Developing a program
Overview
The VCE Philosophy Study Design outlines the nature of teaching and learning necessary for students to demonstrate the outcomes for each unit. The areas of study describe the learning context and the key knowledge and skills required for the demonstration of each outcome. Teachers base their teaching on the study design and use this advice to construct a program of appropriate learning activities that enable students to develop the knowledge and skills required.
Teachers may choose to take advantage of the flexibility of the study design when developing a teaching and learning program that responds to student needs. In Units 1 and 2 the teacher decides the order in which the key knowledge and skills are taught, including: concurrently or separately; to what extent they should be integrated in various tasks; the nature of teaching and learning activities and how much time to spend on each of them. There is no requirement to teach the areas of study within a unit in the order in which they appear in the study design. For example, Units 1 and 2 include a third area of study on philosophical inquiry that could be taught separately or integrated with the other areas of study.
Students examine a range of themes within the first two areas of study for Units 1 and 2. Each theme provides a range of guiding questions but these should not be seen as exhaustive or totally prescriptive. Questions not included in the study design can also be introduced.
The study of philosophical texts
Students study at least one primary philosophical text for the first two areas of study in Units 1 and 2, and a range of primary texts for Units 3 and 4. When studying primary texts in Units 1 and 2, teachers should encourage students to critically reflect on relevant philosophical, historical and contemporary debates and issues. A text need not be an entire work; it can be a substantive extract from a work. For VCE Philosophy, ‘primary text’ is defined as any text that offers a positive argument or viewpoint rather than mere critique. Teachers can use secondary texts, commentaries on a primary text or summaries of a school of thought to introduce students to philosophical thinking. Secondary texts can be used to facilitate students’ understanding of a text or extract, a key philosopher or the broader philosophical or historical context in which the text or extract is situated. In Units 1 and 2, teachers can make judicious use of supplementary readings, commentaries and criticisms selected for any theme to develop an understanding of the areas of study. Some useful supplementary sources may be found in other areas of scholarship such as religious texts, psychological or sociological studies or current media articles.
By studying primary texts in Units 1 and 2, students develop their ability to critically analyse and evaluate texts. The study design offers a number of suggested thinkers who have written on, and made a significant contribution to, each theme. These are suggestions only and teachers are encouraged to select their own primary texts for study in each theme.
For example, some of the first western philosophers, the pre-Socratics, were metaphysicians interested in ontological questions. As such, students could be introduced to the ideas of ancient Greek philosophy in Unit 1 Area of Study 1, putting the development of philosophical thought into historical context. Another approach is to select philosophers who are considered to be essential to the various themes by choosing a variety of contemporary and ancient thinkers. A third approach is to consider the selected philosophical thinkers or ideas in relation to other thinkers or ideas. For example, students could study the sceptical philosophy of David Hume for Area of Study 2 and the attempts by others like Immanuel Kant to solve the sceptical issues raised.
A list of ‘set texts’ (primary source extracts) is prescribed for Units 3 and 4. This list is published on the VCAA website and updated annually.
A list of useful works, textbooks, links, organisations and supplementary resources are published on the VCAA website. Teachers may submit suggestions for useful resources to the Curriculum Manager for VCE Philosophy for consideration by the VCAA when updating the list.
A range of ancient, modern and contemporary texts are prescribed in Units 3 and 4. There are several ways these can be studied. One approach is to examine each set text chronologically, beginning with the ancient texts and progressing to the modern or contemporary texts. This approach facilitates discussion of whether ancient, modern and contemporary thinkers grapple with exactly the same problems. Another approach is to use the key knowledge (e.g. the guiding questions and concepts) to study multiple texts at one time.
Unit 1: Existence, knowledge and reasoning
Students can study the themes of Unit 1 concurrently. As an example, both objectivity and subjectivity are present in the study of metaphysics and epistemology (whether there is something which exists independently of perception or whether the perception of an object is intrinsic to the object’s existence or properties). If perception is important to the existence of objects, then conceptual analysis and introspection may be legitimate tools for philosophical discovery. Another example is the difference between rationalist and empiricist perspectives on reality. A third might be scepticism and whether anything can be known at all. Each of these examples draws the various threads of metaphysics and epistemology close together: to assert the existence of something raises the question of how we know it to be true. Teachers may, however, prefer to keep each theme discrete and then spend time comparing and relating the conclusions of each theme to what has been previously explored.
Teachers are required to point out the relevance of the exploration of metaphysics and epistemology to a range of contemporary debates. Some example topics are provided in the respective areas of study. Teachers can select how much focus to place on selected debates; for example, as illustrative examples or as a detailed case study. In planning, teachers should consider which contemporary debates students would be advised to engage in and help them develop the necessary conceptual and analytical skills (e.g. through the use of curated resources).
Unit 1 Area of Study 3 concerns philosophical inquiry, which focuses on students’ development and awareness of the rational and critical nature of philosophy. Philosophy is as much a process for thinking as it is a body of thought about a range of interesting questions, and entails the development of reasoning skills and critical abilities. While reasoning skills are central, philosophical inquiry analyses factors such as experience, imagination and emotions, and evaluates the role they play in arguing a philosophical position. For example, analogical reasoning draws on imagination. There are no themes in Area of Study 3 and it can be taught prior to embarking on the philosophical themes of the other areas of study. This sequence is useful to ensure students have the opportunity to develop adequate reasoning skills, which can then be applied to the themes. Alternatively, Area of Study 3 can be easily incorporated into Areas of Study 1 and 2. For example, the study of cognitive biases fits in well with the study of epistemology for Area of Study 2. If choosing to teach the areas of study concurrently, teachers should ensure that explicit attention is paid to the key knowledge and skills of Area of Study 3 and include appropriate learning activities.
Unit 2: Questions of value
In Unit 2 Area of Study 1, students have the opportunity to grapple with a range of questions within the study of ethics and moral philosophy. They must study two of the three themes provided in the study design although some of the questions provided overlap between themes. Teachers must ensure that students study at least one primary text or extract in at least one of the themes. Most of the thinkers recommended by the study design for this unit are modern or contemporary. This certainly does not preclude the possibility of examining the perspectives of ancient philosophers for the themes. The study design encourages the exploration and consideration of ethical issues through application of philosophical ideas and philosophical inquiry to contemporary debates.
Area of Study 2 offers the opportunity to explore political philosophy, aesthetics or both. Some of the key questions in the themes for Area of Study 2 link to Area of Study 1. For example, the ethical concerns of Area of Study 1 blend or progress well into a range of discussions on rights and responsibilities, punishment and the role of the state in enforcing moral standards among other points for discussion within political philosophy. Another approach is to link students’ understanding from Area of Study 1 to the exploration of the nature of beauty and art (whether art has moral value) or to the issues of interpretation and censorship.
In Area of Study 3, students develop their ability to analyse and evaluate philosophical viewpoints and arguments, reflect on the quality of their reasoning and discuss various influences on philosophical thinking. Students are encouraged to become familiar with a number of common formal and informal fallacies (errors in reasoning) which they should avoid in their own work and can use to evaluate the work of the thinkers they study, developing their capacity for metacognition. This area of study further develops the skills of Unit 1 Area of Study 3; for example, in requiring evaluation as well as analysis. However, as Units 1 and 2 are not a compulsory sequence, teachers should allow for the fact that students might not have studied Unit 1.
Unit 3: Minds, bodies and persons
The close study, discussion and contemplation of the arguments and viewpoints of the set texts accounts for a large portion of the teaching and learning in Units 3 and 4 but it should not exhaust the teaching and learning time available. Teachers should carefully teach to the study design rather than restrict their teaching to the analysis and evaluation of the set texts. Students use the set texts to engage with a range of important concepts, viewpoints, arguments and contemporary debates relevant to the key knowledge and skills identified for each outcome.
Unit 3 Area of Study 1 focuses on the philosophy of mind, in particular the relationship between the body and the mind. Students examine and critically discuss a range of philosophical concepts, viewpoints and arguments. They learn to discuss and apply their understanding of the key knowledge (including ideas from the set texts) to a range of contemporary debates and scientific developments. Notable debates that could be considered for Area of Study 1 include artificial intelligence, the status of free will in physicalism or dualism, the after-life, the status of animals and recent scientific attempts to explain the nature of consciousness.
In Area of Study 2, students explore a range of viewpoints and arguments on the nature of personal identity and what may constitute the necessary feature(s) of a human being over time. Students may also examine sceptical positions arguing that there is no such thing as a consistent identity of a person over time. In this area of study, particular emphasis is placed on the value of thought experiments in philosophy, in assessing their value in arguments and their usefulness in illustrating various positions in philosophy. Sometimes the set texts will refer to thought experiments but teachers can source other thought experiments or ask their students to create a thought experiment that illustrates a particular conclusion studied. As with Area of Study 1, students learn to apply the key knowledge (including the conclusions of the set texts) to a range of contemporary debates and applications. Suggestions for debates for this area of study include memory loss, the after-life and modern advances in medical technology including organ transplants and prosthetics and their impact on personal identity. Students also need to discuss the implications of the positions considered on personal identity for questions of moral responsibility and personal concern.
Unit 4: The good life
In Unit 4 Area of Study 1, students explore a range of questions and concepts related to what it means to live well. The general questions identified by the study design for this area of study are: whether morality is essential in leading a good life; how an understanding of human nature might help us discern the good life; and the role of others, society or even our obligations to others in moral action and right living. These questions form the basis for analysis, evaluation and comparison of the set texts.
In Unit 4 Area of Study 2, students draw on their understanding of philosophical sources and philosophical concepts to discuss the role of technology in the good life. Students must consider how technology (a specific technology or, more broadly, a technological development) contributes to what is valuable in the good life and, conversely, how conceptions of the good life might and should be influencing technological development. For the purposes of this area of study, ‘technology’ can be interpreted broadly to refer to current or even potential technologies related to the kind of lives we wish to lead or see as valuable. This may include, for example, bio-enhancements and other medical technologies, robotics, information and communication technologies, social media and entertainment technology.
In order to model the type of analysis and evaluation students will engage in, teachers should provide curated philosophical resources for the guiding questions in this area of study. Students need to be able to locate, interpret and synthesise a range of viewpoints and arguments on the nature of the good life and technological development. They should also identify and critically compare the philosophical assumptions underlying these viewpoints and arguments in order to formulate and defend a well-reasoned philosophical response to the issues raised.
Teaching and learning activities
This advice contains a number of suggested learning activities for each area of study. They reflect some of the specific requirements of the units and can be augmented and adapted by teachers to suit the needs of their students. Many of the learning activities suggested for a given area of study are suitable for adaptation and use in other areas of study. The activities suggested for Units 3 and 4 may need to be adjusted to meet the specific demands of the set texts in any given year.
The VCE Philosophy Study Design encourages students to ‘cultivate open-mindedness, reflect critically on their own thinking and that of others, and explore alternative approaches to philosophical questions’. Teachers should provide students with the opportunities to develop, put into practice and demonstrate their own abilities in philosophical thinking and reflection.