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Philosophy teacher support material

External assessment: sample E

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Sample E

Philosophy is often regarded as the most abstract and abstruse of all subjects; it is often seen as

being removed from reality and dedicated exclusively to theoretical speculations about the origins,

nature and purpose of both the natural and human universe at large. A common (mis)conception ofphilosophers is one where these are able to dissert sophisticatedly about ideas which can be hardly

applied in the practical world. Such stereotypes might distort the real nature of philosophy;

notwithstanding, they do highlight a crucial characteristic which brings out philosophical reflection:

some people, at a certain point of their lives, ask as well as think of basic questions about both their

individual and social conditions, the meaning of their life, etc. The value of doing philosophy rests

on the fact that it leads people to question and challenge ideas, beliefs and values held

unreflectively; it brings people to analyse, clarify and evaluate them in a serious fashion according

to logical procedures. Philosophy helps people examine their own life and it makes their existence

meaningful for, as the Greek philosopher Socrates put it, an unexamined life is not worth living.

And yet, human beings can function in an immediate survival mode, accepting viewpoints and

opinions without questioning them, as well as embracing pre-packaged ideology which provides

ready-made answers to our fundamental questions. Whether we are aware of it or not, each of us

has a particular worldview, a certain ethical code, a definite position on religious beliefs: that is, all

of us have some philosophical views. But for some people it is not enough to have a philosophy,

for such people may begin to feel unfulfilling as well as to find their life empty and meaningless.

We can then engage in doing philosophy by challenging and examining our conceptions

consciously. As a thinking activity in its very essence, philosophy aims at examining those

principles on the basis of which we decide whether some ideas ought or ought not to be accepted.

Not only does it approach several fields of human and scientific enquiry, but also it questions and

evaluates itself. Doing philosophy is a radical activity, for it breaks ideas down into their principles to

analyse and evaluate them. Such activity might undermine completely some beliefs and opinions of

ours whose validity was not proven before; it might annihilate what we believed as being our

truths. And yet, doing philosophy must not be considered only as a vis destruens. It is also a vis

construens, which makes us conscious of our beliefs, opinions and values by leading us to

challenge their validity; and which brings us to substitute fallacious opinions with less erroneous

ones. From this perspective, doing philosophy helps us live a better life, as we may be able to

better assess our ideas and give consciously reasons for them. By articulating our views, facing

them and committing ourselves to them, such views truly become our views.

The feeling of wonder and amazement has often been mentioned as one of the starting points of

philosophy. Doing philosophy is essentially a reflective activity, which involves stepping back,

listening to yourself and other people and trying to understand and evaluate what it is that you hear

or what it is you believe. Two things are fundamental in doing philosophy: articulation and

argument. The first activity helps develop an argument in a clear fashion. The second activity helps

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Philosophy teacher support material

External assessment: sample E

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in the justification of the elements in the argument with evidence by considering counter claims and

counter arguments. But even the best answer might not survive this process because philosophical

activity never reaches an absolute answer. Old ideas are always analysed by new generations of

questioners. Philosophical activity is inconclusive and one can learn a great deal from studying the

history of philosophical activity in order to avoid repeating older problems. In this way, philosophy

makes progress and develops.

The activity of philosophising is intrinsic to every human being, since each of us can make an

inquiry into the nature of the universe and into the human condition. When we do this type of

activity each of us could be called a philosopher as soon as he or she starts to question, reflect

upon and evaluate ideas. To better understand what has been said above, it is useful to resort to a

popular story I was once told about two men who were drinking beer together. One of them looked

at his own glass of beer and said: Life is like this glass of beer. His companion asked: Why do

you say so? What do mean by that?. The other person went on: I dont know because Im not a

philosopher. The message of this story is that it is wonder, critical thought, and reflection that

makes everyone of us a philosopher. However, sometimes we simply do not believe that we can all

engage in the activities of doing philosophy at every minute of our life and about every issue that

comes up in our minds.

This having been said, it might be important to distinguish a trained professional from other

questioners. The former might be more accustomed to the logical procedures by means of which

philosophy can be done and, arguably, the trained professional might be able to articulatearguments more skilfully. However, this does not make doing philosophy the private possession of

the trained individual. We can all enter into and participate in the activity of philosophizing every

time we ask questions about the world around us, every time we wonder about being a human

being.

To sum up, doing philosophy is a reflective activity which aims at challenging, criticising, examining

and evaluating accepted values, beliefs, opinions and ideas. Stimulated by a feeling of wonder

about both the human and the natural universe at large, the human beings start to question,

articulate and argue for ideas. Although the critical approach of philosophical enquiries never

reaches a final answer, it is important to study the philosophies of the past in order not to make the

mistakes already made. This having been discussed, it would be interesting to delve into the nature

of dangers and the conveniences of approaching life in a philosophical fashion and how different

cultures regard the philosophical inquiry. This would lead to further discussions concerning the

nature and the value of doing philosophy. But we would do this precisely by being philosophers

and engaging in philosophical activity.

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