The Philosophy Foundation Provocations

Philosophy for Secondary school

David Birch, Peter Worley, Peter Worley, A. C. Grayling

• Publisher: Crown House Publishing
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781845909017
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Higher Education

This book is ideal for teachers, whether they are P4C trained or just experimenting with philosophy. It will help teachers to present ideas and stimulate discussions which both accommodate and engage adolescent appetites. Are human beings flawed? Is murder an act of insanity or just plain thoughtlessness? Do we need a soul? From the fall of Icarus to the rise of Caesar this practical book draws upon history, philosophy and literature to provoke students to think, question and wonder. Divided into chapters on The World, Self, Society and Others, this resource for secondary school is written to give teachers the means to listen rather than teach and to allow the ideas and thoughts of students to form the centre of the lesson. It raises questions on the nature of evil, belief in God, slavery, consumerism, utopia, the limits of freedom, and a whole lot more. With a clear introductory outline on its use both in and out of the classroom, Provocations also contains tips and advice to help guide teachers to span the curriculum. Applicable to History, Geography, RS, Science, Art, English and Citizenship it offers teachers of all subjects the opportunity to introduce a student-centred approach to their lessons. There is also an extensive bibliography for those who wish to explore the topics in greater depth. Provocations is a set of philosophy sessions designed for secondary school and predicated on the pedagogical methods of The Philosophy Foundation. These sessions are mature, challenging and provocative, using history, literature, myth and the world today as their basis. Each session contains particular pedagogical tips and advice and suggestions as to how they can be effectively delivered

Self

‘I’

… an idea is ‘true’ so long as to believe it is profitable to our lives.

William James

Privacy

Human beings do not go hand in hand the whole stretch of the way.

Virginia Woolf

The word ‘surveillance’ comes from the French sur and veiller, meaning ‘watch over’. Though the word only dates back to the 19th century, the idea of being watched over has been with us for a very long time. We are, for instance, told in a sura of the Qur’an that we cannot hide from God, and St Augustine similarly wrote, addressing God, that ‘there is no place whatever where man may hide away from you’ (as Adam and Eve discovered).

In the modern world God’s surveillance was thought insufficient. The Anabaptists in 16th century Germany commanded that just as people cannot hide from God, nor should they hide from their fellows. In Münster, a town they ruled over, it was illegal to keep doors closed. Every house was ordered to leave its doors open. Privacy was forbidden.

Surveillance becomes somewhat harder when you are dealing with entire countries rather than individual towns. In the 20th century, the government of the Soviet Union wanted to keep a close and unblinking eye on all its 150 million citizens. But this was before the use of CCTV. The government overcame the lack of technology by turning each of its citizens into walking human cameras, spying on each other always.

It was illegal in the Soviet Union not to report any criminal behaviour you were in any way aware of. If you overheard your neighbour speaking of their hatred for the government, and you did not report this to the police, you could be imprisoned for up to ten years. If you did report it, however, you would be rewarded and regarded as a hero of the state.

The government would also employ ordinary people to spy for them. They employed doctors, priests, teenagers – anyone they thought was opportunely placed to watch over others. If you refused, you would be either imprisoned or deported to Siberia. By turning everyone into a spy the government became omnipresent. Surveillance was total.

Today Britain has a reputation as one of the most watched-over countries in the world. According to a 2013 report by the British Security Industry Association, the conservative estimate is 4 million CCTV cameras. On average we are watched by 300 cameras a day. Lying below ground, beneath Piccadilly Circus, there is a room laced with monitors that record every street in central London every second of the day.

Cameras are found in most schools and an increasing number of schools are installing CCTV in toilets and changing rooms.

Starter Question Do we need surveillance?

Questions to take you further

Should there be surveillance in our homes?

Should our thoughts be under surveillance? Are there things we shouldn’t think?

Is privacy more valuable than safety?

Do we need privacy? Are we all separate individuals?

Is there such a thing as too much privacy?

How much...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Preface
• Contents
• Introduction
• World, ‘It’
• Self, ‘I’
• Society, ‘We’
• Others, ‘You’
• Appendices
• Further Reading
• Copyright