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Philosophy

UNIT 1-4

ONLY UNIT 3&4 offered in 2025

Philosophy is broadly concerned with questions of ethics, knowledge and reality. Philosophy is the founding discipline of logic, and it continues to develop and refine the tools of critical reasoning. Philosophers grapple with the problems that lie at the foundation of issues of public debate such as the concept of artificial intelligence, justification for a charter of human rights and freedom of speech and influences approaches in mathematics, digital coding, science and the humanities.

VCE Philosophy explores foundational ideas and enduring questions related to diverse fields including the humanities, sciences and the arts. It is a challenging study, which nurtures curiosity, problem-solving skills, open-mindedness and intellectual rigour.

Studying VCE Philosophy involves explicitly developing the habits of clarifying concepts, analysing problems and constructing reasoned and coherent arguments. It encourages students to reflect critically on their own thinking and helps them to develop a sophisticated and coherent worldview.

Exploring big philosophical questions and the ideas of some of history’s greatest thinkers promotes a satisfying intellectual life. The ability to think philosophically is highly regarded in careers that involve conceptual analysis, strategic thinking, insightful questioning and carefully reasoned arguments.

Aims

This study enables students to:

  • understand the distinctive nature of philosophical thinking and the techniques used in philosophical inquiry

  • identify and formulate philosophical questions

  • understand significant philosophical ideas, viewpoints and arguments

  • critically reflect and develop perspectives on philosophical ideas, viewpoints and arguments

  • explore ideas and respond to philosophical questions, viewpoints and arguments with clarity, precision and logic

  • engage with primary philosophy texts and use techniques of philosophical reasoning to identify, discuss and evaluate philosophical viewpoints and arguments expressed within these texts

  • identify and discuss relationships between responses to philosophical questions and contemporary debates.

Structure

The study is made up of four units:

Unit 1: Philosophy, existence and knowledge
Unit 2: Questions of value
Unit 3: The good life
Unit 4: On believing
 

Each unit deals with specific content contained in areas of study and is designed to enable students to achieve a set of outcomes for that unit. Each outcome is described in terms of key knowledge and key skills.

Entry

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 and Unit 4 as a sequence. Units 1 to 4 are designed to the equivalent standard of the final 2 years of secondary education. All VCE studies are benchmarked against comparable national and international curriculum.

Unit 1: Philosophy, existence and knowledge

What is the nature of reality? How can we acquire certain knowledge? These are some of the questions that have challenged humans for millennia and underpin ongoing endeavours in areas as diverse as science, justice and the arts. This unit engages students with fundamental philosophical questions through active, guided investigation and critical discussion of 2 key areas of philosophy: epistemology and metaphysics. As students learn to think philosophically, appropriate examples of philosophical viewpoints and arguments, both contemporary and historical, are used to support, stimulate and enhance their thinking about central concepts and problems. Students will engage with primary philosophical texts, using a range of extracts to gain awareness of contrasting and diverse philosophical perspectives. As students investigate central concepts and problems, they will also consider the relationship between philosophical problems and relevant contemporary debates.

Unit 1: Questions of value

What are the foundations of our judgments about value? What is the relationship between different types of value? How, if at all, can particular value judgments be defended or criticised?

This unit enables students to explore these questions in relation to different categories of value judgment within the realms of morality, political and social philosophy and aesthetics. Students also explore ways in which viewpoints and arguments in value theory can inform and be informed by contemporary debates. They study primary philosophical texts, using extracts, and develop a range of skills including formulating philosophical questions and developing philosophical perspectives.

Unit 1: The good life

This unit considers the crucial question of what it is for a human to live well. It explores questions of relevance to our own good lives – what is happiness? What role should pleasure and self-discipline, friendship and love play in the good life? – as well questions regarding the good life as it may be understood within the context of our relationships with others beyond our immediate communities. Students consider the implications of adopting particular perspectives, viewpoints and arguments for questions of relevance to contemporary living, such as our relationship with those beyond our immediate communities, non-human animals and the broader natural world.

Students engage with the set texts to develop perspectives on questions relating to the good life, including questions of relevance to contemporary living. Through critical reflection on ideas, perspectives, viewpoints and arguments, students develop and defend their own philosophical positions.

Unit 1: On believing

In recent decades, developments in information and communication technologies have changed the way we share beliefs and acquire and justify knowledge. More than ever, we rely on the testimony of others, in particular, those we judge to be experts. But what is an expert? What qualities must testimony have to be trusted? And, in a world filled with multiple and often contradictory sources, how do we separate good beliefs from poor beliefs?

This unit focuses on interpersonal aspects of belief and belief formation, considering what it means to believe well by examining the nature of belief and the grounds for accepting or rejecting beliefs. Across 2 areas of study, students explore what our obligations are in relation to belief; when we should adjust or change our beliefs; and to what extent we should take responsibility for fostering the good beliefs of others and the conditions that make them possible. Through so doing, students are invited to consider the interrelationship between believing well and living well.

In Area of Study 1, students use concepts, arguments and viewpoints from the set texts to develop perspectives and justified philosophical positions on belief formation and justification in relation to a range of general questions. Students apply their learning from Area of Study 1 to identify and engage with epistemological issues that arise from case studies suggested by selected contexts.

ASSESSMENT

Satisfactory Completion:

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on a decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. This decision will be based on the teacher’s assessment of the student’s performance on assessment tasks designated for the unit.

LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT

Units 1 and 2:

Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision.

Units 3 and 4:

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will supervise the assessment of all students undertaking Units 3 and 4. In the study of VCE Philosophy, students’ level of achievement will be determined by School-assessed Coursework (SACs) and an end-of-year examination.

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE Philosophy are as follows:

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 25 %
Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 25 %
End-of-year examination: 50 %

Key skills required

Unit 1 & 2

  • formulate philosophical questions associated with the problems central to the philosophical debate

  • use examples to support philosophical discussions

  • identify and describe key philosophical concepts associated with metaphysics, epistemology and value theory

  • identify and evaluate philosophical viewpoints and arguments presented in primary philosophical texts and readings

  • develop perspectives on philosophical questions associated with metaphysics, epistemology and value theory

  • reflect critically on personal perspectives

  • explain the interplay between relevant contemporary debates and viewpoints and arguments relating to metaphysics, epistemology and value theory

  • formulate and defend philosophical positions using precise language.

  • identify perspectives and voices that have been elevated or excluded in philosophical discourse

  • evaluate the implications of elevating or excluding perspectives and voices in philosophical discourse

Unit 3

  • explain, analyse and apply philosophical concepts

  • recognise arguments, identifying the premises, the support given for the premises, conclusions and any assumptions made

  • outline and analyse viewpoints and arguments using appropriate terminology

  • use examples from applied philosophical and non-philosophical sources to support philosophical discussion

  • offer relevant criticisms of arguments by assessing the plausibility of premises and any assumptions made and showing whether the conclusions follow from the premises

  • critically compare viewpoints and arguments by comparing the plausibility of the premises or viewpoints, any assumptions made and the quality of the reasoning used

  • develop perspectives on philosophical questions

  • develop perspectives on questions of relevance to contemporary living

  • reflect critically on perspectives

  • formulate and defend philosophical positions using precise language.

Unit 4

  • explain, analyse and apply philosophical concepts

  • recognise arguments, identifying the premises, the support given for the premises, conclusions and any assumptions made

  • identify and analyse assumptions, arguments and viewpoints relating to belief, belief formation and justification found within selected case studies

  • identify epistemological issues arising from the selected case studies

  • outline and analyse philosophical viewpoints and arguments using appropriate terminology

  • use examples from applied philosophical and non-philosophical sources to support philosophical discussion

  • offer relevant criticisms of arguments by assessing the plausibility of premises and any assumptions made, showing whether the conclusions follow from the premises, and analysing the potential consequences for belief, belief formation and justification

  • critically compare viewpoints and arguments offered in the set texts by comparing the plausibility of the premises or viewpoints, the strength of the assumptions made and the quality of the reasoning used

  • develop perspectives on philosophical questions

  • reflect critically on perspectives and the relationship between believing well and living well

  • formulate and defend philosophical positions using precise language.