This is an elective 2 year long course (9 hours per cycle) and it is designed for students who have a curious mind and want to find out about philosophers and philosophical ideas to understand better the world and our existence in it.

This course will give students a basic orientation to what philosophy is and explain the ideas and arguments that have been developed over 2,500 years by great thinkers from Socrates to Sartre including Plato, Aristotle, David Hume, Rousseau, Kant and Nietzsche. Students will also explore philosophical concepts such as belief, knowledge, morality, reality, free will, God, mind and body, beauty and art while trying to answer some of the fundamental questions of human existence.

What is Philosophy?

The word "philosophy" means “love of wisdom" in Greek.  Philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other. Philosophy is divided traditionally into major areas of study.

Ethics/Morality concerns with the nature of moral judgement (meta-ethics) and morality of an action (normative ethics): What ought we to do? Students will attempt to answer such questions as:

• What is Morality? Where does Morality come from? Does Morality come from us, from God or exists independently as a matter of fact? Who decides what is right or wrong? Is morality objective or subjective?

• Why should I be moral?

• Does Morality even exists?

• What is right? What makes actions right/wrong? Is it right to kill one in order to safe many?

• How should I treat others?

Metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality, of what exists in the world. Metaphysics focuses on such questions as:

• Is the world around us real?

• Can we trust our senses? Can we trust Science?

• Do we really exist?

• Do we have only physical brain or is there immaterial mind/soul?

• Are you the same person you were 5 years ago? What makes you “you”? What is the “SELF”?

• Does God exist?

Logic is the study of the nature and structure of arguments. Logicians ask such questions as:

• What constitutes "good" or "bad" reasoning?

• How do we determine whether an argument is good or bad?

• What are common reasoning errors people made?

Aesthetics  is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. Typical questions of concern in aesthetics are:

• What is Beauty? Is Beauty subjective or objective?

• What is "art?"

• What should we judge when we judge art?

• What should art be like?

"Philosophy is so set apart from every other subject that I have, that it is always a relief to step into philosophy class knowing the next 50 minutes will be crammed with bewildering theories and stimulating discourse. I have yet to have a philosophy class that I have not left inspired. It is easily the greatest subject as it challenges everything you thought you knew and allows you to scrutinise yourself and those around you. I have particularly enjoyed learning about Hobbes’s Social Contract and Moral Scepticisms. I would be especially interested in learning more about the existentialists and their theories".

Luca , Year 9 Philosophy student

"Philosophy is definitely not your average subject but does this make it lousy or useless? Absolutely not! Philosophy is a foundation of, well, everything! Before questioning the world of morality, ethics and rationality, my perspective of reality was black and white. Never before was I very, very wrong. Philosophy paints your perspective of the world of what it truly is, and how colourful rather than black white reality is. That is, if reality exists..."

Enzo , Year 9 Philosophy student

 I enjoy Philosophy because of many reasons. I love the challenge of understanding new ideas and theories. In addition, it is always a great fun to have a good argument with your classmates. Ms Leontieva is a very skilled philosopher and it is always very hard to argue with her. She always has many funny anecdotes about moral decisions she has made. I always look forward to the next Philosophy class.

Marton, Year 9 Philosophy student

Studying philosophy has been a fantastic experience. It has completely changed the way I think about things. Before I studied Philosophy, I just accepted things on face value (more or less). I now realise why there are no right or wrong answers and why different opinions are important. Philosophy has broadened my outlook and understanding of morality and improved my ability to argue and reason.

No other subject has opened up my mind like philosophy and this has been a valuable experience.

I enjoyed philosophy because it had made me open my mind up to many things around me. It has made me realise who I am. My teacher rocks.

Mizuki, Year 9 Philosophy student

"I think that Philosophy is an amazing subject. Since I started doing Philosophy, I have become much more aware of the world around me. Even doing only one semester (and a half) of philosophy has made me ask myself questions that I never would have thought of asking myself. I have enjoyed studying meta-ethics and even though we have already started this topic, I am looking forward to developing my brain even more doing normative-ethics. Ms Leontieva is a great teacher. She is very knowledgeable and intelligent, and she teaches the class each lesson with full enthusiasm and professionalism, explaining thoroughly each thing learnt so that everyone has a deep understanding of this remarkable subject".

I would definitely recommend Philosophy to others who would like to develop their brain and truly experience life as it was meant to be, i.e. to be questioned and not to be taken for granted.

Sarah, Year 9 Philosophy student

"Philosophy is one of my favourite subjects. I like it because it is so different from any other subject. Although it is challenging and requires a lot of thinking and concentration, it is extremely interesting. Philosophy allows us to form and develop our own individual beliefs and assists us to question things, rather than believe everything we see or hear. Our classes always consist of many interesting discussions to test and strengthen our beliefs. I recommend this subject to any student wanting a challenging and interesting class, different from any other subject. But make sure you are ready because you never know what Ms Leontieva will throw at you!"

Cheryl , Year 9,Philosophy student