Illustrating Philosophical Ideas
Professor Y teaches an introductory course on philosophy. His students have very little experience with philosophical argument; he finds that the same problems appear again and again.
Instructional Goals
For example, when writing papers, his students have trouble- disentangling the components of an argument (premises, intermediate conclusions, final conclusion);
- understanding the relationships among those components;
- raising a succinct objection to an argument;
- given an objection, understanding what type of objection it is; and
- understanding what part of the argument is affected by the objection.
His students also predictably struggle to distinguish clearly between different types of moral antirealism. They conflate subjectivism and relativism and fail to see why each type of theory counts as antirealist.
Learning Strategies
In order to address these problems, Professor Y employs two strategies.
Professor Models a Logical Argument
First, he creates a digital mind map that illustrates St. Anselm's ontological argument and objections to the argument. His mind map models for students how to
- identify each premise of an argument,
- categorize each objection to the argument, and
- indicate exactly where and how the objections raised impact the argument.
Students Check Their Own Logic
Second, he encourages his students to use mind mapping to demonstrate their understanding and to check the logical structure of their own arguments. Students are asked to use a mind-mapping tool to develop a conceptual schema for a written project:
Using a mind-mapping tool, display the relationships between the two different types of moral antirealist theory, along with the subtypes of each theory. Be sure to highlight both the similarities of and differences between the theories, and to show the different ways in which each qualifies as antirealist.
This helps students to gain understanding and assess themselves; specifically, mind mapping enables them to
- check the validity of their own arguments;
- present information sequentially; and
- see the relationships between, and compare and contrast, the components of their arguments.
Related Resources
- See the Bibliography and Campus Resources on our Mind-Mapping TEL Activities Spotlight Issues page.
