Philosophy

What levels are on offer?

You can take Philosophy at Higher Level or at Standard Level.

How do I decide which to choose?

  • Higher Level Philosophy is aimed at students who really enjoy Philosophy and those who possibly want to study it at University.
  • Standard level Philosophy is aimed at students who are interested in Philosophy and want to try it out.

What will I need?

For Philosophy you will need at least a C grade in History, English or RE GCSE as all these subjects are relevant to Philosophy.

You will also need a copy of the book Meditations by Rene Descartes as this is the prescribed text that we will study.

What will I study?

The Standard level course will include:

  • What is a human being?
  • Philosophy of Religion – Concepts of a higher being, Religious Experience and behaviour and Religion around the World
  • Meditations by Rene Descartes
The Higher level course will include:
  • What is a human being?
  • Philosophy of Religion – Concepts of a higher being, Religious Experience and behaviour and Religion around the World
  • Theories and problems of Ethics – Principles for moral action – normative ethics, The nature of moral judgment – meta-ethics and Applied ethics
  • Meditations by Rene Descartes
  • Unseen text – exploring philosophical activity.


How will I be assessed?

In each case there are two aspects to the assessment.

For the Internal Assessment you will write a philosophical analysis of non-philosophical material. This should contain 1,600 – 2,000 words. This will be internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IBO. The analysis is worth 20% of the total marks for HL and 30% of the total marks for SL.

There is an end of course exam taken in May of the second year.

SL Paper 1 lasts 1 ¾ hrs and is worth 40%.  It consists of two compulsory sections.  Section A contains two questions based on what is a human being. Students are required to answer one question.  Section B contains two essay questions for each of the optional themes and students are required to answer one question.


SL Paper 2 lasts 1 hour and is worth 30%.  It consists of two essay questions for each of the prescribed philosophical texts.  Students are required to answer one question.


HL Paper 1 lasts 2 ½ hours and is worth 40%.  It consists of two compulsory sections.  Section A contains two questions based on what is a human being. Students are required to answer one question.  Section B contains two essay questions for each of the optional themes and students are required to answer two questions, each from a different optional theme.

HL Paper 2 lasts 1 hour and is worth 20%.  It consists of two essay questions for each of the prescribed philosophical texts.  Students are required to answer one question.
HL Paper 3 is a 1 ½ hour paper worth 20%.  This paper consists of one unseen text.  Students are required to write a response to this text.