René Descartes is often credited with being the Father of Modern Philosophy. He broke away from the Scholastic philosophy of the time (16th century) believing their method was prone to doubt given the reliance on sensation as the source for all knowledge.
Descartes’ strategy was to consider false any belief that falls prey to even the slightest doubt. Descartes sets out to find something that lies beyond all doubt. He eventually discovers the conjecture “I exist” is impossible to doubt and is, therefore, absolutely certain.
Descartes is perhaps best known therefore for the philosophical statement "Cogito ergo sum" or I think, therefore I am. Using this logic, he went on to demonstrate God’s existence and that God cannot be a deceiver… I had to wait until I was at university to do Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz.
Primary school kids in Europe have been taught Philosophy for the last 50 years, and now, in the last few years it is being taught in some NSW schools. This includes ethics, logic, political philosophy, metaphysics and epistemology.
The Philosophy in Schools Association of New South Wales is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and supporting philosophy in schools in New South Wales.
According to their website, their approach to teaching philosophy in schools encourages the development of an inquiring classroom community. Such a learning community encourages the development of:
• an inquiring outlook
• the ability to articulate problems and issues
• imaginative and adventurous thinking
• the habit of exploring alternative possibilities and different points of view
• the capacity to critically examine issues and ideas good reasoning and independent judgment
Here are a few head scratching questions to ponder over:-
1. Does the beach belong to you?2. Is an apple alive?
3. If no one sees something, can it still be beautiful?
4. Show we ever tell a lie?
5. Does everything happen for a reason?
6. Where do you go when you’re dead?
7. Is it possible to think about nothing?
8. What do we call the future when it is in the future?
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