Fun Philosophy: Does Our Evolution Control Us? Can Selfish Genes Allow Altruism?
Dr Pete PhD Earth Science Philosophy Geology
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Human behaviour evolved because it's good for the survival of our genes. But how restrictive is that programming & can we choose to act differently? How can Altruism exist? Philosophy meets Evolutionary Psychology as we explore human nature
Class experience
US Grade 7 - 10
TOPICS COVERED: Evolution, Genetics, Philosophy of Evolution and Human Nature, Determinism and Free Will The aim of the "Fun Philosophy" series of classes is to discuss the most interesting topics in Philosophy, because if we enjoy our first experiences of thinking, then this encourages kids to keep going (see my other class listing for examples). So this is a great way to get hooked on THINKING, by starting with an easily accessible and enjoyable topic. Kids can then use their new thinking...
To think and learn without realising it, because you are having fun! By the end of the class students will be aware of the main arguments in Philosophy and Evolutionary Psychology and the interplay between altruism and selfish genes. We will discuss arguments against "genetic determinism" and the relation between selfish genes and kin & reciprocal altruism.
I have a PhD in Philosophy and have taught this course may times - it's one of my favourites and the students all love it too.
This course uses the following sources: Richards J.R. (2000) "Human Nature After Darwin: a Philosophical Introduction" Routledge (Chapters: 5-7) The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a well respected reviewed source of great introductions into all Philosophical Topics. There are also many follow on references at the bottom of each article. Wikipedia is also a good starting point, but is obviously less reliable as it is not peer reviewed. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/altruism-biological/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evolution/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/replication/
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Average rating:5.0Number of reviews:(245)
I teach Earth Science and Philosophy on Outschool and am very passionate about the topics I teach. You can join any of my classes anytime. They do follow on from each other, but can also be taken as stand alone classes. I use the lecture-style...
Group Class
$18
per classMeets once
50 min
Completed by 19 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 12-17
3-12 learners per class
