Kindless Philosophy

 Do Teachers Care About Truth? : Epistemological Issues for Education Problems with Truth “Teachers have many problems, but it might seem that worries about the nature of truth or knowledge are not among them. Curiosity may be innate, but it is not given to many of us to wonder whether  some of the answers we are given are more reliable than others, or to puzzle over what is involved in something being true. We may ask questions but on the whole we are avid swallowers of answers; the  habit of sorting out better from worse answers and of wondering what makes a good answer has not marked a large part of human history, even in literate societies. It is probably less common than  we like to imagine even in our own practice. Even so, teachers do sometimes have to face questions about truth and knowledge because in our societies the problematic nature of at least some sorts of belief is widely recognized. It is easy to come upon serious difficulties once we begin to refle...

  Physico-theological argument critique i) ∀x(Px → ∃y Sy) Px means ‘x is a complex and ordered natural phenomenon’, and Sy means ‘y is the designer (God) of this phenomenon.’ However, Kant criticizes as follows: ii) ∀x(Px → ∃y(Sy)) = “For every x, if x is a complex and ordered natural phenomenon, then y exists and y is the designer (God) of that phenomenon.” According to this critique, Complex and ordered nature does not necessarily require God’s design. so that, that argument is based on unproven assumptions. The complexity and order of nature does not necessarily require a designer. Cosmological argument critique i) ∀x(Ex → ∃y Ey) Ex means ‘x exists’, and Ey means ‘y is the cause of x’. ii) ∀x(Ex → ∃y(Ey ∧ Cyx)) = “For every x, if x exists, then y exists and y is the cause of x” Cyx is a logical connector. In i), the causal relationship is not clear, but in ii), specific information has been added. and then, that argument is based on unproven assumptions, which do not justify t...

Fraternity   “ In section 4 of Chapter 2 we noted a wide range of ideas connected with a broad notion of fraternity which often appeared in the rhetoric, and indeed sometimes the argument, supporting mixed ability grouping. We suggested there that this cluster of ideas, though often confiated with ideas of equality and social justice, was actually about something else more to do with a positive valuing of social integration and feelings of community as things to be approved of in their ownright. Thus, as we pointed out, segregation of pupils into groups based upon specific abilities was seen by some teachers as deplorable, not solely because such differentiation represented the injustice of unjustifiably different treatment, but simply because it acted to support social divisiveness and against the possibility of social cohesiveness and mutually supportive cooperation. Sometimes this idea is part of a wider sociopolitical spectrum in which presentday society is seen as damagingly c...

 Common Sense and the Third-Person Point of View “ Some useful skirmishes in this campaign do consist of rigorous, formal explorations of particular sets of hunches. That is in fact the best light in which to view the various formalist failures of philosophy-as if they had been prefaced with "What if we made these assumptions and proceeded under these constraints?" As Fodor says, "The form of a philosophical theory, often enough, is: Let's try looking over here." (1981a, p. 31) Every formal system in philosophy must be "motivated," and the informal task of providing that motivation typically contributes more philosophical illumination (or at least doctrine) than the system for which it paves the way. There is always more than one candidate system or perspective crying out for philosophical exploration and development, and in such an unruly arena of thought, tactical considerations play an unusually important role. These tactical considerations often ma...

 Justice and Equality “In Chapter 2 we noted that different views of mixed ability grouping can often be seen to reflect attachment to different social principles, particularly to principles of justice and equality. In this chapter the intention is to examine rather more closely ideas of justice and equality and to see if any justifiable connection can be made between justice and/or equality on the one hand and mixed ability grouping on the other. The word 'justifiable' is worth emphasising since we do not find the problem of justification normally pursued as far as it might be in the available literature discussing possible rationales for mixed ability grouping. It is one thing to note, as we have done, the various ways in which views about mixed ability grouping appear to be rooted in ideas of justice and equality; it is quite another thing to present justifications for either the connections or the underlying ideas, and when such justificatory arguments are offered they are ...