Philosophy
Philosophy is a quizbowl category which covers philosophers, major schools of thought, and key philosophical concepts.
As of 2025, the ACF distribution groups philosophy with social science under a shared "Social Science & Philosophy" subcategory. At ACF Fall, the two subjects share a 1.5/1.5 allocation (tossups/bonuses) per packet. All other ACF tournaments allocate a full 2/2, with 1/1 specifically designated for philosophy. At all difficulty levels except novice difficulty, players should expect roughly 5% of questions in a given packet of 20 questions to be philosophy.
As of 2025, the NAQT distribution includes philosophy as a separate, but minor, category. Both the HSNCT and Invitational Series distributions assign 0.3/0.3 philosophy questions per packet. Thus, players should expect roughly 1.25% of questions in a given packet of 24 questions to be philosophy.
History of the Category
Traditionally, Philosophy was considered part of the RMP and RMPSS categories, which paired it with Religion and Mythology. Since 2018, it has become more common to divide RMPSS into Belief (Religion & Mythology) and Thought (Social Science & Philosophy).