Philosophy Ideas for club??

Hello! : )
I am a junior in high school and have studied philosophy for about a year now. I decided to start up a club in my school, which I must say I am VERY excited about! : )
Well, the reason I’m creating this thread is because the first meeting is scheduled for next Friday. Most of these students have absolutely no idea what philosophy really is, being as I am the founder and president of this club, it is, of course, my job to teach them what it is.
The first meeting is extremely important, considering it is determining who will remain in the club. I need to introduce philosophy, of course in a interesting way.
I already have a few ideas of how I plan to introduce philosophy in an interesting way, but I REALLY need more! I want to absolutely let them see the way I see philosophy, how amazingly interesting and life changing it is…
I’ll appreciate any ideas(discussion topics, ways to explain) extremely.

Thank you. : )

I would first discuss logical conversation. It seems many people in america at least don’t understand logic principles and contradict themselves daily, and or cannot explain what they are trying to say clearly or perhaps even don’t know what it is they are trying to say.

I think it’s a much needed grounding to study philosophy, however, philosophy is much confusion, you need to be able to see the logical fallacies in certain types of philosophy.

You could make logic and critical thinking very interesting and cool.

Discuss things like “truth does not exist”, and loaded questions like, “does your mother know you’re stupid” etc. This could be very useful, however restrain the club if they get carried away, I’ve personally seen where hostility breaks out when people use this in everyday life where people would rather relax and talk nonsensically. You don’t want to be annoying about it. But if you are in a debate, definitely use it as logic is such a powerful tool many people look over.

That’s my idea, hope you like.

You could start with some lofty metaphysical inquiry, like does God exist, what is the Good, or is there anything out there except me, but then you run the risk of boring them.

Of course, you can always leave that for later and take on more terrestrial matters instead. “Is abortion wrong”, or “let me tell you the story of Socrates and then let’s see if he was right to submit to his punishment”, or “Kant never got laid”.

Or you could read a text together. There’s Thomas Nagel’s What Does It All Mean, or Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy or William James Earle’s Introduction to Philosophy: A Guidebook.

ditext.com/russell/russell.html

Here’s a link with some essays by Russell. He’s an entertaining chap, you can discuss any of his works listed:

solstice.us/russell/

And there’s always the critical thinking way in, which Club suggested. Critical thinking is like a sharp chisel which philosophers use to carve their way into posterity, and possessing the skills of effective reasoning is essential to any philosopher wannabe. I would start with this, myself.

Here’s a good link:

austhink.org/critical/index.htm

Go to the Argument Mapping tutorials. Download the Apollo landing essay and analyse it with your chums. Be sure to read the tutorials first so you’ll be a step ahead of them all the time. You can do the critical thinking stuff with Russell’s essay as well.

Have…erm…fun, I guess.

You can’t go wrong with introducing them to the five branches of philosophy - Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Logic, and Esthetics. You should, I think, emphasisize logic.

Here’s how I imagine the first day should go:

You introduce yourself.

You ask everyone there who they are; something special about them; why are they there; and what they think philosophy is.

You then give an overview of philosophy in it’s five branches. Use examples for each.

Then focus on argument forms. Do some of the fallacies. Use a simpson/south park/family guy reference (there are plenty)

Then on the following meetings focus on specific issues.

I recommend you use Russell’s History of Philosophy.

Ontology, epistemology, aesthetics, ethics, in that order. Everything else is superfluous.

Well… what interested you in philosophy to begin with? Is there a chance that they might find the same topics interesting as you did at the start? Why not lead with that?

I like club29’s idea; I actually was planning to present “truth does not exist” anyways, but I didn’t consider using sentences such as “does your momma know your stupid”, which is a wonderful idea and I’ll use it, thanks.

Mucius Scevola, Thank you very much for all the links you provided, is very useful. I’ve read on Russell before, his writings are very intriguing.

Thank you to everyone else also for the responses. I was exceptionally grateful that some responded. I’m so nervous going in front of complete strangers and explaining such a broad subject by myself, heh.

More responses are always welcomed and appreciated.

I think your first meeting intinct is correct, it’s about getting them interested in one session about philosophy, and the club. I would not teach them anything specific about logic or reason, that’s too boring.

I would do as some suggest and pick a few classic philosophy questions, and pose them. Get everyone sitting in a circle or outside in a circle, etc. Floor maybe is better, all non-conventional adds a twist to the “free thinker” theme.

Personally I wouldn’t attempt to sway or answer the questions myself, I would maybe ask some probing questions to keep the ball rolling. When it slows, jump to the next question. If anyone is steam-rolling the conversation, be proactive in getting others involved with more questions. Treat it like brainstorming, no wrong answers, just thoughtful questions and discussion.

Example definitions/discussion of:
Truth
Good/evil
Morals subjective or objective
Freedom/rights, who grants them, what are they
Artificial intelligence (a stretch, but still often a good hook)

I would avoid religion/gods as a specific topic, and it make come up in the above, which is fine. Otherwise, it may alienate some people, or worse, it may get heated…be ready with the hose of subject change!

Good luck!

-Mach

Perhaps it would be most interesting to them if you were to introduce them to some specific characters of philosophy, like Socrates, Nietzsche and other of the more interesting personalities (I’d leave out the more boring chaps to begin with), a few of their key beliefs, and some of their more famous quotes.
You might also try introducing them to a few fields at once by asking them a question like what they think would be most important characteristics of a perfect society (aesthetics, ethics), and then ask them why they think so (logic), and then explain to them the nature of objectivity and subjectivity or such like. That way they get to use their imagination.

I hope a good few people turn up for you. We need more young people getting interested in such things rather than just spending their time in a drunken haze.

I would suggest you start by going around and let each person give an answer to cliche philosophical questions, such as:

What is the meaning of life?
If a tree falls in a forest…
and so on.

Make sure you limit each person’s answer, so that they don’t waste hours rambling on about some silly question.

How about watching a philosophical movie, like deconstructing harry, or I heart huckabees, or waking life, and then discussing it afterwards. Maybe bring pizza too. Do this for a couple of meetings, and once you get some regulars who you are reasonably sure will come to the next meeting no matter what the topic is, you can start to discuss some heavier topics. Also, at least at the club at my University, new members are always allowed to choose the topic of discussion for the next meeting.(provided they’re going to attend again).

Along the movie lines I’d suggest a viewing of Lost In Translation, with the caveat that you may all be too young to understand it. Next I’d suggest you open a dialogue on the Eternal Questions: Is there a God? Does life have meaning? Does freewill exist? What is the nature of good and evil? What matters?

Lastly I’d suggest you be pretty liberal and generous in determining “who will remain in the club.” You yourself are operating on thin ice, philosophically speaking, so don’t be too quick to expel those who don’t seem to be in synch with your worldview. Not every flower blooms at the same time of year, if you catch my Drift.

If you’re looking to start a philosophy club, you need to start teaching people to be backstreet dialecticians. Since Socrates, philosophy has been about starting fights. That is, philosophy’s not just about describing the world to someone else. It’s about changing the world, by changing the way we look at the world’s possibilities. Activism is what matters: arguing, struggling, transforming.

But hey, if all you want is to get high and watch movies, I would suggest that the following are good for introducing philosophy to college students in an ‘engaging’ way…

  • Any of the fantastic BBC series on great philosophers. The one on Nietzsche is exemplary; they also have Sartre, Heidegger, etc.

  • Slavoj Zizek (a contemporary theorist and psychoanalyst) makes some good movies. Specifically I’d recommend “A Pervert’s Guide to Cinema,” which – besides having a great name! – is an extended philosophical discussion of cinema. Also includes selections from great works of American film, so doubles as an ‘intro to film’ review.

And here’s a good list of movies by philosophical theme. But again, I really suggest that for the club, you attempt to weave at least a LITTLE political import into the discussions. The risk is that the politics will overshadow the philosophy – which is why you need some good dialecticians, to keep you off balance. (And if you don’t have any? Well, you’ve got to teach yourself…)

a good philosophy movie would be “the name of the rose”

-Imp

Spiffy

I have decided that Critical Thinking can usefully be thought of as ‘philosophy light’. I am a retired engineer and have an MA in philosophy. More importantly I am a self-actualizing self-learner and I have learned the significance and importance of CT and of philosophy.

CT is an acronym for Critical Thinking. Everybody considers themselves to be a critical thinker. That is why we need to differentiate among different levels of critical thinking.

Most people fall in the category that I call Reagan thinkers—trust but verify. Then there are those who have taken the basic college course taught by the philosophy dept that I call Logic 101. This is a credit course that teaches the basic principles of reasoning. Of course, a person need not take the college course and can learn the matter on their own effort, but I suspect few do that.

The third level I call CT (Critical Thinking). CT includes the knowledge of Logic 101 and also the knowledge that focuses upon the intellectual character and attitude of critical thinking. It includes knowledge regarding the ego and social centric forces that impede rational thinking.

Most decisions we have to make are judgment calls. A judgment call is made when we must make a decision when there is no “true” or “false” answers. When we make a judgment call our decision is bad, good, or better.

Many factors are involved: there are the available facts, assumptions, skills, knowledge, and especially personal experience and attitude. I think that the two most important elements in the mix are personal experience and attitude.

When we study math we learn how to use various algorithms to facilitate our skill in dealing with quantities. If we never studied math we could deal with quantity on a primary level but our quantifying ability would be minimal. Likewise with making judgments; if we study the art and science of good judgment we can make better decisions and if we never study the art and science of judgment our decision ability will remain minimal.

I am convinced that a fundamental problem we have in this country (USA) is that our citizens have never learned the art and science of good judgment. Before the recent introduction of CT into our schools and colleges our young people have been taught primarily what to think and not how to think. All of us graduated with insufficient comprehension of the knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary for the formulation of good judgment. The result of this inability to make good judgment is evident and is dangerous.

I am primarily interested in the judgment that adults exercise in regard to public issues. Of course, any improvement in judgment generally will affect both personal and community matters.

To put the matter into a nut shell:

  1. Normal men and women can significantly improve their ability to make judgments.
  2. CT is the domain of knowledge that delineates the knowledge, skills, and intellectual character demanded for good judgment.
  3. CT has been introduced into our schools and colleges slowly in the last two or three decades.
  4. Few of today’s adults were ever taught CT.
  5. I suspect that at least another two generations will pass before our society reaps significant rewards resulting from teaching CT to our children.
  6. Can our democracy survive that long?
  7. I think that every effort must be made to convince today’s adults that they need to study and learn CT on their own. I am not suggesting that adults find a teacher but I am suggesting that adults become self-actualizing learners.
  8. I am convinced that learning the art and science of Critical Thinking is an important step toward becoming a better citizen in today’s democratic society.