A-LEVEL PHILOSOPHY

Learn about A-level Philosophy at d'Overbroeck's, following the AQA Philosophy course, students study Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion and of Mind.

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WHAT IS A-LEVEL PHILOSOPHY?

Many, or even most, students who study Philosophy do so without – initially – having a particularly clear idea of what the subject involves. This is, in a way, unsurprising, for Philosophy is a subject that resists any simple definition. But, as a rough guide, we can start to pin it down by reference to two features: its subject-matter, and its methodology.

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SUBJECT-MATTER

One of the reasons why it is hard to ‘define’ Philosophy is that the scope of its subject-matter is so broad. Whereas Psychology is about the mind, History is about the past, Religious Studies is the study of religion(s), Politics is about… well, Politics, and so on, Philosophy has no single subject matter: rather, there are numerous areas or fields of Philosophy, some of which partially intersect with areas that you might think of as being the preserve of other subjects (such as Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Religion, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Maths), and some of which do not (such as Ethics and Epistemology).

As a very broad generalisation, one might say that Philosophy tends to concern itself with questions that other subjects leave unanswered. For example, whereas a physicist can tell you about the nature of the constituent parts of an object like a teapot or a washing machine – the molecules and atoms and so on of which it is made – and an engineer could tell you about good and bad ways of manufacturing such objects, philosophers may ask deeper questions, such as what it takes for any collection of smaller parts to constitute a larger object.

Indeed, it is much easier to get a feeling for what Philosophy is by considering particular issues that have traditionally been of interest to philosophers than by trying to define the subject in the abstract. For example:

Is there a God?
What (if anything) really exists?
Why does anything exist? And is it right to think that that question must have an answer?
How (if at all) can we know that the world really is the way we think it is? How can we be sure that we are not victims of a massive illusion or Matrix-style deception as to the nature of the world we live in?
What – precisely – is it to know that something is the case anyway (as opposed to merely thinking that it is the case and being right)?
How do we even manage to think anything? How is it that a lump of organic matter – your brain – can have thoughts about its surroundings?
What does it mean to say that we ought not to do something? Are any such claims about what we ought to do strictly and objectively true, and if so, what could make them true?
What (exactly) are you anyway, and does life have any meaning or purpose?

Some, or all, of these are probably questions about which you have already wondered at some point in your life: for whilst most students do not study Philosophy formally before the Sixth Form or University, practically all of us (in an informal way) have, whether we realised it or not, been doing Philosophy almost since we first learned to speak.

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METHODOLOGY

As to methodology, the essential point to stress is that Philosophy is all about argument – in the sense of the development of a clearly-expressed, logically-ordered set of reasons for adopting one view rather than another.

One popular misconception of the subject (among many) has it that Philosophy is somehow all about constructing extraordinary, elaborate, and (to the layman) implausible-sounding hypotheses about the world.

Various such world-views have indeed been proposed by philosophers at various times: they include, for example, the following:

the view that there are no material objects at all
the view that there are no composite material objects – that nothing bigger than the tiniest fundamental particles is real
the view that there is another realm of reality that is wholly or largely invisible to us, and of which our world is some sort of pale shadow or image
the view that in additional to our ‘actual’ world there is a whole collection of millions and millions of other ‘possible worlds’ in which ‘counterparts’ of all the things in the actual world exist, and in which all the billions of possibilities that are not realised in the actual world are played out.

It is vital to realise that, while such views have historically been held by some philosophers, the adoption of such views is not of interest in itself – and there is no philosophical merit in any of them that is independent of the arguments for it.

SUBJECTS

At d’Overbroeck’s we follow the AQA Philosophy course. You will study four central areas in Philosophy: Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, and Philosophy of Mind.

Epistemology

Epistemology is the name given to the study of issues concerning the nature and basis of knowledge and the justification of belief.

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Ethics

In Ethics, the subject is broadly divided into two parts: in one part, you will study the merits and de-merits of versions of the three principal types of theory about moral decision-making (principles for deciding what it is right to do) – consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics.

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Philosophy of Religion

In Philosophy of Religion, you will study a range of arguments for and against the existence of God, including Cosmological arguments, Design arguments, and Ontological arguments, as well as a range of problems concerning the various characteristics traditionally attributed to God (under the Western Christian/Philosophical conception).

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Philosophy of Mind

In Philosophy of Mind, you will study a range of positions and arguments about the nature of mental phenomena.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

EXAMS

There is no coursework or controlled assessment, and grades are awarded on the basis of written examinations only. Students will sit one three-hour exam paper on Epistemology and Ethics, and one three-hour exam paper on Philosophy of Religion and Philosophy of Mind, both papers being taken at the end of two years of study.

All questions on each paper are compulsory, and no choice between questions is offered. Exam questions are now of essentially three types:

there is a very limited number of short questions for very few marks requiring a simple factual definition
the majority of the questions require clear logical explanation (and sometimes illustration by example) of some argument, distinction, position, or issue
under each topic that you study, there will be one question requiring you to develop a fully-argued evaluative essay in which you present and defend one answer or another to a philosophical issue among those that you will have studied.

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WHOM DOES THIS SUBJECT SUIT?

No previous experience of the subject is required. Nor does Philosophy particularly suit students with a preference for the arts as opposed to the sciences, or vice versa. Many good philosophers are also strong in mathematics and/or science; but equally many lean towards artistic or literary subjects, or the social sciences; many, too, are linguists. Philosophy can in fact be combined successfully with almost any other subject or subjects. The skills of analysis, careful, logical, methodical thought, and clear presentation are useful in all areas of study. At university, Philosophy is sometimes studied on its own; but it is much more frequently combined with other subjects, including Politics and Economics, as in the very popular PPE courses offered at various universities, Maths, Physics, Theology, Psychology, Modern Languages, and Classics.

Obviously, the first requirement is that you should be interested in finding out more about at least some of the sorts of questions with which philosophers concern themselves – and in particular about the four main areas on which the course is focused – see the section on ‘subjects’ above.

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WHAT MIGHT THE SUBJECT LEAD TO?

Some students go on to study Philosophy at university, and the topics that they study at A level provide an excellent introduction to the subject for this purpose: the areas covered at A level are among those that are most often studied (though of course in greater depth) in undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Even for students not intending to pursue Philosophy beyond school, the Philosophy A level is a valuable qualification, particularly because the skills that you will develop – especially those of oral and written expression – are transferable and are valued both by university admissions tutors in other academic disciplines and (beyond university) by employers in many areas. Good philosophers are widely respected as able critical thinkers, whose abilities to bring clarity of expression and precision in analysis, and to develop (and attack) arguments make them attractive to potential employers in many different areas of life.

Accordingly, trained philosophers are to be found in a whole host of professions, including (but by no means limited to) the Law, the Civil Service, politics, IT companies, financial institutions, charities and media employers (as well as academic institutions). The ability to develop an argument, and to think and express yourself clearly, are invaluable tools whatever direction you eventually decide to take.