Should I take Philosophy A Level?

Lilli1994

At the moment I'm down for Biology, Spanish, English Lit/Lang and Maths, but I'm thinking of changing maths to philosophy because I just think I will enjoy it so much more, has anyone taken both maths and/or philosophy and how do you find them?

P.S In uni I will most probably do Law, Psychology/Criminology or something englishy.... Thanks :smile:

Just adding a bit of extra info - I absolutely love philosophy (got 98% in the gcse i did in it - coz i'm proper fabuluz) and I also have a really high maths result so I am good at both of them but in Year 11 I was put off by maths because I found it really boring :/ But I love questioning things, and thinking about the universe and stuff which was why I was considering philosophy.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1

Simone.xox

4

I would strongly anyone not to take philosophy, but that's just my point of view, because it's most likely stopping me from getting into my firm uni choice.

I just found it wasn't what I thought it would be, and I found the content so jiberish (can't find a better word).

Reply 2

Mr Inquisitive

16

If you're thinking of doing Law, it would be a good A-Level to have. Although, I'd possibly consider swapping Biology for History, English combined for Philosophy - making the set History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Spanish, a very strong set.

Reply 3

Phucksauce

5

maths is good for breadth I suppose, but if you know what degree you want to do already it doesn't matter too much. I took philosophy and enjoyed it immensely, both maths and philosophy are concerned with logic and problem-solving in a way I suppose, with both you get that 'eureka' moment when it becomes clear to you, but personally I'd say the eureka moment is more rewarding when it's about the mysteries of the universe than solving a really tricky equation...
it's up to you really, if you're good at both, go for the one you enjoy more. I know people who took maths who were very good at it (and did well in the end) but absolutely despised the course itself as they simply didn't enjoy the subject.

good luck choosing one!

Reply 4

iammichealjackson

18

Psychology at uni is pretty scientific, i'd cross it out now as law/english seems to fit in better with your subject choices.

Maths is fun at a level if your good at it. Its another kettle of fish (is that the saying?) where instead of GCSE/SAT where you are taught to add 2+3 together and do it millions of times, classes are spent with mostly teaching content rather than going over technique and practising. Its far more interesting and involves good problem solving skills for exams.

Personally I'd always recommend to do what you think you will enjoy, read up on philosophy (in the specification of your a level) during the summer.

Is it philosophy and ethics or just philosophy the a level?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 5

username540512

13

Nightmare subject if you don't have the right mindset for it. You've got to learn the content, just as with every other subject, and then learn to interpret it for an endless variety of questions in the exam.

Read up on some different philosophies, and moral conundrums, that sort of thing. See how it feels for you.

Reply 6

Chich1994

If you wanna do psychology at uni then you WILL (most likely) need an A level in psychology, and for criminology they would probably want sociology as well. so if i were you, swap maths for psychology, i heard that philosophy is not that great unless you really like it.

Reply 7

Mm_Minty

17

It was my favourite A level at college :h:

But of course it all depends on you. Does your college have any information about the course you can look at before deciding? Seeing the course content etc can really help you make up your mind :yep:

Reply 8

iammichealjackson

18

Original post by Simone.xox

I would strongly anyone not to take philosophy, but that's just my point of view, because it's most likely stopping me from getting into my firm uni choice.

I just found it wasn't what I thought it would be, and I found the content so jiberish (can't find a better word).

Pretty useless advise for anyone other than yourself though, dontyathink?

Reply 9

Simone.xox

4

Original post by iammichealjackson

Pretty useless advise for anyone other than yourself though, dontyathink?

Wasn't really intended to be, more of a how I found it.
But other people may find it different, I personally found I didn't have the mind set for it, I did for my other subjecs. But some people really enjoy and understand philosophy!

Reply 10

Liam_G

14

It depends entirely upon your own strengths and weaknesses. If it definitely is the case that you are most suited to English based subjects, then I'd suggest you have a go :yes:

But don't think you'll be able to get by in the subject by simply musing on your own opinions and putting your own spin on deep, philosophical questions, there's much much more to it than that. It's been one of my most difficult subjects but also one of the most rewarding :yep:

Reply 11

Lilli1994

OP

1

Maths looks so boring though....

Reply 12

iammichealjackson

18

Original post by Lilli1994

J But I love questioning things, and thinking about the universe and stuff which was why I was considering philosophy.

Original post by Lilli1994

Maths looks so boring though....

Somebody once said that mathematics is the language in which god created the universe. Philosophy won't help much there. I don't understand why you think you have to take maths though, you'll do **** if you hate it. Just pick philosophy

Reply 13

mirandaandhector

8

I would definitely recommend philosophy - has been my favourite A level subject for the past two years - it can be challenging but I find it very satisying and thought provoking - don't take any subject hat you don't think you'll enjoy - you won't do well and you'll regret it later

Reply 14

Dreamseeker

Personally I'd ditch Spanish and just learn it in my own time (perfectly doable with workbooks and audio material, which, btw, can all be attained for free...); and I'd replace it with philosophy. So... Biology, Philosophy, English Lit/Lang and Maths.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 15

TheSophist

14

Original post by Simone.xox

I would strongly anyone not to take philosophy, but that's just my point of view, because it's most likely stopping me from getting into my firm uni choice.

I just found it wasn't what I thought it would be, and I found the content so jiberish (can't find a better word).

It can be jibberish

But the point is you have to stick with it and spend hours on understanding one or two pages

You need a dictionarie, philosophy dictionary(for philosophical terms), read around the subject to understand the context of what the philosopher was writing about and lastly use your teacher, because at the end of the day he's been there and done it (assuming hes done a philosophy degree).

Reply 16

Wulf chan

16

I've taken both maths and philosophy. Philosophy is very interesting but will be hard if you don't do well with long essay writing. The essays aren't that long tbf, but you need to enjoy writing essays. Also, you don't really need to have a philosophical mind to do well, as long as you can memorise different arguments then you're fine.
Maths is very hard and quite boring at times and even if you were very good at maths for GCSE you will probably still struggle.
Overall, I suggest you pick philosophy if you're better at writing than numbers and if you object to being bored to death with maths. Also think of your University course. Both are very respected subjects but chose the one which is most relevant.

Reply 17

Simone.xox

4

Original post by TheSophist

It can be jibberish

But the point is you have to stick with it and spend hours on understanding one or two pages

You need a dictionarie, philosophy dictionary(for philosophical terms), read around the subject to understand the context of what the philosopher was writing about and lastly use your teacher, because at the end of the day he's been there and done it (assuming hes done a philosophy degree).

Yeh, you have to enjoy and be dedicated to it.
So it needs to be explored before taking it, I went to the taster day before I started college and is all we did for philosophy was "there's a family having a picnic on a train track, a train's heading towards them, you can pull a lever to save them but doing that will divert it to a man and a guide dog, what would you do?"

So going off that I assumed the whole of philosophy was like that, I would adive anyone to read up and know what they're getting into.

Reply 18

Lumen

10

I didn't know you could do philosophy at GCSE! If you're good at both of them, but prefer philosophy then I'd advise you to do that. Both subjects will get harder at A-level and you're more likely to do well in something when you have the motivation and interest to keep going with it. This depends on your school/sixth form, but where I went they let you change subject if you found it was the wrong course (as long as you let them know within the first few weeks).

Reply 19

SleepySheep

13

Although I obviously can't speak for other exam boards, I would not recommend AQA Philosophy. Only 2 people (including me) out of 90 got an A in my year group at AS and I only scrapped an A (83% I think?). My teacher showed me the lower sixth's January results and in one class no one got higher than an E. Although the content is quite interesting, the harsh marking is extremely frustrating and ruined the subject for me.

I'd definitely recommend that you check the exam board before you decide to take Philosophy :smile:

Should I take Philosophy A Level?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you