Philosophers question what others take for granted. Asking young people whether they know they have hands (or feet, eyes, or ears) can be a wonderful way to have fun while practicing careful thinking. Start by asking “Do you know you have hands?” If the child responds, “Of course I know I have hands!” you can … Do You Know You Have Hands?
Guardian: New Fake News Dilemma Karl Bergstrom Guardian: 10 Alternative Facts for a Post-truth World critical reasoning Sonoma State Calling bullshit in the age of big data #11
Are We Living in a Simulation, and What Would it Mean if the Answer is Yes? The purpose of this lesson is to explore the nature of reality and how we know whether or not anything is real Begin the lesson with the two short embedded videos to get the students thinking and engaged in … Are We Living in a Simulation?
This lesson can be used either in a classroom or online. Plot Summary: In this short film, a crab is living on a tropical island. When a coconut falls from a palm tree, the crab is alarmed and treats the coconut like a dangerous enemy. The crab cautiously approaches the coconut to investigate and ultimately … Trouble in Paradise
This lesson can be used either in a classroom or online. Plot Summary: In this short film, a child is sitting inside on a sunny day playing video games. Their mother comes home with a box and suggests they stop playing video games and open the present. Inside the box is a wiggly, excited, and … The Present
Materials needed: A picture (hardcopy/softcopy depending on the mode of lecture) Description: The selected picture should be divided equally in ratio with the number of participants and each participant should be handed over one part of the image. The facilitator will now ask the participants to guess the picture presented to them. Since each participant … The Jigsaw Puzzle Game
Materials needed: Epistemic scavenger hunt document (at least 2 per group, one for before the discussion and the other for after) Orienting quotes Visual prompts Description: 1. Before presenting participants with one or more of the prompts outlined above, have them gather into pairs or small groups to think about, discuss, and fill out a … Epistemic Adventure: Are you sure that you know?
This lesson revolves around reading and discussing Carl Sagan’s “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection” and then sending students to Snopes.com to explore the large archive of hoaxes, crazes and fake news stories. Website Resource for Fact-Checking Snopes.com has become an indispensable and entertaining site for assessing the status of the urban legends and fake … Snooping Around Snopes: Assessing Fake News
Ethics Warm-up #1: Think of someone you know who you think is a really good person. What makes that person a good person? Warm-up #2: Think of something that’s pretty good. Now think of something that’s better than pretty good, that’s good. Now think of something that’s better than that, that’s really good. Think of … A Range of Warm-Up Activities for Philosophy Sessions
Part 1: What is the difference between Truth, a Lie and Bullshit? Students should begin by writing brief definitions of these words –> WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? TRUTH, LIE, SATIRE/ JOKE, FICTION, MISTAKE, BULLSHIT (or, politely, BS) After 10 minutes, discuss how these concepts overlap and differ from each other. It is important to get to the point where the … Truth, Lies and Bullshit
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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