The Core Elements of a PTL Template

An AI query should possess a complete structure. What follows is a proposal. You yourself must arrive at clarity regarding these matters and this structure. Therefore, everything an AI produces as a result is your achievement. Your competence is concretely present in the prompt, and the knowledge itself has always already resided in books.

<ZIEL> – Cognitive Aim of the Analysis

• Purpose: This tag establishes the cognitive aim of the analysis. It defines precisely what is to be discovered, understood, or clarified through the examination of the text. With <ZIEL>, the focus of the work is explicitly formulated – for example, the clarification of a concept, the examination of a thesis, the analysis of an argument, or the evaluation of a position. Without a clearly defined aim, an analysis remains arbitrary and loses precision. The tag therefore serves to render the analysis purposeful and focused.
• Example: In an analysis prompt, the tag could be employed as follows: <ZIEL>Analysis of the justificatory structure of Kant's categorical imperative</ZIEL> or <ZIEL>Critical examination of Rawls's definition of justice</ZIEL>. Thus, from the outset, the tag makes clear what the analysis aims at – it is the guiding question that structures the entire work.
• Reading instruction: While reading the text, keep your analytical aim constantly in view. Ask yourself, with regard to every passage: Does what I am reading contribute to achieving my cognitive aim? Attend to passages relevant to the aim, and set aside irrelevant digressions. The aim-tag helps you to filter purposefully and to orient your reading toward what is essential. At the end of the analysis, examine whether you have indeed achieved your aim, or whether further clarifications are required.

<THEMA> – Philosophical Topic or Problem Area

• Purpose: This tag designates the philosophical topic or problem area with which the text is concerned. <THEMA> ensures that the substantive context of the analysis is clear – for example, free will, epistemology, the ethics of AI, or another philosophical subject. Through the explicit naming of the topic, the analysis is substantively situated, and it becomes clear within which discourse or subfield of philosophy one is operating.
• Example: Use within a text-analysis workflow: <THEMA>Free Will and Determinism</THEMA> This tag would mark the text as situated within the debate on freedom of the will. Another example: <THEMA>Ethics of Artificial Intelligence</THEMA> signals that the problem under discussion belongs to the ethical discourse concerning AI. Through such tags, one immediately knows what the subject matter concerns.
• Reading instruction: Attend specifically to the stated topic while reading. Become aware of the philosophical context within which the text stands, and activate your prior knowledge of this topical field. Ask yourself continually during the reading: How does the text take a position on this topic? and Which aspects of the problem are being discussed? Everything relevant to the topic of free will (in the example above) should receive your attention – for instance, definitions of freedom, arguments for or against determinism, and so on – while you may, to some extent, set aside irrelevant digressions. The <THEMA> tag thus helps you to grasp the text in a thematically delimited and focused manner.

<METHODE> – Analytical Method

• Purpose: This tag specifies which method(s) are to be applied in the analysis. <METHODE> renders the methodological approach transparent: one indicates with which "tool" the text is to be examined. Philosophical methods of analysis may include, for example, conceptual analysis, hermeneutics (a text-interpretive method), thought experiment, logical analysis, dialectical discussion, or comparison. Specifying the method ensures that the procedure is clear and that one proceeds with methodological awareness.
• Example: Within the workflow, the tag might be used as follows: <METHODE>Conceptual analysis and thought experiment</METHODE> Here it is indicated that the analysis proceeds primarily through conceptual analysis, combined with the methodological tool of the thought experiment. Another example: <METHODE>Hermeneutic textual interpretation</METHODE> would mean that the text is being interpreted according to the principles of hermeneutics (that is, construed with regard to its meaning and context). Methods may also be combined in order to represent more complex approaches.
• Reading instruction: Actively apply the specified method while reading. If, for instance, conceptual analysis is chosen as the method, then read the text with particular attention to key concepts: decompose concepts, seek out definitions or implicit meanings, and clarify their usage within the text. In the case of a hermeneutic method, the reading instruction would be: attempt to understand the meaning of the text within its context – establish connections between individual passages and attend to the overall sense. The <METHODE> tag thus requires you to read with methodological awareness, applying the chosen procedure step by step rather than proceeding through the text without a plan.

<REGEL#> – Numbered Analytical Rules

• Purpose: The <REGEL#> tags serve to establish numbered rules or working steps for the analysis. Each such tag (bearing a sequential number in place of #) describes a concrete instruction or step within the process of analysis. Through this numbering (<REGEL1>, <REGEL2>, <REGEL3>, etc.), an order and structure for the work is prescribed. These rules break the method down into manageable sub-steps and ensure that no important action within the textual analysis is omitted – for example, first clarifying concepts, then working out arguments, and subsequently evaluating them.
• Example: A possible sequence within the analysis might be marked as follows: <REGEL1>Conceptual analysis of the key terms</REGEL1><br / > <REGEL2>Reconstruction of the author's central thesis</REGEL2><br / > <REGEL3>Critical evaluation of the argumentation</REGEL3> In this example, <REGEL1> requires that the important concepts within the text first be identified and analysed. <REGEL2> prescribes, as the next step, working out the author's main thesis or central claim. <REGEL3>, finally, demands that the author's argumentation be examined for soundness and coherence. Through such numbered rules, the course of the analysis is clearly structured. (The actual content of the rules may vary according to text and method – for example, <REGEL1> might instead read formulate the research question or research the historical context, depending on what is required.)
• Reading instruction: Follow the specified analytical steps in the prescribed order. Proceed systematically, step by step, while reading the text and composing the analysis. Begin with <REGEL1> and complete this task fully before proceeding to <REGEL2>, and so on. In the example above, this would mean: first read the text with a focus on conceptual clarification (REGEL1). Once the central concepts are understood, read again, or more deeply, in order to grasp the main thesis (REGEL2). Thereafter, examine the argumentation in the text specifically for its soundness (REGEL3). The numbered rules thus provide you with clear working instructions, which you are to follow step by step while reading and analysing. In this way, your procedure remains rigorous, and you work through the text in a systematic manner.

<ANALYSEKRITERIEN> – Focused Substantive Guidelines

• Purpose: This tag summarises the substantive foci of the analysis and replaces the earlier, sequential rule structure. Within <ANALYSEKRITERIEN>, specific <KRITERIUM#> tags are employed (<KRITERIUM1>, <KRITERIUM2>, <KRITERIUM3>), which give the AI indications as to which aspects (for example, conceptual clarification, coherence testing, social relevance) are to be integrated into the analysis. The analysis no longer proceeds step by step; rather, all criteria are embedded simultaneously within a flowing, argumentative text.
• Example: <ANALYSEKRITERIEN><KRITERIUM1>Conceptual clarification</KRITERIUM1><KRITERIUM2>Coherence testing</KRITERIUM2></ANALYSEKRITERIEN> This example shows that the analysis is to be oriented toward these two focal points, which are to be worked out within a coherent text.
• Reading instruction: Direct your attention, while reading and analysing, purposefully toward the specified criteria. Ensure that these aspects are developed explicitly and argumentatively within your text. The point is not to work through the items one after another, but to analyse them in an integrated and coherent manner.

<PERSPEKTIVE> – Philosophical Perspective

• Purpose: This tag indicates the philosophical perspective from which the text is to be considered or the analysis conducted. It thereby