Practice: Building Arguments on Unseen Topics

This is the practical application of everything you have learned in this course. The prompts below are designed to simulate the experience of facing Section B questions you have never seen before — topics where you must construct arguments from general knowledge, first principles, and the frameworks introduced in earlier lessons.

The purpose is not to write full essays (that is the focus of the companion course on timed practice). The purpose is to practise the planning and argument-building phase — the 5 minutes that determine the quality of everything that follows.

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Instructions

For each of the six prompts below:

1. Set a timer for 5 minutes
2. Identify the core tension — What values or interests are in conflict?
3. Map arguments on both sides — At least 2–3 points for each side
4. Choose your position — Which side can you argue most effectively?
5. Identify one philosophical framework — Which lens from the Philosophical Toolkit is most useful here?
6. Select one historical and one contemporary example — What evidence will you use?
7. Draft a one-sentence thesis