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Course Summary
Syllabus
Pre-requisites
Fees
Certification Prospects Duration Membership Format Assessment FAQs Request Info A Level Philosophy (Fast Track) CourseLevel: AS and A2 ( Full )This A Level Philosophy course has been designed to enable students to gain a thorough grounding in key philosophical concepts, themes, texts and techniques. Students will develop a range of transferable skills which can be applied far beyond the study of Philosophy. At AS level, the course concentrates on a number of key philosophical themes, intended to provide students with a broad introduction to Philosophy. At A2, students will specialise further, selecting two themes to study in depth and focusing on philosophical problems through the study of a key text. This course allows you to study at your own pace, and is suitable to be studied by all students irrespective of age, creed, religion or gender. To enrol call us on 0121 2880181. AS Level In this unit you will learn… The strengths and weaknesses of empiricism, the view that all our ideas derive from experience How much knowledge about the world can be grounded in or justified through experience The strengths and weaknesses of rationalism, the theory that all significant knowledge can be derived from reason alone The doctrine of innate ideas and its philosophical significance The view that experience is only intelligible as it is, because it presents sensation through a particular conceptual scheme or framework The difference between deductive and inductive arguments, necessary and contingent truths, and analytic and synthetic truths Mind and Metaphysics: Persons In this unit you will learn… The characteristics associated with personhood and the distinction between humans and persons The nature of the concept "person" and degrees of personhood; potential persons, ex-persons and diminished persons The limits of personhood; whether non human animals or complex machines possess any of the characteristics of persons, and to what extent Whether physical or psychological continuity are necessary or sufficient conditions for personal identity through time An alternative way of talking about a person’s existence through time; personal survival, and the strengths and weaknesses of this approach • The state of nature In this unit you will learn… Two different views on what mankind’s condition would be like in a ‘state of nature’, in the absence of a central government Why it might be rational to submit to a central authority; the distinction between individual and collective rationality, and between positive and negative liberty The view that political obligation comes from consent, and the concepts of hypothetical and tacit consent The concepts of power, authority and legitimacy, and whether popular approval is a requirement for a legitimate state Whether a guaranteed right to dissent is necessary for us to be politically obligated The aims and requirements of civil disobedience and direct action, and under what circumstances they are justified PHIL2 Epistemology: Knowledge of the External World In this unit you will learn… The common sense view of how the world is experienced, and sceptical arguments against it The distinction between primary and secondary qualities The strengths and weaknesses of the secondary quality thesis and sense data theory The strength and weaknesses of idealism, the theory that there is no world outside our perception of it A philosophical reworking of the common sense view, and whether it can overcome the sceptic Mind and Metaphysics: Free Will and Determinism In this unit you will learn… Arguments in favour of the view that the world is determined by existing sets of conditions and the laws of nature. How determinism fits with human action, the view that actions are pre-determined by environment and inheritance, and the view that free will is an illusion The strengths and weaknesses of the view that free will requires indeterminism, and that human consciousness exists outside the natural causal chain The strengths and weaknesses of the view that free will is compatible with determinism through causally determined voluntary actions The moral implications of determinism, whether responsibility, praise and blame could make sense in a deterministic world, libertarian and compatibility responses The difference between reasons and causes; action and bodily movement; actions and events Politics and Religion: God and the World In this unit you will learn… The view that the natural world shows evidence of intelligent design in its apparent order and purpose Arguments in favour of the view that the apparent design of the natural world implies an omnipotent designer; arguments from analogy, probability, cause and effect, and inference to the best explanation The problem of evil; the view that the presence of evil in the world is inconsistent with the idea of an all powerful, benevolent creator; the distinction between moral and natural evil Several attempts to deal with the problem of evil, on the basis of; free will, the afterlife, the best of all possible worlds The idea that the world can accommodate multiple different perspectives, and the religious point of view is just one of them Whether the religious ‘hypothesis’ can be properly described as such; scientific belief distinguished from religious belief PHIL 3 In this unit you will learn… What a number of different philosophers think about human nature, and the implications of these views on political philosophy Several different accounts of what the state is for, and arguments for dissolution of the state as we know it How freedom can be defined both positively and negatively, and how it can be interpreted by competing political ideologies What makes freedom valuable, ways in which it might be promoted and defended, and the relationship between liberty and the law How we can be said to have rights, the notions of natural and positive rights, and how human rights can be grounded Problems with the extent and application of rights, ways in which conflicts between rights and social utility might be resolved, and the relationship between rights, liberty, morality and the law What constitutes various types of justice, including social, economic and distributive justice Different accounts of the just distribution of goods in a society, in terms of desert, need and equality, how redistribution might be justified, and the relationship between distributive justice, liberty and rights How distribution concepts might be applied to nation states, and the relationships between states, and whether distributive justice applies on a global scale How liberty relates to nationalism and national sentiment, and whether cross-border movement is just Whether rights apply to groups and nations as a whole, for example, the right to self determination Key Themes in Philosophy: Philosophy of Mind In this unit you will learn… Arguments for and against the Cartesian account of mind and body; substance dualism The philosophical problems that this theory gives rise to; the problem of other minds and the problem of mind-body interaction Proposed solutions to these problems, and Wittgenstein’s critique of the Cartesian approach Four different attempts to reduce consciousness to the physical world; the view that mental statements can be reduced to statements about behaviour; the view that the mind can be ontologically reduced to physical states of the brain; attempts to account for the mind in terms of its functions; attempts to eliminate the mind and ‘folk psychology’ from the intellectual discourse General arguments in favour of reductionism, including dissolution of the other minds and mind-body problems, and the non-mysteriousness of the mental General arguments against reductionism, appealing to qualia and intentionality The ‘hard problem of consciousness’, the possibility of philosophical zombie and the intelligence of artificial intelligence Non-reductive forms of materialism and John Searle’s biological naturalism The strengths and weaknesses of property dualism and the difficulty of accounting for psycho-physical causation PHIL4 • Introducing the Meditations In this unit you will learn… The best way to approach the Meditations, how to read it and its historical background Several arguments to induce exaggerated doubt about one’s beliefs, and the purpose of the sceptical method The outcome of the arguments from doubt; total deception and absolute certainty; the Cogito and the implications of this conclusion The doctrine of clear and distinct ideas and their importance for the Cartesian project Several proofs of God’s existence, and objections to these proofs; the ontological argument and the Cartesian circle The doctrine of essential properties, and how it underpins the ontological argument and Cartesian dualism Descartes’ distinction between intellect and imagination, the proof of material things and how scepticism is ultimately overcome How Descartes argues for the view that mind and body are distinct substances and objections to these arguments The question of mind-body interdependence and the ‘intermingling’ thesis It is not necessary to have any previous knowledge or qualifications in Philosophy. However, this subject will require you to work hard in order to grasp difficult concepts, pay close attention to detail and present and analyse complex arguments. It would suit those with an inquisitive or thoughtful nature, as well as anybody interested in strengthening their mental abilities and considering questions that have captivated mankind for centuries. AQA A Level Philosophy All students have 18 months to complete this course from date of registration. On average this course is completed in 300 hours. We recommend that students complete 6-8 hours per week as a minimum to get the most from this course. Remember to work out a study plan / timetable before you start and try and stick to it. Coursework can be completed as quickly as you want as shown below.
Course materials are provided in paper format and delivered direct to your door within 7 days of enrolment. Recommended Reading AQA An Introduction to Philosophy for AS level (Philosophy in Focus series)
Unit 1: PHIL1 – An Introduction to Philosophy 1 Unit 2:PHIL2 – An Introduction to Philosophy 2 Unit 3: PHIL3 – Key Themes in Philosophy Unit 4: PHIL4 – Philosophical Problems AS Level Unit 2:PHIL2 – An Introduction to Philosophy 2 A2 Level Unit 4: PHIL4 – Philosophical Problems Recommended Centres English Maths Science Tuition Centre Ltd. Tel: 0121-771-1298 http://www.englishandmaths.com/Index.php ------------------ 3A Tutors Ltd Tel: 0117 9109931 Email: enquiries@3at.org.uk -------------------- Harrogate Tutorial College Telephone +44(0)1423 501041 E-Mail study@htcuk.org ---------------------- Campbell Harris Tutors Ltd Email principal@campbellharris.co.uk Web Site http://campbellharris.co.uk/Content.asp?ID=18
Please visit AQA for exam information. http://www.aqa.org.uk/admin/p_private.php The contract for sitting exams is between you and the centre and we will provide you with comprehensive instructions on when and how to deal with the examination centre. From 2014 exams will be taken in June of each year. 2013 provides the final opportunity to take exams in January. There is no flexibilty to take exams at any other time. Q: When can I enrol? Yes! We do offer payment plans for this course to students resident in the UK only. See fees page for further details. Yes ! We currently have students all over the world studying with the college.
If you require any further information on this course then please call our administration team on 0121 288 0181 and we will be happy to help you as much as we can. Alternatively complete the information request form below and one of our friendly advisors will contact you.
Course Fee: Starting at: £369.00Student can choose to pay their course fees in full upon enrolment (£369.00) or take out a pay as you study plan as follows.
Call our office on 0121 2880181 for guaranteed acceptance onto our pay as you study plan* (Applies to UK Students only) MOD Personnel can claim a 10% Reduction on fees when paying in full by quoting BFPO10 when contacting us. Proof will be required. Exam fees not included. Any exam fees are payable direct to examination centre. You are advised to contact a centre as listed here prior to enrolment to confirm exam fees and availibilty. Click here for List This course is provided in partnership with UKDLP (UK Distance Learning and Publishing) If you prefer to pay via cheque please print off enrolment form PDF below and post to our head office.  |
