Philosophy

OK forgive this noob account, I only registered to get some information - I have no intentions on sticking around too long, although I may browse the heated discussions for A-Levels and GCSEs.

Anyways the search feature isn't enabled unless you register, so I did... but I might as well make a whole new thread about the subject seeing as I am here (the forums need more Philo topics anyway)

K with that out the way, how is Philosophy? (asking the students here who studied A level Philo) I have a good idea of the subject cause I probably talked about it to death with the teacher at enrollment, but I would like some real reviews on the subject.

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Im doing Media, Eng Lang and Philo (plus general studies) if that matters.

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I was originally gonna do Psychology (suprisingly popular subject actually, I didn't know it was so well-recieved lol) but when I had a chat with the Philo teacher @ enrollment the subject seemed SOOO much deeper and more interesting and full-filling.

So yeah is it really a DIFFICULT subject? i understand it is alot more sophisticated than Psychology but is it more sophisticated in the *hard* way or more sophisticated as in, there is more "too it" than Psychology?

well sorry for this long, nooby post. I'd appreciate some advice from fellow AS/A2 students.

[just to summerise]

1) Do you find it DIFFICULT? (generally speaking)
2) Do you find philosophy a bit too "sciency"? I dont really enjoy science myself (i got a C for GCSE) but i'm a little worried that it could be considered a social science subject rather than a social subject. (not to mention the fact that we'd be studying Philosophers, only briefly though)

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Have fun doing your A levels in september guys!

Reply 1

yorkshirelass

I just finished A2 this year. It's hard, and tests skills and knowledge that I hadn't an inkling about before, but definitely my most fulfilling subject. I've learnt so much from studying it, and it is actually a pleasure to learn once you get over the initial shock of never having answers (and it can be a bit brain-wrenching sometimes). It's not that "Sciency" - it requires the analytical skills that would also be great in Chemistry or Maths, but at the same time is entirely distinct from them.

Reply 2

jellybellyele

I did it for AS and would say it wasnt sciency...well not from what I experienced. It can be quite hard to get your head around certain theories but if you are interested in the topics covered (such as abortion, euthanasia, God's creation of the Earth etc...) you can really enjoy getting stuck into it and there is much room for lengthy class discussions (or arguements if people have extreme opinions on the subject). Id recommend taking it anyway :smile:

Reply 3

Quicky

jellybellyele

Cool, glad to know it isn't sciency from the students. The teacher put me off at first cuz he presented me with one PHAT book about philosophy with a pic of a philosopher on the front cover and I was thinking "goddamn!" but then he said that we won't even be looking at a small fraction of the overall book's content.

i like those kind of topics. very social-related topics, I dig. And I enjoy expressing my thoughts (on paper and in speach) so it should compliment the style of this subject, no?

Anyway I'm guessing Philo isnt very popular is it? kinda suprising seeing how popular Psychology is.

Reply 4

yorkshirelass

Wait, are you studying Philosophy or one of the weird religious studies courses? The person who you quoted above described topics which seem more geared to R.S. or "Philosophy and ethics", which is a different subject to Philosophy A-level.

Reply 5

Quicky

yorkshirelass

hm, you're confusing me... and sacring me. o_O

I quoted because of this:

It can be quite hard to get your head around certain theories but if you are interested in the topics covered (such as abortion, euthanasia, God's creation of the Earth etc...) you can really enjoy getting stuck into it and there is much room for lengthy class discussions

I'm pretty sure jellybellyele ment those are the sort of topics usually covered in Philo. Plus I remember the teacher I was speaking with mention religion and all that stuff. Also, the subject I applied for is Philosophy and that alone, not RS or any of that. It's just that Philo covers loads of things (a bit of religion just happens to be part of it)

my teacher also said "philosophy really is the base of all learning" meaning all topics branch off Philosophy in some way. religion and beliefs from RS, peoples thoughts from psychology etc.

well you get what I mean... there's bound to be a little of something from each subject covered in Philosophy.

Reply 6

IainC

Philosophy is great, but can REALLY get on your nerves at times. (having just finished AS and taking A2 next year). Just stck with it and read loads.

If you like to debate stuff it is great (but depends on how you are taught it) and is not scientific (in the main - but can be if you take specific options and apporach them in that way first)

p.s. the exams can catch you out (with really specific questions) as they did me this year and I ended up with an underserved B :frown:

Reply 7

Quicky

IainC

Thanks for your input, glad to see more people studying Philo :p:

looks like a pretty solid subject. interesting but hard at times? I'll deal.

Reply 8

WokSz

Is it feasible to study AQA AS Philosophy on your own? I want to study an extra subject apart from my A-Level Economics during my gap year. What do you guys think?

Reply 9

yorkshirelass

I'd say if you're committed, it's possible, but out of my subjects I think I relied most on my Philosophy teachers to help. The main problem for me was finding relevant textbooks. The A-level and 'introductory'-type textbooks available are pretty piss poor - not detailed enough, and just give a very superficial overview. At the other end of the spectrum, a lot of the original philosophers' texts are really really dense and it's impossible to have enough time to dip in and out of them in time to glean what you need to know for a particular part of a course.

Reply 10

WokSz

so, what books do you suggest reading? or, is there another AS you suggest I take up?

Reply 11

yorkshirelass

Erm.. 'Philosophy: The Basics' by Nigel Warburton is good when you're just starting off a module, but it's not really worth buying because of its lack of depth so try and borrow it from a library if you can. Actually, it might be ok to buy - I borrowed it and used it during revision because it summarised the main points, if you get what I mean (sorry, I'm rambling here). 'Think' by Simon Blackburn has some good basic Epistemology stuff (it's best for Philosophy of Mind at A2, but I guess you won't be needing that) and was particularly helpful for Descartes, but again it glosses over the details. Actually, because you study a single text in a great amount of depth, make sure you have a decent secondary resource for that. For instance, for Descartes I borrowed John Cottingham's book, though I can't remember what else I used. For the Ethics and Epistemology modules, I found the 'Routledge Contemporary Readings' series great because they collect together the different perspectives on philosophical issues you'll need to raise in your essays. Of course, I don't know which modules you plan to study (as far as I know only Epistemology is the only compulsory module as a foundation to Philosophy) so I'm not sure how useful that will be to you.

Reply 12

WokSz

wow, that just all flew over my head. I'm so not looking forward to this. I might be better off doing something like English lit lol. Thanks for your help though! :smile:

Reply 13

MarcD

I was going to do it but I've already got like 5 a-levels chosen now, so it wouldnt be wise to do yet another. Instead I've got a few philosophy books (including some that yorkshirelass mentioned) and will just read up in my spare time.

I think you should do the philosophy a-level. It's really interesting (at least from what I've seen) and really challenges your mind. Personally I find it more exciting than english, but that would depend on the person :p: