TEACHING STUDENTS TO THINK

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TEACHING STUDENTS TO THINK

• PHILOSOPHY IN FILM

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PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS AND PHILOSOPHERS

• Two ways of incorporating philosophy into film
  ideas and philosophers.
• Ideas we do this anyway through theme. Just
  emphasise the philosophical ideas.
• Philosophers find a philosopher whose ideas are
  explored. Explore that philosophers theories and
  then look at other philosophers that oppose those
  ideas.

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FREAKY FRIDAY
THE PROBLEM OF PERSONAL IDENTITY
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(No Transcript)
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HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU BECAME YOUR MOTHER?
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WHAT HAPPENS IN FREAKY FRIDAY?

• A busy psychologist and her image-conscious
  daughter are always arguing.
• Each one feels that the other one does not
  understand her point of view.
• Each one feels that the other ones life is
  easier to live.
• They swap and are trapped in one anothers bodies.

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WHAT IS BEING SWAPPED?

• MIND
• BODY
• SOUL
• CONSCIOUSNESS
• IDENTITY
• PERSONALITY

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WHAT IS THE MIND?
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WHAT IS THE BODY?
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WHAT IS THE SOUL?
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WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS?
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WHAT IS IDENTITY?
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WHAT IS PERSONALITY?
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PHILOSOPHERS

• RENE DESCARTES
• The mind-body problem
• JOHN LOCKE
• The idea of consciousness

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RENE DESCARTES

• There are two main beliefs
• 1. MATERIALISM The mind is part of our brain
  our thoughts and feelings are nothing more than
  physical processes taking place in our brain.
• All experiences are caused by our sensory organs
  sending electrical impulses to our brains.
• The mind is part of the body and they cannot be
  separated.

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CARTESIAN PHILOSOPHY

• 2. DUALISM The mind is not part of our physical
  body and is separate from the brain.
• It interacts with the brain, but is not the same
  thing as the brain.
• Our thoughts, feelings, emotions etc. are
  something extra something in addition to just
  physical impulses.
• We can therefore separate our minds and our brain.

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WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

• I believe that my mind is part of my brain.
• I believe that my mind is separate from my brain
  and body.
• I believe that my mind is the same as my soul.
• I believe in re-incarnation.
• I believe that my mind defines my identity.

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JOHN LOCKE THE IDEA OF CONSCIOUSNESS

• Personal identity depends on consciousness.
• We are identified as the same person if we are
  conscious of our past and future thoughts and
  actions in the same way as we are conscious of
  our present thoughts and actions.
• A soul can be re-incarnated, but it is not a
  consciousness.

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Souls and Thoughts

• Souls are thinking substances. They are not
  thoughts they are things that think.
• The relation between a soul and its thoughts can
  be likened to the relation between a pincushion
  and its pins.
• Just as a pincushion can have different pins in
  it at different times, the same soul can have
  different thoughts in it at different times.

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SOME PERSONAL IDENTITY PUZZLES

• The ship of Theseus
• Suppose that the planks in Theseuss ship have
  been replaced one by one over the years until
  none of the original planks remained.
• Suppose further that the original planks were
  saved and put back into their original order.
• Which ship is identical to the original?

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SOME PERSONAL IDENTITY PUZZLES

• The brave Officer and the senile General
• A brave officer who skillfully stole a flag from
  an enemy also stole an apple from an orchard when
  he was a boy. As the officer ages, he becomes a
  senile general. As a senile general, he remembers
  stealing the flag, but does not remember stealing
  the apple. According to Locke, the senile general
  is identical to the brave officer, but not
  identical to the boy.

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SOME PERSONAL IDENTITY PUZZLES

• Lockes Tale of the Prince and the Cobbler
• For should the Soul of a Prince, carrying with
  it the consciousness of the Princes past life,
  enter and inform the Body of a Cobblerevery one
  sees, he would be the same Person with the
  Prince.

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Thought Experiment The King of China

• Suppose someone offered to make you the King of
  China on the condition that you lose all of your
  memories.
• In such a case, its doubtful that you would be
  around to enjoy the wealth even though,
  presumably, your soul would be.
• So having the same soul may not be a necessary
  condition for being the same person.

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SOME EXPRESSIONS ABOUT THE MIND

• Whats on your mind?
• Are you losing your mind?  
• Are you out of your mind?  
• A mind is a terrible thing to waste.  
• You are always on my mind.
• Great minds think alike!
• Free your mind.    
• It is a matter of mind over matter.

• in one's mind's eye
• in one's right mind
• know one's own mind
• Load off one's mind
• make up one's mind
• meeting of the minds
• never mind
• of two minds

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EXPRESSIONS ABOUT THE MIND

• bear in mind
• blow one's mind
• boggle the mind
• bring to mind
• call to mind
• cross one's mind
• change one's mind 
• come to mind
• frame of mind
• go out of one's mind

• one-track mind
•  on one's mind
• open mind
• out of sight (out of mind)
• piece of one's mind
• presence of mind
• prey on one's mind
• read someone's mind
• Put one's mind at rest
• slip one's mind
• speak one's mind

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AND EVEN MORE EXPRESSIONS

• its all in your mind
• don't mind
• put your mind to it
• mind bending
• narrow minded
• messing with your mind
• mind games
• mind is like a sponge
• keep in mind 

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OTHER FILMS THAT EXPLORE THIS IDEA
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CAN YOU THINK OF ANY MORE?
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YEAR 9 FILMS

• Freaky Friday and the Problem of Personal
  Identity Descartes, Locke, Reid. Philosophical
  puzzles Ship of Theseus.
• Jurassic Park and the Ethics of Cloning.
• Meet the Robinsons paradoxes of time travel.

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YEAR 10 FILMS

• Back to the Future and the Paradoxes of Time
  Travel.
• Any Harry Potter good vs. evil
• The Day the Earth Stood Still ecological ethics-
  Picard

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Year 11 Films

• The Matrix Reality, Truth and Freedom. Plato,
  Baudrillard, Foucault, Descartes etc.
• A.I What defines Life or Are Computers capable
  of independent thought and/or emotions? Turing
  test, Searle.

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YEAR 12 FILMS

• The Prestige the ethics of cloning, identity
• Gattaca Fate vs. Free will
• I-Robot Can machines think?

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YEAR 13 FILMS

• Fight Club Existentialism, Nihilism and
  Identity. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche
• Being John Malkovic Existentialism, Cartesian
  Dualism
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Kant and
  the morality of memory

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WHERE TO AFTER THAT?

• Encourage students to research a particular
  philosopher and his/her theories
• Or a particular idea and all the philosophies
  linked to that idea
• Then look at other texts that use the same ideas-
  evaluate to what extent
• Find similar ideas/theories in the texts you study