IB Philosophy Past Papers & Drilling (Paper 2): Analects and Republic Answers

Question 1

Part A (10 marks) – three layers: (1) define – ren is an inner virtue and interpersonal care, li is outward norm and ceremony; (2) relate them – li is how ren is expressed, ren is what makes li more than a shell; (3) show mutual need – li without ren becomes formalism, ren without li lacks any publicly recognisable practice. Bands (10-mark task: 0 / 1-2 / 3-4 / 5-6 / 7-8 / 9-10): 9-10 requires passages you have studied and an account of mutual dependence, not two definitions.
Part B (15 marks) – four moves: (1) for – li offers a learnable, practisable, transmissible path and the junzi is formed by habituation; (2) against – without inner motivation and judgement, li yields only formal compliance and collapses in new situations; (3) compare – set it beside Aristotelian virtue ethics, where habit and practical wisdom are both required; (4) judge – observing li is necessary but not sufficient. Bands (15-mark task: 0 / 1-3 / 4-6 / 7-9 / 10-12 / 13-15): 13-15 distinguishes necessity from sufficiency and handles counterexamples (the hypocrite, ossified ritualism).

Question 2

Part A (10 marks): (1) define – the normative meaning carried by a name or role must match reality; (2) infer – when names and realities diverge, orders lose their force and responsibility cannot be assigned (a father who is not a father collapses the order); (3) hence rectification is a precondition of political order, not a linguistic nicety. Bands: 7-8 = clear explanation without textual support; 9-10 = derives the name-duty-act chain from passages you studied.
Part B (15 marks): (1) for – example lowers the cost of coercion, builds trust and makes norms imitable; (2) against – a large society cannot run on example alone: institutions, incentives and enforcement remain necessary, and example can be faked; (3) condition analysis – when does example work (observability, repeated interaction, shared values)? (4) judge – example is necessary for rule by virtue but cannot sustain order by itself.

Question 1

Part A (10 marks): (1) the soul has three parts – reason, spirit, appetite – each with a function; (2) justice is each part doing its own work without overreaching (reason rules, spirit supports, appetite obeys); (3) the city/soul parallel – the three classes each doing their own work is civic justice: the same structure writ large. Bands: 9-10 must explain why ‘doing its own work’ is a functional claim rather than a class hierarchy.
Part B (15 marks): (1) for – ruling requires knowledge; philosopher-kings are not driven by private gain or reputation and can aim at the whole; (2) against – does knowledge equal virtue? paternalism versus freedom; how is a philosopher-king held to account? (3) historically – unchecked power sits awkwardly with Plato’s own account of why philosophers are reluctant to rule; (4) judge – the word “only” makes this the strongest claim, so consider whether it wrongly excludes the rule of law and mixed constitutions.

Question 2

Part A (10 marks): (1) objects – knowledge takes the unchanging Forms as its object, opinion takes changing perceptible things; (2) states – knowledge carries necessity and the ability to give reasons, opinion is mere belief or conjecture; (3) the two axes cross – even about the same object there can be true opinion and ignorance, and education is the move from opinion to knowledge. Bands: 7-8 = states the difference; 9-10 = handles both the object and the state axes with textual support.
Part B (15 marks): (1) for – the cave’s release requires being dragged and compelled, since prisoners do not want to leave, and ‘turning around’ redirects the whole soul rather than pouring in content; (2) against – if education is essentially coercive it collides with critical thinking, autonomy and voluntary inquiry; (3) conceptual work – coercion versus guidance, indoctrination versus teaching; (4) judge – education may need force at the start, but its aim and justification lie in the learner’s eventual independence, so ‘essentially coercive’ overstates it.