HIGHER AND INTERMEDIATE 2

Recommended Entry: While entry is at the discretion of the centre, candidates would normally be expected to have completed a course

• in a social subject at Standard Grade at General/Credit level
• in a short course in Religious and Moral Education

What is Philosophy?

Philosophy is traditionally a subject confined to University but now it is being offered under the new Higher Still programme. What philosophy actually is, is notoriously difficult to answer but it involves raising questions about different aspects of life and then trying to find ways to answer these. It also involves discovering how these questions and answers relate to each other. Questions which might be dealt with in philosophy are questions like "What's the right thing for me to do?" "What do I know?" "Am I free to choose what I do?" People have been asking these questions throughout the ages and although everyone has to discover their own answer reading what other people believed can help us formulate our own view of life.

What can be gained from studying Philosophy?

With philosophy, the skills developed can be said to be more important than the actual content. Skills like the ability to analyse, to formulate questions and arguments and perhaps most importantly, the ability to express things clearly. Discussion, debate and writing structured essays will all be a part of the course and will form useful training for University and for employment. Philosophy offers the chance to develop transferable skills. Its value lies in encouraging students to combine imaginative thinking with rigorous reasoning. "It is the ultimate transferable work skill - and increasingly in demand by employers. In America, the `employabiliy', rate for philosophy graduates is 98.9%" (Sunday Herald 24.10.99)

What will be taught?
The course comprises 3 units:

• Classic Texts in Philosophy
• Problems in Philosophy
• Moral Philosophy

Classic texts introduces candidates to texts from some of the great philosophers: Plato, Descartes and Hume. The unit will develop candidates' understanding of historical developments in philosophy and give them the chance to analyse and criticise some ~-the most famous philosophical arguments.

The unit on problems introduces a range of philosophical problems such as what can count as true knowledge and how we acquire this knowledge, whether we have true freedom to choose what we do and what we should choose if we do have such freedom.

Moral philosophy looks at major theories in the area of morality. Candidates will be given the opportunity to study how these theories apply to modern day problems.

How will the course be assessed?

There will be 3 end of unit assessments taking the form of written essays for each. There will also be a written exam where candidates will write the same kinds of essays for each of the three areas.