In this episode, Scott Harris joins us to discuss:
-what philosophy is
-why you need it
-why students need it
-why it should be taught
-his background in all that
-how he teaches it
-his scope and sequence
-what students get out of it
-some of his teacing experiences
-how philosophy has helped his students
-and more


About Scott:
Scott K. Harris (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-k-harris-b037966) has a Bachelor of Arts in History/Psychology from Texas State University and a Master’s in Education from Lamar University. He received the Mirabeau B. Lamar Award for Teaching Excellence, and was the first teacher in Texas to receive the Quality School Teacher Award.

In his 29th year of teaching, Harris has taught U.S. History, World History, Psychology, A.P. Psychology, A.P. Macroeconomics, Philosophy, and International Baccalaureate’s capstone course Theory of Knowledge. He also coached swimming and water polo for 17 years.

Harris has guest-lectured at Texas State in Philosophy, and at the University of Texas San Antonio’s graduate school in Education. For nearly two decades he was a member of the Mind Science Foundation and the National Association of Scholars.

Harris piloted curriculum for what is now John Stossel-in-the-Classroom, serves as a consultant to Free- to-Choose Media, and is an associate producer for Izzit.org, all of which produce videos advocating liberty and economic education.

Contact Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-k-harris-b037966

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1. reasonrxpodcast@aol.com
2. https://www.goldams.com
3. https://www.facebook.com/EpistemeRx/
4. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gold-2883921/


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Notes.
1. "What is Philosophy?" (22 min 55 sec)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKHJLxM7lM

2. "Certainty" (10 min 37 sec)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph9ttUjI-y0

3. "What is Science?" (6 min 14 sec)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBYArLiumEc

4. "Logic: Basics of Induction vs Deduction" (10 min 2 sec)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBYArLiumEc

5. "Deep Thinking: Finding the Empirical and Causal in the Traditional" (27 min 23 sec)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeBxMkfhSnc

6. "Bruce Lee incorporated philosophical ideas into his martial arts fighting style, jeet kune do.

"Chinese martial arts styles are grounded in traditional philosophy, and Hong Kong martial arts superstar Bruce Lee worked hard to endow jeet kune do, a fighting style he created, with philosophical underpinnings.

"Lee owned a library of around 2,000 books on martial arts, and he would often refer to these for inspiration. While a student at the University of Washington in the United States, Lee studied two courses in philosophy – Introduction to Philosophy and Chinese Philosophy – and he applied what he had learned there to martial arts."

Excerpt from "Bruce Lee as philosopher: 10 of the ideas animating his martial art style ‘jeet kune do’, such as letting nature take its course" ( South China Morning Post, 8 Dec 2019)
See: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3040994/bruce-lee-philosopher-10-ideas-actor-imbued-his-martial-art

7. "He enrolled at Edison Technical School where he fulfilled the requirements for the equivalent of high school graduation and then enrolled at the University of Washington. At the university, Bruce majored in philosophy. His passion for gung fu inspired a desire to delve into the philosophical underpinnings and many of his written essays during those years would relate philosophical principles to certain martial arts techniques."

Excerpt from "Long Bio"
See: https://brucelee.com/bruce-lee

8. "I fully agree with you about the significance and educational value of methodology as well as history and philosophy of science. So many people today — and even professional scientists — seem to me like someone who has seen thousands of trees but has never seen a forest. A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is — in my opinion — the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth."

--Albert Einstein (Letter to Robert A. Thorton, Physics Professor at University of Puerto Rico (7 December 1944) [EA-674, Einstein Archive, Hebrew University, Jerusalem]. Thorton had written to Einstein on persuading colleagues of the importance of philosophy of science to scientists (empiricists) and science.
See: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein)

9. Monty Python sketch "Argument"
i. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpAvcGcEc0k
ii. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDB5gbtaEQ

10. “Sir, you are drunk.”
“And you, Bessie, are ugly. But I shall be sober in the morning, and you will still be ugly.”

Rumored to have been said by Wiston Churchill.
See: https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/churchill-bulletin/bulletin-031-jan-2011/drunk-and-ugly-the-rumor-mill/
See also: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/08/17/sober-tomorrow/

11. "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl
https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/0807014273/

12. "Harrison Bergeron," aka "2081"
i. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GVHgpCnBmk
ii. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU3myZ3H6u0

13. "Harrison Bergeron Full Movie - 1995 Starring Sean Astin, Christopher Plummer - Award Winning"
i. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxLhqVIhIWQ
ii. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBcpuBRUdNs

14. In "How to Argue With Kindness and Care: 4 Rules from Philosopher Daniel Dennett," they write:

"The subject of sound rhetoric—with its subsets of ethical and emotional sensitivity—has been taken up by philosophers over hundreds of years, from medieval theologians to the staunchly atheist philosopher of consciousness Daniel Dennett. In his book Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, Dennett summarizes the central rhetorical principle of charity, calling it 'Rapoport’s Rules' after an elaboration by social psychologist and game theorist Anatol Rapoport.

"Like their classical predecessors, these rules directly tie careful, generous listening to sound argumentation. We cannot say we have understood an argument unless we’ve actually heard its nuances, can summarize it for others, and can grant its merits and concede its strengths. Only then, writes Dennett, are we equipped to compose a ‘successful critical commentary’ of another’s position. Dennett outlines the process in four steps:
1) Attempt to re-express your target's position so clearly, vividly and fairly that your target says: ‘Thanks, I wish I'd thought of putting it that way.’
2) List any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3) Mention anything you have learned from your target.
4) Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism."

They also write: "These are remedies for better social cohesion and less shouty polarization, for deploying 'the artillery of our righteousness from behind the comfortable shield of the keyboard,' as Maria Popova writes at Brain Pickings, 'which is really a menace of reacting rather than responding.'

"Yelling, or typing, into the void, rather than engaging in substantive, respectful discussion is also a terrible waste of our time—a distraction from much worthier pursuits. We can and should, argues Dennett, Rapoport, and philosophers over the centuries, seek out positions we disagree with. In seeking out and trying to understand their best possible versions, we stand to gain new knowledge and widen our appreciation."




Image and bio courtesy Scott Harris.