Specifications

A level specification (from Sept 2017)

Exam papers & mark schemes

Epistemology and moral philosophy past papers and mark schemes:

Metaphysics of God and metaphysics of mind past papers and mark schemes:

Any other AQA past papers and mark schemes

General philosophy resources

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Other A level subjects

Psychologyalevel.com – this is the psychology version of this site

Economicsalevel.com – economics version coming soon

Set texts

Epistemology

Berkeley, George (1713), Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous

Descartes, René (1641), Meditations on First Philosophy, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

Gettier, Edmund (1963), ‘Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?’ Analysis, 23(6): 121–123

Hume, David (1748), An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section 2 and Section 4 (part 1)

Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1705), New Essays on Human Understanding, Preface and Book 1

Locke, John (1690), An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book 1 (esp. Chapter 2), Book 2 (esp. Chapters 1, 2, 8 and 14), Book 4 (esp. Chapter 11)

Plato, Meno, from 81e

Russell, Bertrand (1912), The Problems of Philosophy, Chapters 1, 2

Trotter Cockburn, Catharine (1732), (attrib) ‘A Letter from an anonymous writer to the author of the Minute Philosopher’ Appendix to G Berkeley Theory of Vision Vindicated and Explained

Zagzebski, Linda (1999), ‘What is Knowledge?’ in John Greco & Ernest Sosa (eds.), The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology 92 –116

Moral philosophy

Annas, Julia (2006), ‘Virtue Ethics’, in David Copp (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 515–536

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics: Books 1 (1–5, 7–10, 13), 2 (1–7), 3 (1–5), 5, 6 (1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13), 7 (12–13), 10 (1–8)

Ayer, Alfred J (1973/1991), The Central Questions of Philosophy, London, Penguin, 22–29 

Ayer, AJ (1946), Language, Truth and Logic, 2nd Edition, New York, Dover, (esp. Chapters 1 and 6)

Bentham, Jeremy (1789), Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Oxford, Clarendon Press. Chapter 1 (The Principle of Utility) and Chapter 4 (Measuring Pleasure and Pain)

Diamond, Cora (1978), ‘Eating Meat and Eating People’ Philosophy 53: 465–479

Foot, Philippa (1972), ‘Morality as a system of hypothetical imperatives.’ Philosophical Review, vol 81, issue 3, 305–316.

Hare, Richard M (1952) The Language of Morals, Chapters 1, 5, 7, 10.2

Hume, David (1739–40), Treatise of Human Nature, Book III, Part 1

Kant, Immanuel (1785), Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Chapters 1 and 2

Mackie, John L (1977), Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, Penguin, Chapter 1, Sections 8 and 9

Mill, John Stuart (1863), Utilitarianism, Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5

Moore, George E (1903), Principia Ethica, Cambridge University Press, Sections 6–14

Smart, Jack J C & Williams, Bernard (1973), Utilitarianism: For and Against, Chapter 2 (Act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism) and Chapter 3 (Hedonistic and non-hedonistic utilitarianism)

Metaphysics of God

Anselm, Proslogium, Chapters II–IV and Gaunilo, from the appendix to Anselm’s Proslogium

Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 25, Article 3 and Question 2, Article 3

Ayer, Alfred J (1973/1991), The Central Questions of Philosophy, London, Penguin, 22–29

Ayer, AJ (1946), Language, Truth and Logic, 2nd Edition, New York, Dover, (Chapters 1 and 6)

Descartes, René (1641), Meditations on First Philosophy, 3 and 5

Flew, Antony, Richard M Hare and Basil Mitchell (1955), ‘Theology and Falsification’ in New Essays in Philosophical Theology, edited by Antony Flew and Alasdair MacIntyre, London, SMC Press

Hick, John (1966/1978), Evil and the God of Love, New York, Harper and Row (revised edition). Chapters 13–17 (esp chapter 13)

Hume, David (1779), Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Parts II, V, VIII and IX

Hume, David (1748), Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Part XI

Leibniz, Gottfried (1714), Monadology, sections 32–39.

Malcolm, Norman (1960), ‘Anselm’s ontological arguments’, The Philosophical Review, 69, 41–62

Midgley, Mary (1984), Wickedness. Routledge, Chapters 1 and 5

Paley, William (1802/2008), Natural Theology, OUP, Chapters 1, 2 and 5

Plantinga, Alvin (1975), God, Freedom and Evil: Essays in Philosophy, George Allen & Unwin, 29–34 and 59–64

Plato, Euthyphro

Stump, Eleanore & Kretzmann, Norman (1981), Eternity. Journal of Philosophy 78 (8):429–458

Swinburne, Richard G (1968), ‘The Argument from Design,’ Philosophy, 43 (165), 199–212

Metaphysics of mind

Avramides Anita (2001). Other Minds. Routledge, Chapter 2.

Block, Ned (1980) ‘Troubles with functionalism,’ in Readings in Philosophy of Psychology, Vol 1. Harvard University Press, 275–278 – section 1–2.

Chalmers, David (1996), The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. Oxford University Press, Chapter 1.

Chalmers, David (2003). ‘Consciousness and its place in nature’ in Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Mind, Sections 2 and 3. Blackwell

Churchland, Patricia Smith (2002). Brain-wise. Introduction (Sections 1, 3, 4) and Chapter 4, section 2. The MIT Press.

Churchland, Paul (1981), ‘Eliminative Materialism and Propositional Attitudes’, Journal of Philosophy 78, 67–90 (section 2, Why folk psychology might (really) be false)

Descartes, René (1641), Meditations on First Philosophy, 6

Hempel Carl (1949/2000), ‘The Logical Analysis of Psychology.’ in Richard Jeffrey (Ed) Carl G Hempel: Selected Philosophical Essays, Cambridge University Press

Jackson, Frank (1982), ‘Epiphenomenal Qualia’, Philosophical quarterly, 32, 127–136

Putnam, Hilary (1975/1986), ‘The Nature of Mental States’ In Mind, Language and Reality. Philosophical Papers, Volume 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ryle, Gilbert (1949/2000), The Concept of Mind, London, Penguin Classics, Chapters 1, 2, 5 and 6

Shapiro Lisa (Ed) (2007), The correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and Rene Descartes, edited and translated. University of Chicago Press. Letters from May 1643.

Smart, Jack J C (1959), ‘Sensations and brain processes’, The Philosophical Review, 68 (2), 141–156