What will I study and learn? Philosophy A level gives you the opportunity to explore some of the biggest questions humanity has ever asked, and be trained in techniques for discussing and mapping out arguments in order to reach your conclusions. In studying Philosophy you will become a more disciplined and logical thinker, and develop an ability to analyse and construct concise arguments. Does what you think about how we should live come straight from your parents and teachers? Or do you think you have good reasons to believe what you do? Doing philosophy provides a perfect opportunity to think for yourself and to consider objections to your own ideas that you hadn’t ever thought of. This course investigates the deepest aspects of what it means to be human. Are we simply animals that have evolved, or is our consciousness a unique substance that will survive the death of our bodies? Philosophy asks you to avoid being too quick to jump to conclusions, especially the conclusions you want to be true. Justified true belief, is that what we mean by knowledge? How do we show that a claim or indeed any claim to be true? The study of such philosophical questions and arguments is academically rigorous and can be challenging, but is also very rewarding. You will get to study the arguments of some of the greatest minds in philosophy from the Ancient Greeks to 21st-century Philosophers of Mind engaged with the rise of Artificial Intelligence. In the first year, you will study: • The definition of knowledge • Knowledge from perception • Knowledge from reason • Ethical Theories • Ethical Issues • Ethical Language In the second year you will study: • Arguments for and against the existence of God • The meaningfulness of religious language • Physicalist theories of the mind • Dualist theories of the mind