Type: GCE A Level
Board: OCR
Contact: Mr Allen
Philosophy is simply ‘the love of wisdom’.
What can we have true knowledge of?
You will study the Ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, arguments about the existence of God, the problem of evil and suffering, life after death, religious experience and much more. You will consider both religious and non-religious views. The course gives a thorough grounding in Philosophy and develops critical thinking skills which are hugely valuable for progression to further study. You will analyse, evaluate arguments and construct and justify your own. This course could benefit a wide variety of careers including Law, Medicine, Politics, Journalism, Media and many others that require the ability to think critically.
The Ethics course helps us to understand how humans make important ethical decisions.
You will study questions to do with human behaviour and right and wrong. The ethical theories you will look at include Utilitarianism, Situation Ethics, Kantian Ethics and Christian Ethics. You will apply these theories to sexual ethics, euthanasia and business ethics. You will study areas of human behaviour to do with whether humans are free to make moral decisions and see how this links with crime and punishment.
Underpinning this qualification there is an in-depth study of one major world religion – Buddhism.
As part of this you will study Religious beliefs, values and teachings, their interconnections and how they vary historically and in the contemporary world. You will interpret sources of religious wisdom and authority. You will observe practices which shape and express religious identity, and how these vary within a tradition and look at significant social and historical developments in theology and religious thought and the key themes related to the relationship between religion and society.
Entry requirements and skills needed: Grade 5 in RE (Short or Full course), Grade 5 in English. You must be good at analysing arguments and putting your own views forward. You must be prepared to use your brain in an enquiring manner and enjoy thinking through different theories to do with the world. Lessons involve lots of discussion work and extra reading at home is expected.
Assessment: This is taught as an A Level qualification and you will sit three two-hour papers at the end of two years.
Progression: Students often go onto study Philosophy, Religion & Ethics at university but more importantly the skills that this course teaches you are transferable to many other subject areas.
