The subject therefore provides a good basis in critical and reflective thinking for a questioning young mind. A-Level pupils are expected to consider questions that they may never have considered before, such as how the thinking mind relates to the body, and put together a focused and cogent response to a particular problem. It trains them to construct arguments of quality based on evidence and thought, detecting and rejecting flawed lines of reasoning in the process. Younger pupils grapple with questions such as the relationships between religions, the limitations of deontological and teleological systems of ethics and why people might believe.
The subject therefore provides a good basis in critical and reflective thinking for a questioning young mind. Plato reports Socrates as saying that the unexamined life is not worth living. This subject challenges assumptions and makes pupils think more deeply about questions they may not have considered, or about things that they have previously simply taken for granted, examining themselves, their views and their attitudes in the process."