Oxford University Philosophy Test Past Sample Papers Format


Oxford University Philosophy Test Past Sample Papers Format
OXFORD UNIVERSITY
PHILOSOPHY TEST
Answer PART A and ONE QUESTION ONLY FROM PART B.
Spend half an hour on each and do asmuch as you can within that time.
PART A
1.Read the following passage carefully, and then answer questions (a) and (b) below.
It was obvious to Aristotle that most things which move do so because someother moving object
impels them. A hand, itself in motion, moves a sword; a wind, itself in motion, moves a ship. But it
was also fundamental to this thought that no infiniteseries can be actual. We cannot therefore go on
explaining one movement by another to infinity. There must in the last resort be something, which,
motionless itself, initiates the motionof all other things. Such a Prime Mover he finds in the wholly
transcendent and immaterial God who ‘occupies no place and is not affectedby time’. But we must
not imagine Him moving things by any positive action, for that would be to attribute some kind of
motion to Himself and we should not then have reached an utterly unmoving Mover. How then does
He move things? Aristotle answers, ‘He moves as beloved’. He moves other things, that is, as an
object of desire moves those who desire it. The ‘First Moved’ is moved by its love for God, and, being
moved, communicates motion to the rest of the universe.
(C.S. LEWIS)
a) Explain in your own words the problem(s), and the proposed solution(s), presented in the
above passage.
b)  EITHER: For any problem(s) identified in your answer above, is it, or are they, in fact
problematic?
OR: Discuss any possible shortcomingsin the proposed solution(s).
PART B –Answer EITHER Question 2 OR Question 3 OR Question 4
2.  Discuss the relationship between the following three concepts: disclose, confess, admit.
3.  For each of the following ambiguous sentences,state the different meanings which the
sentence might have, and explain how the ambiguity arises.
a. The bank’s collapse placed Smith in danger.
b. Josie respects her teacher,as all sensible children do.
c. Sadie saw the woman with her binoculars.
d. Mary only grows red roses.
e. Discounts are available for small vehicle drivers.
f. Samantha means everything she says literally.
g. No one can enter without suitable clothing or permission and a licence.
4.  Should there be a ‘right to be forgotten’, on the Internet or more generally?
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