12th Grade Philosophy (CPDA Magnet)

What value can philosophy provide high school students today? Critics often dismiss philosophy as being too difficult, too boring, and too disconnected from anything practical. But this stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth. Everyone is capable of philosophical thinking; indeed, thinking is the one thing that human beings simply can’t stop doing! (Try it for yourself: can you stop thinking even for a second?) Moreover, everyone is capable of thinking in the peculiar way that philosophers do it. From the moment children learn language, they use it to express their wonder about the universe and their place in it—and as Plato reminds us, “philosophy begins in wonder.” As we grow up, we are like philosophers every time we ask fundamental questions like “How do you know that?” or “Is that true?” or “How should I best live my life?”

But perhaps most importantly, high school students should take a philosophy class because, as the British philosopher Mary Midgley once put it, “philosophy is best understood as a form of plumbing. It’s the way in which we service the deep infrastructure of our lives—the patterns that are taken for granted because they have not really been questioned.” By encouraging us to question everything, including what we take to be “common sense,” philosophy has the potential to change our lives for the better. In this course we will explore and put into practice ancient and contemporary philosophical traditions from Asia, Europe, and the United States. I hope it’s a life changing experience!