Državna Matura Philosophy study plan
Državna Matura Philosophy · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Ancient and medieval philosophy (Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic schools, patristics and scholasticism)
Map the Presocratic thinkers (Thales, Anaximander, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Democritus) and state each one's core claim about arche in one sentence
Distinguish the Socratic method (elenchus) from Sophist rhetoric by writing two contrasting dialogues of 10 lines each
Reconstruct Plato's theory of Forms and the allegory of the cave, then list three standard objections to the theory
Outline Aristotle's four causes and the distinction between potentiality and actuality with one original example per cause
Your checkpoint
A one-page comparative table of Presocratics, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle with core concept, method and key term per thinker, plus a 200-word written summary of the cave allegory in your own words
Ancient and medieval philosophy (Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic schools, patristics and scholasticism) & Philosophy as a discipline: nature, methods, and branches (philosophical questioning, argumentation, logic basics, sources and periods of philosophy)
Summarize the main doctrines of Epicureanism, Stoicism and Skepticism and identify one ethical consequence of each
Explain the transition from patristics (Augustine) to scholasticism (Aquinas) and name the central problem each tried to solve
Define the basic logical notions: argument, premise, conclusion, validity, soundness, and apply them to three short passages
Identify and name five common informal fallacies in sample sentences you write yourself
Your checkpoint
A set of 10 self-written multiple-choice items covering Hellenistic schools, medieval philosophy and basic logic, each with a justified correct answer and a note on why each distractor is wrong
Modern philosophy from Renaissance to Enlightenment (rationalism, empiricism, Kant, political and social thought)
Contrast rationalism (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz) and empiricism (Locke, Berkeley, Hume) on the origin and limits of knowledge
Reconstruct Descartes' method of doubt and the cogito argument step by step, then state one objection
Explain Hume's analysis of causation and the problem of induction with a concrete example
Summarize the social contract theories of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau and the difference in what each takes to be the basis of political obligation
Your checkpoint
A 400-word structured essay answering whether knowledge begins with reason or experience, with an explicit thesis, two supporting arguments and one counterargument addressed
Modern philosophy from Renaissance to Enlightenment (rationalism, empiricism, Kant, political and social thought) & Philosophical disciplines and problems: epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy of religion, political philosophy
Reconstruct Kant's Copernican turn: synthetic a priori judgments, the categories, and the limits of possible experience
Apply Kant's categorical imperative to two concrete moral dilemmas and evaluate the results
Distinguish the main positions in epistemology (rationalism, empiricism, skepticism, foundationalism, coherentism) and in metaphysics (realism, idealism, materialism, dualism)
Explain the central questions of ethics, aesthetics and philosophy of religion and name one representative position for each
Your checkpoint
A concept map linking the branches of philosophy to their central questions and to at least one named position and thinker per branch, submitted as a single labeled diagram with a short legend
Milestones
Week 4: Without notes, write from memory a one-paragraph definition of each of the six exam domains and name at least two thinkers per domain; score yourself and note any domain where you named fewer than two