The Philosophy This is a slightly different session in that we are asking the children to consider an argument directly, and it is a continuation of the first Magician's Tricks stories. It is important that the first story is run so that the children are prepared for this argument. To find out more about Avicenna you can hear podcast o...

The Philosophy You can hear an 'In Our Time' and 'Philosophy Bites' about Avicenna here: http://philosophybites.com/2007/09/peter-adamson-o.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00855lt In a colourful career Avicenna proved the existence of god, amalgamated all known medical knowledge into one big book and establish...

The Story Sindbad the sailor said: ‘I was born wealthy in the city of Baghdad and wanted for nothing. I spent my wealth as if it were an endless spring without a thought for the future. But one day the spring ran dry and, almost without noticing, I became poor. Whilst I wondered about what to do I recalled some lines of poetry that adv...

The story ‘And is that the end of your tale?’ asked Sindbad the porter. ‘If it were, it would be one of the most fantastical tales yet told,’ said Sindbad the sailor, ‘but fate and fortune had not finished with me yet. I was returned safely home again but it was not long before I was aboard another ship seeki...

The Philosophy Aristotle on parts and wholes (see quote below). Socrates on knowing that you know nothing. Frank Jackson and ‘Mary and the Black and White Room’ Russell’s theory of descriptions Plato on particulars and universals Teaching Strategies Quote to use with class (if appropriate): ‘The whol...

Preparation Before you read the lesson plan do some thinking of your own. Have you ever tried to answer this question before: 'What is a number?' To help you with this, imagine you are speaking to an alien who is exactly like a human in terms of language and understanding but he/she/it lacks a concept of 'number' so the alien ...

I told my Uncle as he drank his tea That our class is doing Philosophy. ‘Is that wise?’ he said, frowning down at me. ‘Wise is what philosophy’s supposed to be’ I replied, helpfully. ‘It’s dangerous’ he said, ‘actually’. I was stunned. How could this be? My uncle murmured: &lsq...

Stimulus Write the following statements on the board and ask: Are these a) true, b) false, c) neither or d) both? 'I am 20. 'I am me.' 'The Simpsons is a really good programme.' 'I am shopping in Lewisham' (when the speaker is shopping, but not in Lewisham) 'This cake is made of jelly' (whe...

This session was developed by specialist David Birch on the topic of Newspapers. You might want to run this along with the Knowledge session, using newspaper headlines as the sentences in the Knowledge session. Thinking Game Break the circle on 'lying'. Stimulus (Use the powerpoint attached to take you through the session.) ...