AS Level General Paper - Advanced Argumentation & Discourse Analysis

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Hermeneutic Injustice

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A type of epistemic injustice where a gap in collective interpretive resources deprives a social group of the ability to make sense of their experience. In GP essays, this explains why marginalized voices often struggle to articulate grievances within dominant societal frameworks.

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The 'Is-Ought' Problem (Hume's Guillotine)

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The philosophical assertion that one cannot derive an 'ought' (normative statement) from an 'is' (descriptive statement) without a bridging premise. In essays, this warns against assuming that because a situation exists a certain way (e.g., inequality), it necessarily should remain so.

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Cumulative Casuistry

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A reasoning strategy used to construct moral arguments by comparing a current case to previously resolved paradigm cases. It allows for nuanced essay writing by navigating grey areas through analogy and established precedent rather than rigid absolutism.

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The Overton Window

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The range of policies or ideas that the public is willing to consider at a given time. In politics questions, it explains how radical ideas become mainstream by shifting the window of acceptable discourse, often excluding 'extreme' views that were once centrist.

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False Equivalence

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A logical fallacy where two opposing arguments are presented as equally valid despite a significant disparity in evidence or quality. Critical for analyzing media questions where fringe theories are given equal weight to scientific consensus for 'balance'.