Questions: Philosophy for Young People

Volume 11, Fall 2011

David Boersema
Page 13

Make Up Your Mind
A Classroom Guide to 10 Age-Old Debates

A review of Porter and Girsch’s book for gifted middle and high school children, focusing on useful classroom activities. Boersema analyzes how the book accounts for multiple philosophic discussions for children, including the following: (1) Nature vs. Nurture, (2) Deduction vs. Induction, (3) Absolutism vs. Relativism, (4) Discovered Math vs. Invented Math, (5) Reason vs. Revelation, (6) Free Will vs. Determinism, (7) Liberalism vs. Conservatism, (8) Free Markets vs. Regulated Markets, (9) Safety vs. Risk, and (10) Melting Pot vs. Melting Not.