Are Religious Studies and Philosophy the same A-level? Can I do both?

I've been seriously debating whether or not to just take philosophy on it's own or take religious studies as well. I've heard people say they are the same sort of thing, but from what I've read of the course content RS is more of an extension of Philosophy but more religion focused. I'm really passionate about both subjects but I'm worried it'll be a waste of time or that it'll look silly on my CV because I've basically studied the same thing twice.

Are they different enough in their own right for me to take both?

Reply 1

WildAndNutty

OP

3

Original post by aidenj

What's the exam boards for each?

They're both AQA

Reply 2

Yipyipee

14

they probably arent the same, but what is the benefit in doing both? universities would ask for one or the other, not both.

Reply 3

0lut0

20

The Philosophy course I do which is OCR is made up of Philosophy, Ethics and Christian Theology and thought so I guess philosophy is more of a mixture to be honest I would say Philosophy is an extension of RE.

Reply 4

Daddy Dagoth

7

Pretty sure Philosophy is a waste of time regardless

Reply 5

WildAndNutty

OP

3

Original post by Yipyipee

they probably arent the same, but what is the benefit in doing both? universities would ask for one or the other, not both.

Because I really love studying religions. If I only took philosophy there wouldn't be enough religious elements in the course, if I took RS it wouldn't have as many philosophy modules.

Reply 6

Ghostmaster475

7

Original post by WildAndNutty

Because I really love studying religions. If I only took philosophy there wouldn't be enough religious elements in the course, if I took RS it wouldn't have as many philosophy modules.

Well with philosophy, it depends on the contents of your course which you could look up. With mine for half of the first year we did philosophy of religion where we covered several types of arguments relating to the existence of God. To be honest though, if you're specifically interested in religion, I would probably recommend RS as the philosophy course isnt primarily focused on religion

Reply 7

holyz

1

Original post by WildAndNutty

I've been seriously debating whether or not to just take philosophy on it's own or take religious studies as well. I've heard people say they are the same sort of thing, but from what I've read of the course content RS is more of an extension of Philosophy but more religion focused. I'm really passionate about both subjects but I'm worried it'll be a waste of time or that it'll look silly on my CV because I've basically studied the same thing twice.

Are they different enough in their own right for me to take both?

I do AQA A2 Philosophy (Philosophy of Mind and Ethics). RS is MUCH more easy than Philosophy and more essay based. In addition the content you learn about various philosophers is oversimplified and misrepresents the original text with some topics in RS completely skipping nuances in the original text. Philosophy A level is far better in terms of debating, there's more content (mostly interesting) and the exam is 50% essay based 50% information based and the style of how you can assert your points is much less restrictive. In addition it spawns many deep thoughts which you wouldn't conceive under normal circumstances which makes you more receptive. I found this receptiveness and creativity from speculating in Philosophy carried over to my Maths A level when considering hard problems - neuroplasticity. If you were to choose one I'd highly recommend Philosophy as opposed to RS, unless you want to purely write essays about drab, oversimplified topics. At the end of the day it's down to what sort of course you believe you'd enjoy more.