Overview
Availability
Years 9-10
Qualification
non-RoSA
Philosophy is the study of the questions that sit underneath everything else, such as:
- Is my mind separate from my body?
- What are the limits of knowledge?
- What is real?
- How should a society be arranged?
- What makes a decision right?
- Do the past and future exist?
Rather than memorising answers, students learn to build and test arguments — to reason clearly, weigh evidence, spot flawed thinking, and defend a position while remaining genuinely open to changing their mind.
Much of the course runs as a community of inquiry, where students think aloud together, challenge one another respectfully, and are judged less on having the right answer than on the quality of their questions. It is intellectually demanding and, for the right student, deeply rewarding.
Course Structure
The course opens with two core units that establish the foundations.
- Introduction to Philosophy explores the origins of philosophical thought, the big questions that have occupied thinkers from Socrates to the present, and each student’s own developing worldview.
- Logic, Argument and Reasoning is the engine room of the course: the structure of arguments, valid and sound reasoning, and how to identify where an argument breaks down – skills that transfer directly to every other subject and to life beyond school.
From there, students move into three option topics:
- Epistemology – the nature and limits of knowledge — how we know what we claim to know
- Metaphysics – questions of reality, identity, mind and existence
- Political Philosophy – freedom, justice, authority and how we ought to live together.
Assessment and Course Outcomes
Assessment is spread evenly across research tasks, presentations and topic tests, so students demonstrate their thinking in a range of forms.
This is a course for the curious and the committed. It suits students who enjoy being stretched, who like an argument for its own sake, and who are prepared to think differently.
Places in Philosophy are limited. If you are interested in studying the course, please see Dr. Nelson. A demonstrated commitment to your studies the main selection criterion.