Reader Project Philosophy TTO 3
Name……………………………. Class………….
“If we look into each other’s hearts
and understand the unique challenges
each of us faces,
I think we would treat each other much more gently,
with more love, patience, tolerance and care “
Marvin J. Ashton
Introductory lesson
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Brainstorming: “What is philosophy?”
RE book page 68/69 Ultimate questions: do the top three.
Form your own philosophical questions.
Log on to m.socrative.com to interact with the teacher and your class with
questions such as: “What is your number 1 on the top 3 list?” and “What is
your own philosophical question?” and “What is a human being?” etc.
Paragraph 1
Content: Power Point “Explore Philosophy”
Exercise: Read the following questions, pay attention and take notes.
1. What is the message behind Flatland and Shadowland?
2. What is the meaning of the pieces of art?
3. Portfolio task 1: Find two pieces of art with a philosophical message. Put
them on one or two A4-size sheets of paper and write your philosophical
interpretation of the pictures below them.
4. Read the text below:
Left Brain versus Right Brain
Have you ever heard people say that they tend to be more of a right-brain or leftbrain thinker? You may have come across the ‘right or left-brained’ phrase on
television or in a book, and you may even have taken an online test to determine
what side of the brain you use most when thinking. Given the popularity of the idea of
"right-brained" and "left-brained" thinkers, it might surprise you learn that this idea is
little more than a myth.
What Is Left-Brain – Right-Brain Theory?
According to the theory of left-brain or right-brain dominance, each side of the brain
controls different types of thinking. Additionally, individual people are said to prefer
one type of thinking over the other. For example, a person who is "left-brained" is
often said to be more logical, analytical, and objective, while a person who is "rightbrained" is said to be more intuitive, thoughtful, and subjective.
The Right Brain
According to the left-brain, right-brain dominance theory, the right side of the brain is
best at expressive and creative tasks. Some of the abilities that are popularly
associated with the right side of the brain include:
•Recognizing faces
•Expressing emotions
•Being musical
•Reading emotions
•Recognising colours
•Visual memory
•Being intuitive
•Creativity
The Left Brain
The left-side of the brain is believed to be good at tasks that involve logic, language
and analytical thinking. The left brain is often described as being better at:
•(Learning) languages
•Logical thinking
•Critical thinking
•Maths
•Logical reasoning
Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/a/left-brain-rightbrain.htm
Obviously, developing both sides of your brains is important. Studying philosophy is
an exercise for both parts of your brain!
5. Write down which side of your brain is well developed, in your opinion, and
which part could use some extra training?
6. Do the test at home and check whether you guessed right or wrong. Write
down the result of the test. Did you enjoy taking the test, and do you agree
with the result? What can you learn from taking this test?
7. Did you look at the advice given? What do you think about the advice, and
why?
Left Brain Right Brain Quiz for Teens
http://homeworktips.about.com/library/brainquiz/bl_leftrightbrain_quiz.htm
Paragraph 2: What are philosophical questions?
Parts of the film “Sophie’s World”
1.
2.
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6.
Read page 68 and 69 of your RE Book.
Make a summary of the description of ultimate questions on page 68.
Write down all the philosophical questions of page 68.
Add three other questions you could ask to this list.
Make a top three of your favourite ultimate questions.
Try to think of some answers to the ultimate questions. Try to use
different views, not just your own.
7. Share your answers with your partner.
8. Portfolio task 2: Make a collage with your partner about philosophical
questions and possible answers. Use pictures as well.
9. Read the quotes on page 68.
10. Portfolio task 3: Search three other quotes about life and write them in
your notebook. Form a group. Discuss the quotes all of you collected,
and choose a few. With your group, make one collage with those
questions, and illustrate it with pictures.
Paragraph 3: What is Philosophy?
Read the following descriptions of philosophy as described by students.
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“There are so many unanswered questions, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea
to attempt to answer them. There are, however, people who do have insight
to these ultimate questions, or at least try to explore them. They study
philosophy and are called philosophers. Most people do come across difficult
questions, but stop trying to answer them when they get too complicated or
when they get troubling answers. Philosophers have attitudes unlike other
people, and they continue to seek answers even to open-ended questions.
Using their knowledge and reasoning, they construct their own ideas and
beliefs.”
Source: Samaya
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“Philosophy is an academic discipline in which people use their logic and
reasoning when trying to answer questions about life or morality. Philosophy
means “love of wisdom”. The questions that Philosophers try to answer are
not just ordinary ones. They try to answer questions that cannot be answered
through factual knowledge alone. These are very deep, difficult questions that
need to be considered continuously. You can’t answer a question like “What
is the purpose of life?” quickly. Philosophers think and think again, create
arguments, and question themselves until they get the closest possible
answer. No one really knows the true answer to these questions. Answering
questions in philosophy is like looking at the sea from the shore. You can see
that the sea is blue, calm, and nearly perfect but you will never know what
secrets lie deep beneath its waters.”
Source: Ian
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“Philosophy is about thinking, wondering and asking questions. “What is the
maximum speed on the American highway?” is a question, but not a
philosophical one. Philosophical questions go much deeper than that.
Questions such as “is there a God?” or “what is the meaning of life?” are
philosophical questions. Usually these questions can only be answered by
yourself (e.g. “What do I have to do in order to become a better person?”) or
the answer to the question cannot be scientifically proven (yet). People who
study philosophy are called philosophers. These people look at the world
differently than others. For example, when someone may see a snowman
their brother made, a philosopher may wonder if the snowman is their
brother’s property, just because he shaped the snow. Philosophers think
further and deeper where others stop thinking. They constantly ask questions
and wonder about all the tiniest things that cross their mind. Therefore, I’d like
to call philosophy ‘the art of wondering’.”
Source: Jenny
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“I believe that philosophy is the skill to question things and to wonder what
certain things in life are. In my opinion these things do not really have fixed
answers and therefore the answers will vary per person.”
Source: Berend
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“Philosophy is the science and study of life and the universe. Philosophers
come up with all sorts of theories about life and universe without having (lots
of) proof and facts. These theories can either be true or untrue, but it is up to
you to agree with them. The word philosophy literally means love of wisdom.
In fact, philosophy is about trying to find the truth that is hidden behind the
wisdom. Philosophers are trying to get answers to ultimate questions. These
questions cannot be answered yet. If you want to answer these questions,
you have to make up your own opinion or you have to believe in something. “
Source: Fleur
Task:
1. Read the descriptions and underline the sentences which are important to you.
2. Portfolio task 4 : Search on the Internet and/or in books what philosophy
means and make a summary of all the ideas you find. That summary might be
anything: a short essay, a song, or a rap.
Paragraph 4: What is the contribution of philosophy to society?
Some quotes of students below:
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“Back in time we had the question ‘are there other planets besides the
earth?’. It has since been proven that there are more planets in the universe.
Now that this question has been answered and proven, it is called a fact.”
“Philosophers constantly wonder about things that could be. Then they try to
find the answers to their questions and some eventually are able to prove that
their theory is correct. Because this process has been going on for many
years, we have gained the knowledge we have today. With this knowledge
society has come a long way and we will only grow more.”
“I think it might help politicians in making decisions. For instance, how other
groups in society will look at doing a particular thing.”
“Without philosophers, the world would simply be incomplete. They play a
vital role when influencing people as they format their own views about the
human race and their actions. In an even bigger role, they teach their own
thoughts and views about certain topics and are able to build quite a fan base
for themselves.”
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“Their theories contribute to how we from our own opinions. It is commonly
believed we make our own decisions, only dependent upon our own
judgement. However, this is impossible. Our views are formed by premature
judgments and exposure to information about subjects. Only once we are well
acquainted with a particular subject or are informed about its basic outlines
do we form our own opinion.”
“I believe that philosophers make our world more liveable. They are the
people that come up with answers or points of view about things we never
bothered about ourselves. They can make it easier to live, love and worship.
Human beings are always curious, and I think philosophers can approach a
new question better than most people. This is very important because if
philosophers didn’t exist, no one would know things about life. We wouldn’t
know how to handle things that are emotionally tough. We wouldn’t know how
humans react to certain things because no one ever did research on that sort
of thing. When philosophers write books about their way of thinking and their
point of view on things, we can all read that and it can change or extend our
own thoughts and points of view. So I actually believe that the contribution of
philosophers is very big in our society, they can eventually even change
lives!”
Task:
1. Read all the statements above, and underline the sentences you agree
with.
2. Portfolio task 5: Summarise the statements and conclude with your own
opinion and maybe some extra information you might have found. You
may, instead of making a summary, make a song or rap to express all the
ideas.
Paragraph 5: Your start with philosophy
Choose one of the three topics below and think about your questions to the answers.
Write down all the different ideas, views, and beliefs that you can think of in relation
to the topic. Try to look at the subject from different perspectives. Find all kinds of
arguments and ideas. Answer the questions and find more questions to do with your
topic.
1. Freedom. Think of questions like:
What is freedom?
What is the connection between freedom and responsibility?
What is the connection between freedom and government?
Are rules necessary in order to have freedom?
How can you protect the freedom of individuals and nations?
When do you feel free?
What if the freedom of an individual harms others?
What are free countries?
2. Happiness
Is happiness the purpose of life or is it something you just happen to
experience sometimes?
Is it the result of good choices or a stroke of luck?
Is happiness, in your opinion, an emotion or a state of being?
How do you think people can achieve happiness?
3. Truth
When do you know if something is true?
How can you be certain that is true?
Is truth relative or absolute?
What is truth?
How can it influence people’s lives?
Can truth change over the years?
What about different truths in cultures, religions, families, and countries?
How can people deal with different opinions about what might be true?
What is true for you? Explain why.
Portfolio task 6 :
Write a short essay [150 to 200 words] about your topic, using your brain storm
exercise.
Discussion task in a group:
Form groups with students who picked the same topic and share your ideas with
each other, using your essays. Present your findings on a “place mat” paper and
prepare a presentation for your class.
Paragraph 6: Exploring philosophers
Are humans sociable? What is a human being? Is he/she good or bad? Jean
Jacques Rousseau [1712–1778] and Thomas Hobbes [1588–1679] were two
important philosophers. The teacher will explain some of the ideas of these
philosophers. Listen carefully and make notes. What is your opinion about their
ideas? Whether you are agreeing or disagreeing, think of reasonable arguments.
Portfolio task 7 :
Make a digital collage about the two opposite opinions of Rousseau and Hobbes and
show your own view about their arguments. Use words and pictures and produce an
eye-catching collage.
Hand in via ELO Opdrachten.
Philosophers on humankind...
Are humans social?
Jean- Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Rousseau believed that the human being is essentially a peaceable and good
creature. But a human will only become peaceable and good if he/she, as a child,
gets plenty of freedom to develop. Then how can it be that such essentially good
creatures created such a bad society? How did greed and envy originate? Why are
there wars, if people are so peaceable?
Rousseau argued that these bad things were the effect of an increased
population. A big population forces people to collaborate with each other. People
discovered the efficiency of the division of labour: one specialises in farming, the
other in cattle breeding, another in making tools... However, people did not realise
this collaboration had disadvantages. Collaboration in society led to exploitation and
to great differences in property ownership. And so, Rousseau argues, people
became greedy creatures driven by power-mongering. Human beings are not suited
to living with others. Human beings don’t need other people around them. Humans
are not social creatures. They were meant to live in isolation, spread over the surface
of the earth. Their lives should be simple and close to nature. Everything went wrong
when people started living in big groups and taking over each other’s bad habits.
A newly born child is innocent, because it has not yet been corrupted by
society. Rousseau thinks that a child does not need an education into being a good
person. Instead, an innocent child should be shielded from bad influences from
society. This way, the child will be able to develop itself into a good human being with
its own innocent and good properties.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes had quite a different opinion about all of
this. Hobbes thought that humans were utterly selfish creatures that wanted to
dominate everyone around them. The only thing stopping a “war of everyone against
everyone” was that people lived in an organised society where criminals were
punished. In a ‘state of nature’ – a society without government, laws, rules, police
and punishment – people would kill each other: theft, murder, crime and mayhem
would be the order of the day.
What Hobbes called the ‘state of nature’ is a kind of jungle where the strongest
is the boss. Everyone can take what they can get, and everyone has to fear for their
lives and property. Hobbes did not care about the question of whether this ‘state of
nature’ had ever existed. He merely wanted to explain that if people wanted to be
able to live together peacefully, they had to make up some rules and appoint
someone to be their leader. This leader would be able to ensure that the laws and
rules would be upheld, using violence if necessary.
Hobbes argued that if people knew the alternative, it would not be hard to
understand why we need a strict government that punishes criminals. The
government is working for everybody’s best interests, because it restricts people’s
natural aggression, selfishness and power hunger. This is the only way for a society
to exist in which people can live together peacefully and safe. And everyone benefits
from that.
Rousseau: the human being is not a social creature, he does not need others. The
human being is essentially good, but becomes corrupted when living with too many
other humans.
Hobbes: the human being is an utterly selfish creature that thinks only of self-gain
and wants to rule others.
Paragraph 7: Choose your philosopher
There are a great many other interesting philosophers. Below, you will find a few
names of famous historical philosophers and their statements:
Socrates: “Always ask questions “
Plato: “Knowledge is only a shadow”
Levinas: “Make room for others in your life”
Descartes: “Doubt is the origin of wisdom”
Spinoza: “Body and soul are one”
Sartre: “You always have a choice”
Kant: “Dare to think”
Arendt: “No one has the right to obey”
Nietzsche: “There are no facts, only interpretations”
Taylor: “Pure individualism is an illusion”
Choose one of them and do research on the internet or in books to learn more about
this philosopher. Prepare this at home and bring everything to the classroom to
do your Portfolio task.
You can find more on the Dutch website:
www.filosofie.nl
and
http://www.human.nl/ep-41150-durf-te-denken
You can also do a kind of funny (or weird) test to find a philosopher who approaches
your way of thinking. If you would like to know who you resemble, go to:
https://apps.facebook.com/durftedenken/
We also have our own Marnix website for more information. Go to:
http://levensbeschouwing.marnixcollege.nl/
Portfolio task 8:
In the classroom: Write a short essay (100–150 words) about your philosopher and
make clear what he or she thought about human beings, life, God, etc. Find some
quotes and give your own opinion about their ideas. Use good arguments to support
your opinions. We are going to share each other’s work.
Portrait of Hannah Arendt (Dorie Canter)
Paragraph 8: Communication
The teacher is going to give you information about how to communicate well. Take
notes. You are going to practise these tips in several kinds of activities, such as:
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Zip Zapp discussion
Group discussion with roles: leader, observer and describer of you and I view
In-class debate
Portfolio task 9:
Make a summary of your observations of the group discussions. You might make the
summary as an essay, as a mind map or a collage.
How did it go?
Did everybody listen well and summarise the previous speaker’s ideas before sharing
his/her own view?
Could you share your own opinion in a pleasant way?
Could you imagine yourself in somebody else’s point of view?
What have you learned?
Which tips do you have for a better communication?
Final Portfolio task 10:
Give your tips and tops about this Project Philosophy in a diagram or table.
Reflect on what you have learned in this project.
Which task did you like the most, and why?
Which task was difficult or boring? Why?
Finish off with a quote that summarises your general feelings about this project. You
can illustrate it with a picture as well.
This Project will take 9 to 10 weeks.
PTA marks: ELO collage 1x
Port Folio tasks 3x
Presentations and group assignments 2x