Education. Baccalaureate 2025: freedom, truth... discover the topics of the philosophy exam

The written baccalaureate exams for final-year students have kicked off. More than 530,000 students began the four-hour philosophy exam at 8 a.m. this Monday morning . High school students had a choice between two essay topics and a text explanation. Here's a look at the various topics offered.

General series

For final year students taking the general baccalaureate, here are the two possible essay topics: "Does our future depend on technology?" or "Is the truth always convincing?"

They could also choose to work on John Rawls' text, A Theory of Justice (1971), in which the American liberal philosopher and Harvard professor sets out the principles that govern a just society.

For final-year students enrolled in the technology stream, it was possible to write essays on art or freedom. They could thus choose to answer the following question: "Are we free in all circumstances?" Or the following: "Do we need art?"

The text explanation submitted to the candidates in the technology series was an extract from The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) by Adam Smith, a Scottish philosopher and economist who sets out a theory of moral judgment.

Exam with a strong symbolic charge

The philosophy exam is always a highly symbolic one, even if the stakes are lower. Out of a total of 100, philosophy carries a weighting of eight for general baccalaureate candidates, and four for technological baccalaureate candidates.

Since the baccalaureate reform in 2019, the baccalaureate grade is based 40% on continuous assessment and 60% on so-called final exams (written and oral French, taken in the first year, specialist exams, philosophy and the oral exam in the final year).

Read the full topics.