青少年哲學（三）：思考社會

➖ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝘆?➖
Studying the philosophical questions of communities helps teens explore big questions about society, justice, and fairness.  Social inquiry develops critical thinking, reasoning, and decision-making—helping teens explore diverse perspectives, challenge assumptions, develop a sense of responsibility, and engage thoughtfully with the world—skills they will use for life.

Skills include:
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗼 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁?
Ever found yourself stuck between two options—whether it’s a group project dilemma, a friendship challenge, or figuring out where you stand on a big issue? Social Inquiry explores into real-life situations to help you think clearly and make choices you can feel confident about. 
• Life’s Tough Choices? You’ve Got This.
Wish there was a guidebook for making life’s hard decisions? Philosophy is that guidebook! It introduces you to logical thinking, helping you break down complex situations and make informed choices.
• Explore the Big Questions.
Who are you? What's fair? What makes something right or wrong? We’ll tackle these big questions together, helping you understand the world and yourself better.
• Problem-Solving Skills.
Life throws a lot of challenges your way. Philosophy gives you the tools to break down problems and solve them with clarity—like a mental toolkit for life’s puzzles.
• Face Uncertainty with Confidence.
The future can feel unpredictable, but philosophy teaches you to ask the right questions instead of just looking for easy answers.

Studying logic involves learning the skills of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. As you analyzes sound reasoning through studying arguments and fallacies, you will develop and apply these reasoning skills to recognize the truth from lies in a social media post, an advertisement, political campaign speech, or a news article.

➖𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲➖
In this ongoing class the teacher will use the book 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 by Matthew Lipman to explore different situations each week. The chapters are a springboard for our Socratic discussions. The discussions will follow the ideas and thoughts of the learners. Each chapter stands alone allowing learners to enter the class at any time and be able to participate in the philosophical discussion. The teacher will provide a pdf of the relevant chapter by sharing their screen with the class.

Through engaging discussions, we will explore:
• What makes a society work?
• How do we decide what's fair and just?
• What is the government's role?
• What responsibilities do citizens have?
• What truly holds a community together?

In our classroom circle of inquiry all ideas are worthy of examination. This class is student centered. Students are expected to speak respectfully to one another. The teacher does not impose their ideas, opinions, or perceptions. Instead the teacher facilitates the discussion, drawing out the student's ideas into our non-judgmental environment of trust and respect for one another. This method empowers the student and allows them to gain confidence in their ideas and sharing them.

𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠:
The high school has been vandalized, and Mark is arrested at the scene of the crime. When interrogated, Mark claims he is a victim of society. But what exactly does this mean? What is society? What forces hold it together or work to pull it apart? In this novel, Mark and his classmates explore these questions and others about democracy, freedom and justice. In order to determine how well society is able to live up to various ideals, they begin to evaluate social institutions, rules and values. This novel explores issues around the nature of law and crime, tradition, bureaucracy as well as the problems of authority, responsibility and force.

Sample class:
Introductions/Warm up questions, such as: Think of something you are glad happened. Can you be happy and sad at the same time? Think a funny thought.
Round table Socratic discussion of the story of the day facilitated by the teacher.
Wrap up/Goodbye

Please note that the below listed months are a guideline. The study of philosophy is a spiral where the concepts are covered multiple times and in multiple ways throughout the classes. Even when not specifically listed the topics are being covered each month. There are multiple groups with varying start dates.  Due to multiple active groups and amount of student driven discussion and engagement, not all groups are on the same topic. If you are looking to join in at a specific topic of discussion, please send me a message so I can let you know which group will best meet your needs. Thank you for your understanding.

𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀:
𝙎𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧: mediating conflicts, understanding freedom, what makes a democracy, how decisions are made, similarities vs. differences, theory vs. practice, and the influence of family, relationships, and personal choices. 
𝙊𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙧: Gender discrimination, social order, and the meaning of justice. Explore the forces that shape society—are humans naturally aggressive? Do democracies need constitutions? What drives social policies, and how do family relationships evolve? The ideas around perfection, overpopulation, and whether society influences our beliefs.
𝙉𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧: Social concepts like respect for authority, the role of education, and what society reveals about itself. The nature of relationships—friendship, love, and breaking up. The ideas around self-interest, crime, law, and property. Discuss when "if-then" statements make sense, the difference between association and community, and the implications of the lack of ethical standards. The connection between crime, law, and punishment, and question whether courts can truly be impartial. 
𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧: Government, law, and evaluation. Explore the two tasks of government, different ways of determining truth, and assumptions that influence our reasoning. Discuss the purpose of law, its imperfections, and the role of judges. Dive into the division of labor, types of law, and the idea of institutions.
𝙅𝙖𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙮:   Investigate key philosophical questions: Is vengeance ever justified? Could society exist without force? And, how do we evaluate facts, experiences, and social institutions? Plus, an introduction to inductive reasoning
𝙁𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙮: Topics related to education, responsibility, and societal structures. We'll dive into the nature of tradition and the differences between reciprocal and non-reciprocal duties. Discuss where education happens, its connection to social opportunities, and the role of credentials in employment. Consider the question: Why is education sometimes seen as "just a shuffle"? We’ll also examine issues like illicit gambling operations, the impact of dropping out, and what truly makes a good teacher.
𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝: The dynamics of social organizations and relationships. Topics include the nature of bureaucracy and the roles of executives versus administrators. The concepts of role-playing, authority, and how change and thinking occur within social organizations.
𝘼𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙡:  The parent-child relationship will be examined, along with the division of authority and the connection between authority and reasons. We'll also explore the difference between thinking and thinking for oneself, as well as the concept of justice and the role of relevant differences in making judgments.
𝙈𝙖𝙮:  The concept of freedom, exploring its various definitions and the four possible combinations of freedom. We will discuss territorial arrangements, the balance between freedom and societal interference, and the distinction between private consenting actions and non-consenting actions. 
𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙚: The implications of thinking dangerous thoughts and embracing individuality will also be explored. We will consider harm as a criterion for action and the ethical concerns surrounding advocating for social change, self-destructive behavior, and the idea of human nature. 
𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙮: The complex ideas surrounding justice, rights, and fairness. Topics will include the experience of déjà vu, events and their conditions, and justice as getting what one deserves. We will explore the concept of rights, whether all our rights have been identified, and whether justice truly exists. Justice as fairness, and its relationship to inequality, such as the unequal distribution of goods and opportunities. 
𝘼𝙪𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩: Questions about fairness—whether it's about treating everyone the same or ensuring equal opportunities—and consider injustices like employers failing to share in the cost of children's upbringing. Additionally, we will discuss whether people actually get what they deserve and how justice relates to providing the conditions for freedom. We’ll also examine the difference between adults and children in the context of justice, and explore what it means to live and live well. 

There may be occasional assignments outside of class time that should take less than hour to complete. Such as: Researching more information about a concept discussed in class. 

The material will rotate back to the beginning after the last subject is covered.

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀:

𝗥𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆:
I follow Outschool's policy on refunds for ongoing classes: Parents enrolled in an ongoing class will see a “stop subscription” button instead of “withdraw” on the classroom page after the class’s first meeting. Use this button to prevent any future weekly charges, starting with the following billing period, which rolls over Sunday mornings Pacific time. You can use this to stop future charges at any time.  There will be no refunds issued for a student(s) missing class.  

𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆: If your learner misses a class meeting, you are not entitled to a refund. If your learner misses 3 consecutive class live meetings without communicating with the teacher, you forfeit the class fee and the teacher may cancel the class or withdraw your learner.” 

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆: Please note that per Outschool policy, if there are 0 students after the first 10 minutes of the class, the class will be canceled for that day. The live meetings are scheduled for 50 minutes; however, depending upon the number of students and the amount of participation from the class, some live meetings may be shorter than 50 minutes.  If the teacher needs to cancel class a makeup class will be assigned. If the student is unable to attend the makeup class a refund will be issued after the makeup class.

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆:
When you enroll your child in my classes, you are paying for a live, interactive group learning experience. To maintain the integrity of this format, I do not release recordings of my live classes.
The decision not to share recordings is to protect the safety and privacy of all learners. Many families prefer that recordings of their children not be shared or distributed to others, and I fully respect and prioritize that preference. Additionally, this policy helps safeguard my intellectual property, as the lessons I teach are original content I have personally developed. Unfortunately, the misuse or unauthorized distribution of educational resources is a growing concern, and this policy helps mitigate such risks.
Thank you for your understanding and support in creating a safe and respectful learning environment.