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Paper 1

Paper 2

Paper 3

1.1 Identity

1.2 The self and the other

1.3 Consciousness

1.4 Personhood

1.5 Human nature

1.6 Freedom

2.1 The nature of art

2.2 The artist and the artistic process

2.3 Aesthetic experience and judgement

3.1 Nature of knowledge

3.2 Problems of knowledge

3.3 Application of knowledge

4.1 Normative ethics

4.2 Meta-ethics

4.3 Applied ethics

5.1 Nature and existence of God

5.2 Religious language

5.3 Religious experience and behaviour

6.1 Nature and methodologies of science

6.2 Science and the self

6.3 Science and society

7.1 The state

7.2 Justice

7.3 Liberty and rights

8.1 Social structures and institutions

8.2 Equality and discrimination

8.3 Gender

9.1 Philosophy and technology

9.2 Philosophy and the environment

9.3 The nature, function, and meaning of methodology of philosophy

10.1 Language, Truth and Logic – Alfred Jules Ayer

10.2 The Analects – Confucius

10.3 Meditations on First Philosophy – René Descartes

10.4 Black Skin, White Masks – Frantz Fanon

10.5 On the Genealogy of Morality – Friedrich Nietzsche

10.6 Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach – Martha C. Nussbaum

10.7 The Revolt of the Masses – José Ortega y Gasset

10.8 The Republic, Books IV–IX – Plato

10.9 The Ethics of Authenticity – Charles Taylor

10.10 Tao Te Ching – Lao Tzu

10.11 The Second Sex – Simone de Beauvoir

10.12 On Liberty – John Stuart Mill

IB Philosophy 10.3.1 Radical Doubt and the Quest for Certainty Key Definitions

Definition

A priori knowledge

A priori knowledge is knowledge that is justified independently of sensory experience, derived through reason alone. Classic examples include mathematical truths such as "2 + 3 = 5" and logical principles.

Definition

Dream argument

Descartes' dream argument is the sceptical hypothesis that there are no reliable signs to distinguish waking experience from dreaming, which calls into question all beliefs based on sensory experience. The argument does not claim we are dreaming but that we cannot prove we are not.

Definition

Evil demon

The evil demon (also called the "malin genie") is a thought experiment introduced by Descartes in which a supremely powerful deceiver is imagined to be constantly manipulating all of one's perceptions and reasoning. It functions as the most radical stage of hyperbolic doubt, demonstrating that even a priori knowledge cannot be assumed beyond challenge.

Definition

Method of doubt

The method of doubt is a systematic philosophical procedure developed by Descartes in which all beliefs that can possibly be doubted are provisionally rejected. The aim is not genuine scepticism but to use doubt as a controlled tool for identifying beliefs that are absolutely certain and can serve as an unshakeable foundation for knowledge.

IB Philosophy 10.3.1 Radical Doubt and the Quest for Certainty Key Definitions

Definition

A priori knowledge

A priori knowledge is knowledge that is justified independently of sensory experience, derived through reason alone. Classic examples include mathematical truths such as "2 + 3 = 5" and logical principles.

Definition

Dream argument

Descartes' dream argument is the sceptical hypothesis that there are no reliable signs to distinguish waking experience from dreaming, which calls into question all beliefs based on sensory experience. The argument does not claim we are dreaming but that we cannot prove we are not.

Definition

Evil demon

The evil demon (also called the "malin genie") is a thought experiment introduced by Descartes in which a supremely powerful deceiver is imagined to be constantly manipulating all of one's perceptions and reasoning. It functions as the most radical stage of hyperbolic doubt, demonstrating that even a priori knowledge cannot be assumed beyond challenge.

Definition

Method of doubt

The method of doubt is a systematic philosophical procedure developed by Descartes in which all beliefs that can possibly be doubted are provisionally rejected. The aim is not genuine scepticism but to use doubt as a controlled tool for identifying beliefs that are absolutely certain and can serve as an unshakeable foundation for knowledge.