Higher Philosophy (S6 Course)

What will you learn?

Arguments in Action

Students will be helped to acquire the necessary skills to be able to critically analyse and evaluate arguments in a philosophical manner.  Students will learn to recognise the key features of effective and ineffective arguments.

Knowledge and Doubt

This unit will allow students to explore such key philosophical ideas as “Can we know anything for certain?”, “What is real?”, “What is knowledge?” Students will study in depth some of the writings of French rationalist philosopher René Descartes and Scottish empiricist philosopher David Hume.  There will also be an opportunity to consider questions raised about the nature of reality in popular films such as The Matrix, Inception, Vanilla Sky or The Truman Show.

Moral Philosophy

The main focus of this unit will be on answering such questions as “How do we decide the way we should act?”, “What does it mean to say that an action is right or wrong?”, “Why is it difficult to reach agreement on moral issues?”  Students will have the opportunity to critically evaluate key moral theories including, Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics.

Learner Experiences