The World of Ideas An Elective Social Science Course for Loudoun County Public Schools Ashburn, Virginia, 2016
This curriculum document for the 11 th and 12 th grade elective, The World of Ideas, is organized to help teachers plan and carry out instruction conceptually, so that students build patterns and connections among and between ideas and points of information. There are five units in the curriculum. Each unit s learning objectives and key concepts are listed first, followed by a conceptual mind map connecting the content. Following the mind map in each unit is a more linear and traditional textual outline with thematic points of content and conceptual focus questions that students must address in this introductory philosophy course. The primary touchstone for this course is a set of questions that students might ask themselves about themselves and the world around them. Each unit in this curriculum focuses on one or two student-centered questions. Unit I: Who am I? Unit II: How did the world begin and how does it exist? Unit III: What do I know? How do I know what is real? Unit IV: What should I be doing? Unit V: What is beyond me? What is beyond the world as I know it? We hope teachers find that the exploratory concepts contained and explained in this document serve as a productive mental framework for students and for themselves. This instructional layout and approach offers cognitive structures that are essential to the solid comprehension of our curriculum content. The curriculum has been designed to provide teachers with a balanced sample of global material for an introductory course. The course is meant to draw from a diversity of world ideas on questions that human beings have long asked themselves. Teachers are encouraged to use information from a variety of different, age-appropriate sources while working in each unit. Teachers can expect to spend approximately three weeks in each unit. Social Science & Global Studies William F. Brazier, Supervisor Patricia Coggins, Specialist 571-252-1370
The World of Ideas, Unit I: Who am I? What am I? At the end of this unit, students will be able to: 1. Explain what at least three scientists and/or behaviorists have concluded about the defining characteristics of human beings. 2. Explain what defines a human being from four different cultural-philosophical approaches, and compare and contrast these viewpoints. 3. Articulate definitions of a human being from both an Eastern and a Western perspective and explain what the fundamental difference is between these two perspectives. 4. Explain their own definitions of a human being, and describe how they are different from, or similar to, those of the scientific community, the philosophical approaches, and the religious perspectives. Key Concepts for this Unit: Free Will and Determinism The Coherent Self Constructed Identity
UNIT I: WHO AM I? WHAT AM I?
1. SCIENTIFIC RESPONSES----WHAT HAS THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD SAID ABOUT THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF A HUMAN BEING? 1.1 BIOLOGICAL Brain Science Damasio and others. Evolution Dawkins and others. 1.2 BEHAVIORAL Stimulus-Response in all its complexity: Skinner 2. PHILOSOPHICAL AND/OR PHENOMENOLOGICAL IN THE REALM OF PURE THOUGHT, WHAT HAVE DIVERSE WORLD THINKERS SAID ABOUT THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN BEINGS? 2.1 WESTERN Plato and the three-part soul 2.2 ASIAN Buddhist thought: the role of suffering and samsara 2.3 AFRICAN Developing into the collective community; personhood is a process (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/african_philosophy ) 2.4 INDIGENOUS AMERICAN Connected to world processes and the collective (http://www.sunypress.edu/pdf/62007.pdf ) 3. RELIGIOUS---WHAT IS THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EASTERN AND WESTERN VIEWS OF A HUMAN BEING? 3.1 WESTERN VIEWS From the Individual outward; object and subject, and an agent who acts in the world. 3.2 EASTERN PERSPECTIVE From the whole to the parts and back again: the holistic view of human as an integrated part of the flow.
Suggested Resources: On Brain Science, lecture by Antonio Damasio (excerpts) http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/katz/20022003/antonio_damasio.html ; and lecture by Patricia Churchland (excerpts) on morality and the brain: http://www.virtualprofessors.com/morality-and-the-mammalian-brain B.F. Skinner on what conditioning means for human beings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_ctjqjlrha Gary E. Kessler, Voices of Wisdom: A Multicultural Philosophy Reader, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010, ISBN 0495601535. Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 10. Eliot Deutsch, Introduction to World Philosophies, Prentice Hall, 1997, ISBN 0132275058, pp. 1-46; and Part I.
The World of Ideas, Unit II: How did Reality Begin? How Does Reality Exist? At the end of this unit, students will be able to: 1. Evaluate the ways in which Science explains the origins and workings of existence. 2. Explain how various religious perspectives account for the world and existence, and evaluate those accounts in relation to their own experience and in relation to science. 3. Explain how various philosophies have attempted to address the issue of human consciousness. 4. Describe the various views of existential thinkers, and determine whether or not the focus on existence helps to address the question of reality. Key Concepts for this Unit: Dualism Oneness and The Way Causation Consciousness Existentialism
UNIT II: HOW DID REALITY BEGIN? HOW DOES REALITY EXIST?
SCIENCE ---HOW HAVE SCIENCE AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD AFFECTED THE WAYS IN WHICH WE VIEW OUR WORLD AND DEFINE EXISTENCE? 1.1 PHYSICAL-CHEMICAL EXPLANATION 1.1.1 Big Bang 1.1.2 Universe and Multiverse see http://www.npr.org/2011/01/24/132932268/a-physicist-explains-why-parallel-universes-may-exist 1.1.3 Scientific Philosophers Whitehead, J.J. Smart 2. RELIGION ---IN WHAT WAYS DO THE RELIGIOUS OUTLOOKS HELP A HUMAN BEING UNDERSTAND REALITY AND EXISTENCE, AND FUNCTION IN THE WORLD? 2.1 MYTH 2.1.1 Various Cultural Explanations: Greek, African, American Indian 2.2 EASTERN TRADITIONS Yin and Yang Transmigration of souls 2.3 WESTERN TRADITIONS The world as a creation of a being
3. EXISTENCE---WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FOCUS ON REALITY AS EXISTENCE? WHAT ARE THE REASONS A PERSON MIGHT HAVE FOR FOCUSING ON REALITY IN THIS WAY? 3.1 CONSCIOUSNESS 3.1.1 West Phenomenology Post Modern 3.1.2 East Zen Buddhism 3.2 PURE EXISTENCE 3.2.1 Religious: Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard 3.2.2 Atheistic: Sartre, Camus Suggested Resources: Story on Stephen Hawking: No Room for God: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvnqd9_l1c Richard Dawkins on Evolution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aufolyt7ere Readings of Kierkegaard: http://www.archive.org/details/kierkegaard_readings_cc_librivox Gary E. Kessler, Voices of Wisdom: A Multicultural Philosophy Reader, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010, ISBN 0495601535. Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 13; pp. 478-485. Eliot Deutsch, Introduction to World Philosophies, Prentice Hall, 1997, ISBN 0132275058, Part IV.
The World of Ideas, Unit III: How do I KNOW What is Real? At the end of this unit, students will be able to: 1. Explain the different knowledge perspectives of Rationalists, Empiricists, and contemporary Analytic philosophers. 2. Describe the foundations of the Prophetic religious tradition s conception of Truth and Knowledge. 3. List and describe various world Mystical conceptions of knowledge, and explain how Mystical traditions compare to absolute notions of Truth and Knowledge. 4. Describe the origins of knowledge as they come to exist in societies with oral traditions. Compare notions of knowledge from Western societies to those societies with oral traditions. 5. Describe their own views on the origins and validity of knowledge, and compare them to the perspectives studied in this unit. Key Concepts for this Unit: Dualism Monism Causation Absolutism Epistemology Intuition Subjectivity
UNIT III: HOW DO I KNOW WHAT IS REAL?
1. PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE---DO THE FIVE SENSES PROVIDE ALL WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS REAL? 1.1 SENSATION AND PERCEPTION 1.1.1 Correspondence Theory of Truth: Locke and the Analytic School 2. LOGIC AND REASON: CAN LOGIC ALONE LEAD US TO TRUE CONCLUSIONS? 2.1 COHERENCE THEORY OF TRUTH DESCARTES AND THE RATIONALISTS 3. FAITH: WHAT ROLE DOES BELIEF PLAY IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF TRUTH? IS IT PROPER FOR IT TO HAVE ANY ROLE? 3.1 PROPHETIC TRADITION THE FIXED AND ABSOLUTE TRUTHS OF A DUALISTIC FRAMEWORK 3.2 MYSTIC TRADITIONS--EAST AND WEST KNOWLEDGE FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS ORTHODOXY, SUFIISM, AND ZEN. 4. INTUITIVE CAN KNOWLEDGE DEVELOP FROM OUTSIDE THE FIVE KNOWN SENSES? 4.1 HOLISTIC, OR PAN-LIFE INDIGENOUS APPROACHES Mythologies and oral histories (Africa, American Indians): the building blocks of knowledge, and the lenses of truth.
Suggested Resources: African Oral History: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/tools/culture/get_started.html Gary E. Kessler, Voices of Wisdom: A Multicultural Philosophy Reader, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010, ISBN 0495601535. Chapter 7, Chapter 8; pp. 445-455, 423-430. Eliot Deutsch, Introduction to World Philosophies, Prentice Hall, 1997, ISBN 0132275058, Part III and Part IV; pp. 426-430.
The World of Ideas, Unit IV: What Should I be Doing? At the end of this unit, students will be able to: 1. Describe at least 5 different religious approaches to the determination of ethical behaviour. What does each religion say about proper human conduct, and why might these religious perspectives be different? 2. Explain how certain atheists determine what ethical behaviour is. 3. Explain what makes an ethical viewpoint a humanist one, and explain how it can be different from an atheist perspective on ethics. 4. List and describe various collective ethical viewpoints, and explain the ways in which collective ethical viewpoints differ from individualistic ones. Are they different in their origins or in their practice? Or both? 5. Describe the ethical perspectives that seem most appropriate to them in today s 21 st Century world, and explain why they think some ethical codes are appropriate while others might be less so. Key Concepts for this unit: Absolute Theories Relativism Justice Authenticity Morals Norms Ethics
UNIT IV: WHAT SHOULD I BE DOING?
1. RELIGIOUS VIEWS 1.1 MORALISTIC TRADITIONS HOW AND WHY DID ETHICS BECOME MORALITY? 1.1.1 Judaism - Ten Commandments 1.1.2 Christianity - The Commandment to Love as an escape from sin. 1.1.3 Islam - Submission 1.2 ETHICS AS A CHANGE IN CONSCIOUSNESS---WHY A CHANGE IN CONSCIOUSNESS, AND HOW DO WE BRING IT ABOUT? 1.2.1 Buddhism -- 8-Fold Path 2. ATHEISTIC VIEWS IS IT POSSIBLE FOR ATHEISTS TO BE MORAL? ETHICAL? 2.1 ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY - WHITEHEAD, RUSSELL, RICHARD DAWKINS 2.2 EXISTENTIALISTS SARTRE S ACTIVISM DURING WWII AND AFTERWARD 3. HUMANISTS WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOR FOR HUMANISTS? 3.1 WEST 3.1.1 Enlightenment and the Philosophes Social Contract becomes the social relationship 3.2 EAST 3.2.1 Ethics to Align with Cosmic Order the role of Naturalism (http://humanisteducation.com/class.html?module_id=1&page=1#asi ) Confucianism Daoism
4. BASED ON SOCIAL HERITAGE HOW DID THE COLLECTIVE COME TO BE A VALUE AND AN OBLIGATION? WHY IS IT STILL VALUED? 4.1 AFRICA 4.1.1 Community and Family Ubuntu 4.2 CHINA 4.2.1 Community, Ancestors Confucianism and order---does Communism build on Confucian order? Suggested Resources: The Torah The Ten Commandments The New Testament Sermons and Parables of Jesus of Nazareth The Koran The Prophet s instructions on human relationships and interactions. Gary E. Kessler, Voices of Wisdom: A Multicultural Philosophy Reader, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010, ISBN 0495601535. Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5. Eliot Deutsch, Introduction to World Philosophies, Prentice Hall, 1997, ISBN 0132275058, Part II. See Sam Harris, http://www.samharris.org/media/video/
The World of Ideas, Unit V: What will happen to me? To us? Is Something Beyond what we Can Sense? At the end of this unit, students will be able to: 1. Describe three future scenarios for Earth and humanity from the point of view of natural scientists. Will global warming be a factor? Nuclear or other mass destruction? Successful colonization of other planets? 2. Explain the future scenarios of at least two social scientists. How will our Earth allegedly become hot, flat, and crowded? Will new demands of a technology environment require expertise that will leave millions unemployed and hungry? 3. Explain what both Eastern and Western religions claim about the transcendent. Is there a reality beyond our planetary existence? Compare and contrast Eastern and Western religious traditions. 4. Describe and compare the views of those thinkers who claim the questions of a beyond, or of any future evolution of natural events are unanswerable or irrelevant. 5. Explain their own views regarding the future of humanity and Earthly existence. Describe how their ideas compare with those of the philosophers/scientists studied in this unit and course. Key concepts for this unit: Futurism eschatology Transcendence Naturalism
UNIT V: WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME? TO US? IS SOMETHING "BEYOND" WHAT WE CAN SENSE?
1. SCIENCE---CAN SCIENCE SATISFACTORILY AND SUCCESSFULLY ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS AND MYSTERIES OF HUMAN LIFE? DOES SCIENCE THINK SO? 1.1 GLOBAL DEGRADATION AND DESTRUCTION 1.1.1 Natural Change 1.1.2 Human-Made 1.2 ADVANCES---LOGICAL POSITIVISM AND ANALYSIS 1.2.1 Medical and Chemical Solutions 1.2.2 Move to Interplanetary Existence 1.2.3 Science and the "Futurists" --- Toffler, Friedman 2. TRANSCENDENTAL 2.1 RELIGIOUS OR APOCALYPTIC Biblical Revelation Samsara and Infinity 2.2 SPIRITUAL 2.2.1 Western "Salvation" 2.2.2 Eastern "Oneness"
3. WE WILL NEVER KNOW 3.1 WEST 3.1.1 "Knowledge" of this is Impossible Kant, Agnosticism 3.2 EAST 3.2.1 An Irrelevant Question?---Is knowledge of the future the answer to human existence?; Zen and Dao Suggested Resources: Thomas L. Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Picador, 2008, ISBN 9780312428921. Center for Future Consciousness (what Education should focus on) http://www.centerforfutureconsciousness.com/edu_phil.htm On Alvin Toffler: http://www.skypoint.com/members/mfinley/toffler.htm On the future economic picture and the Third Industrial Revolution, see Jeremy Rifkin s website and works: http://www.foet.org/jeremyrifkin.htm Gary E. Kessler, Voices of Wisdom: A Multicultural Philosophy Reader, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010, ISBN 0495601535; pp. 205-252. Eliot Deutsch, Introduction to World Philosophies, Prentice Hall, 1997, ISBN 0132275058, Part V.