First Year Philosophy Students introduce some of the topics they have looked at so far in year one

Philosophical Musings

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3sETuCaU_59VPE.png?width=811&height=810

As a project for the 2022 Young Irish Philosopher, 1st Year Philosophers at Temple Carrig School Greystones, decided to collaborate on a little book as a class to share a snapshot of some of our philosophical questions and conversations we have had this year so far. Questions like, where did the world come from? Is there something outside our bodies and minds that survive when we die? What is real or true? What is a true friend? And how should we live together? Do we need leaders? Students either shared answers on the class blog or I transcribed some of our enquiries and they chose one idea to put into the book. Beginning to dip their toes into the history of ideas, here are some quotes from famous thinkers and a window into some of their thoughts around them. Susan Andrews, Teacher Temple Carrig School, Greystones

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD46_UI9V0EW6BVA.jpg?width=304&height=378

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3uLIjRudZ-0g1_.png?width=810&height=810

Large grid paper

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD408Mf68iMrM0Ar.jpg?width=1170&height=810

“Laws are silent during times of war" Cicero. The definition of war according to Google is a "state of armed conflict between different countries or groups with a country" and the definition of just is "based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair". An unequal fight is not a just war. War is armies against armies not armies attacking innocent civilians. War is really complicated. War is greed on two sides. War is fear. War is real. War is where society is broken. All of the rules, legislature, common sense, is all forgotten. Everything we know is destroyed, towns, cities, monuments, institutions, lives, families, love - it is all destroyed and forgotten. Families destroyed by members being drafted. Lives lost. War is the worst thing possible.

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3xfyeiI-4FZqrX.jpg?width=186&height=186

https://api.bookcreator.com/users/v2/aJNhrzayHIQiESuOZ71frJMCIr62/books/_nrVucl_TJyNhJUIUm6vRQ/assets/XVl83eTmR7CuZlWC2-kpvg.jpeg?width=194&height=186

https://api.bookcreator.com/users/v2/aJNhrzayHIQiESuOZ71frJMCIr62/books/_nrVucl_TJyNhJUIUm6vRQ/assets/XgvuvuweQRycOgk0yocFag.jpeg?width=230&height=186

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3yTpVJNVAM0UYl.jpg?width=186&height=186

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3yTpVJNVAM0UYm.jpg?width=186&height=186

https://api.bookcreator.com/users/v2/aJNhrzayHIQiESuOZ71frJMCIr62/books/_nrVucl_TJyNhJUIUm6vRQ/assets/yZ4QSHisT5uk-Vwz5EWtUw.jpeg?width=206&height=186

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3zG5l2C9Reb5g1.jpg?width=186&height=186

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3zG5l2C9Reb5g2.jpg?width=186&height=186

https://api.bookcreator.com/users/v2/aJNhrzayHIQiESuOZ71frJMCIr62/books/_nrVucl_TJyNhJUIUm6vRQ/assets/_NQQNcW1SoqgmVnkdvhhEQ.jpeg?width=212&height=186

Happiness depends on ourselves. Aristotle If I think about Aristotle's idea about happiness not coming from anywhere but inside of us, I suppose we only deserve it if we work on becoming happy. The Greeks like to get us to practice being happy to be happy. We are what we repeatedly do according to Aristotle. Which would mean you need to identify what makes you happy first and then repeat it regularly. There are lots of philosophies about happiness from making money to having friends or love but there is no one recipe. Another thing is most people think everyone wants to be happy. But what if you don't want to be happy? Maybe it's easier to think about what unhappiness is and does that depend on ourselves. I think controlling unhappiness is harder and it is not always depending on ourselves. You can't control some terrible things happening like war or homelessness. But you can control your reaction I suppose. I think Aristotle is saying that the responsibility for how we feel about life is with us and that is a way to stop blaming others for our unhappiness. This self-acceptance will lead to happiness - if we want it.

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3vZ2B0Bdvvj8u6.png?width=810&height=810

"Freedom is the only worthy goal in life.It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control." Epictetus. Some things are in our control and other things are not. For example we can control being a good friend or being responsible for stuff we put online but we can't control bad things happening to good people unfortunately. I think that although it seems that we could do whatever we want, we are trapped by our concern with other people's judgements and opinions. Say you really enjoyed acting or being on stage but it's not the sort of thing other boys are doing, you aren't free to follow what you want to do. The problem with Philosophy is you have to really figure out what your definition of the idea you are discussing is. So for example what freedom is will have different meanings. It could mean having no school or having no mortgage. But it could just mean not being in jail. I think freedom means being completely free to be yourself.

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3t1FN3-IeW2SCG.jpg?width=810&height=810

Who am I? Where am I? Should I help others? Is there such thing as a just war? Are we free? Do I deserve happiness? Should we eat our pets? What is it like to be Batman? What is a true friend? Can you think of nothing? Do we need leaders? What is Sport for?

04 06 08 10 14 16 18 20 22 26 28 30

Ascoli, Luca Brennan, Lily Brennan Moriarty, Fionn Brown, Noah Farrell, Josh Fox, Darragh Hone, Harry Kelly, Samuel Kenna, Kim Lewis, Emma Maynard, Kyla O'Dea, Ellen Rahman, Samarah Rodgers, Kyle Rowlette, Luke Simpson, Elliot Stringer, Liv Swaine, Cian Watchorn, Robbie

Cavanagh, Ronan Emerson, Darragh Farrell, Astrid Flynn, Martha Gallagher, Lizzie James, Nuala Keane, Ella Lande, Caitriona Maginness, Eleanor McFarlane, Bella McGuinness, Clodagh Mooney Jones, Ayla Purcell, Aoife Quinn, Danny Radziute, Eva Redford, Aoife Samarasan, Joshua Shirley, Chloe Stynes, Amy Taylor, Luke

Know Thyself, Socrates This sounds easier than it is and I think it depends on where you are in life. I agree that it is important to know yourself before you can know other things. Our teacher showed us a picture of herself when she was two and asked us what made her the same person in the picture. Some of us said it was her name, her brain, her personality but typically she had an answer for all that and everything had changed. So what bit of her has stayed the same? Some people believe it's the soul or some energy that stays the same in us while we age and change. Maybe its our memories and experience then but what if you lost your memory? Does that mean you are not who you are anymore? Would I be the same if I changed gender or nationality? I think it would feel different if I had different characteristics and personality but the voice in my head would be the same. So maybe what I am is just a bundle of feelings and thoughts. But how do others know me? What if everyone sees me as one thing but I see myself as someone else. Who is right? It's hard to try and know myself - my real self - without wondering how others know me.

If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought morally to do it. Peter Singer Most people believe it is a good idea to help others out in need. Do you? Peter Singer asked us to look at whether we really are doing as much as we can. He asked if I am walking past a pond and see a child drowning in it, would I go pull the child out. Although I might sacrifice my new runners, preventing someone dying is more important. This seems simple enough but what if it was in rough seas and I would risk my life? And what about the child in need that I can't see? This thought experiment shows it is easier to save the child right in front of you. This is a bias in our thinking towards local and familiar things. We tend to have selective empathy in our kindness. But is it wrong to want to prevent bad things happening right in front of us more than things far away? There are some discussions about the fact we are quicker to help Ukrainian refugees than countries further away. Is this true? I think we can see them better because we know ourselves and if we recognise something of ourselves in them, we think we know the pain more. So we can empathise better. But it doesn't make it morally right. Maybe it will help open our eyes to other crisis. No one could argue that any refugee is more deserving than another because of how far away they are but if something good can come from this bad war, it is to teach us that empathy should not be selective but inclusive.

A friend to all is a friend to none. Aristotle The ancient greeks had lots to say about friendship which I think is useful for today. Aristotle talked about different types of friends and he thought friends were a key to a good happy life. Some friends are just because you end up on the same team, your family were friends when you were little or you are in the same class at school. These are "utility" ones. But we are much more likely to connect with our friends when we’ve seen them at their worst and watched them grow and change — or if we’ve had a hard experience together. We have to build trust, be caring, like the stuff they do or at least try and understand their hobbies and spend time making a good relationship to be a good friend. For me a friend is someone I can trust and I agree with Aristotle it is hard to build trust with lots of people as it takes time. Trust is a choice and you have to work on it and you can't immediately make someone trust you. I would trust a friend with my life even. But would you want your friend to risk their life for you? Is that being a good friend to them? But in a way having good friends is a risk as if they broke the trust you would have no other friends to fall back on. The important thing is to invest wisely!

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3vZ2B0Bdvvj8u4.jpg?width=810&height=810

"You come to love not finding the perfect person but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly"

“Everything that exists has always existed.&nbsp;Nothing can come from nothing.&nbsp;And something that exists can not be turned into anything either.” Parmenides Philosophers love paradoxes. Some things they say seem totally illogical! The Philosopher Parmenides liked to think of nothing. Nothing! He thought it was impossible to think of nothing because in order to think of nothing you have to turn it into something to think of.&nbsp;Is it possible to think of nothing? In class we closed our eyes and tried. Most of us heard little noises, outside wind or just saw darkness. If you think of something, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Thinking of something that is not real is not the same as nothing. For example thinking of a human fly. Which means, paradoxically, if something doesn’t exist it can still be real and not nothing. Things also exist just because we have put a word on it. Like the number zero. And things exist in your mind even though they do not exist in reality.&nbsp; Some people think if you make up a random word, a sound with no meaning, than it is not real. Some people think dreaming is not real but it exists.&nbsp;I think if you can think of it ,it exists, it exists for you and even if it is only for you it is there. So if something exists or “is” then it must be real and then my thoughts must be real.&nbsp;

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Friedrich Nietzsche The importance of sport in schools is a big topic. For example today half our school has gone to support our Junior and Minor Hockey teams in their finals and the atmosphere in the school is electric! But why? In Ireland people love their sporting heroes - mine are footballers like Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mané, Andy Robertson. Plato had a three part explanation for sports. One was to win material goods, money, medals. Professional footballers get paid more than doctors or lawyers and this must be a big reason to play. The second was to for the honour and glory of your team. Our hockey teams put in so much work but not for money. They are thinking about the school and will feel pretty nervous today when they see 400 supporters wearing the blood and gold colours. The most important part in Plato's system was to prove something to yourself - to strengthen your character. I play rugby and football. I play because I enjoy it so I haven't really thought about why before. I have heard others say that it gives you confidence in yourself. But why does a person having confidence matter? Is that a reason to spend hours in the freezing cold winter months, training in the dark? What improvement will that bring to my life? Will I still have confidence if I lose? If I need to win to have confidence then why even play rugby or hockey in competitions, where there is a chance at losing? Why don't we play hockey against a primary school where we know we will always win? But we want to win fairly and achieve something. I suppose, it must be the risk of losing that needs to be there to feel good about playing. But what about people who don't like sport? Are they hiding away from an opportunity to improve their character and be the best? Or do they just not like playing? I think Plato missed out on the biggest reason - being with your friends.

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3wyZmWyhgCYBP4.jpg?width=598&height=398

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3wyZmWyhgCYBP5.jpg?width=415&height=397

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3wyZmWyhgCYBP6.jpg?width=377&height=396

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3wyZmWyhgCYBP7.jpg?width=265&height=398

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD44y5Dm9l5jFNeG.jpg?width=810&height=810

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists" Lao Tzu, ancient Chinese philosopher Our first thoughts were absolutely yes, we need a leader because otherwise our lives would be chaotic and messy and totally disorganised. We need to be under control but as we thought more this showed human nature in a pretty low light. Like we would fall apart or be all over the place. We would go around lawless, taking what we want and we would have no security. But surely human nature isn't that fragile and the world wouldn't be so brutal? We need leaders because a good leader can inspire and motivate everyone in an organisation to do good. An example would be a good football manager who would boost the teams' morale and making them play with a better attitude. Or a leader who inspires with action and not just words. Maybe we just like knowing as a society that someone is always in control especially if something went wrong. A leader should be in control but not necessarily controlling everything, just considering all the points everyone is making and coming to a compromise. We don't need a leader who decides everything, just one that helps everyone agree. Maybe not a specific leader but a group that gives ideas to a community, then everyone can feel important and not irrelevant. Leaders are better not having too much power because we don't know what they might do or what is in their heads.

The question is not 'Can they reason?' nor 'Can they talk?' but 'Can they suffer?' Jeremy Bentham. We were asked in class to think of the differences between human animals and non-human animals to try and pin point what makes us superior to non human animals. We came up with a long list including fur, number of legs, language, creativity, employment etc. But are these a big enough reason to do anything we want with animals? What makes people special? Do these differences make it alright for us to harm animals? Just because there are differences between us physically does it mean it's ok? If we say we are superior because we build things and create and have languages, then why don't we eat babies who can't do these things yet? We accept they have an intrinsic value that animals don't but why? And why is it ok to eat a pig and not a dog? That makes no sense to be fair. I mean if we want to be good to the environment for a start we shouldn't waste things so if a dog dies by natural causes, it would make sense to eat it but we don't. Even if we didn't eat our own pets because we had some sort of connection, we should just eat other dead pets to act sustainably. It's hard to think what makes us special but what makes animals in our lives like dogs special is they give us happiness and we wouldn't like our pets to suffer. So why make other animals suffer too?

-Are there more wheels or doors in the world? -Is there more future than past? -Is it better to play well and lose or play badly and win? -Can you still be at school if you are at home? -Can a bad person be a good leader? -Do you have a history or a past? -Should a footballer be paid more than a nurse? -Can you be friends with someone you don't like? -Who decides what news is real? -Would you prefer to be a happy pig or an unhappy person?

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3yTpVJNVAM0UYj.png?width=186&height=186

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3yTpVJNVAM0UYk.jpg?width=186&height=186

https://assets.api.bookcreator.com/templates/LwtgtUcdihGQiz12mYMx/assets/-MRzDD3yTpVJNVAM0UYn.jpg?width=186&height=186

I think, therefore I am. Descartes Is what I experience in my head different from what I experience physically? What influences who I am, is it my thoughts of myself or my physical experiences in the world? Descartes seemed to think that we exist in our thoughts and the body is just like a machine. So we are like thinking robots? But what does he mean? If we are our thoughts, which thoughts does he mean? The ones I am having now? Or the ones I had earlier? For example I was waiting on a friend to answer a message I sent and she never replied. So now I am thinking about the things I might have done or said in the past to upset her. I am also thinking how this will affect our future at school. Will she talk to me? Is she still my friend? Should I tell her what I am thinking or ignore it? Just relying on our thinking to explain what is real at this moment seems unreliable to me. Our thoughts bounce between thinking of things in the past and worrying about the future. There must be something outside our thoughts in our mind that we can be sure of. Where does the mind stop and the rest me begin?

What is it like to be a bat? Thomas Nagel. When you watch a marvel movie it is hard not to wonder what it would like to be a superhero like Batman. I would love to experience being someone else for a day. If I could choose it would be Ironman because he is a self-made superhero. A normal guy, just in a suit, but one of the smartest guys in the world. I guess we do know what it is like to be someone else because they can tell us. I asked my friend what it was like to be him and he said "fun, cool, free, in my head". The only problem with this as evidence is my friend might just say what I want to hear. I suppose it depends what we are talking about. The philosopher called Wittgenstein said that the way we talk to each other is just a game. You never know really what someone is thinking but you need to listen so you can respond like in a game of chess. So back to the bat. If I was to turn into a bat right now on the spot, well then that would be weird. I would feel, small, unstable - the sensation of wings would take some time to adjust to. But overall, I think it would be cool hanging upside down and flying - a new way to see the world. Thomas Nagel says that maybe a human might be able to imagine what it is like to be a bat by taking "the bat's point of view", or hanging upside down but it would still be impossible "to know what it is like for a bat to be a bat."&nbsp;So my friend doesn't actually know themselves what it is like to be them...

Name

Safari may block some audio or video from playing automatically and ‘read to me’ will skip these. You can configure this in Safari’s preferences.