Resource list

This list provides details on the key philosophical texts and resources for A-level Philosophy. Use these alongside the scheme of work and specification.

While it is not an expectation for the exam, first-hand knowledge of the central arguments contained in the anthology texts can be advantageous for students as they are able to become directly familiar with particular philosophers preferred language and writing style. A familiarity with the texts more broadly is also a great opportunity for students to extend their knowledge and understanding, and to further develop key skills of philosophical analysis and evaluation.

Directly quoting from these texts is not necessary.

Epistemology

Berkeley, G, Three dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, 1713

Descartes, R, Meditations on first philosophy, 1641

Gettier, E, Is justified true belief knowledge?, 1963

Hume, D, An enquiry concerning human understanding, 1748

Leibniz, G, New essays on human understanding, 1705

Locke, J, An essay concerning human understanding, 1690

Plato, Meno, 380 BC

Russell, B, The problems of philosophy, 1912

Trotter Cockburn, C, A letter from an anonymous writer to the author of the Minute philosopher index, Appendix to Berkeley, G, Theory of vision vindicated and explained, 1732

Zagzebski, L, What is knowledge?, 1999, in Greco, J, Sosa, E, The Blackwell guide to epistemology, 1998

Moral philosophy

Annas, J, Virtue ethics, in Copp, D, The Oxford handbook of ethical theory, 2006

Aristotle, Nicomachean ethics, 350 BC

Ayer, A J, The central questions of philosophy, 1973/1991

Ayer, A J, Language, truth and logic, 1936

Bentham, J, Introduction to the principles of morals and legislation, 1789

Diamond, C, Eating meat and eating people, 1978

Foot, P, Morality as a system of hypothetical imperatives, 1972

Hare, R M, The language of morals, 1952

Hume, D, Treatise of human nature, 1739-40

Kant, I, Foundations of the metaphysics of morals, 1785

Mackie, J L, Ethics: inventing right and wrong, 1977

Mill, J S, Utilitarianism, 1863

Moore, G E, Principia Ethica, 1903

Smart, J J C, Williams, B, Utilitarianism: for and against, 1973

Metaphysics of God

Anselm, Proslogium

Aquinas, T, Summa Theologica – whether God is omnipotent?

Aquinas, T, Summa Theologica – whether God exists?

Ayer, A J, The central questions of philosophy, 1973/1991

Ayer, A J, Language, truth and logic, 1936

Descartes, R, Meditations on first philosophy, 1641

Flew, A, Hare, R M, Mitchell, B, Theology and falsification, in Flew, A, Macintyre, A, New essays in philosophical theology, 1955

Hick, J, Evil and the God of love, 1966/1978

Hume, D, Dialogues concerning natural religion, 1779

Hume, D, An enquiry concerning human understanding, 1748

Leibniz, G, Monadology, 1714

Malcolm, N, Anselm’s ontological arguments: the philosophical review, 1960

Midgley, M, Wickedness: a philosophical essay, 1984

Plantinga, A, God, freedom and evil: essays in philosophy, 1975

Plato, Euthyphro, 380 BC

Stump, E, Kretzmann, N, Eternity: journal of philosophy, 1981

Swinburne, R G, The argument from design, 1968

Metaphysics of mind

Avramides, A, Other minds, 2001

Block, N, Readings in philosophy of psychology – troubles with functionalism, 1980

Chalmers, D, The conscious mind: in search of a fundamental theory, 1996

Chalmers D, Blackwell guide to the philosophy of mind – consciousness and its place in nature, 2003

Churchland, P S, Brain-wise, 2002

Churchland, P M, Eliminative materialism and propositional attitudes, 1981

Descartes, R, Meditations on first philosophy, 1641

Hempel, C, The logical analysis of psychology, in Jeffrey, R, Hempel, C, Selected philosophical essays, 1949/2000

Jackson F, Epiphenomenal Qualia, 1982

Putnam, H, Mind, language and reality: the nature of mental states, 1975/1986

Ryle, G, The concept of mind, 1949/2000

Shapiro, L, The correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes, 2007

Smart, J J C, The philosophical review: sensations and brain processes, 1959

General resources

British Philosophical Association (BPA)

Internet encyclopedia of philosophy

Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy

Baggini, J, Fosl, PS, The philosopher’s toolkit: a compendium of philosophical concepts and methods, 2nd Edition, Wiley-Blackwell,

ISBN: 978-1-4051-9018-3, 2010.

Bruce, M, Barbone, S, Just the arguments: 100 of the most important arguments in western philosophy, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN-10: 144433638X/ ISBN-13:978-1444336382, 2002.

Hospers, J, An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis, 4th edition, Routledge, ISBN-10: 0415157935/ ISBN-13: 978-0415157933, 1997.

Morton, A, Philosophy in practice: an introduction to the main questions, 2nd edition, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN-10: 1405116188/ ISBN-13: 978-1405116183, 2003.

Warburton, N, Philosophy: the essential study guide, Routledge, ISBN-10: 0415341809/ ISBN-13:978-0415341806, 2004.