Pre-College Philosophy

Summer Programs in Philosophy for High School Students, 2021 Edition

Please use the comments section on this post to share information about 2021 summer programs in philosophy for high school students. (more…)

March 25, 2021 2 2

Philosophy for Kids Is not Math for Kids or Reading for Kids

In 2015, a small study purported to show that teaching elementary school students philosophy improved their math and reading skills. The following year, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) funded a large-scale study of the effects of teaching philosophy to young children. The results of that study have now been announced. (more…)

March 4, 2021 17 3

Dialexicon: A New Student-Led Philosophy Initiative

There’s a new “platform for high school students to learn, discuss, and contribute to philosophical thought and writing.” (more…)

September 29, 2020 0 2

High School Teacher Placed on Leave for Moral Problems Quiz (Update: Teacher Resigns)

A high school teacher has been placed on administrative leave (with pay) after a parent complained about a lesson in which students were asked to morally reason about some provocative situations, according to The Columbus Dispatch last week. (more…)

September 11, 2018 75 2

New Journal: “Precollege Philosophy and Public Practice” (corrected)

A new journal, “Precollege Philosophy and Public Practice,” will have its inaugural issue in winter 2019. It will be an annual, interdisciplinary, online and open-access journal. (more…)

July 9, 2018 2 5

French Teachers Consider Strike Over Reduction in Philosophy Curriculum

Last week, at the completion of their high school studies, 750,000 students in France took the baccalauréat exam in philosophy, or “bac philo,” as it is called. Meanwhile, worries about reforms to the baccalauréat system have some teachers threatening to strike. (more…)

June 25, 2018 2 3

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Heap of Links

“With collective identity comes collective responsibility” -- Jessica Wolfendale (Marquette) explains how this applies to the military in regard to war crimes
“We need the combined wisdom of the mathematician, the philosopher and the psychological counsellor to help combat the forces that sustain problem gambling” -- Catalin Barboianu with an interesting argument for practical, applied interdisciplinarity
How the brain literally “turns” sensory data into memories -- new work in the neuroscience of memory
Do you have an obligation to get vaccinated? -- the answer is more complicated than you might think, argues Travis Rieder (Johns Hopkins)
20 works of philosophical fiction -- a list from Book Riot
“Do we really need a theory of instrumental rationality?” -- we do, says Sergio Tenenbaum (Toronto), and he is explaining why and what it should look like at Brains this week
“Spock is held up as this exemplar of logic and reason and rationality” -- but he's really "a straw man... of reason and rationality, because he keeps making all these dumb mistakes" (via MR)
Zoom and academic freedom -- the firm develops a policy in the wake of outcries over its previous decisions to disallow certain events on its system
“Upon his return to America, he recognized the critical importance of getting at the root of racial prejudice and, in his case, how we treat Asian Americans” -- how Dewey's thoughts on bigotry are relevant today
“An understanding of Coleridge’s thinking… provides insight into the beginnings of the analytic-Continental divide and a bridge between materialist and dynamic (powers-based) views in the sciences” -- Peter Cheyne (Shimane) on the philosophy of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Radical embodied cognitive science -- a conversation ranging across philosophy and psychology with Richard Brown (CUNY) and Tony Chemero (Cincinnati)
“What do accountants know about morality? More than you might think, but not enough” -- Robert Bloomfield (Cornell) sets out "moral accounting" and asks philosophers for feedback
“Rogue Philosophers” is a new video series of conversations -- between academic philosopher Jennifer Scuro and philosophical counselor Monica Vilhauer
The park in Athens that is home to the site of Plato’s Academy is getting a makeover -- the plan, which includes a new archaeological museum, "fully respects the history of the space and revives the spirit of the Platonic Academy for the simultaneous education of mind and body," says Greece's culture minister
“I think imagination can do much more than philosophers often give it credit for” -- an interview with Amy Kind (Claremont McKenna)
29 philosophers agree: enough with the repugnant conclusion already! -- in Utilitas. (Editorial note: ok, but let's stop framing Parfit's problems as *about* population; his "population problems" are no more about population than trolley problems are about trolleys)
What should you do as the commenter on a philosophy paper? -- some common and not-so-common options, from Jonathan Ichikawa (UBC)
What’s the use of impostor syndrome? -- Stephen Gadsby (Monash) thinks it may be motivating
“He is much more than an intellectual, he is an adventurer of ideas” -- “Voltaire in Love” is a new four-episode Franco-Belgian mini-series
“Pro-choice advocates have deliberately avoided engaging moral or ethical questions about abortion” -- they shouldn't, argues Nathan Nobis (Morehouse) and Jonathan Dudley (JHU)
“All I knew was that it was interesting” -- Stephen Darwall (Yale) interviewed by Connie Rosati (UT Austin) about his life and work in philosophy in PEA Soup's "Mentees Interviewing Mentors" series
“A surprisingly underexplored question is whether many people have thoughts” — so they did a study. The good news is “The results were consistent with everyone having thoughts,” but there might be worries about the methodology
“Social robots might change the social moral order by changing the metaphors that humans use to understand themselves” -- with the upshot that we will be more likely to think in utilitarian ways, argues John Danaher (NUI)
“There is no evidence that… induced change in free will beliefs has any effect on morality, such as antisocial behavior, cheating, conformity, or willingness to punish” -- findings from a meta-analysis of nearly 150 studies with over 26,000 participants
The fertile philosophy of mind of William James -- an interview with Alexander Klein (McMaster)
Music to my ears: careful distinctions, carefully deployed -- an informative and well-reasoned examination of the analog-digital debate in audio, from Michael Thomas Connolly, a very thoughtful musician and recording engineer
Do lessons that encourage students to try out virtues like Confucian filial piety or Lakotan quietness involve objectionable cultural appropriation? -- Jean Kazez (SMU) takes up the question
Metaethics and experimental philosophy -- the Cognitive Science of Philosophy at the Brains blog continues with contributions from Pascale Willemsen (Zurich) and Bianca Cepollaro (Vita-Salute San Raffaele)
“Where the crowning moment of our identity we hoped to achieve in the pinnacle of success turns out not to be the thing we were looking for after all, and we’re thrown back upon the thinness of our bare self’s existence” -- Mary Townsend (St. John's) reviews "Soul," the recent Pixar movie
“His academic year stipend was $15,000 throughout graduate school, yet he finished with about $35,000 in savings” -- an interview (featuring helpful financial tips for graduate students) with philosopher Trevor Hedberg (Ohio State), who completed his PhD in 2017