Philosophy teacher support material

External assessment: sample H

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007 �

Sample H

The text presents philosophical activity as an activity that continuously challenges pre-assumed

opinions and perspectives where these opinions and perspectives are taken as valid by the cultures in

which the philosopher lives or in the situations in which the philosopher works. All the opinions that

the philosopher receives are examined and analysed at their roots and then further challenged or

questioned.

The article starts by claiming that the tendency to philosophise emerges from the sense of wonder

that is identified as a natural capacity for all human beings and brings them to inquire about the nature

of reality. The text presents two possibilities that stand radically against the authentic activity of

philosophising: a life lived only in a survival mode that is unfulfilling, and the uncritical acceptance of a

‘pre-packaged ideology’. Both of these options represent alternatives that are the opposite of what

the article sees as a philosophical nature. It is interesting to note that throughout the philosophy

course, I have been encouraged to avoid as much as possible the blind acceptance of philosophical

positions and philosophical arguments. This was especially the case when I studied the two

prescribed texts for the course where I had to be able to identify the assumptions and positions the

two authors of the texts took on the issues raised in their books.

The text comes to a crucial point when it distinguishes between what is commonly understood as

‘having a philosophy’ understood as having a viewpoint on issues, and ‘doing philosophy’ understood

as challenging the positions that these accepted points of view create. This distinction brings us to a

deeper appreciation of philosophical activity. Those of us who exercise philosophical activity on a

daily basis could be defined as philosophers. I have seen this distinction at work when I tried to study

rationalism and empiricism as philosophical approaches to a variety of issues as opposed to when I

tried to approach philosophical issues as a rationalist or as an empiricist would approach them.

It also seems to me that the text’s position on philosophy and its value is coming from a typically

Platonic position. On the level of epistemology, it is interesting to look at the expression ‘philosophical

quest’ as a search for wisdom in a reflective fashion. I saw this throughout my study of Plato’s

Republic where the character Socrates was constantly searching for the definition of justice, the

definition of the form of The Good, or the description of the ideal state. This particular approach that

sees philosophy as a search for wisdom that should be exercised on daily basis in order for someone

to be labelled as philosopher emerges directly from Plato's view on what philosophy is all about.

However, it would be a mistake to see the opinion in the text just as a Platonic one. Even if philosophy

is intended to be a skill that improves with practice and is a natural tendency for some men, it can

also be approached from a different position from the Platonic view. For Plato, philosophy was

understood as an instrument to understand the true nature of reality. The text argues that it is actually

a continuous process of involving the inquiry into and criticism of previous assumptions or opinions

made by someone else. I see this position confirmed when I look back on my study of the Cartesian

Philosophy teacher support material

External assessment: sample H

2 © International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

approach to doing philosophy. In this perspective I can understand the text to be asking for the use of

the disengaged rationality of Réne Descartes that can help us create new values different from the

most commonly held ones. In this light, I can also appreciate insights I gained from my study of

Nietzsche’s more nihilistic philosophy where the questioning of all the values previously held can

allow us to build new values independent of all precedents. With this view in mind the text might be

inviting us to become ‘builders of values’ when it asks us to engage in authentic philosophical activity.

The text goes on to explain the nature of philosophical activity and how it should be exercised. What

is missing from the text is an explanation of the value doing philosophy has on a community level.

Even if I agree with the position that the text takes, I believe that the value of engaging in

philosophical activity is more important than agreement on the definition itself. If on a personal level

philosophical activity helps us avoid an unfulfilled and trivial existence, the exercise of philosophy on a

community level brings philosophy to an even higher level of significance. Moreover, if the activity of

questioning reality is useful in producing complete fulfilment in itself, then ethics, which has its basis in

metaphysics, can help shape a community. The activity of establishing values on a personal and on a

community level, the ways in which these values are defined and then applied in a practical sense in

the real world can change the nature of the community itself for the better. An example of this is seen

in the development of new understandings of justice that can help break through the older and more

traditional retributive and distributive paradigms.

[858 words]