After drowning in assessments and essay marking for the last few weeks, I have a small window free from marking (one and a half days!) so thought I would add a couple of support blogs to assist you through the minefield of your current assessments.

Ever struggle to add in extra names or arguments to develop your A02 marks? These few arguments can be used in multiple different topics and in many different ways to help argue your line of argument and develop your A02:

• Leap of Logic- this is where a thinker presents arguments then jumps to a conclusion e.g Plato with World of Forms or Augustine that all sin stems from Adam and Eve.
• Reductionist- this is where an argument is reduced down to a conclusion that can be seen as too simple e.g that humans behave similar to pigeons (Skinner/ behaviourism) or that society is sexist because of Christianity (what about other faiths or the power of the patriarchy for example)
• God of Gaps– gap in our knowledge and use God as the explanation e.g Prime Mover is the sustainer of motion or cause and effect cannot go back infinity so much be an Uncaused Causer.
• Burden of Proof– the person making the claim has to back it up with evidence. It is not down to the critic to prove it wrong but down to the claimant to provide the evidence e.g how religious schools cause psychological abuse (Dawkins/ Secularism) or how we develop our superego through the Phallic Stage (Freud)
• Leibniz Sufficient Reason– there has to be more in the cause than the effect. There has to be sufficient reason as to why things are as they are e.g teleological and design or used to question the Big Bang
• Flew 10 Leaky Buckets- lots of weak arguments does not make a strong argument e.g religious experience examples
• Analytical vs Synthetic – statements that are claimed as facts but instead are synthetic statements (need evidence to prove meaningful) e.g God’s existence is self evident
• G.E.Moore ‘good is indefinable’ – trying to define goodness is like trying to define yellow. It is known through intuition but cannot be defined e.g can be used to question any argument which uses the term ‘good’ (Plato, Problem of Evil, Meta, Conscience etc)

I am sure there are many, many more that can be added but this is a start. Please email me or leave a comment if you have any other ideas 🙂

Here is a quick video going through the examiner’s mark scheme and how to apply it to your own essays to ensure high grades: