PHILOSOPHY
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Philosophy
Philosophers are interested in questions such as: how should we live? Can we really know the nature of reality? Does God exist? Are you a physical thing or do you have a soul? If you enjoy debating such questions, then you will enjoy philosophy. Students at Westminster Tutors have ample opportunity to delve deeply into all the philosophical arguments and ideas they encounter, to develop their knowledge and their own independent thoughts. There can often be lively discussions between students and tutors, and lessons can turn out to be quite unpredictable!
Course outline
Epistemology
1.1 What is knowledge
- The tripartite view
1.2 Perception as a source of knowledge
- Assessment on two of the themes B1-B3
- Direct realism
- Indirect realism
- Berkeley’s Idealism
1.3 Reason as a source of knowledge
- Innatism
- The intuition and deduction thesis
1.4 The limits of knowledge
Moral Philosophy
2.1 Normative ethical theories
- Utilitarianism
- Kantian deontological ethics
- Aristotelian virtue ethics
2.2 Applied Ethics
2.3 Meta-ethics
- Moral realsim
- Moral anti-realism
Metaphysics of God
3.1 The concept and nature of ‘God’
3.2 Arguments relating to the existence of God
- Ontological arguments
- Teological/design arguments
- Cosmological arguments
- The Problem of Evil
3.3 Religious language
Metaphysics of mind
4.1 What do we mean by ‘mind’?
Dualist theories
- Substance dualism
- Property dualism
- Issue
4.3 Physicalist theories
- Physicalism
- Mind-brain type identity theory
- Eliminative materialism
4.4 Functionalism
Assesment
AS Level
Paper 1: Epistemology and moral philosophy
- Assessment of sections 1 and 2
- 80 marks
- 3 hours written paper
- 100% of total AS level
A Level
Paper 1: Epistemology and moral philosophy
- Assessment of sections 1 and 2
- 100 marks
- 3 hours written paper
- 50% of total A level
Paper 2: The metaphysics of God and the metaphysics of the mind
- Assessment of sections 3 and 4
- 100 marks
- 3 hours written paper
- 50% of total A level
Set Texts
Reading List
Two lively introductions to philosophical problems are:
- The Philosophy Gym by Stephen Law
- The Pig that Wants to be Eaten by Julian Baggini
Many novelists are insightful on philosophical issues. The following is a list of some novelists who are famous for their philosophical sophistication:
- Voltaire, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Jean-Paul Satre, Albert Camus, Iris Murdoch, Franz Kafka, Aldous Huxley, Oscar Wilde, George Eliot, Umberto Eco, Milan Kundera
Podcasts are another good introduction to philosophy:
- The Public Philosopher (BBC, Michael Sandel). Public discussion of philosophical problems: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programme…
- Moral Maze (BBC, Michael Buerk). Discussion of moral dilemmas: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programme...
- Philosophy Bites. interviews with philosophers about their work:
http://www.philosophybites.com… - Philosophy 24/7. Interviews with philosophers about moral and political issues
- http://www.philosophy247.org/
Specification
Tutors
BA (King’s), PhD (King’s), PGCE (Instit. Education, London)
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