NSW da Vinci
Decathlon
An academic gala event
for Years 5 – 10
Information on the Philosophy Task
‘All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions’ Leonardo da Vinci.
The purpose of the information contained in this document is to help prepare your team(s) for
the Philosophy section of the Decathlon.
Questions may focus on logic, epistemology, ethics and metaphysics. Students should have a
good understanding of these terms so they can be applied to a set of philosophically based
questions.
In preparation for the task, students should access the following:
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Write practice responses to the questions in the Sample Pack.
Visit the website ‘Thou shall not commit logical fallacies’
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/home and develop a working understanding of the
logical fallacies.
Watch the YouTube clip on Euler diagrams (this will be presumed knowledge)
accessible here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXtLux0XYms . The first 5:30 is
sufficient.
Visit the Values Exchange website and engage with various issues. In particular,
respond to the case ‘Is Philosophy worth the effort’ http://www.valuesexchange.com/Issue/Is-Philosophy-Worth-The-Effort/13854
The Values Exchange is a networking site with a difference; think ‘Facebook with Brains’.
The Values Exchange helps students think deeply and transparently, challenging them to state
their feelings and reasoning about a vast range of social and ethical issues across the
curriculum and beyond. As soon as students submit their views they have access to a huge
reservoir of comments and charts, which they can explore creatively to understand the
complexity of the issues, and to work out practical solutions.
Please share the following information with your students:
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Logic: Is the data generated based on correct reasoning? Students should look for
examples of perfect logical arguments (where the conclusion of a person’s reasoning
follows from the premise – E.g.: This proposal to stop factory farming is a good idea
because factory farming causes pain and pain is to be avoided). And also examples of
bad logic (where the conclusion of a person’s reasoning DOES NOT follow from the
premise, or seems logically strange – e.g.: This proposal to stop factory farming is a
good idea because factory farming is good for animal welfare).
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Epistemology: What can be known? What is certainly factual? And what elements of a
person’s argument are evaluative based on values and beliefs. Students should find at
least one example of a purely factual statement, one purely evaluative, and at least two
where facts and values are mixed together. For example, ‘nuclear energy costs less to
produce than coal’ is a factual statement, if it is true; ‘nuclear energy scares me and
should be stopped; is evaluative; ‘nuclear energy is dangerous’ is mixed, unless there
is a clear list of facts to support the contention.
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Ethics: What is good, what is bad and what is arguable? Ethics can be to do with rights
and wrongs, but there is rarely if ever an absolutely right answer in ethics. Therefore,
students of ethics learn to examine situations and arguments critically. They also learn
about themselves and their personal beliefs, and begin to appreciate the importance of
giving reasons for justifying their views.