The six prescribed titles, quoted exactly. You write 1,600 words on one of them, and the areas of knowledge named in the title are a requirement rather than a suggestion.
Do we gain a better appreciation of the human experience from the artist or the historian? Discuss with reference to the arts and history.
Required: The arts and history
This is a comparison, and the word doing the work is appreciation. It does not ask which discipline is more accurate or more rigorous. It asks which one leaves you understanding what it was like to be a person in a situation. Decide early whether appreciation means emotional recognition, factual grasp, or something in between, because the whole essay turns on that choice.
Define these
appreciation
the human experience
artist
historian
Areas that fit
The arts
History
Knowledge questions to pull on
Can something invented convey a truth that an accurate record cannot?
Does the historian's obligation to evidence limit what can be said about inner life?
Is emotional resonance a form of understanding, or a substitute for it?
2
If values change over time, how can they, nevertheless, continue to guide the pursuit of knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Required: Two areas of knowledge
The title grants that values change and asks how something that moves can still function as a guide. The strongest essays separate the value itself from how it is applied: honesty has guided enquiry for centuries, while what counts as honest practice in a laboratory has changed a great deal. You can also distinguish ethical values from epistemic ones, which behave differently.
Define these
values
guide
change versus refinement
the pursuit of knowledge
Areas that fit
Natural sciences
History
Human sciences
Knowledge questions to pull on
Are epistemic values such as accuracy and replicability more stable than ethical ones?
Does a changing standard still constrain, or does it collapse into relativism?
When values change, does past knowledge become unreliable, or only the way it was produced?
3
In the production of knowledge, how can knowledge be reliable if it is built on assumptions? Discuss with reference to the human sciences and one other area of knowledge.
Required: The human sciences and one other area of knowledge
The title takes it for granted that knowledge rests on assumptions and asks how reliability survives that. The useful move is to distinguish assumptions that are stated and tested from ones that are buried and unexamined, and to ask what reliability means: does a model have to be true to be reliable, or does it only have to work within a stated range?
Define these
assumption
axiom
reliability
model
Areas that fit
Human sciences
Mathematics
Natural sciences
Knowledge questions to pull on
Is reliability a property of foundations or of results?
Can you test an assumption from inside the framework that rests on it?
Does making an assumption explicit change how much it threatens the conclusion?
4
To what extent do you agree with the claim that "any coincidence is worth noticing; you can throw it away later if it is only a coincidence" (Agatha Christie). Answer with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.
Required: Mathematics and one other area of knowledge
Christie is describing a two-stage method: notice widely, discard later. The question is whether that is good epistemic practice. It maps neatly onto the distinction between how ideas are discovered and how they are justified, and the danger it invites is well documented, because a person who looks at enough data will always find a pattern.
Define these
coincidence
noticing
significance
discovery versus justification
Areas that fit
Mathematics
Natural sciences
Human sciences
Knowledge questions to pull on
How do we tell a pattern from noise before we have a reason for it?
What role does intuition play in mathematics, where nothing counts until it is proved?
Does the freedom to notice anything have to be paid for with a strict way of discarding?
5
In the production of knowledge, when choosing one explanation over another, to what extent should simplicity be prioritized? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Required: Two areas of knowledge
This is Occam's razor put on trial. Before you can answer you have to say what simplicity means, because parsimony, elegance and ease of use are three different things and often pull apart. Then ask the real question: is simplicity evidence that something is true, or only a sensible way to choose when the evidence runs out?
Define these
simplicity
parsimony
elegance
explanatory power
Areas that fit
Natural sciences
Mathematics
History
Human sciences
Knowledge questions to pull on
Is simplicity a sign of truth or a convenience for the knower?
Who decides what counts as simple, and does that judgement depend on existing theory?
What is lost when a complex situation is given a simple explanation?
6
In the pursuit of knowledge, what value is there in exploring the paradoxical or the counterintuitive? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.
Required: The natural sciences and one other area of knowledge
The title assumes there is some value and asks what it is, so the essay should be about the kind of value rather than whether any exists. A paradox usually marks the edge of a framework: something the current way of thinking cannot hold. That makes it diagnostic, which is a different kind of usefulness from simply being interesting.
Define these
paradox
counterintuitive
intuition
framework
Areas that fit
Natural sciences
Mathematics
Human sciences
Knowledge questions to pull on
What should we conclude when careful reasoning and strong intuition disagree?
Is a paradox a sign of a mistake, or of a framework that has run out?
Why is intuition unreliable in exactly the places where it feels strongest?
Working through one of these properly takes more than a list. Our guide goes title by title with arguments, counterarguments and real life examples you can actually use.