Philosophy & Ethics

The AS and A2 Philosophy & Ethics course is an invaluable opportunity to gain cross transferable skills for careers and courses demanding analysis, evaluation and clarity of expression. The department follows the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR) specification.

This A Level course is aimed at those who are prepared for an open-minded exploration of the big questions, in particular the medical, legal and moral issues that affect the lives of humans today.

The course is designed for anyone to undertake and previous knowledge from GCSE is not a requirement. An open mind to often controversial and complex issues is required as is the understanding that we are required more often than not to discover the questions and a number of solutions but not a definitive answer. Those who wish to ask the impossible questions about life, the world and the universe and explore some of the answers offered by the philosophers and scholars are likely to feel at home being challenged and challenging others on this course.

An A Level in Philosophy & Ethics is a highly regarded qualification for anyone proceeding to University in the Arts and the Sciences. The ability to think clearly and to evaluate contrasting philosophical, ethical and moral views as well as possession of an understanding of the history of ideas from Socrates onwards are valued by both universities and employers.

Those studying A Level in the past have gone on to study in such diverse fields as PPE and Law at Oxford and Cambridge, Medicine at London, English at Durham, History at St Andrew’s, Journalism at Bristol and Sports Science at Loughborough – as well as Theology and Philosophy and Ethics at all of the above!

Students follow two modules - one in Philosophy and one in Ethics. In Philosophy, Plato and Aristotle; the Psychological evaluations of these philosophical claims; the relationship between science and religion is explored, examining the Big Bang, steady state and evolutionary theories and comparing them with the ontological, cosmological and teleological arguments about the existence of God. In Ethics, the ethical theories of Aristotle, Kant, Bentham and Mill, Aquinas and Fletcher form the background to the study of contemporary issues, sexuality, cloning, abortion, euthanasia, economics and environmental ethics.

The big issues in such areas as legal ethics, medical ethics and the environment as well as sex and relationships provide the opportunity to explore how we know what has been traditionally seen as right and wrong and how we apply these ideas in practice. The big questions like "if there's a God why doesn't (s)he prove it?" In addition to euthanasia, cloning, IVF and social justice are investigated through the writings of of the philosophers and scholars, always requiring pupils to evaluate for themselves the relative strengths and weaknesses of the contrasting evidence.

Assessment of these four modules will be in the January and summer of the Upper Sixth. Each examination lasts for 90 minutes and consists of two questions.

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Subjects on offer

A Level Subjects:
Art & Design
Biology
Business Studies
Chemistry
Classical Subjects
Economics
English Literature
French
Geography
German
History
Mathematics/Further Maths
Music
Music Technology
Philosophy & Ethics
Physics
Politics
Product Design
Spanish
Sport Studies
Theatre Studies

AS Level Subjects:
Electronics
ICT
Italian (GCSE/AS)