PHILOSOPHY AND ETHIC S

Philosophy is perhaps the most essential of A level subjects as it teaches pupils how to think Much of the content of the course has a religious tone, including arguments for the existence of God and ethical theories like natural law, this is because most of the great minds of the last two millennia thought and wrote about these questions Studying this course lets you examine the great works of Descartes, Kant, JS Mill, Plato, Aristotle, St Augustine and Philippa Foot, and encourages you to respond to them with your own opinions

The course is full of opportunities to debate big issues such as euthanasia, sexual ethics, the problem of evil and the divinity of Jesus You will be helped to develop your writing, so you will learn to write well-structured essays containing convincing arguments This is one of the reasons why pupils of philosophy go on to a wide range of fascinating careers

Those careers include politics (many of Britain’s Prime Ministers have studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at university), Law (more lawyers in the UK studied Philosophy at university than Law) and the creative industries, like comedy and film writing and performing

But the most compelling case for why to study Philosophy and Ethics is that it is fun Past pupils have said that it has been their most enjoyable A level subject, citing as examples the teaching, the debates and the opportunities to examine and develop their ideas about the world around them

What is the course content?

There are three parts to the course: Philosophy of Religion, Ethics and Developments in Christian Thought They are all taught by different teachers and are examined in their own papers at the end of the course Philosophy of Religion contains questions such as, ‘does God exist?’ and ‘why would a good God create evil?’; the Ethics part of the course looks at different ways philosophers have tried to work out what is right and wrong, and if those terms have any objective meaning; and the DCT part looks at questions such as the belief in original sin and whether the Bible is sexist

How is the course assessed?

OCR

Three papers, each of two hours Candidates must write three essays, out of a choice of four

What else should I

consider?

Philosophy and Ethics is an essay writing course and so the ability to write well is an advantage Having said that, you will be helped to develop your writing so don’t let a perceived weakness in writing put you off It can be combined with almost any other subjects: previous candidates have studied Philosophy alongside Business, Drama, Physics and Maths The Department has a very successful Philosophy Society that it runs with Sherborne Girls: this society provides both a social occasion and an intellectual opportunity

Pre-course material

There are lots of great TV shows and films which have a philosophical base, particularly Black Mirror and The Good Place (both on Netflix) and The Matrix There are some great podcasts and radio programmes, including In Our T ime and Sci-Phi: Science Fiction and Philosophy (Audible) And there are, of course, excellent books such as Descartes Meditations, Michael Shur’s How to be Perfect an Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World