Epistemology – Cartesian Scepticism – can we be certain of anything?
This lesson plan is accessible through the Lesson Attachment above.
Topic: knowledge
Epistemic Adventure: Are you sure that you know?
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?
Animal Minds: puzzling over Puppies and Parrots
For much of modern science, since the Enlightenment, animals were generally thought to be automatons: materialist robots programmed to behave in certain ways. Rene Descartes drew a sharp distinction between thinking beings, humans, and everything else, matter. 20th Century behaviorism continued to think of animals in this way but added humans to the mix. “Mind” … Animal Minds: puzzling over Puppies and Parrots
Personal Identity in Memento
Personal Identity I ask students to bring their baby or early childhood pictures to class. After they try matching names with images of their classmates, I ask a question about their own picture: Are you the same person today that you were at the moment captured in your photo? Students readily admit that their physical … Personal Identity in Memento
What Do You Know?
Materials needed: Piece of paper and writing utensil Description: Note: this session operates as a good follow-up to a lesson plan on beliefs and evidence more generally. Ask the students for some things that they know. Put a few examples on the board. Tell the students the following story. It’s important that, for most of the … What Do You Know?
Big Questions and How We Answer Them
In this middle school philosophy lesson plan, students express the degree of confidence they have in the truth of various statements.
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