Philosopher Inquiry Assignment
First Semester, Philosophy HL 1 IB
Overall Task Description:
Each student, in pairs, has either selected or been assigned a philosopher or philosophical school to
research. These philosophers represent various foundational positions and primary texts that will not be
given in-depth coverage in the survey of philosophical positions centered on the Core Theme of “What
Does It Mean to Be Human?”. The inquiry project allows students to research the core theme
independently, developing inquiry skills, long-term organizational skills, research skills, and primary text
analysis skills, all of which are expectations of the IB full diploma candidate. These skills are measured in
both internal and external assessments, as well as in the Extended Essay and TOK Essay. Student
outcomes from this project extend beyond philosophy into overall performance as an IB candidate.
Specific Task Requirements for the Working Student Pair:
Power Point Presentation
 2-4 slides on biography and historical content
 2-4 slides on influences on the school/philosopher (such as empiricism or another
philosopher)
 4-8 slides on the main tenets of the school/philosopher pertaining to theories of human
nature (Who are we? What gives meaning and purpose to life? Are we matter/spirit or
both? What are the components of consciousness? What is identity? Are we
free/predetermined/ predestined? Are we inherently good or evil? etc.) Do not delve into
political philosophy, aesthetics, epistemology (except in sofar as it provides
support for position on human nature), etc. STICK TO CORE THEME in POWER
POINT-notes can include other info.
 4-6 slides presenting quotes from the school/philosopher, with an analysis of how those
quotes from the primary text support the main tenets of the school/philosopher regarding
human nature.
 Works Cited slide(s) in MLA format, to have at least 6 cited secondary works, 3 from each
partner, as well as the primary text citation.
 Last slide: 2 inquiry (open-ended) questions for whole class discussion
 Citations. Each slide will have citations for its information in the “notes” section of the slide,
in MLA format.
 Turnitin.com. The text on the Power Point slides will need to be exported to Word (.txt,
.rtf,.doc or .docx) or PDF format, and uploaded to turnitin.com.
 All text must be uploaded to turnitin.com by midnight and all PowerPoint presentations
are due: 12/06/10.
Oral presentation / lecture in class, using the Power Point. Students are expected to know
their material well enough that they can use the Power Point as a demonstration of what they are
presenting without being “married” to the slides and reading directly from the slides. Points will be
deducted for presenters that read directly from the slides, rather than lecturing and enhancing the
information on the slides with their own style of delivery and/or with additional in-depth notations
or facts. Presentations will begin the week of 12/06/10, according to schedule; please let
me know of planned absences in advance, or you will be held to the original schedule—if
you leave either your partner or the class stranded with a mysterious 1-day illness, you
will receive a zero unless you have a doctor’s note from an impartial physician.
Primary Text Analysis. Each student will read, as well as critically analyze and annotate, a
minimum of 20 pages of primary text of the school/philosopher, preparing a dialectic journal with
at least 15 entries as the written documentation of their analysis.
Milestone Due Dates. To help students organize themselves and stay on task, there are three
milestone due dates; all work indicated as due for the milestone must be submitted in a timely
fashion—no late work will be accepted.
1. First due date: 11/11/10. Working paper completed on first reading of secondary source
from Pojman or the Anthologies, if applicable. Otherwise, Stanford or Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy (no other secondary sources this first time around).
2. Second due date: 11/16/10. Working papers completed on a minimum of 2 (two) other
secondary sources. No other encyclopedia sources allowed; must be from a book or
scholarly Internet journal/resource.
3. Third due date: 12/1/10. Annotated reading, in the form of at least 15 entry dialectic
journal, of at least 20 pages of one or more primary texts of the selected philosopher.
Specific Tasks for the Individual Student Working in the Pair
 Individual contribution to the Works Cited. A minimum of 3 (three) scholarly, secondary sources of
information, only one of which can be an Encyclopedia (no Wikipedia, About.com, etc.). These 3
sources are to be unique; not a duplication of your partner’s sources.
 Individual contribution to the Primary Text Analysis. Although you may use the same primary text,
you will select a unique set of 20 pages of the selected primary text(s) for the school/philosopher,
produced as a dialectic journal of at least 15 entries. No duplication of the 20 pages is allowed.
 Divide the slides into areas of responsibility. Fill out the task form indicating ONLY one of the
assigned areas below; in other words, you may not do both bio/hist and influences; you must do one
from each selection.
 One person does the biography/historical context; one person does the influences
 One person analyzes 2 or more questions of the core theme; other person analyzes 2
other unique questions, no duplications
 Each person contributes 2-3 slides of primary text quotation analysis
 Each person is responsible for providing citations for the material presented on their prepared and
assigned slides in the “notes” section, per the division of responsibilities.
 Use paraphrases from both primary and secondary sources to support presentation information.
Direct quotes are limited to 30% or less of the text presentation, not including the quote analysis
slides. Slides cannot be just opinion.
 Provide slides in note-taking format, no more than 3 to a page, one copy for each classmate.
How Class Time Will be Used to Support Your Inquiry Project:
 We will go to the library twice during class time to do research. You need to have topics or questions
to research clearly defined BEFORE we go—this is a homework assignment, already posted, and
needs to be presented to Mr. Gentry before we go to the library. Due date for core theme research
topics or questions for each individual (not per pair): 11/11/10.
 We will have 1-2 class work days to read, take notes, summarize, and analyze the research sources,
along and with your partner. Use the time well—socializing rather than working on these days
will result in possible detentions as well as a zero for participation that day and a lowered
grade on the rubric for the overall project.
How Grades Will Be Determined: Individual grades only, lack of participation by one partner does not
affect the grade of the other partner. Grades are earned according to rubrics provided.
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(cut, detach and return to teacher; this is a 5 point homework assignment)
Philosophy Inquiry Project Acknowledgment Form for Philo. IB HL1
We are confirming our understanding of the information regarding the philosophy inquiry project,
both the expectations for the student pair as well as for the responsibilities of each individual student, by
signing this form and returning it to Mr. Gentry. A copy of these instructions will be kept in the student
binder/expandable file, with all the due dates entered on the student agenda. We have noted all the due
dates, acknowledge that they are already posted on the homework website, should we lose our copy of
the project description. This document is also on the philosophy class web page.
We have noted that email is the preferred method of communication, gentryp@smhs.org, and
understand that Mr. Gentry will respond as quickly as possible. We can also make an appointment to
speak personally with him to clarify any misunderstandings or questions.
Student Name: ______________________________________________________________________
Student Signature: ___________________________________________________________________
Parent /Guardian Name: ______________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature: ____________________________________________________________
Date: _______________________