Philosophy – Sixth Form
Information
What do you most enjoy teaching?
I love teaching the epistemology unit because we never really question how we know things. We just accept we know certain things but considering how we know them always evokes some interesting discussions.
How is Philosophy different from Religious Studies?
We cover some elements of religion in the metaphysics of God unit and discuss some familiar moral issues in moral philosophy. Other than that they are 2 completely different subjects. We look at theories and evaluate the work of different philosophers. The skills are relatively similar in the 2 subjects.
Can you give us a quick summary of each of the units of work you do?
Epistemology – this is the study of knowledge. What is knowledge, how we know things and the limits of our knowledge.
Moral philosophy – this is the study of ethical theories. We evaluate different theories, apply them to issues and come wider what it actually means to say things are good or bad.
Metaphysics of God – this is the philosophy of religion. We look at arguments for and against the existence of God and what it means to talk about God.
Metaphysics of the mind – the mind/body debate. We evaluate dualism and materialism.
I’m sure your subject will suit lots of different ‘types’ of student, but are there any characteristics that you think can be useful?
Those who like to debate. People with an open mind to seeing things in a different way. Those who like to question the things we don’t ordinarily question. Anyone with an enthusiasm for learning new things and thinking in a different way.
