IB Diploma · session May 2027
Philosophy
Guide first assessed in May 2025.
Core theme
Nothing matches that.
The course in one page
The course in one page. Standard and higher level, for the guide first assessed in May 2025 — the guide May 2027 candidates sit.
What the course is
Philosophy in the DP is not the history of philosophy. You are not assessed on how much you know about Kant. You are assessed on whether you can do philosophy: construct an argument, examine what it assumes, anticipate the strongest objection, and respond to it.
That has a consequence students find counter-intuitive: an essay that names ten philosophers can score less than one that names two and argues carefully. Philosophers are evidence for your argument, not a substitute for it.
The structure
| Component | What it is |
|---|---|
| Core theme: being human | Compulsory. What is a person? Self and identity, mind and body, human nature, freedom and determinism, personhood. |
| Optional themes | Aesthetics · Epistemology · Ethics · Philosophy and contemporary society · Philosophy of religion · Philosophy of science · Political philosophy · Social philosophy. SL studies one, HL two. |
| Prescribed text | One text studied closely, examined open-book in Paper 2. |
| HL extension | Unpacking philosophical activity — philosophy examining itself. |
The papers
| Standard level | Higher level | |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1: core theme and optional theme | 105 min, 50 marks | 150 min, 50 marks |
| Paper 2: prescribed text | 60 min, 25 marks | 60 min, 25 marks |
| Paper 3: unpacking philosophical activity | — | 75 min, 25 marks |
Paper 1 Section A presents an unseen stimulus — an image, a passage, a quotation — and asks you to identify a philosophical issue arising from it and discuss it. There is no single correct issue. You are assessed on the quality of the philosophy you build, not on whether you guessed the intended topic.
Paper 1 Section B is an essay on your optional theme.
Paper 2 is open book. You take your annotated prescribed text in. This changes what preparation means: you should know where things are, not have memorised them, and your annotations should consist of arguments and objections rather than summaries.
How it is marked
Philosophy uses mark bands, not point schemes. Four things move you up them:
Argument, not exposition. Describing a position is the floor. The marks are for assessing whether it is true, and for saying why.
Counter-argument, taken at its strongest. A top-band essay puts the best case against its own conclusion and then answers it. Defeating a weak version of the opposing view lowers your mark.
Precision with terms. Determinism is not fatalism. Compatibilism is not "a bit of both". Define contested terms early and use them consistently.
A conclusion that follows. It should be the thing your argument has actually established — which may be a qualified conclusion. "Free will in the libertarian sense is not defensible, though a compatibilist account survives the objection" is a stronger ending than a confident verdict the essay has not earned.
Assessment objectives
| Roughly | ||
|---|---|---|
| AO1 | Knowledge and understanding | identify and explain philosophical concepts and positions |
| AO2 | Application and analysis | apply them to a stimulus or issue; analyse arguments |
| AO3 | Synthesis and evaluation | evaluate arguments, construct your own, reach a judgement |
| AO4 | Selection, use and application | organise a clear, coherent, well-supported response |
Command terms
| Term | What must appear on the page |
|---|---|
| Define | A precise meaning. |
| Outline / Describe | A brief account. |
| Explain | The reasoning behind a position. |
| Analyse | Break an argument into premises and conclusion and show how they connect. |
| Compare and contrast | Similarities and differences between positions. |
| Discuss | A balanced review of competing positions. |
| Evaluate | Strengths and weaknesses, then a judgement. |
| Examine | The position and the assumptions it rests on. |
| Justify | Reasons for a position, against the alternative. |
| To what extent | A judgement with a degree. |
Examine is the term to watch. It asks specifically for the assumptions underneath a position — not just whether it is right, but what it takes for granted in order to be stated at all.
Educerie · written from the published IB Diploma Programme structure for Philosophy, first assessment 2025. Original text. Paper durations and mark totals checked against the May 2027 examination schedule. Last reviewed 5 September 2026.