ABSTRACT
AS AND A2 PHILOSOPHY At the time of writing, there is only one syllabus for AS and A2 philosophy, set by the AQA. Each qualification is comprised of three units of study, as follows:
Unit 1: Theory of Knowledge
Unit 2: either Moral Philosophy or Philosophy of Religion
Unit 3: selections from one of the following set texts:
• Plato, The Republic • Descartes, Meditations • Marx and Engels, The German Ideology • Sartre, Existentialism and Humanism
Unit 4: either Philosophy of Mind or Political Philosophy or Philosophy of Science
Unit 5: selections from one of the following set texts:
• Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics • Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding • Mill, On Liberty • Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
• Russell, The Problems of Philosophy • Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic
Unit 6: Synoptic Study: a long essay on one of 12 studies that either bring together the thought of two different philosophers (comparative studies) or the thought of one philosopher in relation to one particular topic (complementary studies).
