The Book
This textbook is specifically
designed for students and teachers
of VCE Philosophy!
Drawing on nearly two decades of teaching and
assessing experience and written in accordance
with the current Study Design, Philosophy:
A Student Text for VCE Units 1 & 2 invites
students to do philosophy while at the same
time providing them with a comprehensive
grounding in each of the six Areas of Study.
Through a variety of stimulating classroom
activities and discussion questions, students
are encouraged to critically reflect on relevant
arguments and ideas, and develop their skills of
analysis and evaluation.
The inclusion of suggested assessment tasks and
resources at the end of each chapter, together with
advice on course design and planning, makes this
an equally valuable resource for classroom teachers.
The text covers both core and optional topics. It
also includes:
- Clear and concise explanations of
philosophical concepts and theories
- Highlighted key terms and definitions
- Profiles of major philosophers
- Questions for whole and small group
discussion and individual reflection
- Written exercises
- Guided analyses of primary texts
- Whole class and small group activities
- Visual material and discussions of film,
literature and contemporary issues
- Assessment tasks
- Teachers’ Notes
- Lists of useful resources
- Tips for success in assessment tasks
With its lively and stimulating approach, this
book will prove an indispensable classroom
companion and the perfect introduction for
students to the exciting world of philosophical
inquiry.
The Authors
Lenny Robinson-McCarthy (BA [hons], Dip. Ed,
PhD) has taught VCE Philosophy at Preshil in
Melbourne since 2001. She has also worked for
the VCAA in areas relating to VCE Philosophy
curriculum development and assessment and
as a private tutor for students of VCE and
IB Philosophy. In 2008 Lenny qualified as a
Philosophy for Children educator and, under
the auspices of VAPS, has designed and run
workshops in Community of Inquiry for both
primary and secondary school teachers. Lenny is
also a published author of academic and creative
works.
Anna Symes (B.A., B.Mus., Dip.Ed., Grad.Cert.
Gifted Ed.) has 20 years’ experience as a teacher
of Philosophy, English and Music. She has
taught at St Leonard’s College, Melbourne, for
the past 10 years, where she headed the English
Faculty from 2005–2009, introduced Philosophy
to the school curriculum and taught a variety
of VCE and IB subjects. Anna has been a senior
consultant to the VCAA in the development
of the VCE Philosophy curriculum since 2006
and has worked on state and international
examination panels since 2001.
Contents
Chapter 1 – Reasoning and Logic
Introductory questions and activities
Identifying arguments
Standard form
Extended arguments
Other tools of argument
• Arguments to the best explanation
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Chapter 2 – Epistemology
Introduction to Epistemology
Introductory questions and activities
How do we know things?
Can we know anything at all?
Knowledge, Scepticism and the External World
Appearance versus reality
Scepticism
Solipsism
Thought Experiment: Could you be a brain in a vat?
The Matrix
Descartes’ Cogito
Rationalism versus Empiricism
Rationalism and Innate Ideas
A priori, A posteriori, Necessary and Contingent Truths
Empiricism
Locke’s Tabula Rasa
Should we trust our senses?
The Problem of Induction
Hume’s Fork
Truth, Knowledge and Belief
Justified True Belief
Gettier problems
Correspondence, Coherence and Pragmatic Theories of Truth
Science and Truth
The Scientific Method
Can scientific knowledge be trusted?
Epistemological Relativism
Is truth subjective?
Is knowledge gendered?
Truth, knowledge, belief and contemporary debates
Activities and Research Tasks
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Chapter 3 – Metaphysics
The Nature of Reality
Introductory Questions and Activities
Plato’s Cave and the Theory of Forms
Aristotle’s view of reality
Berkeley’s Idealism
Kant’s Theory
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Self and Identity
Introductory Questions
A Thought Experiment: The Ship of Theseus
Tricky Cases of Personal Identity
Identity Theory One: ‘Same Body’ Theory
Identity Theory Two: ‘Same Brain’ Theory
Identity Theory Three: ‘Same BodyMind/Soul’ Theory
Identity Theory Four: ‘Mental connections’ Theory
Further Problems and Challenges
John Locke on Personal Identity
Problems of Identity in Literature and Film
Advancing technologies and their Implications for the Problem of Identity
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Mind and Body
Introductory Questions and Activities
Cases and Criteria
Arguments for Dualism
Problems with Dualism
Arguments for Materialism
Problems with Materialism
Descartes’ Discourse on Method
Alan Turing and Artificial
Intelligence
An AI investigation
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Free Will and Determinism
Introductory Questions and Activities
Causality and Determinism
Does free will exist?
Indeterminism
Compatibilism
Implications of views on free will and determinism
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Time
Introductory Questions and Activities
What is time?
Could time travel be possible?
Time travel accounts: is coherence possible?
Paradoxes
Alternative views of time
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Chapter 4 – Ethics
Introduction
Meta-Ethics
Introductory questions and activities
Moral realism
Emotivism
Prescriptivism
Moral relativism
Nihilism
Normative Ethics
Introductory questions and activities
Utilitarianism
Deontology
Virtue Theory
Applied Ethics
Introductory questions and activities
Issues in applied ethics
• Should animals have rights?
• Is abortion morally justifiable?
• Can war ever be justified?
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Chapter 5 – Other Great questions in philosophy
Aesthetics
Introductory Questions and Activities
What is art?
Theories of Art
Art and Meaning
Art and Beauty
Art and Representation
Art and Form
Art and Emotion
Art and Originality
The Purpose of Art
The Value of Art
Art and Morality
Art and the World
Aesthetic Judgment
High versus Low Art
Aesthetics and Contemporary Debates
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Philosophy of Religion
Introductory questions and activities
What does the word ‘God’ mean?
The problem of evil
Proving God’s existence
• three arguments for the existence of God
• the argument from religious experience
• miracles
Faith
Pascal’s Wager
Flew’s invisible gardener
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Political Philosophy
Introductory questions and activities
The state
Political authority
Freedom and the limits of political authority
Rights
Law and justice
Political ideologies
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
Other Traditions of Thought
Introductory Questions and Activities
Key themes in other traditions of thought
Other traditions of thought: three examples
• Buddhism
• Confucianism
• Indian Philosophy
Assessment Tasks
Useful Resources
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Philosophy