Politics or Philosophy? A Level choice

If you are already politically informed then politics can be a bit frustrating at A-level and you might wanna take philosophy. If on the other hand you are uninformed and in need of a bit of a foundation then politics will be very helpful for you.

Well, I'm not really sure what you mean by 'deep'. The more you read, the 'deeper' it gets, I suppose.

Most philosophical works (and certainly all the one's one would look at at A-level) are just different writers responding to age-old philosophical problems in one way or another. So, the more you read, the better you understand the problem and the more able you are to provide an interesting response.

If you mean to ask whether you can gain a 'deep' understanding of philosophy without studying it - probably more so than politics. In theory, you could read every major philosophical work of the last 300 years, understand it, and walk in an expert. Of course, in practice, it is likely you would need some help.

However, to elaborate on what that guy was saying about classroom learning: philosophy is definitely an independent subject. I, of course, like to read philosophy in my spare time, and I find that my understanding is usually worse in regard to things I've learned in class than outside of it. Philosophy is certainly something you can teach yourself, it just depends on how dedicated you are really. It's not less 'deep' though, or anything like that. A large proportion of philosophy is political philosophy anyway, so in some sense it is erroneous to draw a distinction, even.

I hope this answered some of your questions.

Which other subjects are you doing?

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Would you consider taking History?

(Without meaning to sound like a complete braggart).



I took politics at AS, got an A (89 UMS and 71 UMS).


However, I absolutely hated it and still do (Continued it). I am applying for Computer Science, so it doesn't really matter for me but trust me when I say I am really into politics and political history (Computer Science, I play a lot of games relating to the field :P) and I hate the course. The concepts are very easy in Politics - you should be fine there if you have an interest like me, the tedious part of it comes from learning stats and such for the exam. The essays are very tedious as well, and I'm not the fastest writer either so that's probably one of the reasons I find them difficult. Doing a PPE though, please, tell me which Uni you're not going to be typing your work at :P.

One of my school friends told me about his brother, who specifically told him not to take the course because it was so boring and tedious. He wanted to become a politician when he was older (I knew his brother lower down in our school - the guy I know joined during sixth form). He then went on to become a barrister - so I'm not a rogue case!


Anyway, PPE? Politics definitely.

EDIT: My friend's brother did a PPE at Oxford, and hated the A-Level. Just to put things into perspective.

Although I am interested in politics I still want to learn more so I don't think I would have a problem with the course but thanks anyway. Why did you find it so tedious? Is it because you already knew so much about it?

Nah, that wasn't the problem.


I just hate the essays really I guess, and learning the stats for them. If I had faster handwriting (I did the test thing, I'm in the bottom 49% of the population for handwriting speed - which really sucks for an A-Level in an essay subject, it limits the mark I can get massively I feel, and of course they won't let me type...) then I probably would find it enjoyable. I guess the latter is the main thing for me not liking it.

Do you think you could list a few things you do and don't like about philosophy and politics?

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Which other subjects are you doing?

I can't give you an unbiased judgement since I didn't take both of them, but I did take philosophy and I absolutely love it! Favourite subject by far

I'll try:

Politics:

Pros:
Amazing debates to be had
A wide variety of opinions
Examining human behaviour
Sympathising with several
Understanding ideologies
Realising that Politics is extremely complicated
Seeing how the public responds

Cons:
Can sometimes be confusing (As in why people do some things)


Philosophy:

Pros:
Incredibly rich details
Analytical skills to be had
Learning about Philosophers (I love History so it relates)
Can be difficult! (UNDERSTATEMENT)

I am looking to study PPE at uni and will be making my A Level choices in February but I don't know whether to choose Politics or Philosophy. These are both new to me and I have equal interest in them both. What should I do?

I do Politics currently (for AS) and I find that it is quite slow and boring if you are properly interested in Politics. I would probably recommend Philosophy, as the AS material in Politics I think is quite sub-standard and so when it comes to uni you can easily play catch up on the Politics side. I heard at A2 though Politics get better.


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I am interested in politics but I don't really know too much about it. Would it suit me then?

I do Edexcel Politics , and for instance, we do stuff on Pressure Groups, how they succeed, the different types etc. Then I've done the Labour Party (1980s onwards) history and Conservative Party (1980s onwards) history. Perhaps if you knew nothing about it you would like it as it is IMHO tailored towards beginners.


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Would you consider politics to be difficult?

Not at all. Not at all.

One thing I don't like about the AQA spec is that there is philosophy of religion which I'm not particularly interested in. Were you when you started the course?