WACE Philosophy Ethics ATAR study plan

Map the standard argument forms (modus ponens, modus tollens, disjunctive syllogism, abduction) and write one original valid and one invalid instance of each

Reconstruct three short unseen passages into premise-conclusion form and label each premise as empirical, conceptual, or normative

Distinguish validity, soundness, and cogency in writing, and apply all three verdicts to the same argument

Draft a personal error log of the five reasoning fallacies you commit most often when writing under time pressure

State act and rule utilitarianism precisely and construct one counterexample to each

Explain the categorical imperative in both formulation styles and apply it to a single dilemma

Outline Aristotelian virtue ethics using function, habituation, the doctrine of the mean, and phronesis

Compare the three theories on one shared dilemma in a structured table of agreements and disagreements

Separate meta-ethical questions (realism, anti-realism, cognitivism, expressivism) from first-order ethical questions and classify five sample claims

Explain the is-ought gap and Moore's open-question argument, then test each against a naturalist response

Apply a consequentialist and a deontological framework to one bioethics case and identify exactly where they diverge

Evaluate whether moral disagreement supports anti-realism, stating the strongest objection to your own view

Analyse two applied cases (one environmental, one technology and justice) using a decision procedure that names the theory, the relevant facts, and the counterargument

Explain the hard problem of consciousness and contrast physicalist and dualist replies

Set out the consequence argument for incompatibilism and one compatibilist response, then assess which is stronger

Distinguish knowledge from true belief using Gettier-style cases and state what the cases show

Construct and critique a distributive justice position on a current resource-allocation problem, engaging with at least one rival principle of distribution

Explain the difference principle, the harm principle, and a natural-rights account of liberty, then show where they conflict

Argue for and against a specific limit on free speech, taking the strongest opposing case seriously

Identify what would count as evidence for and against your political conclusion and state how it could be tested

Reconstruct the cosmological, teleological, and ontological arguments in standard form and state one serious objection to each

Explain the evidential problem of evil and evaluate one free-will defence and one sceptical theist response

Distinguish faith-seeking-understanding from evidentialism and assess whether belief without evidence can be rational

Clarify what divine attributes such as omnipotence and omniscience commit a believer to and where paradoxes arise

Read one primary extract closely and summarise its central argument in your own words without quotation

Situate that argument in its historical context and identify one assumption a contemporary reader would reject

Write a philosophical analysis that uses the primary text as support rather than as decoration

Audit your earlier essays for unstated premises and repair at least three

Synthesise all domains into four full timed essays under exam conditions

Self-mark each essay against explicit criteria for argument structure, use of theory, and evaluation depth

Rewrite the weakest essay and document precisely what changed and why

Compile a one-page revision sheet of core definitions, distinctions, and counterexamples