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100+ Free IB Philosophy HL Practice Questions

Pass your International Baccalaureate Philosophy Higher Level exam on the first try — instant access, no signup required.

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Key Facts: IB Philosophy HL Exam

1-7

IB grading scale

IBO Diploma Programme

240 hours

Recommended HL teaching time

IB Philosophy subject guide

4h 45m

Total written exam time (Papers 1+2+3)

IB Philosophy subject guide

20%

Internal Assessment weighting

IB Philosophy subject guide

3 themes

Optional Themes studied at HL (vs 2 at SL)

IB Philosophy subject guide

11 texts

Prescribed Text options

IB Philosophy subject guide

100

Free practice questions here

OpenExamPrep

IB Philosophy HL is the 240-hour Higher Level Group 3 option centred on doing philosophy rather than memorising it. Assessment combines three exam papers (4h 45m total) — Core Theme + Optional Themes, Prescribed Text, and HL-only Unseen Text Analysis — with a 20% Internal Assessment, graded 1-7.

Sample IB Philosophy HL Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your IB Philosophy HL exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1In IB Philosophy HL, which of the following best describes the Core Theme 'Being Human'?
A.A compulsory theme exploring what it means to be human through identity, mind, freedom and consciousness
B.An optional theme studied only by HL candidates
C.A coursework component assessed as part of the Internal Assessment
D.A historical survey of Western philosophy from Plato to Heidegger
Explanation: The Core Theme 'Being Human' is compulsory for both SL and HL students and forms Part A of Paper 1. It addresses personal identity, mind-body, freedom, the self, the other and what it means to be human.
2Locke's memory theory of personal identity holds that a person at time t2 is identical to a person at t1 if and only if which condition holds?
A.The person at t2 has a memory of an experience the person at t1 had
B.The person at t2 has the same biological body as at t1
C.The person at t2 has the same immaterial soul as at t1
D.The person at t2 has the same fingerprints and DNA as at t1
Explanation: Locke's psychological memory criterion ties personal identity to continuity of consciousness — specifically, the ability to remember past experiences. This decouples identity from bodily or substantial sameness.
3Parfit's psychological continuity theory of personal identity famously concludes which of the following?
A.Personal identity is not what matters; survival via overlapping psychological chains is
B.Personal identity requires an immaterial Cartesian soul
C.Personal identity is grounded entirely in physical brain continuity with no role for psychology
D.There is no such thing as a person — only causally connected experiences
Explanation: In Reasons and Persons, Parfit argues that identity is indeterminate in fission/teleporter cases and that what matters is psychological connectedness and continuity (Relation R), not strict identity.
4Substance dualism, most famously defended by Descartes, holds that:
A.The mind and body are two distinct substances, the mind being non-physical
B.Mental states are identical to brain states
C.Mental states are functional roles that could be realised in any medium
D.Mental talk is folk theory destined to be eliminated by neuroscience
Explanation: Substance dualism posits two ontologically distinct substances: extended physical matter (res extensa) and unextended thinking mind (res cogitans). Descartes argued the mind can exist without the body.
5Functionalism in philosophy of mind is best characterised by which claim?
A.Mental states are defined by their functional/causal role, not by their physical substrate
B.Mental states just are particular brain states (type-identity)
C.Mental states are non-physical properties of an immaterial soul
D.Talk of mental states is folk theory that science will replace
Explanation: Functionalism characterises mental states by causal relations to inputs, other mental states and behavioural outputs. This allows multiple realisability — the same mental state could be realised in brain, silicon or other media.
6Chalmers's 'hard problem of consciousness' refers to:
A.Explaining why physical processes are accompanied by subjective experience
B.Mapping which brain regions activate during different cognitive tasks
C.Defining 'consciousness' in a way scientists can measure
D.Explaining why some animals are conscious and others are not
Explanation: Chalmers distinguishes the 'easy problems' (explaining functions like attention, reportability) from the 'hard problem': why there is something it is like to undergo these processes — the explanatory gap between physical and phenomenal.
7Nagel's essay 'What Is It Like to Be a Bat?' argues that physicalism faces which difficulty?
A.It cannot capture the subjective character (qualia) of conscious experience
B.It cannot account for the existence of physical objects
C.It cannot explain how bats use echolocation
D.It cannot reconcile quantum mechanics with general relativity
Explanation: Nagel argues that even complete physical/functional knowledge of a bat would not tell us what it is like to be one. Conscious experience has an irreducibly subjective point of view that objective science seems unable to capture.
8Hard determinism holds that:
A.All events are causally determined, and therefore no one is morally responsible
B.Free will and determinism are compatible if 'free' means 'acting from one's own desires'
C.Some actions are genuinely undetermined by prior causes
D.Determinism is false because of quantum indeterminacy
Explanation: Hard determinists accept causal determinism and conclude that genuine free will and moral responsibility are illusions — agents could not have done otherwise given the prior state of the universe.
9Frankfurt's compatibilist account argues that a person acts freely when:
A.Their first-order desires align with their second-order desires (volitions)
B.Their action is undetermined by prior causes
C.They have an immaterial soul that intervenes in the causal chain
D.They are physically unconstrained, regardless of inner desires
Explanation: Frankfurt distinguishes first-order desires (wanting X) from second-order volitions (wanting to want X). A person acts freely when they identify with — endorse at the higher order — the desire they act on. Addicts who want not to want fail this test.
10Heidegger's term 'Dasein' in Being and Time refers to:
A.The kind of being whose being is an issue for itself — the human being-in-the-world
B.An immaterial soul separable from the body
C.An eternal Platonic Form
D.A Cartesian ego that exists prior to embodiment
Explanation: Dasein ('being-there') names the entity for whom its own being is an issue. Heidegger rejects the Cartesian subject/object split: Dasein is always already 'being-in-the-world', thrown, concerned, and engaged with equipment and others.

About the IB Philosophy HL Exam

IB Philosophy Higher Level is the Group 3 (Individuals and Societies) option for students interested in conceptual, argumentative and reflective inquiry. The syllabus is built around the Core Theme 'Being Human' (compulsory), Optional Themes (3 at HL, 2 at SL) chosen from Aesthetics, Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy and contemporary society, Philosophy of religion, Philosophy of science and Political philosophy, plus a Prescribed Text from a list of 11 classical and contemporary works. HL is assessed via three external papers — Paper 1 (essays on Core + Optional Themes, 40%), Paper 2 (Prescribed Text essay, 20%) and Paper 3 (HL-only unseen text analysis, 20%) — plus an Internal Assessment philosophical analysis (20%). HL extends SL with a third optional theme and the Paper 3 analytical skill.

Questions

100 scored questions

Time Limit

4 hours 45 minutes total (Paper 1: 2h 30m, Paper 2: 1h, Paper 3: 1h 15m)

Passing Score

Grade 4 standard pass on 1-7 scale; final grade combines three papers and the Internal Assessment

Exam Fee

Set by school; IB subject registration fees typically USD 119 per subject (International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO))

IB Philosophy HL Exam Content Outline

Core Theme

Being Human (HL depth)

Personal identity (Locke memory criterion, Parfit psychological continuity, narrative self), mind-body problem (substance vs property dualism, identity theory, functionalism, eliminativism), free will vs determinism (hard determinism, libertarianism, compatibilism Frankfurt), consciousness (qualia, Nagel bat, Chalmers hard problem); HL thinkers: Heidegger Dasein and being-in-the-world, Sartre bad faith and authenticity, Merleau-Ponty embodied perception, Levinas the Other and ethics, Derrida deconstruction of presence, Foucault biopolitics and the subject

Optional Theme

Ethics (HL depth)

Metaethics (cognitivism vs non-cognitivism, moral realism, error theory, expressivism), normative theories (virtue ethics Aristotle, deontology Kant, utilitarianism Bentham/Mill, contractualism Rawls/Scanlon); applied ethics in depth: bioethics (genetic engineering, cloning, designer babies, end-of-life), environmental ethics (anthropocentrism vs biocentrism vs ecocentrism, Leopold land ethic, Naess deep ecology, ecofeminism), AI ethics (algorithmic bias, autonomous weapons, surveillance, AI rights), global justice (Rawls Law of Peoples, Pogge severe poverty, climate justice intergenerational)

Optional Theme 1

Epistemology

JTB analysis and Gettier counterexamples, Lehrer/Smith Nogot-Havit example, no-false-lemmas response, infallibilism (Descartes), foundationalism vs coherentism vs reliabilism (Goldman), externalism vs internalism debate, social epistemology, testimony (Hume reductionism vs anti-reductionism), virtue epistemology (Sosa, Zagzebski) and intellectual virtues

Optional Theme 2

Philosophy of Religion

Ontological argument (Anselm Proslogion 2/3, Descartes Meditation 5, Plantinga modal, Gödel), cosmological argument (Kalam, Craig), teleological argument (fine-tuning, Swinburne, multiverse response), problem of evil (Augustinian, Irenaean Hick soul-making, Plantinga free will defence, Rowe evidential, sceptical theism), religious experience (James varieties, Otto numinous, Swinburne testimony principle), religious language (Aquinas analogy, via negativa, Wittgenstein language games), pluralism vs exclusivism vs inclusivism (Hick, D'Costa, Plantinga)

Optional Theme 3 (HL)

Political Philosophy and Aesthetics

Political: state of nature (Hobbes vs Locke vs Rousseau), social contract limits (Hume), liberalism (Mill, Rawls, Nozick, Sen capabilities), democracy (Habermas deliberative, Mouffe agonistic), multiculturalism (Kymlicka, Parekh), communitarianism (MacIntyre, Sandel). Aesthetics: definition of art (Tolstoy expression, Bell significant form, Danto/Dickie institutional), beauty (Hume subjective vs Kant disinterested universal), tragedy and catharsis (Aristotle), sublime (Burke, Kant), art and morality (Plato vs Aristotle), aesthetic experience (Dewey), art and politics (Adorno)

Prescribed Text

Prescribed Text (e.g. Plato Republic, Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics)

One of 11 prescribed texts studied in detail. Examples: Plato Republic (theory of Forms, ideal state, allegory of the cave, four cardinal virtues), Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics (eudaimonia, golden mean, intellectual vs moral virtues, akrasia), Descartes Meditations (method of doubt, cogito, ontological argument), Hume Enquiry (causation, problem of induction), Mill On Liberty (harm principle), Nietzsche Genealogy of Morals (slave morality), Sartre Existentialism is a Humanism, Beauvoir Ethics of Ambiguity, Confucius Analects (ren, li, junzi), Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching (wu wei)

Paper 3 (HL only)

Unseen Text Analysis

Analytical skills applied to an unseen philosophical passage: identifying the thesis, reconstructing premises and argument structure, evaluating validity and soundness, identifying philosophical lineage and intellectual context, relating to broader positions and traditions, constructing a reasoned critique

20% IA

Internal Assessment

Philosophical analysis of a non-philosophical stimulus (film, image, song, news article, advertisement). Up to 2,000 words, assessed against criteria including stimulus selection, identification of a philosophical issue, philosophical understanding and analysis, evaluation and personal response. Worth 20% of the final grade at both SL and HL.

How to Pass the IB Philosophy HL Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: Grade 4 standard pass on 1-7 scale; final grade combines three papers and the Internal Assessment
  • Exam length: 100 questions
  • Time limit: 4 hours 45 minutes total (Paper 1: 2h 30m, Paper 2: 1h, Paper 3: 1h 15m)
  • Exam fee: Set by school; IB subject registration fees typically USD 119 per subject

Keys to Passing

  • Complete 500+ practice questions
  • Score 80%+ consistently before scheduling
  • Focus on highest-weighted sections
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

IB Philosophy HL Study Tips from Top Performers

1Build essay templates with a clear thesis, two or three developed arguments, a strong counterargument and evaluation — IB rewards structured philosophical argument over narrative summary
2For the Core Theme 'Being Human', master at least one position per debate (e.g. compatibilism on free will, functionalism on mind-body) plus an HL-extension thinker such as Heidegger or Sartre
3For Paper 2, do not just summarise the Prescribed Text — IB rewards critical engagement, identifying author arguments, evaluating them and relating them to wider philosophical debates
4For Paper 3 (HL only), practise the analytical skill of reading an unseen passage and extracting thesis, premises and argument structure in under 20 minutes before writing
5Use real-world examples (bioethics cases, AI controversies, political events) to illustrate philosophical positions — examiners reward concrete application, not abstract restatement

Frequently Asked Questions

How is IB Philosophy HL different from IB Philosophy SL?

HL has 240 teaching hours versus 150 for SL, studies three Optional Themes rather than two, and adds Paper 3 — a 1h 15m unseen philosophical text analysis worth 20% of the grade. The Core Theme 'Being Human', the Prescribed Text and the Internal Assessment are identical in structure to SL but assessed at HL depth, expecting greater engagement with HL extension thinkers such as Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, Derrida and Foucault.

What are the three exam papers in IB Philosophy HL?

Paper 1 (2h 30m, 40%) is essays on the Core Theme 'Being Human' (one question) plus two Optional Themes (HL) — one essay each. Paper 2 (1h, 20%) is one essay on a Prescribed Text studied in depth. Paper 3 (1h 15m, 20%, HL only) is an analytical response to an unseen philosophical text. The IA philosophical analysis of a non-philosophical stimulus is worth the remaining 20%.

What is the Core Theme in IB Philosophy?

The Core Theme 'Being Human' is compulsory for all candidates (SL and HL) and explores what it means to be human through personal identity, the mind-body problem, free will and determinism, consciousness, the self and the other. HL students engage with the same content at greater depth and with additional thinkers including Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Levinas and Foucault.

Which Optional Themes can I study in IB Philosophy?

IB Philosophy offers seven Optional Themes: Aesthetics, Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophy and contemporary society, Philosophy of religion, Philosophy of science and Political philosophy. HL students study three of these themes; SL students study two. Ethics, Epistemology and Philosophy of religion are among the most commonly taught choices.

What is the Internal Assessment for IB Philosophy HL?

The Internal Assessment is a philosophical analysis (up to 2,000 words) of a non-philosophical stimulus — a film, image, song, news article or advertisement. The student identifies a philosophical issue raised by the stimulus, analyses it using philosophical concepts and arguments, and evaluates competing positions. It is worth 20% of the final grade for both SL and HL.

How is IB Philosophy HL graded?

Each subject is graded on a 1-7 scale, with 7 the highest. A 4 is generally considered a pass. Final grades combine marks from Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3 and the Internal Assessment against grade boundaries set after each session. Selective university programmes in philosophy, law, PPE or humanities typically expect a 6 or 7 in HL Philosophy.