VCE Philosophy past exams 2023–2025

Every question from the last three VCE Philosophy exams, matched to the lesson that teaches it, with class averages from the examiners' reports and worked solutions. VCE Philosophy (Year 12) lessons.

2025 Exam

A1 (10 marks, class average 57%): Nietzsche on suffering and self-discipline, a second Unit 3 thinker's reply, and your own view on suffering. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Flourishing and Tranquillity — Aristotle and Epicurus on the Good Life, Philosophy Exam Strategy — Analysing Set Texts and Writing Philosophical Essays
A2 (10 marks, class average 50%): Allen on Aristotle's proportional justice, another thinker on uneven shares, and whether a good life needs equal shares. Lesson: The Good Life and Others — Relationships, Community and Obligation, Flourishing and Tranquillity — Aristotle and Epicurus on the Good Life
A3 (10 marks, class average 49%): Does a good life need strong moral stances? A climate activist as central example, and two thinkers compared. Lesson: The Good Life and Others — Relationships, Community and Obligation, Freedom and Authenticity — Is the Good Life a Life You Choose?, Philosophy Exam Strategy — Analysing Set Texts and Writing Philosophical Essays
A4 (10 marks, class average 51%): Clifford on why credulity harms us and others, a comparison with another thinker, and comforting false beliefs. Lesson: The Ethics of Belief — Clifford versus James, Testimony, Trust and Epistemic Injustice — Elizabeth Fricker and Miranda Fricker, How Beliefs Are Fixed and Shared — Peirce, Mill and Echo Chambers
B1 (20 marks, class average 50%): Essay: do controversial opinions do more harm than good? Two Unit 4 thinkers and a case study. Lesson: How Beliefs Are Fixed and Shared — Peirce, Mill and Echo Chambers, Testimony, Trust and Epistemic Injustice — Elizabeth Fricker and Miranda Fricker, Philosophy Exam Strategy — Analysing Set Texts and Writing Philosophical Essays
B2 (20 marks, class average 50%): Essay: must we be able to trust others and be believed ourselves? Two Unit 4 thinkers and a case study. Lesson: Testimony, Trust and Epistemic Injustice — Elizabeth Fricker and Miranda Fricker, The Ethics of Belief — Clifford versus James, Philosophy Exam Strategy — Analysing Set Texts and Writing Philosophical Essays
B3 (20 marks, class average 50%): Essay: can you only believe what you've experienced directly? Two Unit 4 thinkers and a case study. Lesson: Testimony, Trust and Epistemic Injustice — Elizabeth Fricker and Miranda Fricker, The Ethics of Belief — Clifford versus James, How Beliefs Are Fixed and Shared — Peirce, Mill and Echo Chambers

2024 Exam

A1a (2 marks, class average 70%): What Descartes concludes from melting wax about how we know reality (no longer on the course)
A1b (2 marks, class average 80%): How Smart defends identity theory when people describe sensations without neuroscience (no longer on the course)
A1c (2 marks, class average 60%): How Descartes might respond to Smart's view that sensations are brain states (no longer on the course)
A1d (2 marks, class average 75%): Whether you prefer Descartes's or Smart's view of mind and body, with a reason (no longer on the course)
A2a (2 marks, class average 75%): Why Michaels thinks our reaction to Dr Nefarious shows the body matters (no longer on the course)
A2b (2 marks, class average 70%): How Hume might respond to the view that the body has a role in personal identity (no longer on the course)
A2c (3 marks, class average 77%): How important the body is to personal identity, using Hume and/or Michaels (no longer on the course)
A3 (3 marks, class average 73%): Is Aristotle right that a life with many disadvantages makes happiness hard to achieve?. Lesson: Flourishing and Tranquillity — Aristotle and Epicurus on the Good Life, What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories
A4a (2 marks, class average 85%): Why Callicles thinks the good life and desire are connected. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories
A4b (2 marks, class average 75%): What Wolf thinks connects the good life and desire. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Freedom and Authenticity — Is the Good Life a Life You Choose?
A4c (3 marks, class average 83%): Would Callicles or Wolf accept that a social media influencer is living the good life?. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Freedom and Authenticity — Is the Good Life a Life You Choose?
A5a (2 marks, class average 70%): Why Nietzsche thinks reducing suffering harms a human life while increasing it helps. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Freedom and Authenticity — Is the Good Life a Life You Choose?
A5b (3 marks, class average 73%): To what extent you agree with Nietzsche on the role of suffering in the good life. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Philosophical Method — Arguments, Validity, Soundness and Counterexamples
B1 (10 marks, class average 50%): Could a chatbot ever be conscious? The extract's argument, Smart and Nagel (no longer on the course)
B2 (10 marks, class average 49%): Are we responsible for what we don't remember? A man facing old crimes, Locke and Hume (no longer on the course)
C1 (20 marks, class average 47%): Essay on a manifesto to engineer superhumans and colonise space, using Plato's Gorgias or Nietzsche. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Freedom and Authenticity — Is the Good Life a Life You Choose?, Philosophy Exam Strategy — Analysing Set Texts and Writing Philosophical Essays
C2 (20 marks, class average 47%): Essay on a writer who swapped a smartphone for a "dumbphone", drawing on Aristotle or Wolf. Lesson: Flourishing and Tranquillity — Aristotle and Epicurus on the Good Life, What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Philosophy Exam Strategy — Analysing Set Texts and Writing Philosophical Essays

2023 Exam

A1 (3 marks, class average 67%): How doubt leads Descartes to dualism (no longer on the course)
A2a (2 marks, class average 55%): Why Nagel chooses bats to argue we lack strong reasons to accept physicalism (no longer on the course)
A2b (3 marks, class average 57%): How strongly Nagel's bat example challenges physicalism (no longer on the course)
A3a (2 marks, class average 65%): The objection Hume raises against Locke's view of memory and personal identity (no longer on the course)
A3b (2 marks, class average 50%): How gaps in our memories support Hume's view that memory helps produce a fictitious identity (no longer on the course)
A3c (3 marks, class average 60%): Whether Locke's or Hume's view of memory and personal identity is more plausible (no longer on the course)
A4 (2 marks, class average 35%): One reason Aristotle gives for not expecting absolute precision in ethics. Lesson: Flourishing and Tranquillity — Aristotle and Epicurus on the Good Life, Philosophical Method — Arguments, Validity, Soundness and Counterexamples
A5a (2 marks, class average 80%): How Callicles might respond to Aristotle's view that virtue aims at a mean, and why. Lesson: Flourishing and Tranquillity — Aristotle and Epicurus on the Good Life, What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories
A5b (3 marks, class average 53%): Evaluate Aristotle's view that virtue seeks the mean between excess and deficiency, using an example. Lesson: Flourishing and Tranquillity — Aristotle and Epicurus on the Good Life, Philosophical Method — Arguments, Validity, Soundness and Counterexamples
A6 (2 marks, class average 25%): One reason Nietzsche gives for saying what is right for one person can't be right for another. Lesson: Freedom and Authenticity — Is the Good Life a Life You Choose?, What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories
A7a (3 marks, class average 30%): How the criticism that meaning only concerns some places, times and classes challenges Wolf's view, with an example. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Freedom and Authenticity — Is the Good Life a Life You Choose?
A7b (3 marks, class average 27%): Whether the criticism that Wolf's view of meaning is class-bound is a fair one. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Philosophical Method — Arguments, Validity, Soundness and Counterexamples
B1 (10 marks, class average 47%): Do near-death experiences show mind and body are distinct? Smart and Descartes (no longer on the course)
B2 (10 marks, class average 47%): Would an android running an upload of your brain be you? The extract, Locke and Michaels (no longer on the course)
C1 (20 marks, class average 47%): Essay on why new technology hasn't made us happier (the hedonic treadmill), using Plato's Gorgias or Aristotle. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Flourishing and Tranquillity — Aristotle and Epicurus on the Good Life, Philosophy Exam Strategy — Analysing Set Texts and Writing Philosophical Essays
C2 (20 marks, class average 47%): Essay on whether AI writing tools such as ChatGPT threaten the good life, using Wolf or Nietzsche. Lesson: What Makes a Life Go Well? — Hedonism, Desire Satisfaction and Objective List Theories, Freedom and Authenticity — Is the Good Life a Life You Choose?, Philosophy Exam Strategy — Analysing Set Texts and Writing Philosophical Essays