Not sure if I should do Philosophyðics A-Level
Hi, I finished year 11, and received great GCSE results (all 7 and above). Im deciding to do Computer science, Maths and Philosophy and ethics A levels. When I’ve been searching for tips for P&E, I’ve seen lots of people discouraging it, and now it’s making me doubt myself. I know for a fact I don’t want to do Physics, but I just want to ask if anyone who has done P&E or is doing the A-levels could give some advice and tips please? Thank you.
Hi, congrats on your GCSE results, you've smashed it!
ive been studying philosophy a-level for a year and i love it! what are your main concerns about P&E?
Here are my general thoughts:
-Philosophy isn't content heavy but can be conceptually challenging - but that's what makes it so interesting to me!
-There aren't many online resources out there to help, which is quite annoying.
-There is a lot of time for class discussion if you like that sort of thing
-in my class i've found you either love it or hate it. If you don't like it, it can seem quite useless and boring, but the people who like it tend to study it at university. I can find some resources for you to read or watch to see if you're interested in philosophy or not?
-exam technique is different to other subjects and can take some time to get used it - but with practise and effort you'll get it in no time.
-to make it as interesting as possible, you have to engage in class. In my case, my teachers talk at you for an hour and that's the entire course, so if you don't discuss and ask questions you will get bored very quickly.
-it's a pretty new a-level so there aren't many practise papers.... however that's actually not a problem as you'll quickly learn.
I hope that's insightful? Feel free to ask me questions or talk philosophy in general
ive been studying philosophy a-level for a year and i love it! what are your main concerns about P&E?
Here are my general thoughts:
-Philosophy isn't content heavy but can be conceptually challenging - but that's what makes it so interesting to me!
-There aren't many online resources out there to help, which is quite annoying.
-There is a lot of time for class discussion if you like that sort of thing
-in my class i've found you either love it or hate it. If you don't like it, it can seem quite useless and boring, but the people who like it tend to study it at university. I can find some resources for you to read or watch to see if you're interested in philosophy or not?
-exam technique is different to other subjects and can take some time to get used it - but with practise and effort you'll get it in no time.
-to make it as interesting as possible, you have to engage in class. In my case, my teachers talk at you for an hour and that's the entire course, so if you don't discuss and ask questions you will get bored very quickly.
-it's a pretty new a-level so there aren't many practise papers.... however that's actually not a problem as you'll quickly learn.
I hope that's insightful? Feel free to ask me questions or talk philosophy in general
Heyy, thank you so much for this reply!
Thank you for the congratulations.
And yess, I love class discussions and debates, they really interest me. I decided to select P&E because it seems really interesting and fits well with my other subjects. The only thing I’m worried about is essay structures and methods, but I’m pretty sure one I learn it in 6th form it will get easier, as you’ve said. This seems quite silly, but I’ve been seeing lots of people not liking P&E and it kind of made me hesitate and worry about it, but I’m glad to see that a few enjoy it 😂.
And yes, I would be super grateful if you could send some resources about philosophy to me, it would mean a lot. I’m not sure yet about my specification or exam board as it wasn’t on the schools website strangely, but I’m starting sixth form tomorrow (quite nervous) so I’ll find out soon, hopefully.
I genuinely appreciate this reply and will be happy to keep on talking (once in a while) about the subject. Thank you.
Thank you for the congratulations.
And yess, I love class discussions and debates, they really interest me. I decided to select P&E because it seems really interesting and fits well with my other subjects. The only thing I’m worried about is essay structures and methods, but I’m pretty sure one I learn it in 6th form it will get easier, as you’ve said. This seems quite silly, but I’ve been seeing lots of people not liking P&E and it kind of made me hesitate and worry about it, but I’m glad to see that a few enjoy it 😂.
And yes, I would be super grateful if you could send some resources about philosophy to me, it would mean a lot. I’m not sure yet about my specification or exam board as it wasn’t on the schools website strangely, but I’m starting sixth form tomorrow (quite nervous) so I’ll find out soon, hopefully.
I genuinely appreciate this reply and will be happy to keep on talking (once in a while) about the subject. Thank you.
ofc, i'm happy to help. And yes, essays really do get easier as the year goes on. On my first essay i got 8/25 which was unprecedented for me, but now im getting 20+/25 which is an a/a*. It's all just practise.
Here are some resources as discussed, these should help with the a-level course (N.B. i'm with aqa):
- 15 Minute Masterclasses from the Royal Institute of Philosophy - directly on the A Level course
- https://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9781138690394/epistemology.php - notes on the course
- https://philosophyalevel.com/aqa-philosophy-revision-notes/ethical-theories/#Utilitarianism - this is only good for summaries
- https://www.youtube.com/@WirelessPhilosophy/videos
- https://philosophy-gets-schooled.podbean.com/ - a podcast relating directly to the spec
In case youre interested, here are some videos covering ideas you may come across on the course. You might find them interesting idk:
-I'm pretty sure everyone learns about moral philosophy (i.e. the nature of morality/how do you define good and bad) ,regardless of exam board, so here's a good introduction to one ethical theory that you may learn called 'virtue ethics' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvtOWEXDIQ
-This is a pretty famous idea from Plato - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA
Here are some more general philosophy resources that go past the spec:
-The Stanford Encyclopaedia of philosophy is the holy grail for philosophers. it covers almost every topic. However it can be really difficult to read and understand, so don't panic!
-jstor: you need an account for some articles, but there are some great free online articles available.
Goodluck in sixth form! i'm sure you'll have a great time, you've got this!
Here are some resources as discussed, these should help with the a-level course (N.B. i'm with aqa):
- 15 Minute Masterclasses from the Royal Institute of Philosophy - directly on the A Level course
- https://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9781138690394/epistemology.php - notes on the course
- https://philosophyalevel.com/aqa-philosophy-revision-notes/ethical-theories/#Utilitarianism - this is only good for summaries
- https://www.youtube.com/@WirelessPhilosophy/videos
- https://philosophy-gets-schooled.podbean.com/ - a podcast relating directly to the spec
In case youre interested, here are some videos covering ideas you may come across on the course. You might find them interesting idk:
-I'm pretty sure everyone learns about moral philosophy (i.e. the nature of morality/how do you define good and bad) ,regardless of exam board, so here's a good introduction to one ethical theory that you may learn called 'virtue ethics' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvtOWEXDIQ
-This is a pretty famous idea from Plato - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA
Here are some more general philosophy resources that go past the spec:
-The Stanford Encyclopaedia of philosophy is the holy grail for philosophers. it covers almost every topic. However it can be really difficult to read and understand, so don't panic!
-jstor: you need an account for some articles, but there are some great free online articles available.
Goodluck in sixth form! i'm sure you'll have a great time, you've got this!
(edited 7 months ago)
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