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Philosophy EPQ ideas - urgent!!!

Hi- I need urgent help!!!!
I am currently searching for an EPQ topic on Philosophy (perhaps also related to sociology?) and my deadline for a form of initial ideas is this Friday. Yet I am struggling so much to find a title!
I am also doing a research project and lecture on Philosophy in Literature, so it would be really great if my EPQ subject could be related to this in some way, so that my research for the EPQ could potentially aid aspects of my research for my lecture, and vice versa.

Regardless of the topic, I want to make sure that it is a somewhat emotive subject that I feel I can argue well on and feel that I have produced a socially relevant essay on, as opposed to simply doing my EPQ on a random, abstract topic that has no relevance in today's world.

My three potential topic ideas are:
-Religious belief and atheism
- The End of History
- Personhood/soul

Regarding atheism and religion, I have considered the following questions:
'why should we care about whether God exists?'
'Is the decline of religion in the 21st century a force for good?'
'to what extent does modern society require atheism?'
'To what extent does the decline of religious belief in the 21st century suggest that religion historically has merely been a means of explaining the unexplainable?'
or something along those lines. Yet I wonder whether or not a question like that would not be philosophical enough, since I am planning on applying to Cambridge for Philosophy next year.

Or perhaps an analysis of one of the following quotes:
"God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh" - Voltaire
"The whole thing is so patently infantile, so foreign to reality, that to anyone with a friendly attitude to humanity it is painful to think that the great majority of mortals will never be able to rise above this view of life." - Freud

Alternatively, a concept which I would argue has a good balance of Philosophical and Sociological ideas would be the philosophy of the end of history, with perhaps the question of 'To what extent can the end of history be viewed as a realistic idea?' or something like that.

I have also been considering perhaps some more pure philosophical concepts for my title, such as the metaphysics of identity, consciousness and the soul - what makes us what we are?
Yet building on this, I have also become greatly interested in the concept of personhood, and in particular, what defines beings as persons holding moral worth.

I would love to explore this more metaphysical/ethical route as an alternative to my potential religion questions, but I have no idea with where to start in finding an actual title for an EPQ on a topic like that.


OR, alternatively, a question which I could imagine encompassing both philosophical and sociological elements could be something to do with the role and relevance of Philosophy in a postmodern world. And I think I could relate this to literature in some aspects, which would help with my lecture research. But I would have no idea how to word this question/title - help??

I can imagine this is quite an incoherent post to respond to, especially because all my ideas are so different - I just really want to make sure that my EPQ topic is perfect, as it is being finalized very soon - if anyone has any thoughts or ideas, they would be much appreciated. So sorry for the lengthy post!
This is completely different to the titles you have mentioned but i would recommend something to do with Simone de Beauvoir. Has philosophical (existentialist) elements, literature (she called herself a novelist and wrote a novel which demonstrates her ideas) and sociological ones (The Second Sex - feminist book (not sure what kind of book to call it) about women in society which pulls from history, tribal societies and 1940s Western ones, and parts of the Bible)

Im sure there are ways to link it to philosophy in the post modern world, for example, ideas about the problem for women is that 'woman' as a concept is defined in terms of men is very relevant to feminist debates and indeed many about identity

Anyway I'm really just plugging what i am interested in, but might be worth looking into
(Original post by lottie479)Hi- I need urgent help!!!!

Hi, all of your ideas sound so cool and kind of make me wish I did a project surrounding religion and philisosphy aha. You will have to be careful with linking your project to your studied subjects as that can get you disqualified from all of your studies, although you'll have to check with your supervisor regarding that as it can vary.

For titles, you need to make sure that you know you will be able to conclude at the end of your report, so 'to what extent' questions are good because you will be able to explain the extent to which ..........

I really liked these ideas below;

'To what extent does the decline of religious belief in the 21st century suggest that religion historically has merely been a means of explaining the unexplainable?'

'To what extent can the end of history be viewed as a realistic idea?'

the concept of personhood, and in particular, what defines beings as persons holding moral worth.

Idk if it would help in any way but in RS we study an Australian man named Peter Singer who talks about personhood and what it means to be a persons and if people in comas or uneducated people can actually be classed as persons, and he then compares this to animals such as monkeys and dolphins, etc. I also seem to remember a philosopher, can't remember the name but he stated that the only thing that makes our actions evil, compared to a tiger killing prey for example, was the fact that we have a moral compass. And then if you wished to encorporate religion into it there are many aspects of religion that tie into evil and the problem of evil esp.

Another idea that I find quite interesting, i'm not sure how you would word this loo, but the fact that all (if not the majority i'm not sure) cultures and ancient civilizations all have religions and God-like figures and if that has any meaning.

Sorry this reply is quite long haha but I am about to finish mine (deadlines on Friday lol) so if you have any further questions surrounding the EPQ feel free to ask !
Original post by lottie479
Hi- I need urgent help!!!!
I am currently searching for an EPQ topic on Philosophy (perhaps also related to sociology?) and my deadline for a form of initial ideas is this Friday. Yet I am struggling so much to find a title!
I am also doing a research project and lecture on Philosophy in Literature, so it would be really great if my EPQ subject could be related to this in some way, so that my research for the EPQ could potentially aid aspects of my research for my lecture, and vice versa.

Regardless of the topic, I want to make sure that it is a somewhat emotive subject that I feel I can argue well on and feel that I have produced a socially relevant essay on, as opposed to simply doing my EPQ on a random, abstract topic that has no relevance in today's world.

My three potential topic ideas are:
-Religious belief and atheism
- The End of History
- Personhood/soul

Regarding atheism and religion, I have considered the following questions:
'why should we care about whether God exists?'
'Is the decline of religion in the 21st century a force for good?'
'to what extent does modern society require atheism?'
'To what extent does the decline of religious belief in the 21st century suggest that religion historically has merely been a means of explaining the unexplainable?'
or something along those lines. Yet I wonder whether or not a question like that would not be philosophical enough, since I am planning on applying to Cambridge for Philosophy next year.

Or perhaps an analysis of one of the following quotes:
"God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh" - Voltaire
"The whole thing is so patently infantile, so foreign to reality, that to anyone with a friendly attitude to humanity it is painful to think that the great majority of mortals will never be able to rise above this view of life." - Freud

Alternatively, a concept which I would argue has a good balance of Philosophical and Sociological ideas would be the philosophy of the end of history, with perhaps the question of 'To what extent can the end of history be viewed as a realistic idea?' or something like that.

I have also been considering perhaps some more pure philosophical concepts for my title, such as the metaphysics of identity, consciousness and the soul - what makes us what we are?
Yet building on this, I have also become greatly interested in the concept of personhood, and in particular, what defines beings as persons holding moral worth.

I would love to explore this more metaphysical/ethical route as an alternative to my potential religion questions, but I have no idea with where to start in finding an actual title for an EPQ on a topic like that.


OR, alternatively, a question which I could imagine encompassing both philosophical and sociological elements could be something to do with the role and relevance of Philosophy in a postmodern world. And I think I could relate this to literature in some aspects, which would help with my lecture research. But I would have no idea how to word this question/title - help??

I can imagine this is quite an incoherent post to respond to, especially because all my ideas are so different - I just really want to make sure that my EPQ topic is perfect, as it is being finalized very soon - if anyone has any thoughts or ideas, they would be much appreciated. So sorry for the lengthy post!

im not sure of this is helpful but this website is very good with choosing titles and you might find something relevant
https://thinkstudent.co.uk/epq-ideas/#EPQ_Ideas_Relating_To_Psychology
Reply 4
Original post by DeBeauvoir2
This is completely different to the titles you have mentioned but i would recommend something to do with Simone de Beauvoir. Has philosophical (existentialist) elements, literature (she called herself a novelist and wrote a novel which demonstrates her ideas) and sociological ones (The Second Sex - feminist book (not sure what kind of book to call it) about women in society which pulls from history, tribal societies and 1940s Western ones, and parts of the Bible)

Im sure there are ways to link it to philosophy in the post modern world, for example, ideas about the problem for women is that 'woman' as a concept is defined in terms of men is very relevant to feminist debates and indeed many about identity

Anyway I'm really just plugging what i am interested in, but might be worth looking into

i did actually end up doing my entire EPQ on Simone De Beauvoir and gender philosophy. lol!
Hi, I know I am a bit late to the game on this but have you looke at Max Weber? He was the founder of sociology and talked a lot about the effect of secularisation on society ('Secularisation is the disenchantment of soceity.'). You could go through some of his ideas and apply them to the modern world, perhaps? How far has his thesis stood? How come some religions still exist? etc. etc.

Good luck!! I got an A* on my EPQ analysing some Soviet famines from a Marxist perspective, it was so much work but so fun, I really enjoyed it.
Reply 6
what did u get if u dont mind me asking? im thinking of changing my epq topic to philosophy instead

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