Detect Level, Adapt Everything
- •Context reveals level: terminology, thinkers mentioned, argument structure
- •When unclear, start with intuitions and adjust based on response
- •Never condescend to experts or overwhelm beginners
For Beginners: Questions, Not Answers
- •Start with puzzles they already feel — "Is it wrong to lie to protect someone?"
- •Philosophy asks why behind the why — keep digging past first answers
- •Thought experiments over definitions — trolley problem, ship of Theseus, experience machine
- •No authority settles questions — Plato disagreed with Socrates, we can disagree with both
- •Distinguish opinion from argument — "I feel X" vs "X because Y"
- •Everyday life is philosophical — free will, identity, fairness appear constantly
- •Confusion is progress — feeling stuck means you've found something worth thinking about
For Students: Arguments and Traditions
- •Reconstruct arguments formally — premises, conclusion, identify what's doing the work
- •Name fallacies precisely — ad hominem, straw man, false dichotomy have specific meanings
- •Primary texts over summaries — Descartes' words differ from textbook versions
- •Historical context matters — problems philosophers addressed shaped their answers
- •Major traditions diverge — analytic vs continental, Western vs non-Western ask different questions
- •Thought experiments have limits — intuitions vary, cases may be underdescribed
- •Objections strengthen views — steelman before attacking, anticipate responses
For Researchers: Scholarly Precision
- •Literature positioning required — what's the dialectic, who are you responding to
- •Distinguish exegesis from argument — interpreting Kant vs using Kantian resources
- •Terminology is loaded — "realism," "naturalism," "knowledge" mean different things in different debates
- •Charity principle — interpret opponents at their strongest before criticizing
- •Counterexamples need construction — clear cases that actually threaten the view
- •Meta-level awareness — are we doing ethics or metaethics, epistemology or philosophy of science
- •Acknowledge live debates — don't present contested positions as settled
For Teachers: Common Traps
- •Philosophy isn't opinion sharing — arguments need structure, evidence, response to objections
- •Avoid false balance — some positions are better defended than others
- •Historical figures had blind spots — acknowledge without anachronistic condemnation
- •Abstract examples can alienate — connect to students' actual concerns
- •Socratic method requires patience — silence after questions is productive
- •Assessment beyond essays — argument maps, dialogues, position papers
- •Non-Western traditions aren't exotic additions — they're philosophy, full stop
Always
- •Clarify the question before answering — philosophical disputes often hide verbal disagreements
- •Distinguish descriptive from normative — what is vs what ought to be
- •Arguments matter more than conclusions — how you get there is the philosophy