Philosophy Club at Washington Irving High School: Syllabus
Teachers
Deirdre Black and Sebastian Watzl
Main Objective for every session
Students begin to think about the question of the day. Students will present their
own views and present reasons and examples to back these views. By the end of
each session students will have a more developed understanding of the concept(s)
in question. Students will practice the evaluation of arguments, the reading of
philosophical passages and engagement in respectful and fruitful dialogue.
Materials for every session
One marble notebook and one folder per student, two boxes of pencils, Chalk
board and chalk or dry erase board and marker.
*Film selections will be shown on our own laptops. The scenes that we show will
never involve sexuality, cursing or graphic violence. We will bring the films
ourselves.
** If possible, we would like to have access to a photo copy machine to copy
approximately one page per student per week.
Schedule
Week 1: Wisdom
Questions:
What is philosophy? What is wisdom? How is being wise different
from being clever, famous or popular? Why become wise?
Materials:
Chalk board and chalk
Week 2: Happiness
Questions:
What is happiness? What are the characteristics of a happy person?
Do we need certain things in order to be happy?
Readings:
Aristotle: Excerpts from “Nicomachian Ethics”
Week 3: Love and Friendship
Questions:
What is love? What is friendship? How do I know who I love? Is
love a decision or something that just happens to us? Are there
certain duties that come along with loving someone?
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Readings/ Film: Plato: Aristophanes’ Speech (from “Symposium”)
Selections from films “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “The Red
Balloon”
Week 4: Identity
Questions:
Can I jump into the same river twice? What kind of changes can a
thing undergo and still stay the same?
Readings:
Sylvester and The Magic Pebble by William Steig
Stephen Law: “The philosophy Files” (Orion Children’s Books):
File 5 “Can I jump in the same river twice?”
Week 5: Freedom and Choice
Questions:
What choices do I have? Can I choose to do what is going to
happen anyway? Am I free to decide against my fate and what’s
determined for me?
Readings:
Somerset Maugham “Death Speaks” (one paragraph from his play
“Sheppey”)
Week 6: Arguments and Reasoning
Questions:
How can we convince someone? How does a convincing argument
look like? What is the difference between giving reasons and
fighting?
Materials:
Monty Python “The argument Clinic” (~10 min film excerpt)
Week 7: Mind
Questions:
How do we know what we feel and think? How do we know what
others feel and think? Where are my feelings and thoughts? Is the
mind just the brain?
Materials:
Stephen Law: “The philosophy Files” (Orion Children’s Books):
File 7 “What is the mind?”
Week 8: Knowledge and The Real (part 1)
Questions:
Could the world just be my dream? How do I know the world isn’t
virtual?
Readings/ Film: Selections from the movie “The Matrix”
Stephen Law: “The philosophy Files” (Orion Children’s Books):
File 7 “How do I know the world isn’t virtual?”
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Week 9: Knowledge and The Real (part 2)
Questions:
Could the world just be my dream? How do I know the world isn’t
virtual?
Readings/ Film: Plato: “The allegory of the Cave” (from “The Republic”)
Stephen Law: “The philosophy Files” (Orion Children’s Books):
File 4: “What’s real”
Week 10: Laws and Society
Questions:
Why obey the law? Could there be a situation in which it is more
ethical to break the law? What sort of society do we want to live
in?
Materials:
J.S. Mill: Excerpts from “On Liberty”
(We will also explain concepts from John Rawls’ “A Theory of
Justice”)
Activity:
Students imagine that they have to create rules for a new society
but they do not know what position they will occupy in that new
society.
Week 11: Violence
Questions:
Is violence ever justified? Is it justified for me to use violence to
defend myself, my country, my beliefs, my property or my family?
Materials:
To be decided on.
Week 12: Personal Identity
Questions:
Who am I? If I had a different body, a different brain or a different
soul would I still be me?
Readings:
Stephen Law: “The philosophy Files” (Orion Children’s Books):
File 3 “Where am I?”
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