📚 Year 10 Cambridge Philosophy: Complete Syllabus Breakdown | Year 10 剑桥哲学：课程大纲全解析
The Cambridge IGCSE Philosophy course (syllabus code 0988) asks students to do something unusual: to think slowly and carefully about questions that have no simple answer. This guide walks through the Year 10 syllabus paper by paper, topic by topic, so that you know exactly what you are being assessed on and how to prepare for it.
剑桥 IGCSE 哲学课程（课程代码 0988）要求学生做一件不太寻常的事：慢下来、认真地思考那些没有简单答案的问题。本指南将逐卷、逐主题地带你走完 Year 10 课程大纲，让你清楚知道自己被考核的内容，以及该如何准备。
1. Course Overview | 课程概览
Cambridge IGCSE Philosophy (0988) is a globally recognised qualification designed for students typically aged 14 to 16. It was first examined in 2024 and encourages learners to ask fundamental questions about knowledge, reality, morality and society, rather than simply memorising other people's conclusions.
剑桥 IGCSE 哲学（0988）是一项全球认可的资质，面向通常为 14 至 16 岁的学生。该课程于 2024 年首次考试，鼓励学习者对知识、现实、道德与社会提出根本性问题，而不是简单背诵他人的结论。
The course is normally taught over two years, Year 10 and Year 11, though some schools run an accelerated programme that compresses the content into a single year. Either way, the content and the assessment are identical; only the pace changes.
课程通常分两年完成，即 Year 10 与 Year 11，但部分学校会开设把内容压缩到一年的加速课程。无论哪种模式，课程内容与考核方式完全相同，改变的只是节奏。
Assessment is entirely by examination. There is no coursework and no controlled assessment, which means your final grade rests on how well you can construct written arguments under timed conditions. That is good news for organised students, because it makes your preparation entirely predictable.
考核全部通过考试完成，没有课程作业，也没有校内受控评估。这意味着你的最终成绩取决于你在限时条件下构建书面论证的能力。对有条理的学生来说这是好消息，因为它让你的备考完全可预期。
The subject develops skills that transfer far beyond the classroom: identifying hidden assumptions, distinguishing strong arguments from persuasive rhetoric, and writing balanced conclusions. These are the same skills that help in History, English, Politics and Law.
这门学科培养的能力远远超出课堂：识别隐含假设、区分强论证与有说服力的修辞、写出平衡的结论。这些能力同样有助于历史、英语、政治与法律等学科的学习。
2. Key Facts at a Glance | 关键事实速览
Before you plan your revision, it helps to have the skeleton of the qualification in front of you. The table below summarises the essential facts that Year 10 students need to know from week one.
在制定复习计划之前，先把这门资质的"骨架"摆在面前会很有帮助。下表总结了 Year 10 学生从第一周起就应掌握的核心事实。
| Item | 项目 | Detail | 内容 |
| Awarding body | 颁发机构 | Cambridge Assessment International Education | 剑桥国际考评部 |
| Syllabus code | 课程代码 | 0988 | 0988 |
| Typical age | 适龄阶段 | 14–16 (Year 10 to Year 11) | 14 至 16 岁（Year 10 到 Year 11） |
| First examination | 首次考试 | 2024 | 2024 年 |
| Structure | 结构 | Two written papers | 两份笔试 |
| Weighting | 分值比重 | 50% each | 各占 50% |
| Coursework | 课程作业 | None | 无 |
| Question style | 题型 | Structured questions and extended essays | 结构化简答题与论述题 |
Exact paper durations and the precise number of questions can be adjusted by Cambridge between syllabus versions, so always download the current specification from the Cambridge website and treat this table as a map, not a substitute for the official document.
试卷的具体时长与题目数量可能会由剑桥在不同大纲版本间调整，因此请务必从剑桥官网下载最新大纲，把上表当作地图，而非官方文件的替代品。
3. Assessment Objectives | 评估目标
Every mark you earn in this subject is attached to one of the assessment objectives, usually referred to as AO1, AO2 and AO3. Understanding them is the fastest way to raise your grade, because they tell you what examiners are actually rewarding.
你在这门课上得到的每一分都归属于某个评估目标，通常写作 AO1、AO2 与 AO3。理解它们是提分最快的方式，因为它们告诉你考官真正在奖励什么。
AO1 concerns knowledge and understanding: accurate use of philosophical terms, correct explanations of theories, and accurate reference to philosophers and their arguments. Weak AO1 looks like vague hand-waving about "people say" rather than naming a position.
AO1 关乎知识与理解：准确使用哲学术语、正确解释理论、准确提及哲学家及其论证。AO1 薄弱的表现是含糊地说"有人说"，而不指出具体立场。
AO2 concerns application and analysis: using concepts to unpack a scenario, breaking an argument into premises and conclusions, spotting assumptions, and assessing whether reasoning actually holds together. This is where a memorised answer collapses and a thinking answer succeeds.
AO2 关乎应用与分析：用概念剖析情境、把论证拆解为前提与结论、找出隐含假设、判断推理是否真的成立。这里，死记硬背的答案会崩塌，而会思考的答案会胜出。
AO3 concerns evaluation and judgement: weighing strengths and weaknesses, comparing rival positions, responding to objections, and reaching a supported conclusion. A perfect AO1 answer with no AO3 usually stalls in the middle bands.
AO3 关乎评估与判断：权衡优缺点、比较对立立场、回应反驳，并得出有支持的结论。一篇 AO1 完美但缺少 AO3 的答案，通常止步于中等分数段。
AO1 Knowledge + AO2 Analysis + AO3 Judgement → Top Band | 知识 + 分析 + 判断 → 最高分段
4. Paper 1: Knowledge and Reality | Paper 1：知识与现实
Paper 1 is the more abstract of the two papers. It examines epistemology, metaphysics and philosophy of mind, and it is worth 50% of the final grade. The questions ask what we can know, what exists, and what we are.
Paper 1 是两卷中更抽象的一卷，考查认识论、形而上学与心灵哲学，占最终成绩的 50%。题目问的是：我们能知道什么、什么存在、我们是什么。
In Year 10 you will usually meet this paper first, because the puzzle of knowledge comes before the puzzle of morality: you cannot argue about right and wrong until you are confident that reasoning itself is reliable.
在 Year 10，你通常会先接触这一卷，因为"知识之谜"先于"道德之谜"：如果你不确定推理本身是否可靠，就无法真正讨论对与错。
The paper typically mixes shorter structured questions with at least one extended response. Structured questions reward precision and key terms; extended responses reward structure, argument and a clear final position.
该卷通常混合了较短的结构化题目与至少一道论述题。结构化题奖励精准与关键术语，论述题奖励结构、论证与清晰的最终立场。
A practical timing rule: allow roughly one minute per mark, then keep five minutes for checking. Writing a brilliant final paragraph you never had time to finish earns nothing.
一个实用的时间规则：大约每分用一分钟，最后留出五分钟检查。写出精彩却因为超时而没写完的最后一段，是拿不到分数的。
5. Paper 1 Topic Areas Explained | Paper 1 主题领域详解
The epistemology strand asks what knowledge actually is and how we acquire it. You will consider the difference between belief, opinion and justified knowledge, and the sources of knowledge such as perception, reason, memory and testimony.
认识论部分问的是知识究竟是什么、我们如何获得知识。你需要思考信念、意见与有辩护的知识之间的差别，以及知觉、理性、记忆与证言等知识来源。
Classic problems appear here: can the senses deceive us, and if so, how much can we trust them? What makes a belief justified rather than merely lucky? Why do two people with the same evidence sometimes disagree?
经典问题在此出现：感官会欺骗我们吗？如果可以，我们还能多大程度地信任它们？什么使一个信念是有辩护的，而不仅仅是碰巧为真？为什么拥有相同证据的两个人有时会意见相左？
The metaphysics strand moves from how we know to what exists. Typical material includes the debate between dualism and materialism in the philosophy of mind, questions about personal identity over time, and the relationship between appearance and reality.
形而上学部分从"如何认识"转向"什么存在"。典型内容包括心灵哲学中二元论与唯物论的争论、跨时间的个人同一性问题，以及现象与实在的关系。
Many courses also examine arguments about the existence of God, such as design and cosmological arguments, the problem of evil, and the relationship between faith and reason. These are shared with the ethics paper, because they raise questions about moral authority.
许多课程还会考查关于上帝存在的论证，如设计论论证、宇宙论论证、恶的问题，以及信仰与理性的关系。这些内容与道德卷共享，因为它们都牵涉道德权威的来源。
| Topic area | 主题领域 | Typical question focus | 典型问题焦点 |
| Knowledge and justification | 知识与辩护 | What is knowledge? Are beliefs ever fully justified? | 什么是知识？信念能否得到完全辩护？ |
| Perception and scepticism | 知觉与怀疑论 | Can we trust the senses? Could life be an illusion? | 我们能信任感官吗？人生可能是幻觉吗？ |
| Mind and body | 心灵与身体 | Is the mind separate from the brain? | 心灵是否独立于大脑？ |
| God and reality | 上帝与实在 | Do design and evil support or undermine belief? | 设计与恶是支持还是削弱信仰？ |
The single most important habit for this paper is to name positions accurately. "Some philosophers think the mind is the brain" scores less than "materialists such as identity theorists claim mental states are identical with brain states".
这一卷最重要的习惯是准确命名立场。"有些哲学家认为心灵就是大脑"得分低于"像同一论这样的唯物论者主张心理状态与大脑状态同一"。
6. Paper 2: Morality and Society | Paper 2：道德与社会
Paper 2 turns to practical questions. It examines ethical theory and its application, together with political and social philosophy, and it also carries 50% of the final grade.
Paper 2 转向实践问题，考查伦理理论及其应用，并涉及政治与社会哲学，同样占最终成绩的 50%。
Where Paper 1 asks "how do we know?", Paper 2 asks "what should we do, and how should we live together?". The two connect through the idea of justification: an ethical claim needs a reason just as a knowledge claim does.
如果说 Paper 1 问的是"我们如何认识"，Paper 2 问的就是"我们应当做什么、应当如何共同生活"。两者通过"辩护"这一概念相连：道德主张与知识主张一样，都需要理由。
This paper tends to suit students who enjoy debate, because many questions present a real-world scenario and ask you to reason from a theoretical framework rather than from personal opinion.
这一卷往往更适合喜欢辩论的学生，因为许多题目会给出真实情境，要求你从理论框架出发推理，而不是依赖个人好恶。
7. Paper 2 Topic Areas Explained | Paper 2 主题领域详解
The first strand is normative ethics: theories that tell us what makes an action right or wrong. The most commonly taught are utilitarianism, associated with Bentham and Mill, and deontological ethics, associated with Kant's emphasis on duty and universal rules.
第一类是规范伦理学：说明行为对错依据的理论。最常教的是与边沁、密尔相关的功利主义，以及强调义务与普遍规则的康德义务论伦理学。
Virtue ethics, rooted in Aristotle's idea of character and flourishing, is often included as a third approach, asking not "what should I do?" but "what kind of person should I be?".
以亚里士多德关于品格与繁荣的概念为基础的德性伦理学常作为第三条路径出现，它问的不是"我该做什么"，而是"我该成为什么样的人"。
The second strand is meta-ethics in simplified form: is morality objective, or relative to culture and individual feeling? This matters because a relativist and an objectivist will answer the same applied question very differently.
第二条线索是简化版的元伦理学：道德是客观的，还是相对于文化与个人感受的？这很重要，因为相对主义者与客观主义者对同一道应用题会给出很不同的答案。
The third strand is applied ethics, where theory meets real cases. Typical areas include animal welfare, environmental responsibility, war and conflict, poverty and global inequality, and medical or bioethical dilemmas.
第三条线索是应用伦理学，即理论与真实案例的相遇。典型领域包括动物福利、环境责任、战争与冲突、贫困与全球不平等，以及医学或生命伦理困境。
The fourth strand is society and politics: justice, rights, equality, freedom and authority, the purpose of punishment, and the limits of state power over the individual.
第四条线索是社会与政治：正义、权利、平等、自由与权威、惩罚的目的，以及国家对个人的权力边界。
A reliable answer structure for any Paper 2 essay is: define the theory, apply it to the case, raise the strongest objection, then judge whether the theory survives the objection.
Paper 2 论述题的一个可靠结构是：界定理论、应用于案例、提出最强的反驳，然后判断该理论能否经受住这一反驳。
8. Command Words and Question Types | 指令词与题型
Command words are instructions, not decoration. The same content can earn full marks or almost none depending on whether you described, explained, analysed or evaluated, and each word demands a different type of writing.
指令词是指令，不是装饰。同样的内容，可能拿满分，也可能几乎拿不到分，取决于你是在描述、解释、分析还是评估，而每个词要求的写作方式都不同。
| Command word | 指令词 | What it demands | 要求 |
| State / Identify | 指出／识别 | Give one clear point, no explanation needed | 给出一个明确要点，无需展开 |
| Describe | 描述 | Set out the features of a view accurately | 准确说明某一观点的特征 |
| Explain | 解释 | Give reasons why, using key terms | 给出理由，并使用关键术语 |
| Analyse | 分析 | Break into parts, examine premises and assumptions | 拆解结构，检查前提与
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