A Level Philosophy

What can we know? What is human consciousness? Philosophy deals with the big questions in life.

Literally meaning ‘love of wisdom’, Philosophy seeks to answer the questions not tackled by other academic fields, including:

Can we know anything for certain?

What makes good actions good?

Does everything have to have a cause?

Can AI ever be conscious?

About the Course

Philosophy A level will appeal to you if you enjoy thinking deeply, reading critically and expressing your ideas clearly in essays and discussion. Your opinions will be challenged in lively classroom discussions as you are led through the maze of philosophical puzzles.

A level Philosophy is an antidote to learning facts and figures: this subject requires you to think for yourself! The course is complementary to both arts and humanities, as well as Science A levels.

Opportunities unique to this course

Philosophy gives you the opportunity to consider and discuss questions you will never have considered in any other subject! Do we know we are not dreaming right now? Could everyone else be robots? Is it actually wrong to kill people?

In year one we will examine:

Epistemology: The study of knowledge

Consist of two 3 hour written exams:

Paper 1 – Epistemology and moral philosophy (50%)

Paper 2 – The metaphysics of God and the mind (50%)

You need to be qualified by both the relevant Admissions Score AND the predicted GCSE grade for each A level you apply for.

Please go to the College website to find the most up-to-date entry requirements for each A level that we offer: https://www.hillsroad.ac.uk/study-with-us/a-level-subjects

You can also visit www.hillsroad.ac.uk/apply to find out more about making your application.

Students go on to study a wide variety of subjects at university, with many choosing Philosophy itself or PPE. Philosophy’s transferable skills will also benefit you in a broad range of fields including teaching, law, civil service, journalism and intelligence.

For more information and to read the FAQs for this subject visit www.hillsroad.ac.uk/philosophy