IB Philosophy SL study plan

Map the Core theme syllabus into its sub-questions - self and identity, mind and body, freedom and determinism, meaning and mortality - as a visual concept map.

Define and distinguish eight key terms (personhood, consciousness, dualism, materialism, compatibilism, libertarianism, determinism, existential authenticity) with one example each.

Construct argument diagrams for one dualist and one materialist account of mind, marking premises, inferences and objections.

Write two 200-word evaluative paragraphs judging which account better explains personal identity, using a stated criterion.

Evaluate compatibilist and libertarian responses to determinism against a stated criterion such as explanatory power or coherence with natural science.

Begin the prescribed text and read the first half with margin annotations tracking the author's claims about human nature.

Extract eight quotations that could support or challenge a Core theme claim, recording page references.

Draft a thesis statement answering a Being Human exam question and outline three body paragraphs.

Finish the prescribed text and summarize its central argument, method and structure in 300 words.

Identify the author's key technical terms and explain how each functions inside the argument.

Select three candidate IA stimuli - for example a news article, an advertisement, a film scene - and test each for philosophical tractability.

Choose one stimulus and write a rationale linking it to a named philosophical issue.

Write a full timed essay on the prescribed text in 60 minutes, closed book apart from the text itself.

Compare the author's position with one rival interpretation and state which is stronger and why.

Convert the chosen stimulus into a precise philosophical question and outline the analysis in five sections.

Self-mark both pieces against the assessment criteria and list three specific weaknesses to address.

Select the optional theme (Aesthetics, Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy and Contemporary Society, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Science, or Political Philosophy) and map its syllabus sub-topics.

Learn three core positions in that theme and state the strongest objection to each.

Apply one position to a contemporary example and assess whether the application holds.

Draft the IA analysis: describe the stimulus, extract its philosophical issue, and develop two competing responses.

Evaluate two competing theories in the optional theme against a shared criterion and reach a defended judgement.

Answer two optional-theme exam questions in plan form, ten minutes each.

Complete the full IA draft with introduction, analysis, counter-argument and conclusion.

Annotate the draft against the IA criteria and rewrite the weakest section.

Complete a full timed mock paper covering Core theme and optional theme questions.

Revisit the three weakest Core theme sub-topics and write one paragraph on each from memory.

Produce essay plans for six likely prescribed-text questions.

Audit notes against the syllabus for gaps and fill two of them.

Finalize the IA: check word count and citations, and confirm that the philosophical issue is explicit and sustained.

Rehearse two Core theme essays from plan to timed writing.

Summarize each domain on a single revision card and test recall without notes.

Submit the IA according to the school deadline.