Welcome to Philosophy at Reigate College!
My name is Mike Fogg and I’m the course leader for Philosophy A Level. I’m looking forward to welcoming you to the department in person at the beginning of the academic year, but before then, I’d like you to complete a series of tasks and activities in preparation for the A Level course.
Many of you won’t have studied Philosophy as a separate subject before, so we’re really keen you have a good understanding of what the course is about before you start. These tasks have been designed with that in mind and are for you to complete independently at home over the coming months. There’ll be the chance to discuss what you’ve learnt when you start at College in September.
The tasks will be released here, in three phases (see table below) and should be completed by Choices Day on 1 September 2021. Please throw yourself into them and above all enjoy them!
Please note, some Course Leaders (for example for Music) may release their tasks earlier, as they may form part of the College’s audition process. If this applies to you, you’ll be notified separately.
New Starters Course Tasks and Activities
| Release date | To be completed by | |
| Explore your Subject | 1 June | 1 July |
| Get Going | 1 July | 1 Aug |
| Aim High | 1 Aug | 1 Sep |
Explore your Subject
Introducing Philosophy – three philosophical questions
Philosophy is a highly regarded academic subject, held in the greatest esteem by the top universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge. It’s relevant to numerous different areas of study from Law and Politics, to History and Mathematics. Indeed, some of the greatest thinkers in human history have studied Philosophy, including Einstein and Aristotle. However, Philosophy is not simply a way of gaining access to the top universities, or honing one’s reasoning skills. You should choose Philosophy because you find it exciting and interesting.
As an introduction to some of the topics studies in Philosophy, we’d like you to choose one of the questions below:
Question One: The existence of God
Does the existence of so much pain and suffering in the world show that an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God does not exist? If He was all-powerful, then He could stop our suffering. If He was all-knowing, then He would know we were suffering. And if He was all-loving, then He would not want us to suffer. Yet there is so much suffering in the world. Arguably, the existence of war, famine, disease and death, show that God cannot exist.
Watch the following trailer for the film 1917, which depicts scenes from World War 1, when around 40 million people died.
Now answer the following question, including your response to the above issues:
Does the existence of so much pain and suffering in the world, show that God does not exist?
Question Two: Knowledge
Can you really know anything for certain? You undoubtedly believe that there is a world outside of your own mind. But can you know this for sure? You could only know that there is a world outside of your mind if you know that you are awake. But you could be having a vivid dream right now!
Watch the following clip from the film Inception, where one of the central characters, Ariadne, realises that she’s currently dreaming.
Now answer the following question, including your response to the issues raised above:
Is it possible to prove that you are currently awake? If not, then what can you know, if anything?
Question Three: Ethics
Should we kill animals because we like the taste of their flesh? It’s accepted by virtually everyone that animals can feel pain and pleasure. And most people in Western countries don’t need to eat meat to survive. There are plenty of healthy substitutes which provide us with protein, like Quorn, falafel and different pulses. Indeed, many people adopt a vegetarian life-style, because they think it is healthier. Is it right, therefore, that people in rich Western countries should eat meat?
Watch Joaquin Phoenix’s impassioned speech concerning animal welfare, when he won the Oscar for his role as the Joker.
Now answer the following question, including your response to the issues raised in the above paragraph.
Should animals be killed because we enjoy eating them? What do you think?
Get Going
Introducing Wireless Philosophy
There are some excellent introductions to philosophical issues on the Wireless Philosophy YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/user/WirelessPhilosophy
The most relevant material for the first year of the Philosophy A Level course is in the sections on ‘Introduction to Philosophy of Religion’ and ‘Introduction to Epistemology’ (you can find these in the Introductory Series by Topic under the Playlists tab.)
TASK Using a note-taking technique such as mind mapping or Cornell notes, please create a summary page for each of the videos.
To explore these and other topics in more detail, go to the Philosophy Bites website which has a downloadable introduction to Philosophy as well as hundreds of downloadable podcasts:
www.philosophybites.libsyn.com/index.php?search=what+is+philosophy
Aim High
Arguments
Philosophers argue about the deepest questions that humans face, like:
- Does life have a meaning or purpose?
- How should we live?
- Where did the universe come from?
- Can we prove God’s existence?
They attempt to answer these questions by producing arguments. An argument is made up of one or more reasons (called premises), which attempt to convince someone of the truth of a conclusion. The premises, or reasons, are bits of evidence which suggest that the conclusion is true. A conclusion could be any claim that you want to prove. For instance, I might want to prove the conclusion that ‘Eating meat is wrong’.
So, I would need to produce reasons or premises:
- Premise 1 – Eating meat causes unnecessary
harm to animals.
- Premise 2 – It is wrong to cause unnecessary harm to others.
- Conclusion – Therefore, eating meat is wrong.
Importantly, the reasons or premises are ‘evidence’ offered in support of the conclusion. We might even see arguments as a bit like shopping lists, such as in the following example:
- Premise 1: Because he has no sense of personal hygiene
- Premise 2: Because he lacks drive, motivation, or any ambition
- Premise 3: Because he’s very negative about most things
- Premise 4: Because he puts me down
- Premise 5: Because he has strong feelings about his ex
- Conclusion: Therefore, he’s not good boyfriend material.
Task 1: Watch the clip below, which explains what an argument is and how to structure one.
Task 2: Produce premises (reasons or bits of evidence) to support the following four conclusions: (Note, before you begin each one, decide which conclusion you wish to support; for instance, in the first argument below, you could support either the view that ‘social media platforms have a negative impact on society’ or the opposing view that they ‘do not have a negative impact on society’. You choose.)
a) Impact of social media on society
Premise 1:
Premise 2:
Premise 3:
Conclusion: Therefore, social media platforms like Snapchat, Facebook and twitter have/do not have a negative impact on society.
b) The existence of God
Premise 1:
Premise 2:
Premise 3:
Conclusion: Therefore, God exists/does not exist.
c) The death penalty
Premise 1:
Premise 2:
Premise 3:
Conclusion: Therefore, the death penalty should/should not be brought back for serious crimes.
d) Free university education
Premise 1:
Premise 2:
Premise 3:
Conclusion: Therefore, university education should/should not be free.
Remember, there are no limits on the number of premises that an argument can have. Some arguments may have one premise, while others may have hundreds.
Please keep a note of your premises so we can discuss them together.
Course Leader – Philosophy A Level
