Below is a list of lucid non-sequiturs on the science underlying the A-Level subject called Knowledge and Inquiry, curated by a JC2 student who pretends to know things.
1. Girlbosses don’t need SEP
An open-access source of information on anything-philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) is indeed the gospel to KI students. SEP is useful because it covers the most prominent arguments and thinkers under every topic in your KI syllabus.
At the beginning of every topic, you will be tempted to read the corresponding SEP entry as it supposedly provides you with a solid overview. However, in my experience, this practice turns out to be counter-productive as academic papers on SEP are lengthy and ultra-discombobulating.
If you struggle to comprehend the writing or quit reading every 2 pages, you’re not alone. Don’t blame your attention span and print out a whole 40-page article. Save the trees!
SEP articles often contain a massive amount of information, most of which is totally useless when it comes to writing KI essays. Furthermore, SEP might not be as comprehensive as you imagined. While SEP is useful in summarising basic arguments, you will soon realise that it only scratches the surface of philosophical debates. Moreover, these articles are not argumentative, so they don’t tell you which position to side with.
The bottom line is that a revision diet of multiple SEP articles does not turn you into a KI expert overnight. Why waste time agonising over SEP-indigestion when you could-
2. Hang on, did you say KI bulletin?
KI bulletins will give you short-hand access to coherent arguments in each topic that you are studying. Contrary to the nature of SEP articles, model essays found in HCI KI bulletins are much more intelligible and exam-oriented. Importantly, your seniors/peers topped the cohort thanks to those essays, so they must be great to use, right?
Well, not always. If you solely rely on KI bulletins for revision, without referencing other sources and developing your own arguments, chances are you will only excel at answering the specific questions that appear in the bulletins. The impression of recurring essay formulas in the bulletin might subconsciously undercut your flexibility and creativity to come up with unique, more compelling arguments.
Another reason why you should use the KI bulletin with discretion is that your classmates surely read the bulletin, too. During exams, you end up making the same arguments and even using the same examples.
The KI bulletin is a great resource to compare and contrast arguments, a guidebook for essay writing style, and a luxuriant repository of examples. However, it is not a remedy for skipping the critical thinking process. Save the KI bulletin until you are already well-versed in the topic and able to form your own arguments!
3. KI topics are not synonymous with the subjects
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of content in KI? Do you ever question why you need to learn Godel’s incompleteness theorem or Schrodinger’s cat dilemma just to score on your KI essays?
If you find yourself spending the majority of your revision time memorising examples, perhaps you are missing the big picture. In that case, it is important to bear in mind the objectives of learning KI.
KI is about the nature and construction of knowledge across various disciplines, and not any subject on its own. Knowing more about a subject does not necessarily lead to improved performance in your KI exams.
For example, while being a good History student may aid your exemplification in KI essays, it is not a requirement to be an expert in History to make sound arguments about the epistemological underpinning of this discipline.
Nonetheless, sometimes it is useful to consider how historians react to the arguments put forward by Hayden White, for example. Spoiler alert: They don’t like him. Find out why!
4. Take a stance
To know exactly what you want to say the moment you read exam questions, you need to know exactly what you think about the subject matter beforehand. This principle holds true for almost every subject that requires critical thinking and is particularly useful in KI.
That is not to say that you should rigidly commit yourself to a philosophical position and gratify your confirmation bias by ignoring all counter-arguments.
My solution to the postmodernist incredulity that undermines true/false claims in philosophy is to construct a new dichotomy: “based” vs “not based”. Understanding why arguments are “based” helps you in Paper 1, while reasoning through why arguments are “not based” in advance saves you time in Paper 2.
5. Discuss with your friends
“Things always sound great in your head,” said my KI tutor, many many times. Only when you articulate these ideas verbally or on paper would you realise the shortcomings of your argument and how to rectify them.
Suppose you don’t feel like revising with practice essays, have a chat with your non-imaginary friends! What could be a better conversation starter than “What do you think about logicism and why would you agree that analytic philosophy is total nonsense?”
You don’t have to agree with your friends! If you have opposing views, let your ideas be challenged, though do try your best to defend your position. You can emerge from a dialogue with greater fluency in a KI topic, and a new friend.
6. The whole vs. the sum of parts
Considering the variety of essay prompts you could choose from during exams, it is possible to spot questions and continuously choose the topic that you are most familiar with. However, it helps to draw connections between different areas of knowledge. Eventually everything circles back to the question: How can we know anything at all?
The actual exam often features notorious prompts that require you to make an interdisciplinary assessment of nature and construction of knowledge. While they might appear challenging at first, these questions are opportunities for you to make impressive arguments that depart from the archetypal topical questions.
7. Read philosophy in your free time
Are you dulled by the standard KI reading materials? Try to read outside the box – or the drive folder. Good philosophy writing may be challenging to read – due to their intricacy or lack of coherence – but they’re certainly not boring. That’s why I don’t read Aristotle.
Exploring philosophy in your free time may even rekindle your motivation to study KI, which is only a part of what this vast field is about. If possible, bring up the philosophy you read on your own in class or after KI lessons – your KI tutor would appreciate your genuine interest in the subject.
KI is not a subject where you can mug the night before – or worse, you can’t even mug it at all. Fret not, you are never a blank slate, and once you have figured out a suitable study method, even exams will become something you could enjoy.
The elephant in the room in this article is of course, Paper 3, your Independent Study. I like elephants, they can stay.
Written by: Tran Vu Phuong Uyen (21A15)
Edited by: Hu Chenwei (21A15)
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