CSS Forums - Philosophy CE-2016 Marks

If I were to give just one tip to get a high score in philosophy, it would be this: use the internet resources smartly and Google the crap out of the topic/philosopher at hand, and take notes so that you could revise at the end.

When you start reading about a philosopher, idea, your goal must be to reach the quintessence of what is the base of the idea. Once you do that, memorizing, learning its connected factors and points, subheadings, etc will become easier.

Standford's Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy are game changers. It's hard for me to remember a time when I was not able to find anything useful and relevant for the course topics in these two resources.

When you start a topic, read it on these two resources. They may appear difficult, but go through them anyway, and keep taking notes along the way. Once you do this, you will have a much better grip on the topic than you can imagine.

I used Philosophy made simple by Popkin and Stroll as a starter. I love this book. It explains the ideas in the most simple ways, and then it's easy to top things up with additional resources. I highly recommend Moore and Bruder's Power of Ideas. It is great for having an in-depth grip on the ideas for reproducing in exam.

Never buy or read books written by Pakistani writers or professors. Never go to a academy here in Pakistan to get help in Philosophy. They have no idea.

I suggest one should not waste too much time on Islamic Philosophy section. BUT you must prepare Iqbal and Ghazzali. For Iqbal, go through his Reconstruction lectures by yourself, and take notes. Never search for summaries of easy guides for Iqbal on the internet. Reading and trying to understand Iqbal with your own effort will help you in two ways: there is always a question guaranteed to come in exam related to Iqbal, and reading Iqbal's original text and ideas will help you in language, exam attempt and understanding other philosophers in strange ways.

Youtube has unimaginable resources. Video channels like "3 Minute Philosophy" and others sum up a philosopher's weird ideas and lives in minutes. You must search all the course topics, philosophers on Youtube and you will be flabbergasted how much easier and interesting philosophy is. I paid attention to Youtube in the later weeks of my preparation, but it made a difference.

Writing is a key. Never write too much, for the love of all that is holy. The professor who is checking your paper just wants to know you know what the idea was. Just give the required points, make subheadings, don't leave the essential elements of an idea. Write short sentences. Write good english.