This year more than 543,000 general and technological baccalaureate candidates are taking their baccalaureate, which this year has changed a little again. The specialty tests, postponed from March to June, will take place this Wednesday and Thursday, thus the philosophy test is relaunching, as it did four years ago, a series of final written tests.
The philosophy baccalaureate test, which started at 8 a.m., also regains its importance for candidates who are not yet sure of having their diploma. Terminale students must deal with one of the three proposed topics: two essay topics and an explanation of the text.
The 2024 topics for the general series are very current and political: with the role of the State and the theme of science and truth on the menu. Also the subject of the general baccalaureate includes a text by the French philosopher Simone WEIL, not to be confused with the stateswoman and magistrate Simone Veil!
Philosophy bac exam on Tuesday June 18, 2024
Duration of the philosophy test: 4 hours (from 8 to 12 hours)
Coefficient: 8 for the general series, 4 for the techno series
Subject of the 2024 philosophy baccalaureate – general series
The candidate deals with a single subject of their choice.
Dissertation – Topic 1
– Can science satisfy our need for truth?
Dissertation – Topic 2
– Does the state owe us anything?
Explanation of text
Explain the following text: Simone WEIL, La Condition Ouvrière (1943)
Every human action requires a motive1 which provides the energy necessary to accomplish it, and it is good or bad depending on whether the motive is high or low. To comply with the exhausting passivity that the factory demands, you have to look for motives within yourself, because there are no whips, no chains; whips and chains would perhaps make the transformation easier. The very conditions of the work prevent other motives from intervening than the fear of reprimands and dismissal, the eager desire to accumulate money, and, to a certain extent, the taste for speed records. Everything conspires to recall these motives to thought and transform them into obsessions; nothing higher is ever appealed to; moreover, they must become obsessive to be sufficiently effective. At the same time as these motives occupy the soul, thought retracts to a point of time to avoid suffering, and consciousness is extinguished as much as the necessities of work allow. An almost irresistible force, comparable to gravity, then prevents us from feeling the presence of other human beings who are also struggling nearby; it is almost impossible not to become indifferent and brutal like the system in which one is caught; and reciprocally the brutality of the system is reflected and made perceptible by the gestures, the looks, the words of those around us. After a day thus spent, a worker has only one complaint, a complaint which does not reach the ears of men foreign to this condition and would not say anything to them if it did; he found the time long.
The official subject of the philosophy baccalaureate in pdf format available here
Subject of the 2024 philosophy baccalaureate – technological series
Dissertation – Topic 1
– Is nature hostile to man?
Dissertation – Topic 2
– Is the artist in control of his work?
Explanation of text
Explain the following text: PLATO, The Laws IX (4th century BC)
It is necessary for men to give themselves laws and live in accordance with these laws, otherwise they will differ in no way from the wildest beasts. This is the reason: no man is born with a natural ability to know what is profitable for human life in society and, even if he knew it, to always be able to do and wish for the best. Because in the first place it is difficult to understand that true political art must take care, not of the particular good, but of the general good – because the general good unites, while the particular good tears societies apart; and the common good as much as the particular good even both benefits from the first rather than the second being ensured in a suitable manner. Secondly, even if one were clever enough to realize that this is the nature of things, and that one had to govern a State with absolute power and without any accountability, one could not remain faithful to this principle and throughout his life put the common good of society first and the particular good second. In fact, the mortal nature of man will always lead him to want more than others and to take care of his own particular good, because it flees pain and pursues pleasure without taking into account reason, whether it will put both before the most just and the best, and, blinding itself, it will end up filling itself and all of society with all kinds of evil.
Writing the copy
The candidate has the choice between two ways of writing the text explanation.
He can :
– either answer in order, in a precise and developed manner, to the questions
asked (option no. 1);
– or follow the development of your choice (option no. 2).
He indicates his writing option (option no. 1 or option no. 2) at the beginning of his copy.
Option #1 question
A. Elements of analysis
1. Explain why living without laws would be living like “the wildest beasts.”
2. Explain why “true political art must take care (…) of the general good.”
3. What meaning can we give to the expression “the fairest and the best”?
B. Summary elements
1. What is the question that the author answers in this text?
2. Identify the different moments of the argument.
3. Building on the previous elements, identify the main idea of the text.
C. Comment
1. According to the text, what are the evils that can threaten society?
2. Based on your understanding of the text, you will ask yourself if it is possible, and in what way, to reconcile the good of individuals and that of the community.
The official subject of the philosophy baccalaureate in pdf format available here
Standard answer key for the test:
Also see
