IB Philosophy SL study guide
IB Philosophy SL · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
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 course has a compulsory core theme, Being Human, which anchors the study of self, mind, freedom and social identity. Candidates also select one optional theme from a published list - for example Aesthetics, Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy and Contemporary Society, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Science or Political Philosophy. Topics on this exam: Core theme: Being Human (compulsory), Optional theme (one selected from Aesthetics, Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy and Contemporary Society, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Science, Political Philosophy), Prescribed text study, and Internal assessment: philosophical analysis of a non-philosophical stimulus. The IB Philosophy SL study guide has 4 sections and about 1,100 words.
01Core Theme: Being Human (compulsory)
The core theme is compulsory and is examined in Paper 1. Questions ask you to analyse concepts of the self, mind, embodiment and freedom, and to evaluate competing accounts rather than merely describe them.
284 words, about 1 min02Optional Theme: Ethics
If you choose Ethics, Paper 1 Section B tests normative theories, metaethical positions and applied moral problems. You must explain a theory accurately, apply it to the case given, and evaluate it against objections and rival theories.
283 words, about 1 min03Prescribed Text Study
Paper 2 examines one prescribed text studied in class. Questions test detailed knowledge of the text's argument, its structure and key passages, and your ability to evaluate it philosophically.
258 words, about 1 min04Internal Assessment: Philosophical Analysis of a Non-Philosophical Stimulus
The internal assessment requires a philosophical analysis of a non-philosophical stimulus. You choose a stimulus - an advertisement, news photograph, film scene or object - and identify, explain and evaluate a philosophical issue it raises.
275 words, about 1 min