can be addressed when developing the core and optional themes, the prescribed text and the internal assessment exercise. These can be introduced by asking how philosophical methodologies and types of philosophical argumentation contribute to the understanding of issues from different themes and texts.

The emphasis of this exercise is on students’ understanding of philosophy as an activity, and on their appreciation of the nature of the different methodologies and approaches they encounter in philosophical activity. Examples of ways this can be developed during the course include the following.

· A student studying the core theme might ask how and why philosophical activity, as contrasted with science and religion, contributes to the debate on the human condition.

· A student studying one of the optional themes might investigate the methods that philosophers use to formulate arguments.

· A student studying a prescribed text might consider how a philosopher formulates, poses and writes about philosophical problems or responds to the work of other philosophers.

· In handling any philosophical text, a student might explore why certain philosophers choose to write in dialogue form, prose, fiction, monologue, poetry, aphorism and so on.

When responding to the unseen text, students should be able to:

· formulate a concise description of the philosophical activity they encounter in the text

· demonstrate an understanding of what doing philosophy means in the text.

As a result of preparing for the unseen text, students should develop a greater understanding of how philosophers work, and a better appreciation of the philosophical activities they have encountered throughout the course.

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Paper 3

1½ hours, 20%

This paper consists of an unseen text to which students are required to write a response. The unseen text will address general problems concerning the nature, function, methodology and meaning of philosophical activity.

The purpose of this paper is to allow students to demonstrate an understanding of what doing philosophy means through a holistic application of knowledge, skills and ideas developed throughout the course.

Students should formulate a response of approximately 800 words about philosophical activity. This should demonstrate their ability to reason, argue and take an independent position on the nature of philosophical activity itself. The response should draw upon the experience and skills gained by students throughout the course.

It is recommended that students take approximately 20–30 minutes to read and reflect upon the text carefully before formulating their response.

This question is worth 30 marks.

Paper 3 Unseen text—exploring philosophical activity (HL only)

A) Expression

· Has the student formulated the response in an organized way?

· How clear and precise is the language used by the student?

· To what extent is the language appropriate to philosophy?

Achievement level	Descriptor
0	The student has not reached level 1.
1	The student expresses some basic ideas but it is not always clear what the response is trying to convey. The use of language is not appropriate to philosophy.
2	The student presents some ideas in an organized way. There is some clarity of expression but the response cannot always be followed. The use of language is not always appropriate to philosophy.
3	The student presents ideas in an organized way and the response can be easily followed. The use of language is appropriate to philosophy.
4	The student presents ideas in an organized and coherent way and the response is clearly articulated. The use of language is effective and appropriate to philosophy.
5	The student presents ideas in an organized, coherent and incisive way, insights are clearly articulated and the response is focused and sustained. The use of language is precise and appropriate to philosophy.

B) Exploration

· How well does the student identify pertinent issues regarding the philosophical activity raised in the text?

· How effectively does the student explore the text and present appropriate examples and or illustrations?

· How well does the student draw on the experience of doing philosophy throughout the whole course in exploring issues raised in the text?

Achievement level	Descriptor
0	The student has not reached level 1.
1	The student demonstrates little or no evidence of identifying pertinent issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text.
2	The student demonstrates some evidence of identifying pertinent issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text.
3	The student demonstrates satisfactory evidence of identifying pertinent issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text. Examples or illustrations are used in support of exploring the issues.
4	The student demonstrates good evidence of identifying pertinent issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text. Appropriate examples or illustrations are used in support of exploring the issues. The student draws on some experience of doing philosophy throughout the course in exploring the issues raised in the text.
5	The student demonstrates precise evidence of identifying pertinent issues raised regarding philosophical activity in the text. Examples or illustrations are well chosen and are compelling in support of exploring the issues. The student draws insightfully on the experience of doing philosophy throughout the whole course in exploring the issues raised in the text.

C) Relevance of the response and understanding of philosophical activity

· How detailed and appropriate are the student’s references to the text?

· How relevant is the response to the text?

· How well does the response demonstrate an understanding of philosophical activity?

Achievement level	Descriptor
0	The student has not reached level 1.
1–2	The student makes no references to the text. There is only a basic understanding of the way the text raises issues about philosophy as an activity.
3–4	The student makes few relevant references to the text. There is a limited understanding of the way the text raises issues about philosophy as an activity and the beginnings of an awareness of how philosophical activity is carried out.
5–6	The student makes some relevant references to the text. There is a satisfactory understanding of the way the text raises issues about philosophy as an activity and a limited awareness of how philosophical activity is carried out.
7–8	The student makes effective references to the text. There is a good understanding of the way the text raises issues about philosophy as an activity and an awareness of how philosophical activity is carried out.
9–10	The student makes compelling and convincing references to the text. There is an in-depth understanding of the way the text raises issues about philosophy as an activity and a clear awareness of how philosophical activity is carried out.

D) Evaluation and personal response

· How well does the student evaluate the philosophical activity raised in the text?

· To what extent does the student express a relevant personal response?

Achievement level	Descriptor
0	The student has not reached level 1.
1–2	The student expresses little or no personal response. There is little or no evaluation of the philosophical activity raised in the text.
3–4	The student expresses little personal response to the issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text. There is a basic evaluation of the philosophical activity raised in the text.
5–6	The student expresses some personal response to the issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text. There is a satisfactory evaluation of the philosophical activity raised in the text.
7–8	The student expresses a relevant personal response to the issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text. There is a good evaluation of the philosophical activity raised in the text.
9–10	The student expresses a thoughtful and insightful personal response to the issues regarding philosophical activity raised in the text. There is a convincing evaluation of the philosophical activity raised in the text.