Jack has real experiences, but doesn’t feel anything – does this make his experiences inauthentic in some way? What makes an experience an authentic one? What does it mean to be authentic? Jack is breathing and working and eating and sleeping, but is he really living in any meaningful sense? Why does his situation seem … Man Who Kept His Heart in a Bucket
What does a fortune teller claim to know? How could she know that? Do you think we could know what the future holds? If so, how? If not, why not? Would it be easier to predict the immediate future, or the distant future? Why? Is human behavior more difficult to predict than other behavior (maybe … Magic
What it is that makes us who we are? Once little blue and little yellow are green, are they no longer blue and yellow? Can something change and still remain the same? If you change, are you still the same person? Is the way things appear to us a good basis for believing something? Do … Little Blue and Little Yellow
Did Horton know there was a person on the dust speck when he heard the sound? How did he know it? Why do you think the other animals didn’t believe him? Would you have believed Horton? When should we believe what we see or hear? Do you have to see, hear, or touch something yourself … Horton Hears a Who
What do you think you would see looking into this mirror? Would the mirror be able to tell you something you don’t already know? Can the mirror really tell you the deepest desire of your heart? If you don’t already know what it is, can it really be your deepest desire? What does Dumbledore mean … Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – Chapter 12, “The Mirror of Erised”
Is Harold pretending? Is what Harold draws real? How can what Harold draws scare him? Is the moon we see more real than Harold’s moon—if so, why? Is Harold dreaming? Can we create our own reality, or do we do so without even know it? Would we want to create our own realities?
Give an example of a food that you don’t like. Why don’t you like it? Can you dislike a food you’ve never eaten? If you’ve eaten something once, can you dislike it years later without ever trying it again? How many times do we have to experience something to be sure about our opinion about … Green Eggs and Ham
Do dreams sometimes seem very realistic? When you are in the middle of such a dream, can you tell that it is only a dream? Can you be sure that you are not dreaming right now? Where do you think your dreams come from? When you remember your dreams, do they sometimes affect what you … Frog and Toad Together – “The Dream”
How do the words and drawings together tell the story? What feelings do the drawings create? How do drawings create feelings? Would the story be the same without the drawings? The words? Why does Jessica believe her fellow frog when told the alligator is a chicken? Why does she continue to believe it even when … Extraordinary Egg
How do we know what we know? Do our perceptions lead to knowledge? Should be believe what other people tell us? If we do, does this mean we know those things? When should we believe what other people tell us? Do animals have minds? Do animals have thoughts? Can you be friends with an animal?
PLATO is part of a global UNESCO network that encourages children to participate in philosophical inquiry. As a partner in the UNESCO Chair on the Practice of Philosophy with Children, based at the Université de Nantes in France, PLATO is connected to other educational leaders around the world.
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