Step 2: Philosophical Inquiry and Writing to Learn
The major questions philosophers ask about reality, knowledge and goodness provide wonderful opportunities to increase students’ engagement and self-image in the classroom. Once students are familiar with a sampling of these questions, they can be given the freedom to imagine questions of their own. You might ask students "What is the most important question to ask? Why?" (see the Philosophy Foundation).
To give students further help generating the philosophical questions that are important to them and the characters in the literature they are studying, it helps to define “philosophy" and "inquiry” in student-friendly language. On this page, you'll find the text of two downloadable handouts, both from the Philosophy-enriched Choice Book Unit. The first defines "philosophy," "inquiry," and "philosophical inquiry" in student-friendly language. The second sets guidelines to help students generate philosophical questions from the study of literature.
I. What is Philosophy? What is Philosophical Inquiry? Overhead/Handout
Philosophy, from the Latin philo (love) and sophia (wisdom), is the love of wisdom. Wisdom means using the knowledge that you have to actually live well. Philosophy also means analyzing why things are the way they are, including who you are and what you think about yourself and your world. Part of doing philosophy is asking focused questions.
Inquiry, from the Latin querrer (to ask or seek), is the process of seeking and asking about. Often, inquiry is an open-ended questioning, that leads to more inquiry questions. In other words, inquiry is the process of questioning and investigating, not necessarily coming up with the “right” answers.
Philosophical inquiry, therefore, is asking questions seeking the love of wisdom -- that insight into who we are and where we belong in the world. Incidentally, discovering who we are and where we belong in the world is precisely the central question of adolescence and young adult literature. When used in reading, writing, and communicating, philosophical inquiry is a tool to help us understand ourselves, our peers, and our world.
In other words, philosophical inquiry is the process of being curious and asking focused questions about how to live a rich, good, and fulfilling life of wisdom. What are the most important questions we could ask to help us in the art of truly living well? Would we need to ask about knowledge? Reality? Identity? Relationships? Goodness? Duty? Family?Technology? Population? Environment? Media? Democracy?
To give students further help generating the philosophical questions that are important to them and the characters in the literature they are studying, it helps to define “philosophy" and "inquiry” in student-friendly language. On this page, you'll find the text of two downloadable handouts, both from the Philosophy-enriched Choice Book Unit. The first defines "philosophy," "inquiry," and "philosophical inquiry" in student-friendly language. The second sets guidelines to help students generate philosophical questions from the study of literature.
I. What is Philosophy? What is Philosophical Inquiry? Overhead/Handout
Philosophy, from the Latin philo (love) and sophia (wisdom), is the love of wisdom. Wisdom means using the knowledge that you have to actually live well. Philosophy also means analyzing why things are the way they are, including who you are and what you think about yourself and your world. Part of doing philosophy is asking focused questions.
Inquiry, from the Latin querrer (to ask or seek), is the process of seeking and asking about. Often, inquiry is an open-ended questioning, that leads to more inquiry questions. In other words, inquiry is the process of questioning and investigating, not necessarily coming up with the “right” answers.
Philosophical inquiry, therefore, is asking questions seeking the love of wisdom -- that insight into who we are and where we belong in the world. Incidentally, discovering who we are and where we belong in the world is precisely the central question of adolescence and young adult literature. When used in reading, writing, and communicating, philosophical inquiry is a tool to help us understand ourselves, our peers, and our world.
In other words, philosophical inquiry is the process of being curious and asking focused questions about how to live a rich, good, and fulfilling life of wisdom. What are the most important questions we could ask to help us in the art of truly living well? Would we need to ask about knowledge? Reality? Identity? Relationships? Goodness? Duty? Family?Technology? Population? Environment? Media? Democracy?
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Introducing Philosophy What Is Philosophical Inquiry.docx | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: | docx |
II. Open-Ended, Genuine, and Deep Philosophical Questions Handout
As you read the rest of your novel, you will be increasingly responsible for generating questions for your own writing and for classroom discussion. This is your chance to take (partial) control over your education in this room and with your choice book. You will turn in three philosophical questions from your choice text.
Remember, as much as possible, your questions should be open-ended, genuine, deep, and philosophical.
Open-ended questions are not easily answerable with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and may have different answers depending upon one’s perspective. Open-ended questions often lead to other questions, so they are great for classroom discussions.
Genuine questions are questions that you really care about and to which you don’t have the answer. In order to ask genuine questions, compare what you are reading to your life and the world that you are living in. While your questions may be about the world, they also need to relate to the reading (which is why you cite page numbers with your questions).
Deep questions require some thinking and digging. Answers are not easily accessible and could be approached in multiple ways.
Philosophical questions lead to wisdom (our ability to use knowledge to live a good life) and might deal with one or more of the following:
right vs. wrong
real vs. unreal
known vs. unknown
self vs. no self
values and feelings
beliefs and preconceptions
purpose and meaning in life
beautiful vs. ugly
true vs. false
character and identity
“the good life”
consequences vs. intentions
free will vs. fate
As you read the rest of your novel, you will be increasingly responsible for generating questions for your own writing and for classroom discussion. This is your chance to take (partial) control over your education in this room and with your choice book. You will turn in three philosophical questions from your choice text.
Remember, as much as possible, your questions should be open-ended, genuine, deep, and philosophical.
Open-ended questions are not easily answerable with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and may have different answers depending upon one’s perspective. Open-ended questions often lead to other questions, so they are great for classroom discussions.
Genuine questions are questions that you really care about and to which you don’t have the answer. In order to ask genuine questions, compare what you are reading to your life and the world that you are living in. While your questions may be about the world, they also need to relate to the reading (which is why you cite page numbers with your questions).
Deep questions require some thinking and digging. Answers are not easily accessible and could be approached in multiple ways.
Philosophical questions lead to wisdom (our ability to use knowledge to live a good life) and might deal with one or more of the following:
right vs. wrong
real vs. unreal
known vs. unknown
self vs. no self
values and feelings
beliefs and preconceptions
purpose and meaning in life
beautiful vs. ugly
true vs. false
character and identity
“the good life”
consequences vs. intentions
free will vs. fate
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Introducing Philosophy Inquiry Instructions Open Genuine Deep.docx | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: | docx |
III. Multimedia Philosophy Write-to-Learn Prompts
These questions can be used to build philosophical literacy and promote discussion (Steps 1 and 3), but they also do a great job of helping students generate their own inquiry. These write-to-learn prompts work especially well at the beginning of a lesson, as a precursor to oral expression and listening or as pre-writing for constructed response writing tasks. These write to learns address:
Levels of Happiness
The Trolley Problem
The Importance of Friends (adapted from Worley and Levi 144)
The Golden Mean
The Ship of Theseus (adapted from Worley and Levi 86)
The Mind/Body Problem
Plato's Cave
Nagel's Bat
Floating Man (adapted from Persig 45)
The Transparent Eyeball
The Ring of Gyges (adapted from Worley and Levi 74)
Here is an example:
Quick Write 1: Levels of Happiness. Can human beings achieve a better happiness than animals? Question: More than 2,300 years ago, SOCRATES, speaking in the market place in Athens, asked his listeners: "Would you rather be a troubled, unhappy person or a happy pig?" So, would you rather be a guaranteed-happy pig, or a human being subject to unhappiness? Explain your reasons. (Ethics, Happiness, Identity)
These questions can be used to build philosophical literacy and promote discussion (Steps 1 and 3), but they also do a great job of helping students generate their own inquiry. These write-to-learn prompts work especially well at the beginning of a lesson, as a precursor to oral expression and listening or as pre-writing for constructed response writing tasks. These write to learns address:
Levels of Happiness
The Trolley Problem
The Importance of Friends (adapted from Worley and Levi 144)
The Golden Mean
The Ship of Theseus (adapted from Worley and Levi 86)
The Mind/Body Problem
Plato's Cave
Nagel's Bat
Floating Man (adapted from Persig 45)
The Transparent Eyeball
The Ring of Gyges (adapted from Worley and Levi 74)
Here is an example:
Quick Write 1: Levels of Happiness. Can human beings achieve a better happiness than animals? Question: More than 2,300 years ago, SOCRATES, speaking in the market place in Athens, asked his listeners: "Would you rather be a troubled, unhappy person or a happy pig?" So, would you rather be a guaranteed-happy pig, or a human being subject to unhappiness? Explain your reasons. (Ethics, Happiness, Identity)
To see the rest of the philosophical inquiry write-to-learns, please download the following document:
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Introducing Philosophy Multimedia Write-to-Learns.docx | |
File Size: | 971 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Looking Forward to Step 3: Speaking and Listening
Once students have written to learn and inquire to deepen their philosophical literacy, the class is ready for Step 3, Philosophical Discussion, which provides the means to practice essential Speaking and Listening skills.