Philosophy, Book 2 (Student Edition)
The student edition includes activities for individual students and can be used a workbook for completing the exercises described in the Teacher Edition.
Philosophy is for everyone. It belongs with the young people who need to develop the skills to become independent thinkers and to recognize the value of self-reflection. This unit is an extension of the classical areas of philosophical thought presented in Philosophy, Book 1: metaphysics, epistemology, political philosophy, and ethics. Book 2 examines the question, “What is the meaning of life?” It presents four areas of philosophy: existentialism, logic, philosophy of science, and Eastern philosophy.
Philosophy, Book 2 begins with the study of existentialism, an area of philosophical thought that emphasizes the importance of individual choice in determining a meaningful existence. Choosing involves the use of decision-making skills that rely on reason. The second part of the unit, logic, contains lessons on examining the structure of arguments, recognizing valid and invalid arguments, and identifying the elements of false reasoning. The discussions of logic provide a basis for understanding how to process the information that we face on a daily basis. The fast pace of modern scientific discovery creates an undeniably daily relationship to science. The section on the philosophy of science studies the role of the philosopher of science, ethics in science, and examples of how philosophy is used in science. The unit concludes by examining Eastern philosophy. The ideas of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism provide a meaningful contrast to science-based thought.
About the Series:
Social Studies curriculum units contain complete lesson plans with preliminary and follow-up work, teacher notes with background and rationale, ready-to-use worksheets, and suggested answers for student questions. These materials encourage the development of thinking, reading, speaking, research, and writing skills as well as critical thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Price: $10.95
Student Activities
Students perform skits, participate in small- and large-group discussions, create posters, experience simulations, role-play, jigsaw, and participate in cooperative learning through a pair-share-square model. In addition to a variety of activities, the unit contains many applications for cross-disciplinary topics such as humanities, social studies, mathematics, and science.