Beauty: In the eye of the beholder or is there something more to it? This unit invites high school students to explore the meaning of “beauty”. Source Materials: Plato’s Symposium (available in many editions) Crispin Sartwell’s Six Names of Beauty (Routledge, 2004) Puzzles About Art-an Aesthetics Casebook, by Battin, Fisher, Moore, and Silvers (Bedford/St. Martin’s, … Beauty–thinking about
Popper on Falsifiability One of the practical consequences of the Scientific Revolution was a suggestion that one should only believe things that are both true and justified. Eventually, there was even the proposal by mathematician William Clifford that it is morally wrong to believe things without good justification. While early thinkers suggested we need to … The Demarcation Problem and Falsifiability
Overview One of the most fundamental questions involved in the Philosophy of Science involves the problem of Scientific Realism. It asks us to think about the status of scientific claims. For instance, when your Chemistry teacher talks about atoms, are these real entities are they just a linguistic model that’s a convenient way to refer … Scientific Realism and the Weird World
Have students answer yes or no to the quiz questions (found in the section of discussion questions) on a sheet of paper. Next, have a discussion around some of the discussion questions. If students answered no to all questions than they would probably agree with the position in metaphysics, that maintains that all real things … Numbers and Reality
The first half of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley depicts a socially programmed society in which advances in science and technology have created a world full of people who are biologically human but may not be fully human in other ways. This lesson sequence can be done after a few days of initial work on … What is a Human Being?
Introduction: George Saunders’ “Escape from Spiderhead” is a dystopian short story that portrays a controlled pharmacological environment in which scientists experimentally manipulate the desires and emotions of human subjects. Students are confronted with the question of whether the chemical cocktails produced by our brains grant greater freedom than Spiderhead. Sanders’ riveting story is thought-provoking and … Escape from Spiderhead
“Araby” is one of the most widely taught short stories from James Joyce’s Dubliners. Told in the first person from the perspective of a boy in his early teens who has an infatuation with a neighborhood girl (Mangan’s sister), “Araby” ends with a dark epiphany. The boy, who envisioned himself on a quest to purchase … James Joyce’s “Araby”: Coming out of the Cave
Introduction In 399 BCE Socrates was tried by an Athenian jury on charges of (a) denying the existence of deities, (b) introducing new deities, and (c) corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates was found guilty and ultimately executed. His trial and death have remained controversial until today. This activity involves retrying Socrates, using as the … The Trial of Socrates
This is a photo of leaves on rocks. One can look at the content, nature, or the photographic composition, artifice. The leaves and the rocks: The veins run through the dominant maple leaf, staining it deep green. They betray both its strength and fragility. The rocks offer a range of textures, shapes, commentary on the … Aesthetics is for the Birds
One of the most plausible arguments for the existence of God is the argument from design. This argument proceeds by pointing out how all things in the world seem fitted to one another, something that is also true of all the elements of each organism. It then points out that, when we find design in … The Argument from Design for the Existence of God
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.
Connect With Us!