- This topic has 10 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated October 8, 2021 by
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Session 1
Homework/Tasks for Next Session
Questions to think about/mull over
•What do you know?
•Do you know if your friend knows something? If not, why not?
•Should we prefer a world where everyone knows everything there is to know, or are we quite alright where we are?
•Who knows the most in the world? Who knows the least? Can we really tell?Optional: write a 100-word answer to one of these questions.
Summary of What Was Covered
Introduction to concept/notion of “Philosophy, Politics, and Economics”
Ideal candidate for PPE – as well as strengths of graduates from it
Introduction to the course “PPE”A-levels/GCSE subjects – selection and combination
Ideal attributes in a PPE character
The Basics of Public Speaking and Debating 101
Four topics for classroom discussion/debate
Feedback on debatesThis was a wonderful class to teach. The students were empathetic, involved, engaged, responsive, and clearly very knowledgeable and capable of grasping complex concepts. I was very impressed by the independent thinking that went in, and the extent to which answers were composed phlegmatically and delivered clearly and articulately. Going forward, I would encourage students in the class to:
– Eschew simple, straightforward, or ‘vanilla’ answers in favour of thinking more deeply and carefully about the empirical contexts and details influencing or pertaining to particular cases – the Devil does, indeed, lie in the details.
– Pick a side!!! Pick an axe to grind – stand for something more controversial than anodyne crowd-pleasers. It is imperative that one argues and stands one’s ground; I am by no means encouraging folks to be contrarian for contrarianism’s sake, but it’s crucial that they seek to be more experimental and bold in their answers.
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Session 2
Homework/Tasks for Next Session
Questions to think about/mull over
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg16u_bzjPE
•Would you pull the lever?
•Would you push the fat man over?
•Extended reading: https://kids.kiddle.co/UtilitarianismSummary of What Was Covered
- Introduction to epistemology
- Introduction/overview re: ways of knowing and areas of knowledge
- The intersectionality across areas of knowledge
- Knowledge as justified true belief
- Gettier Cases and objections
- Debates/speeches re: individuals’ knowledge, measuring knowledge, and the ethics of knowledge
Feedback
I really enjoyed this class. The students were responsive and open to new ideas, as well as adaptive to questions and challenging contexts/questions. In particular, I was impressed by the ability to process and grasp relatively abstract and high-level theoretical claims. The answers provided were robust, well-analysed, and in-depth.
Feedback/pointers for future sessions:
– Think about how the theories mentioned and discussed can be applied to real-life, empirical contexts.
— Rather than depend excessively on what one may know from existing literature/reading, think through the questions and problems more carefully, to identify the roots of and solutions too the philosophical puzzles at hand.
– Argue, debate, and criticise. Find windows and openings to challenge the other side’s claims more thoroughly and robustly. One should be more bold and daring in picking up the strands in other’s arguments that are worth problematicising.
— To encourage the penultimate point listed here, I’ll be facilitating MORE DEBATES going forward, so stay tuned for that.
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Session 3
FEEDBACK TO COME SHORTLY!
Homework —
•Should we fear death?
•Is life always good? What makes life good?
•Should we be required to donate our incomes to charities?
•Should the government pay for our healthcare?50-word brief response, please.
Also:
•Read: https://www.storyboardthat.com/lesson-plans/introduction-to-government
•Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY7umgfV8gg -
Session 3 (Cont’d)
- Folks would have benefited from thinking more deeply and carefully about how abstract concepts, such as “knowledge” and “the best” (moral evaluation/quantification) can be accurately, precisely, and practically operationalised.
- More clarity concerning the argumentative theses – and willingness to defend (as opposed to folding when pressed) would be helpful in deepening and enriching the classroom discussions.
- It would be equally valuable if students could seek to apply their personal knowledge in raising examples for/counterexamples against the theories and frameworks raised.
- Finally, I’m impressed by the fact that previously reticent students have now taken to chip in more regularly to the classroom discussion – well done, folks. Keep it up!
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SESSION 4
Homework/Tasks for Next Session
•Read: https://www.altamed.org/articles/5-reasons-why-you-should-vote
•Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrG7zBUDiqQSummary of What Was Covered
- Introduction to theories of the government and political philosophy
- Making sense of political obligation
- On the basics of political sciences – applied principles
- Autocracy vs. democracy vs. theocracy
- What is the government? Measuring the government
- Different regime types
- Understanding the limits and strengths of the state
Feedback
The class had improved substantially on their clarity, vocality, and responsiveness to the questions and prompts offered. I was particularly impressed by the openness to new, complex concepts introduced in this class – e.g. what is a government, what is a government supposed to do? etc.
I felt that most of the students were more on-point and targetted in answering the questions raised. Less beating about the bush, more direct engagement, more critical scrutiny. All is well on those fronts. BUT — here are some feedback points:
1) More direct and up-front responses to FOLLOW-UP prompts and questions… would be useful;
2) More clarity concerning key terms and definitions – DEFINE, EXPLAIN, EXEMPLIFY, INTRODUCE, and CLARIFY before delving into these definitions and terms!
3) Would appreciate MORE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS on bits over which one may be unsure/unclear
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Homework
Please read: https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/Inequality/introduction-to-inequality
Try your very best to understand what the article is saying – no worries if you can’t grasp all of it.
Please answer one of the following (no more than 100 words):
Who owns the Earth?
Should climate change be treated as an economic problem?
Should healthcare be made public?
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SESSION 6
HOMEWORK
Please read: https://www.ducksters.com/money/supply_and_demand.php
Please write a response to the following (CHOOSE ONE QUESTION, NO MORE THAN 150 WORDS):
Should the government control and set all the prices for the market?
Is capitalism a force for good?
Should we be allowed to sell our own organs?
Is climate change that big of a deal? -
SESSION 7
Please write a response to the following (CHOOSE ONE QUESTION, NO MORE THAN 150 WORDS):
We should abolish all school uniforms.
We should abolish all single-sex schools.
We should ban video-games at home (!).
Please read the following: https://www.sfu.ca/cmns/130d1/HOWTODEBATE.htm
Try your best to understand what this article is saying 🙂
DEBATING: FORMAT/BASICS
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SESSION 8
•This House supports genetic engineering.
•This House supports space exploration.
•This House regrets the rise of e-sports.
-https://simple.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering
-https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c5y915pwp89t/spacex
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l2Ygf4ANGw
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0zWiUGrzBk -
SESSION 9
· Classroom debates
o This House believes that high school education should be made optional.
o This House would abolish religious schools.
o This House supports separate schools for students who are gifted/talented.
o This House would prohibit students from enrolling in after-school tutoring.
o …And beyond
· Resources/links for reading:
o https://knightlifenews.com/7732/opinion/high-school-should-be-optional/
o https://www.brookings.edu/research/going-to-school-is-optional-schools-need-to-engage-students-to-increase-their-lifetime-opportunities/
o https://milkfoundation.org/harvey-in-schools/
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