An example of a day, thinking: The Programme

Programme:

Introductions
An explanation of what 'academic' philosophy is:
What do we study when we study formal logic, metaphysics, meta-ethics, political theory and the philosophy of language

Section A: Discussing and working with premises and conclusions.
A look at how words like 'because' and 'therefore' really work.
What is 'justification'? How, and why, do I answer 'why' questions?
A look at the distinction between logical validity and truth.

Tea

Section B: Discussing and working with the distinction between facts and values.
What is a statement of fact?
What is a statement of value?
Which offer better support for claims and conlcusions, and why?
Why are some statements controversial?

Lunch

Section C: Reading with comprehension: How to look for and understand an argument.
A step by step lesson and practise in how to analyse a text
For this section the participants work with reasonably challenging texts

Tea

Section D: Writing a reasoned response to a text and constructing an argument of ones own
A step by step lesson and practise in how to construct a critique, review or argument of ones own

End of programme