IB Philosophy SL case studies
IB Philosophy SL · Put your knowledge to work in context.
IB Philosophy Standard Level is a two-year Diploma Programme course for students who want to examine fundamental questions about knowledge, reality, value and human existence in a disciplined, argumentative way. It suits candidates who enjoy reading primary texts, constructing positions and criticising arguments, and who are willing to write sustained essays rather than memorise set answers. The IB Philosophy SL case studies are 5 cases and about 3,175 words.
1Core theme: Being Human - memory continuity and moral patient status
At Northbridge Secondary, a pilot counselling chatbot named Aletheia has been used by 240 students for six months. Aletheia stores each student's disclosures in a persistent memory and adapts its tone; it can say, 'I remember you were anxious before the physics exam.' A 15-year-old, R., disclosed self-harm thoughts; the chatbot followed a script and alerted a counsellor, who intervened.
663 words, about 3 min2Optional theme: Aesthetics - generative art, authorship and mutability
The Harbourlight Gallery has budgeted £18,000 to acquire 'Tidal Archive', a generative installation by artist Mira Okafor. The work uses an algorithm trained on 4,000 images of local fishing boats; each time it is displayed, it produces a new 12-minute projection and a unique soundtrack.
647 words, about 3 min3Optional theme: Epistemology - testimony, archives and epistemic injustice
A Philosophy SL student, J., writes an internal assessment on the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. J.'s family is from a rural area with no digitised archives.
639 words, about 3 min4Prescribed text study - Descartes, reconstruction and application
In a mock exam, a student, A., analyses a prescribed extract from Descartes' Meditations. The extract argues that because he can doubt the existence of his body but not that he is thinking, he can conclude he is essentially a thinking thing.
621 words, about 3 min5Internal assessment - philosophical analysis of a council notice
For the IA, a student, M., selects a non-philosophical stimulus: a 2024 city council notice banning sleeping tents in public parks, with the line 'public space must remain available for all residents.' M. writes a 1,600-word analysis arguing that the notice presupposes a conception of public space as a resource for 'productive' citizens and excludes unhoused people.
605 words, about 3 min