journey to the beginning of the world€¦ · e.g. justified true belief? ... some beliefs which...

Journey to the Beginning of the World

Guidance to support facilitation of philosophical enquiry

Copyright Lizzy Lewis

Preparing for facilitation It is an important part of a facilitator’s preparation for

an enquiry session to give some thought as to the range of ideas, concepts, themes that might emerge from the stimulus. (SAPERE Level 1 Handbook pg. 56)

Preparation can help the facilitator keep the enquiry focused but also not miss opportunities that arise

So here we explore some key concepts in Journey to the Beginning of the World to help prepare for your philosophical journey with children…


Thinking ahead • What questions follow from those raised in the story?

• What paths might the children follow in their enquiry?

• What moves might they make on this path?

• Questions are likely to lead to further questions

• The enquiry may roll forward over many weeks

• The children may want to do research or further reading to bring to the next enquiry

“You may find that there is more than one answer to your question.”


In other words…

This thinking preparation may help you and the children to

‘squeeze the philosophical juice’

out of the story!


Knowledge

Journey to the Beginning of the World begins with Sophie’s curiosity about how we know about the world; particularly about how the world began.

So we begin our philosophical journey with the Theory of Knowledge or ‘Epistemology.’

How did the world begin?


What does this question presuppose?

Was the world made or did it begin in some other way?

Did the world begin or has it always existed?

“It was the giant Panguthat created the Earth.”

How was the world made?


This question is quite different from ‘how did the world begin’ as it presupposes a ‘maker’ or ‘creator’ of the world, such as God.

So we can start by questioning the verb ‘made.’

Then we turn to the noun, ‘world’ – what do we mean by ‘world?’

How was the world made?


Is the world the same as the universe?

If there are other universes are they part of the world?

If so, are there parallel universes?

See ‘Multiverse Theory’:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse

This isn’t the only world! There have been lots and will be many

more, all created by Lord Brahma.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse

Further questions about knowledge:

1 What do we know? areas of knowledge: physical world, God,

morality, our own minds, ‘reality’

questioning knowledge (scepticism)

2 How do we know what we know? from sense experience

through reason


3 What is knowledge?

e.g. justified true belief?

justification requires evidence

truth (and relativism)

4 What is the value of knowledge?

5 What is it to be a ‘good knower’?

“Well, Dad thinks that reading helps to make people clever.”


Why does Mrs Prim (and Sophie) think that books have answers?

Do books contain knowledge?

Is Sophie looking for truth?

How do we know what is true?

Who wrote the books and where does their knowledge come from?

“But how will we know where the answer is? asked Sophie?”

“You must ask the books your question!” said Mrs Prim.


Truth

Another time and another place brings a different account of how the world was made…

“I don’t understand,” said Sophie. She was quite confused. “How can there be more

than one answer?”

“But how can this story be true if what the wise old panda told us is true? piped up the

little panda.


Truth

What is truth?

What kinds of things can be true? e.g. beliefs, statements, sentences, propositions and theories.

Is truth constant?

Some beliefs which were held to be true are now considered false, and some for which truth is now claimed may be deemed false in the future, and vice versa.

“But they are merely stories. They are not based on proper study and scientific

investigation,” said the man.

“But how do I know that your answer will be any truer?”


Subjectivism and Relativism

It is not uncommon to hear a kind of ‘subjectivism’ or ‘relativism’ about knowledge e.g.

‘It’s true for me’ or ‘that’s just your opinion’

What is going on here and how best to facilitate when this arises in enquiry?


‘That’s just your opinion’

Possible responses:

‘That’s your opinion, but not the truth’ i.e. ‘your opinion is false’; this is a truth claim

that needs defending

‘That’s your opinion, but no more than an opinion’ i.e. ‘you have no justification for what you

believe’; an appeal to the distinction between belief and knowledge

“Sophie didn’t know what to think. She had heard so many

answers to her question...”


Further thoughts and questions:‘Everyone is entitled to their own opinion’

i.e. ‘don’t try to get me to agree, I will think what I want!’

I may be morally entitled to believe what I want, but that doesn’t show that I am justified

This is a refusal to provide justification, not a demonstration that none is required

‘There are only opinions about this’

i.e. ‘no one knows what the truth is’

or ‘there is no truth about this’

“Your answers are merely fantastical stories made up by people trying to explain how the world was made long before science came along to explain it

properly.”Copyright Lizzy Lewis

No truth?

‘No one knows the truth’What reason is there to believe this?

How does the person saying this know that no one knows anything?

‘There is no truth’ is usually a denial of ‘objective’ truth. What does this mean?

“There are some BIG questions that are important to all people. We may never

agree on just one way of answering them.”


No ‘objective’ truth

‘There is no truth’ means that there is only ‘true for me’, ‘true for you’, ‘true for them’. But what does this mean?

‘True for them’ = ‘they believed it’, e.g. “The ancient Egyptians believed that only the ocean existed at first, then Ra, the sun god was born out of an egg…”

They believed it - but was it true? Don’t we all have false beliefs?

“The Aborigines of Australia say that ancestors from a parallel world called

Dreamtime made the world…”


Knowledge and certaintyDoes knowledge require certainty?

Is there is truth, but no one knows it? i.e. there is no certainty?

“That’s why you all have a slightly different answer to the same question!” explained

Sophie. “To each of you, your answer is the reflection of everything that makes you you. Your family, your ancestors, your

ideas, your beliefs.”


Final thoughts:

Is Sophie’s answer the answer?

Do you have a different answer?

Are we any closer to knowing how the world began?

Is it possible to know how the world began?

Why might having an answer make Sophie and the others happy?

Is there a connection between knowledge and happiness?

Is Sophie’s happiness at the end of the story a reflection of her acceptance to live with questions, doubt and uncertainty?

After all, Sophie was a very

curious little girl.


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