Catalonia PAU History of Philosophy study plan

Map Plato's theory of Ideas onto the allegory of the cave and the divided line, writing a one-page diagram plus notes in your own words.

Explain the ontological and epistemological status of the Ideas against the sensible world, listing at least five precise distinctions (e.g. unity/multiplicity, being/becoming).

Reconstruct the argument of the Republic on the philosopher-ruler and the tripartite soul, identifying the premise that connects them.

Define in writing ten Platonic terms (eidos, doxa, episteme, anamnesis, dialektike, etc.) and use each correctly in a sentence.

Analyse a short Platonic passage (e.g. the cave narrative or the Meno's slave-boy episode) applying a fixed method: thesis, argument structure, key terms, objections, relevance.

Evaluate two standard objections to the theory of Ideas (the third-man argument, the problem of participation) and state which you find stronger and why.

Practise writing an introduction and thesis statement for an essay question on Plato in under 10 minutes.

Compare Plato's rationalism with a naive empiricist alternative in a short paragraph, using precise vocabulary.

Reconstruct Augustine's account of the relation between faith and reason, citing at least three internal-mind arguments (interiority, illumination, divine ideas).

Explain Augustine's solution to the problem of evil via free will and privation, and identify its weakest premise.

Set out Aquinas's five ways as arguments rather than conclusions: for each, state the premise set, the inference and one objection.

Contrast Augustine and Aquinas on how the soul knows truth (illumination vs abstraction) in a comparative table.

Explain Aquinas's distinction between essence and existence and its role in natural theology.

Reconstruct Descartes's method of doubt step by step and justify why the cogito is said to resist hyperbolic doubt.

Explain the role of clear and distinct ideas and the causal proof of God's existence, then state the Cartesian circle objection in your own words.

Set out mind-body dualism and the interaction problem, and summarise one Cartesian or contemporary response.

Analyse a Descartes passage (e.g. Meditation I or II) with the fixed method, identifying the argumentative function of each paragraph.

Write a timed 30-minute essay plan on whether Descartes escapes scepticism.

Explain Hume's fork (relations of ideas vs matters of fact) and apply it to two claims, one from mathematics and one from causal reasoning.

Reconstruct Hume's analysis of causation into contiguity, succession and constant conjunction, and explain why necessary connection is not observed.

Contrast the Cartesian and Humean conceptions of the self, stating what each would say about personal identity over time.

Identify the premises in Hume's argument on induction and evaluate whether the conclusion is a sceptical one or a mitigated one.

Write a short comparative answer on rationalism vs empiricism using Descartes and Hume as representatives.

Map Kant's Copernican turn: explain what synthetic a priori judgements are and why mathematics and physics need them.

Set out the forms of intuition and the categories, and explain the distinction between phenomena and noumena without conflating it with appearance vs reality in Plato.

Reconstruct the transcendental deduction's problem (how categories apply to experience) in a short written summary.

Explain Kant's moral law: the categorical imperative, the formula of humanity, and the role of autonomy and duty.

State two objections to Kant's ethics (e.g. rigorism, empty formalism) and evaluate one.

Explain Kant's distinction between phenomena and things in themselves and how it sets up the limits of metaphysical knowledge.

Reconstruct Marx's concepts of alienation, ideology and historical materialism, and connect them into one argument.

Reconstruct Nietzsche's critique of morality through genealogy, slave morality and the will to power, defining each term precisely.

Compare Marx and Nietzsche on the critique of modern values: identify one shared premise and one decisive disagreement.

Explain how Kant's ethics is the target of both Marx's and Nietzsche's critiques.

Write two full timed essays (90 minutes each) on high-weight domains (Plato, Descartes, Kant), applying a fixed structure: thesis, argument, objection, reply, conclusion.

Do a timed text analysis on an unseen passage from any author on the syllabus, in 45 minutes.

Build a one-page error log from practice answers, classifying mistakes as conceptual, structural or terminological, and correct each.

Revise the whole syllabus through a single master timeline linking each author's central problem to the next author's response.

Rehearse definitions of twenty core terms across all six authors from memory, in writing.