Aragón PAU History of Philosophy study guide
Aragón PAU History of Philosophy · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Historia de la Filosofía paper is one component of the EvAU (Evaluación para el Acceso a la Universidad) that students sit in Aragón after the Bachillerato. Because philosophy is a core subject of the second year, the grade matters both for those who need to pass the access phase and for those who use it to raise their admission score for competitive degrees. The Aragón PAU History of Philosophy study guide has 6 sections and about 2,704 words.
01Ancient and Medieval Philosophy: Plato and Aristotle
This domain covers Plato and Aristotle, the two ancient authors most often set in the Aragón PAU. You are expected to reconstruct each system as an argument, use its technical vocabulary precisely, and explain where the two thinkers diverge.
470 words, about 2 min02Modern Philosophy: Descartes and Hume
The modern block contrasts rationalism and empiricism. The exam wants Descartes' doubt explained as a chain of reasons ending in an indubitable foundation, and Hume's science of human nature explained as an account of how ideas are generated and whether they are justified.
433 words, about 2 min03Modern Philosophy: Kant
Kant's critical philosophy is the hinge of the Aragón PAU programme. The exam tests whether you can explain the Copernican turn, the synthetic a priori, the limits of knowledge and the moral law as one connected position rather than three separate topics.
458 words, about 2 min04Contemporary Philosophy: Nietzsche, Marx, and existentialism
This domain covers three bodies of thought the exam treats together because they all contest the Enlightenment subject: Nietzsche's genealogy of morality, Marx's critique of political economy, and existentialist analyses of freedom and existence. Precision about each author's target matters more than broad labels such as "irrationalism" or "materialism".
456 words, about 2 min05Contemporary Philosophy: Ortega y Gasset and Spanish thought
This domain concerns Ortega y Gasset and the Spanish philosophical tradition around him - chiefly the generation of 1914 and the problem of Spain. The exam tests whether you can explain perspectivism, vital reason and the distinction between ideas and beliefs as one coherent philosophy of human life.
471 words, about 2 min06Text commentary and philosophical analysis: concepts, arguments, and contextualization
This domain is the text commentary exercise itself. It tests whether you can read a passage philosophically: state its thesis, reconstruct its argument, explain its terms and place it in the author's system and historical context.
416 words, about 2 min