Task developed by Aaron Dewhurst, Knox Grammar School, 2013

Northern NSW da Vinci Decathlon

SAMPLE An academic gala day

for years 9 and 10

Philosophy

Session 2 ‘All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions’ Leonardo da Vinci.

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Team Number _____________

Section1:KnowledgeandUnderstanding(5marks)

Epistemology

Beloware10statements/questionsthatpertaintothestudyofPhilosophy.SelectthestatementsthatspecificallyrelatetothebranchofPhilosophyknownasepistemologybyplacingatickintherelevantbox.Foreachmistakeonemarkwillbededucted.

Tick Statement/Keyquestion

Explorestheconditionsnecessaryforthedisseminationofknowledge(i.e.structure,format,location.

Whatconstitutessomethingasavalidorjustifiedbelief?

Normativetradition:thequalityofthereasonsforourbeliefsthatconvertstruebeliefsintoknowledge;whenthereasonsaresufficientlycogent,wehaveknowledge

Itisconcernedwiththenature,sourcesandlimitsofknowledge.

Coherentismclaimsthateverybeliefderivesitsjustificationfrominferentialrelationshipstootherbeliefs–i.e.allbeliefssupportoneanother

Thenaturalistictraditiondescribesknowledgeasanaturalphenomenonoccurringinawiderangeofsubjects.Roughly,whenatruebeliefhastheappropriatecausalhistory,thenthebeliefcountsasknowledge

Concernedprimarilywiththequestionofthebestwaytolive,andsecondarily,concerningthequestionofwhetherthisquestioncanbeanswered.

Thestudyofknowledgeandjustifiedbelief.

Spaceandtime,aswellasbeingsomewhatelusiveintheirownnature,arefurtherobviouscandidatesforbeingfeaturesofeverythingthatexists

Anyattemptoneitherquestionwillfinditselfusing,andinvestigating,theconceptsofbeingandexistence.

Statementsderivedfromthewebsite:http://www.rep.routledge.com/

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Section2:Application(14marks)

InpreparationforthedaVinciDecathlon,youwillhaveresearchedlogic(includinglogicalfallaciesandvalid/invalidarguments),epistemologyandmetaphysics.Consideryourresearchandapplyittotheimages.

CIRCLETHELETTERofthemostappropriateanswerfromthemultiple-choiceoptionsbelow.

Question1

Takenfrom:http://www.funnytimes.com/playground/img/126265061279628.png

InresponsetotheHorse’sstatements,theElephantorderofthelogicalfallaciesoftheElephantis:

(a) strawman,anecdotal,slipperyslope,texassharpshooter,adhominem(b) appealtoemotion,anecdotal,falsecause,black-orwhite,tuquoque(c) strawman,falsecause,slipperysloap,anecdotal,anecdotal,(d) adhominem,anecdotal,falsecause,black-or-white,adhominem

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Question2

Takenfrom:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wYCVuZcMRbI/T8fihQ6xLCI/AAAAAAAACm8/DKPUiEvOJdo/s1600/Debunking+Atheists+certainty1.jpg

Thisimageincludesanexampleofthefollowing:

(a) tuquoque(b) personalincredulity(c) loadedquestion(d) appealtoauthority

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Question3

Imagetakenfrom:http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/philosophy/CartoonLeunig4.jpg

Inresponsetotheindividual’spleas,theanswersincludethefollowinglogicalfallacies:

(a) appealtoemotionandadhominem(b) burdenofproofandappealtoemotion(c) anecdotalandtuquoque(d) texassharpshooterandtuquoque

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CompleteaEulerDiagramforeachthefollowingargumentsanddeterminewhethertheyarevalidorinvalid.

Question4.

Valid/Invalid(circleanswer)

Takenfrom:http://365daysofphilosophy.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/penguinlogic.jpeg?w=502

Question5.

Valid/Invalid(circleanswer)

If a dog is homeless, then they bark lots. I don’t bark lots. Therefore, I am not not homeless.

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Determinewhetherthefollowingargumentsarevalidorinvalid.Circlethecorrectanswer.

(5marks)

Note:P1=person1andP2=person2

6 P1“IfWillisaPhilosophystudent,thenheattendsthedaVinciDecathlon”.P2“WilldoesnotattendthedaVinciDecathlon”.

Conclusion:WillisnotaPhilosophystudent

Valid

Invalid

7 P1“OnlyPhilosophystudentsachieveanATARofover75”.

Conclusion:Rochelle,whoachievedanATARof80,musthavestudiedPhilosophy

Valid

Invalid

8 P1“AllPhilosophystudentseatsushi”.P2“SomepeoplewhoeatsushistudyEnglish”

Conclusion:SomePhilosophystudentsstudyEnglish

Valid

Invalid

9 P1“NoPhilosophystudentsbecometheduxoftheirschool”.P2“Jadeisnottheduxofherschool”.

Conclusion:JadeisaPhilosophystudent

Valid

Invalid

10 P1“AllPhilosophystudentsstudyEnglish”.P2“AllPhilosophystudentsworkafterschool”.P3“AllstudentswhostudyEnglishgraduatefromschool”.P4“Moststudentswhograduatefromschoolgotouniversity”.P5“Studentswhoworkedafterschoolare75%morelikelytogotouniversity”.

Conclusion:AllPhilosophystudentsgotouniversity

Valid

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Invalid

Section3:Analysis&Evaluation(10Marks)

InpreparationforthedaVinciDecathlon,youshouldhaveconsideredthevalueofstudyingPhilosophyandwhetheritshouldbemadeamandatorysubjectinhighschool.ThefollowingtextpresentsinformationonthevalueofstudyingPhilosophyasasubject.Readthetextandanswerthequestionsthatfollow.Adaptedfromthewebsite:http://www.scu.edu/cas/philosophy/whystudy.cfm College of Arts and Sciences » Philosophy » Why Study Philosophy?

Why Study Philosophy There are no worthy paths in life that do not require you to think

"Philosophy" means "love of wisdom." Wisdom is not just knowledge but a sense of what knowledge is all about and an insight into the hidden presuppositions underlying the way we look at ourselves and the rest of the world. The wise person understands how things stand to one another in importance. Philosophy begins in wonder—wonder at the world, wonder most of all at the human person. And after philosophical reflection the wonder remains, even though it is wiser. For

there is nothing on earth more wonderful than human beings, and the ancient Greek command "Know thyself!" begins a quest that lasts a lifetime. The study of philosophy has always been of serious interest to human beings. In addition, in any field—from business, to medicine, to law, to teaching, to computer programming and civil engineering—the ability to think clearly and creatively as well as the capacity to solve problems is central to professional success and personal satisfaction. Of course, while taking philosophy does not guarantee success, a philosophy class is one of the best ways to work on the acquisition and development of:

1. Critical thinking skills: The ability to identify key issues in decision-making or problem solving; and to identify various related problems and solutions.

2. Skills in argumentation: The ability to proceed in a valid and sound way from premises to conclusions; to rationally persuade others; to more rigorously seek reasoned self-understanding.

3. Communication skills: The ability to summarize the content of a message clearly and objectively (for example, to differentiate fact from value); to

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explain complex ideas and principles. 4. Skills in design and planning: The ability to look at a problem, or an

opportunity, from different angles and to identify alternative plans of action or design.

Why continue to study Philosophy? The best and perhaps the only good reason to continue to study Philosophy is that you have a serious interest in the subject. Nevertheless, it is possible to become dissuaded from majoring in philosophy by practical concerns: if I major in philosophy, can I go to medical school? business school? Will I be able to get a job? These are legitimate concerns and, for the person seriously interested in philosophy, the answers to these questions are very reassuring. Most students who study Philosophy do not go on to work in academic philosophy, and as suggested above studying Philosophy will actually be a significant benefit in almost any career. Also, if you have other serious interests, many philosophy majors have a second major. In addition to all the reasons for taking philosophy should know that a recent comprehensive study of college students' scores on major tests used for admission to graduate and professional schools shows that students studying philosophy received scores substantially higher than the average on each of the tests studied. The study compared the scores of 550,000 college students who took the LSAT, GMAT, and the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE with data collected over the previous eighteen years. It was conducted by the National Institute of Education and reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Philosophy majors scored 10% better than political science majors on the LSAT. They also outperformed business majors by a margin of 15% on the GMAT and outperformed every other undergraduate major except mathematics. In another study of LSAT scores, Philosophy was tied for first with Economics among the 12 largest disciplines with an average score of 157.4. Testimonials adapted from: http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/pros_students/grad_prospectus.html

Testimonials Barry Scrates I finished studying Philosophy in 2011. Initially, I took the course because Dr Cicero suggested that it was a far superior subject to study and that it was also the most popular elective. He had told me about Descartes’ theory of “cogito ergo sum - I think, therefore I am” and suggested that because we all think, we should all do Philosophy. Dr Cicero also suggested that by doing Philosophy at school, then I would go to university because it taught critical thinking skills. In fact, a friend, who is a few years older than me, once told me that studying Philosophy at school has helped her resolve the hardest decisions she has had to make in life.

Throughout the course, I found it tremendously exciting to be able to tackle a range of challenging topics at a highly intellectual level. I had a lot of support from my teachers, but it was always more like advice and professional criticism than teaching: we were expected to work independently and plough our own furrows. Standards were high and hard work was expected, but I have found plenty of time to take advantage of the broader benefits of the school.

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In addition to the formal support given by my teachers, I found the general level of support in the faculty very helpful. The students and teachers form a tight-knit community, and a lot of philosophy is done informally around the school by way of general discussion.

Philosophy classes were a good opportunity to pursue such discussion in a more formal setting: not only did it allow us to get to know each other, but it also gave the opportunity to keep up with other students’ research. It's also a good forum in which to improve the skills of presentation and discussion - I feel like I have a lot more confidence about expressing my ideas verbally than I did before undertaking Philosophy.

More generally, though, Philosophy is invaluable when so much learning is dependent on clear thinking and clear communication. There are three traditional philosophies and two twentieth century philosophies that apply to education: Idealism, realism, and neo-Thomism (also called theistic realism) have existed for centuries, while pragmatism and existentialism are relative newcomers from the early twentieth century. Each philosophy has a component of metaphysics, epistemology and axiology.

I can honestly say that during the last year, I have enjoyed my most fruitful time academically and have no hesitation in recommending Philosophy to anyone wanting to progress in the development of critical and independent philosophical thinking within a truly friendly environment.

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Assess the use of logical fallacies used in the excerpt Why Study Philosophy.

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