Year 7 Philosophy : 2 hour
Philosophy and the Environment |
Why do humans treat nature the way they do? Is the current environmental crisis a sign that humans need to radically rethink their relationship with the rest of nature?
We will examine the idea that the way that humans view nature is the primary cause of modern environmental problems. The dualistic worldview articulated by René Descartes (1596-1650) is viewed by some environmental philosophers as one that encourages our mistreatment of nature. By placing humans as the centre of value it has encouraged an instrumental and ultimately destructive attitude towards the natural world. Deep ecologists argue for a radically different worldview. They believe that the environmental crisis will only be solved when nature is given intrinsic value. We will critically examine this idea and compare it with the views of "shallow" ecology. Perhaps the scientific view of nature is one that is also unhelpful. We will compare the modern scientific conception of nature with the pre-modern romantic view. The role of science will also be examined through the study of the ideas of Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979). He argued that science is necessarily committed to the domination of all that it studies. We will also look at whether it is possible to say that future generations of humans should be given some form of moral protection. We will conclude by examining in detail the extension of moral consideration beyond the human sphere, especially with regard to the moral status of non-human animals. Is it ethical to eat animals or to perform medical experiments on them? |
The Philosophy of Science |
What is science? How does it work? Does it deserve the high epistemological status it enjoys today?
We will look at the commonsense model of science and see why it is faulty. We will pay particular attention to the problem of induction and examine why this presents the commonsense model with a huge problem. Karl Popper's attempt to rescue the high epistemological status of science through his ideas of falsifiability, conjectures and refutations will also be examined in detail. After looking at some of the problems that Popper's theory faces, we will look at the ideas of Popper's "rival", Kuhn. We will conclude this topic by examining the ideas of the "epistemological anarchist" Feyerabend. |
The Philosophy of Art
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The central question that we address in the Philosophy of Art is whether or not it is possible to come up with a satisfactory definition of art. We all seem to know what art is, but find it extremely hard to define it precisely.
We will begin by looking at several pieces of work and asking whether or not they are art. We will also critically examine the Family Resemblance Theory, Clive Bell's idea of Significant Form, Collingwood's Idealist Theory and George Dickie's Institutional Theory of art. Students will also be asked to bring in pieces of art to class to discuss. |
Political Philosophy
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Political Philosophers attempt to answer the question of how society should be organised.
We will begin by looking at the state. What exactly is it? Do we need it? What have the different philosophers said about the state? We will examine the ideas of Hobbes, Rousseau, Anarchism and the Social Contract Theory. The next issue that we will examine is that of democracy. It is often taken for granted that democracy is a good thing, but is this really the case? We will look at the ideas of the celebrated opponent of democracy, Plato, and also the ideas of those who support democracy, like John Stuart Mill and Karl Popper. We will then look at personal freedom, and ask ourselves the extent to which the state can legitimately interfere with our behaviour. We will look at John Stuart Mill's 'Liberty Principle' as an example of one response to this question. |