Exam practice
The Foundation paper almost always has some form of metaethical question. This may be a general question, such as "What do philosophers mean by the term 'good'?" It may be more specific, asking "Describe an emotivist's approach to ethics."
The following are actual exam questions written by OCR:
(a) Explain what scholars mean when they say that ethical statements are no more than expressions of opinion. [33]
(b) How far do you consider these views to be justified? [17]
(taken from the OCR website - mark scheme included there)
(a) Explain how meta-ethics is different from normative ethics. [33]
(b) ‘Everyone knows what “good” means.’ Discuss. [17]
(taken from the OCR website)
We now have an interactive diagram showing how to answer an ethics exam question, The 'structure' of the paragraph will be different for 'ethical theory' questions, but the basic principles are the same. Try filling it in yourself and print out the completed diagram.
