Connecting to Learning in the DP: Philosophy and the Extended Essay
Philosophy
Being Human
What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! - William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2
What defines human nature? Are we noble beings gifted with the faculty of reason, or merely irrational animals with a God complex? Or perhaps we are not born inherently one way or another, and “existence precedes essence”. These are the fundamental concerns at the heart of the philosophy of human nature.
In Term 3, the Year 11 philosophers wrapped up the Being Human theme by exploring theories of human nature from a range of traditional and contemporary perspectives - from Aristotle to Hobbes, Marx to Ban Zhao and Angela Davis. This complemented their earlier study of philosophical theories of personhood, where students asked “Can dolphins be people too?” Through applying different criteria for personhood to various examples and case studies, the class pondered the ethical implications of how we define the term ‘person’, affecting humans, animals, and maybe even one day - machines. As always, prompts from a range of sources - from Shakespeare to Netflix - served as springboards to generating questions and discussion on the topic of what it means to be human.
This week we give a misty-eyed farewell to our Year 12 students who are reaching the end of their DP Philosophy journey and heading off to their final exams. And what a journey it has been! The class has grappled with some of the most challenging ideas in philosophy, from mind-bending panpsychism, to enlightening Buddhism and of course the impenetrable work of Friedrich Nietzsche (they even learned how to spell his name!). They leave us as confident and accomplished philosophers, displaying all the qualities of the IB student; inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective. In other words, what “being human” is all about.
Cat Pacitti
teacher of DP Philosophy
caterina.pacitti@preshil.vic.edu.au
Extended Essay
Mark Harrington, our DP Coordinator and Extended Essay Coordinator, talks to two students about their chosen Extended Essay subjects, topics and research questions.
Angelo:
Otto: