Part 1: What is the difference between Truth, a Lie and Bullshit? Students should begin by writing brief definitions of these words: TRUTH, LIE, SATIRE/ JOKE, FICTION, MISTAKE, BULLSHIT (or, politely, BS) What is the difference between truth, lie, satire/joke, fiction, mistake, and BS? After 10 minutes, discuss how these concepts overlap and differ from each other. It … Truth, Lies and Bullshit
In his article, “What is it like to be a bat?” Thomas Nagel argues that there are facts about conscious experience that are subjective and can only be known from that subjective perspective. Even if we know all the objective facts about bats, we may not actually know what it would really be like to … Nagel’s “What is it Like to be a Bat?”
Can a computer think? Do computers have minds? John Searle’s Chinese Room argument can be used to argue that computers do not “think” because computers do not understand the symbols that they process. For example, if you’re typing an email to your friend on the computer, the computer does not understand what your message to … Do computers think?
Materials needed: Paper and pen/pencil Description: Begin by having a loose discussion about the difference between “opinion” and “knowledge.” This should bring up claims about reasons, evidence, and proof. After a brief discussion about this difference, have the students write down three things they know. For each statement, have the students write down their best … Beliefs and Evidence
Materials needed: Piece of paper and writing utensil Description: Note: this session operates as a good follow-up to a lesson plan on beliefs and evidence more generally. (1) Ask the students for some things that they know. Put a few examples on the board. (2) Tell the students the following story. It’s important that, for most … What Do You Know?
To introduce this lesson, the instructor will draw a line on the board with marks from 1 to 10. 1 is “completely fiction,” 10 is “completely non-fiction,” and in-between might be marked, “based on a true story.” The class will be asked where on the number line a standard newspaper story might fall. At the … Examining Perspectives in the News
What is an allegory? Explain to the students that an allegory is a kind of story in which what happens is being compared to something else that is similar and unstated. Activity 1. Read Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (from The Republic) together – available on the Resources tab. Here is one adaptation of the allegory: … Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
The Matrix In the 1999 film The Matrix, the humans trapped in the Matrix are like the people in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. They see only what the machines want them to see, but they believe they see reality as it really is. They accept what their senses tell them as all that exists. … The Matrix & The Experience Machine
One of the practical consequences of the Scientific Revolution was a suggestion that one should only believe things that are both true and justified. Eventually, there was even the proposal by mathematician William Clifford that it is morally wrong to believe things without good justification. While early thinkers suggested we need to justify all of … Demarcation and Falsifiability
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