The 2024 baccalaureate philosophy test takes place this Tuesday, June 18. What are the most likely topics?
As every year, it is with the philosophy test that final year students begin the baccalaureate exams. This year it takes place on Tuesday June 18 from 8 a.m. to noon. There are therefore less than 24 hours left for candidates from mainland France and overseas to perfect their knowledge before having to complete their philosophy papers.
Candidates will therefore have 4 hours to complete an essay or an explanation of a text whose subject will relate to one of the 17 concepts in the program. Some of them have a good chance of falling, this is the case of the unconscious, freedom, nature, time and truth, but nothing says that another theme will not be the part. For this test, the correctors expect students to be able to construct a philosophical reflection and analysis by using the concepts that have been taught to them.
If the subjects for the 2024 philosophy baccalaureate are not yet known, some indications could guide students and allow them to get an initial idea. First, it is important to remember that topics already released last year do not return the following year. At least that has never happened before. Please note, nothing is written in advance, and it is possible, in fact, that the same subject falls two consecutive years. It is therefore imperative not to skip any revisions.
In 2024, there are 17 concepts on the program for the baccalaureate philosophy test. Art, conscience, duty, justice, language, freedom, nature, happiness, the State, science, time, truth, religion, technology, work, conscience and desire. In this list, certain subjects are favorites in 2024 and have a good chance of falling, here they are:
- The duty
- The unconscious
- Freedom
- Nature
- The weather
- The truth.
Other subjects are a little less likely, such as art, consciousness, language, reason, religion or even technology. Finally, a final list includes the least likely subjects for this year 2024. Please note, this does not mean that they cannot fall: happiness, the State, justice, science and work.
The first candidates to take the 2024 baccalaureate philosophy test, high school students from the centers of North America this year had the subjects: “How to be happy if nothing lasts”, “Can we speak without knowing” as well as an explanation of the text to be made from an extract from the Interviews of Epictetus.
For candidates from other foreign centers, the dissertation topics this year were: “Does art help us to live” and “Why should we trust science”, when explaining the text, it concerned a passage from theNicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. Proof of this is that everything must be revised, the themes of “happiness”, “art” and “science” which are not, however, among the probable subjects for the 2024 baccalaureate, have fallen.
For other foreign centers, the baccalaureate exams will begin in a few days, just before the start of the baccalaureate in mainland Reunion and Mayotte. Last year, they had to compose on the following subjects, transcribed by the site Baccalaureate subject.
Subject of foreign centers of group 1 for the general route
- Topic 1: Can we agree on what is right?
- Topic 2: Does language distort thought?
- Topic 3: Explaining a text extract from Madrid Conference on the Human Soul (1916), by Bergson in relation to freedom and science.
Subject of foreign centers of group 1 for the professional route
- Topic 1: Does religion involve renouncing reason?
- Topic 2: Are we really sensitive to injustice?
- Topic 3: Explain an extract from The future of an illusion (1927), by Freud in connection with the notions of culture and nature
The philosophy test is one of the most feared in the 2024 baccalaureate. A reputation due to the object of study of the subject and the comments which come back each year on the possible subjective marking made by each examiner. But the philosophy exam assesses students’ abilities to construct an argument and develop arguments to answer a question on notions which often give rise to interpretation.
To pass the philosophy test, you must forget about learning lessons by heart but instead understand and master the use of philosophical concepts seen in class. Regarding quotations and philosophical references, although everyone considers it essential to have them, you must above all know how to use them and not fill your copy with references unless they have a connection with the subject. Note also that well-used philosophical references can be supplemented by personal references, if these are relevant.
Finally, some additional advice for candidates who decide to tackle text commentary: two pitfalls should be avoided. First off-topic, you need to take the time to understand the concepts studied in the text extract and clearly identify the question they raise. Once this step has been completed, you must not take the easy route and paraphrase the text. The goal is to explain the author’s thoughts, always with arguments developed thanks to the candidate’s knowledge.
Despite the reform of the baccalaureate, the philosophy test has kept its traditional formula. Candidates therefore have four hours to complete their papers during the written philosophy exam. Three subjects are offered: two dissertations and one relating to a text study. Candidates who opt for a dissertation only have a simple question as their subject to which they must respond with a detailed argument justified by personal philosophical references and knowledge. For the text study, candidates must account for the meaning and philosophical scope of a text signed by an author present in the philosophy program. Beware of the biggest pitfall of this exercise, considered by some to be simpler than the essay: paraphrasing the text will not be enough to pass the test.
Linternaute invites you to rediscover the subjects of last year’s philosophy baccalaureate in their entirety for the general sector as well as the technological sector:
Studyrama also offers these answers for last year’s baccalaureate philosophy subjects. All the corrections can be found on this special page of the Studyrama site.
Each year, the results of baccalaureate candidates are published on a single date and, in 2024, they will fall on July 8. After the philosophy test, final year high school students will have to wait around twenty days before knowing their grade. Fortunately, the publication of the corrections, scheduled a few hours after the test, allows us to have an idea of the quality of the work rendered and therefore of the mark obtained. You can find the answers to the test as soon as they are published on Linternaute.com. Note that in philosophy, the work of argumentation is as, if not more, important than the answer itself.