Jean in Newcastle Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 I have an accelerated 7th grader who is begging to study philosophy. He is currently listening the the Teaching Company cassettes "The Philosophy of Mind". Do you have any suggestions? I have no idea even what is available to teach philosophy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Philosophy for Kids, by White, is excellent. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 I am reading aloud Sophie's World to my two at the moment and we are enjoying it. I am learning a lot :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Philosophy for Kids, by White, is excellent. Best wishes Laura We like that one, too. Sophie's Choice (other poster's suggestion) is on our shelf to be used sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/philnotes.html This is nothing short of astounding. His syllabus, notes and required readings with printable handouts. This is from a prof at Brandies University no less. I majored in philosophy and took some graduate work as well so I have a host of suggestions . I urge you to read this wonderful course outline see what topics are of most interest for your son. I strongly urge you not to use distillations, summaries etc. use only the texts as written by the philosopher you have elected to study. He is an accelerated student so Plato and Aristotle are a great place to begin. Sophie's World is ...twaddle.Furthermore it is very misleading as you are reading that author's interpretation of what a philosopher thought or a summation of a school of thought. It is much the same as reading cliffs notes for Moby Dick written in contemporary ,easily digestible language and neglecting to read the novel by Melville. Nowhere near the same thing. Anthologies of Philosophy with only the original writings are a great deal and certainly not suspect as in the case of reading someone's rewriting and distillation of the great thinkers. I would suggest that you consider a historical approach and weave the important philosophers of the time into your history curriculum. I have been doing this and it is extremely helpful in terms of understanding the mindset of the time. I use this resource to pick and choose what readings we will include for each time period as SWB divides them in TWTM. http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html and a nifty chronology http://www.friesian.com/history.htm. I think it is just wonderful that such a young person is interested in the really big questions!!! BTW ,as a philosophy major, I admit that the readings were so challenging that law school was a walk in the park comparitvely speaking. Best wishes for a wonderful high school experience with your youngster it sounds as if it will not be dull or predictable!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 (edited) I know a homeschooling family whose father is head of the philosophy dept at a small college and as I recall, they like to use Sophie's World as an intro. In fact he's probably teaching a philosophy course this fall, but it is from a Catholic point of view. It is an intro course where one reads excerpts of various philosophers and then discuss the readings on line with the professor and other students in the class. I think some writing is also required. So far he has just 9 classes planned for the fall and if there is interest in continuing it they plan to add on more classes to continue through out the school year. This is intended for high schoolers but they seem to have no problems with anyone interested joining in. I believe the link is www.homeschoolconnectionsonline.com Edited June 20, 2009 by Faithr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 This blogpost from hmsindefatigable lists a couple of interesting resources for a secular study of logic and philosophy. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Here's the link to the page on the website describing the course. https://homeschoolconnections.webex.com/mw0306l/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=homeschoolconnections Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 This blogpost from hmsindefatigable lists a couple of interesting resources for a secular study of logic and philosophy. Regards, Kareni Crimes Against Logic looks superb and I thank you for bringing her resources to the list. It is a really difficult area to find resources appropriate for a younger reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dulcimeramy Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Very timely thread for me. Thanks for these suggestions, all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Here's the link to the page on the website describing the course. https://homeschoolconnections.webex.com/mw0306l/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=homeschoolconnections Course is $160. Early registration discount: $40 off if reg. by 7/10/09 $25 off if reg. by 8/10/09 This is an 8-week course. No class on 10/15/09 Description: Aristotle famously said, "all men by nature desire to know". For over 2600 years philosophers have grappled with life's profound questions. Seeking answers, they left their conclusions behind, along with the arguments supporting them. In this course we will be studying some of the better-known philosophical arguments in light of the issues they have addressed. From the allegory of the cave to the 5 ways of St. Thomas Aquinas to Pascal's wager, these arguments can serve as a brief introduction to the life and work of philosophers to anyone who would like to discover more about the "examined life". Outline: The selections we'll read are: Class 1: Plato's "allegory of the cave", from the Republic Class 2: Aristotle on happiness and moral virtue, from the Nicomachean Ethics Session 3: St. Augustine on choosing evil, from the Confessions Class 4: St. Anselm of Canterbury's and René Descartes' "ontological" arguments, from the Proslogion and the Meditations, respectively Class 5: René Descartes on how I may know of my own existence, from the Meditations Class 6: Blaise Pascal on the "wager" argument, from the Pensées Class 7: St. Thomas Aquinas on the possibility of proving God's existence, from the Summa Theologiae Class 8: St. Thomas Aquinas' "five ways", from the Summa Theologiae These are the selections from the prof at Benedictine .Incidentally my dearest friend and her siblings attended during the mid to late 80's and I have heard wonderful things about their experiences there. I hope that dd will attend Creighton as I am more comfortable with the Jesuits and it is my alma mater. This intro course looks exactly as it should. No summaries or watered down gruel, this is a spendid feast. Thanks for the link I think several of these courses look delightful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 My son is taking the Beowulf class and it is excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 We are going to use Smarr's Intro to Philosophy which uses Sophie's World as its spine and I also bought Story of Philosophy for extra research. ~~Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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