Super-curricular learning is where a student explores their subject beyond what is required by the school or by the exam specification. It is therefore inherently self-motivated, allowing you to explore what you find most interesting, on your own terms. It is most impressive when evidencing a genuine passion for the subject, rather than being just a hasty means of plumping out a UCAS personal statement or preparing for interview.
Philosophy is an active subject. The balance is more towards doing it than knowing it, and its very business is unresolved questions. That means the best super-curricular activities for Philosophy get you encountering and reflecting on ideas for yourself. They should leave you thinking throughout the rest of your day, long after you read or listened to or watched the material recommended below.
1. Listen to podcasts
Podcasts are great for multi-tasking: engage your mind while doing chores, walking the dog or going for a run. Here are some highly-rated choices to wisely invest these opportunities:
- In Our Time: Philosophy: BBC Radio 4 programme where Melvyn Bragg whips a panel of academics into teaching him about a new subject every week. The BBC has a separate podcast feed for philosophy, religion, history, science or culture. Thousands of episodes since it started in 1998! Search the full archive for something you like.
- Philosophy Bites: Great little 15-minute introductions to a philosophical concept.
- Moral Maze: Heated questioning of witnesses defending their views on current ethical issues.
- The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast: Multi-episode analyses of major philosophical writings, but aimed at students and kept informal throughout.
- The Partially Examined Life: Casual chats about big philosophy. Some joking along in laid-back episodes of around an hour.
- Philosophy For Our Times: Public talks looking at the modern world through a philosophical lens.
- Philosophize This!: Breaks down major ideas and thinkers for popular-level understanding.
- Philosopher’s Zone: Australian discussion of key ideas with links to topical issues.
- Gresham College Lectures: This public institution gives thoroughly informative talks on a broad range of Philosophy topics and more.
2. Watch philosophical films and television series
In these recommended films and TV series, directors have grippingly presented a philosophical puzzle or thought experiment. Enjoy both the plot and the way it makes you think.
Here are the most thought-provoking films:
- The Matrix (1999): A Philosophy classic! If you discovered that this world is actually a computer-generated simulation, would you want to know the truth?
- The Truman Show (1998): A comedic questioning of reality for one man only, and the ethics of deception.
- Inception (2010): Reality and the nature of consciousness.
- Donnie Darko (2001): Suspenseful exploration of free will and the nature of time.
- Shutter Island (2010): How far can you trust your subjective experience of reality? A thriller.
- Blade Runner (1982): Questions what it means to be a conscious person, and the moral implications of that.
- Ex Machina (2014): A similar personhood theme to Blade Runner. More up-to-date presentation of embodied artificial intelligence.
- Fight Club (1999): A deeply existential film whose characters try to resolve their nihilism with a rebellious Nietzschean solution.
And here are the television series:
- Westworld (TV series, 2016-2022): Inspired by the classic film of the same name, this is an outstanding exploration of consciousness and personhood in AI robots, alongside the ethics of behaviour within simulated worlds.
- Silo (TV series, 2023): This political dystopia challenges the legitimacy of authority and the relative importance of truth versus wellbeing.
- Severance (TV series, 2022): A clever thought experiment thinking through what would happen if you split your consciousness in two: so your work self never remembers its non-work self, and vice versa. Examining the link between personal identity and memory, and the ethical consequences that link entails.
- The Good Place (TV series, 2016-2020): A gentle comedy with a beleaguered ethicist as the main character. He applies moral philosophy to the increasingly wild situations they discover themselves to be in.
- Black Mirror (TV series, 2011 onwards): This is an anthology collection comprising one-off explorations of various philosophical and ethical themes. Lots to choose from, and many of them are haunting.
3. Subscribe to YouTube channels
Don’t have much time or are too tired to focus on a book? There are some excellent philosophy videos being made every day for YouTube.
- Crash Course Philosophy: Fun and fast-paced overviews of philosophy topics and key thinkers. Entertaining visuals to help you keep track of the ideas.
- 8-Bit Philosophy: Bitesize Philosophy presented in the visual form of retro video games.
- The School of Life: Popular philosopher Alain de Botton helpfully applies philosophical ideas to everyday life.
- Cosmic Skeptic: Alex O’Connor is an engaging young Oxford graduate who stands out for his direct personal engagement with the hardest questions of philosophy. Expect interviews with major figures in the relevant fields.
- Closer to Truth: Thoughtful interviews with philosophers, theologians, scientists and other academics on fundamental questions of the universe. High production values here from the USA’s public-service broadcaster, PBS.
- Jeffrey Kaplan: This Philosophy professor uploads engaging half-hour lectures across interesting aspects of the subject. There are also short episodes on memorisation and study skills.
- Wireless Philosophy: Clear animations introducing philosophical problems with narration by academics from top universities.
4. Read Philosophy magazines and journals
- Philosophy Now: Bi-monthly selections of short philosophy articles for the general public, usually with a leading theme running through each edition. Easily available in supermarkets and newsagents.
- The Philosophers’ Magazine: Another popular presentation of topical philosophy articles and interviews.
- New Philosopher Magazine: Cerebral exploration of past and present ideas from philosophy and beyond.
- Think: A journal-style publication of more in-depth philosophy, designed to be accessible to the intelligent reader.
5. Read classic texts, books and novels
The following are short reads with episodic content that is well suited to ten minutes of your attention here and there:
- 'Do You Think What You Think You Think?' by Julian Baggini - Fun philosophical exercises to reveal your inner inconsistencies.
- The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten' by Julian Baggini - More philosophical and ethical fun, but this time through simple thought experiments that will hurt your brain.
- 'Think' by Simon Blackburn - A clear introduction to the big questions of philosophy, leading you gently through the discussion so far. Explore the subject beyond our religion-heavy syllabus.
- 'Philosophy: The Classics' by Nigel Warburton - Short summaries of the major philosophical books. Gives you an excellent general understanding of them for university applications and further reading.
- 'How to Win Every Argument' by Madsen Pirie - With great power comes great responsibility.
The next three recommendations are more in depth, but can still usefully be managed one chapter at a time:
- 'History of Western Philosophy' by Bertrand Russell - A long but readable introduction to all the influential philosophers and movements in chronological order. Each chapter a good introduction to one of them. It will give you breadth of knowledge to reference at interview, and to choose your favourites for further exploration.
- 'Causing Death and Saving Lives' by Jonathan Glover - Fair and thoughtful discussion of both sides of the argument on the controversial moral questions of abortion, infanticide, suicide, euthanasia, capital punishment and war. You will be well practised in practical ethics after reading this.
- 'Paradoxes from A to Z' by Michael Clark - Frustrating philosophical conundrums and their possible solutions.
And finally, here is a list of great novels that explore philosophical ideas through narrative:
- 'Sophie's World' by Jostein Gaarder - A novel about a teenager being led through the history of philosophy.
- 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley - Imagine if you could change human nature to make everyone happy with their place in an unequal hierarchy... Dystopian novel with ethical implications.
- 'The Outsider' by Albert Camus - Classic existentialist novel. How continental philosophy is (sometimes) done.
6. Complete online courses
‘Massive Open Online Courses’ (MOOCs) give you a taste of university style modules from top universities at your own pace. The videos and accompanying resources tend to be very high quality. The courses are usually accessible for free but often allow paid upgrades to have submissions marked, engage in discussion or to earn a certificate at the end. There are some intriguing Philosophy examples below, but you can browse a more comprehensive list for all subjects here.
- Philosophy and Critical Thinking (University of Queensland on edX): This comes first in the list because it teaches you the fundamental skills of thinking logically and evaluating arguments. You will be a better philosopher for it.
- Introduction to Philosophy (University of Edinburgh on Coursera): A topic-based introduction to the subject. Covering epistemology (the study of knowledge), philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, political philosophy, moral philosophy and metaphysics. Has an accompanying textbook.
- Thought Experiments: An Introduction to Philosophy (Erasmus University Rotterdam on Coursera): A problem-based introduction to the subject. Encounter puzzles such as accidentally true belief, scepticism, the mind-body problem, free will, personal identity and more.
- Introduction to Ethics: Moral Problems and the Good Life (MIT): What is a good life? What is our duty to others? Is ‘good’ an objective measure?
- Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle and His Successors (University of Pennsylvania on Coursera): Includes excellent introductions to Epicureanism and Stoicism.
- Philosophy, Science and Religion (University of Edinburgh on Coursera): Studying the nature and limits of scientific knowledge and its relationship with religious disagreement. Has an accompanying textbook.
- Justice (Harvard University on edX): This is a classic MOOC. Openly examines issues of justice such as positive discrimination, human rights and equality through the ideas of major philosophers.
- Relativism (University of California, Irvine on Coursera): A critical study of whether truth and morality are subjective.
- Skepticism (University of California, Irvine on Coursera): A course in philosophical doubt, and what we can salvage from it.
7. Enter essay competitions
When writing an essay, you are actually ‘doing’ Philosophy. Many of the essay competitions give you broad titles so you can think freely and research beyond the syllabus. Here are some high-profile essay competitions that are open to sixth formers. They tend to be aimed at Year 12 / lower sixth, with deadlines in spring or early summer each year:
- Royal Institute of Philosophy: ‘Think’ Essay Prize
- Cogito Education: Philosophy Essay Competition
- Trinity College, Cambridge: Philosophy Essay Prize
- Minds Underground: Philosophy Essay Competition
- John Locke Institute: Global Essay Prize (Philosophy category)
Tutors for Philosophy University Entrance Admissions
Please do get in touch with Keystone Tutors if you are looking for a Philosophy tutor to further support your university preparation. Our tutors have extensive experience with admissions tests, interviews and personal statement support for entrance to top UK universities.