Additional Tools for Planning Specific Lessons

Analogies
Philosophy thrives on analogies. The crafting of an apt analogy is a product of creativity and reason. Throughout philosophical literature, we can find many different analogies. Two of the most famous originate with Plato:

* The Divided line of Plato
* Divided Line of Plato (another version)
* Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
* Descartes’ argument about our knowledge of physical objects in his Meditations: get a piece of bee’s wax and a source of heat ( a candle or warm light bulb.) Have the students describe the wax before it has been melted and then afterwards. Make a list of all the characteristics of the wax. What has changed? What has remained the same?
* For an example of more recent analogies, see: Can artificial intelligence think? — John Searle’s Chinese Box analogy.

The Sophia Project– An excellent collection of commentaries developed by the faculty of Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York. You will find links to explanations of classical texts in philosophy arranged alphabetically. Check out the material on Plato’s Apology as an example. You can get access to the full range of resources that this college philosophy department has developed.

The three philosophy resources listed below are general in nature and contain material related to various philosophers, topics, and schools of thought:

http://www.epistemelinks.com/
http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Philosophy/
http://scholar.google.com/

The following are some more specific links:

http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/ - devoted to modern philosophy
http://pantheon.yale.edu/~kd47/e-page.htm - Keith DeRose’s epistemology page
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctytho/dfwIntroIndex.htm - determinism and freedom

Resources from Teachers for Teachers
Hugh Taft Morales has developed a number of lessons to share on teaching a range of topics in philosophy. See the following links:

The Great Metaphysical Divide
Plato’s theory of the tripartite self: art drama assignment
Bill Moyers’ Interview with Martha Nussbaum
Essay on Truth
Suggestions for an oral exam in philosphy
Essay on the Self

James Kazmarek’s High School philosophy course includes excellent materials for teachers and students to use to explore the ideas of the great philosophers. You can find ordering information for his materials at the Center for Learning link:
Plato
Aristotle
Philosophy of Science
Buddhist philosophy

Suggestions?
What tips can you share? Please email the webmaster with your ideas and she will update this site periodically to share new approaches.