Abstract:

Teaching humanities at schools and universities comes with the problem of how to initiate meaningful discussions among students. Some subjects more than others have to deal with a reputation of being reducible to rather swallow conversations between particular students and their teacher.

The neosocratic dialog is - in theory - a promising method to overcome this problem [1]. In practice, however, teachers using this method tend to focus on letting their students talk about their individual opinions without insisting on the students building their opinions on reasons and without putting those reasons to the test in terms of quality and range by asking challenging questions.

This paper introduces a problem-oriented technique of initiating profound discussions among students of all ages using a philosophical set of methods based on results of empirical research in cognitive psychology. This approach is called 'TRAP-Mind-Theory' [2].

The TRAP-Mind-Theory operates with the so-called 'Matrix of Contemplation.' While the three areas of contemplation (understanding, evaluating, acting) define the kind of problem that we are dealing with, the four levels of contemplation (thinking, reflecting, arguing, philosophizing) define the way in which we are dealing with it.

We develop our thoughts to the next level of contemplation by adding ‘reasons’ to the results of the current one. Reasons are introduced by asking ourselves or a concrete other 'questions of transition'. We get from the untested to the tested stage of each level by dividing those reasons into good ones and bad ones and by following only the good ones. The TRAP-Mind-Matrix names the general criteria for testing reasons. Taken from the very way our mind associates ideas [3; 4], those criteria stay the same on all levels of contemplation.

Evaluating reasons and asking oneself whether a reason is a good one only for oneself, for a group of like-minded others or for every human being independent of his or her individual experiences and believes, is not only essential for philosophizing, but also for reflecting and arguing in general. It is, therefore, part of every teacher’s job to motivate students to invest the mental work necessary for testing their reasons, and to show them how to do this properly.

Teaching students to contemplate and to debate using the TRAP-Mind-Matrix initiates an educational process that helps students to develop a self-determined personality [5] including the ability to value profound and sophisticated reasoning over shallow chitchat, populist hate speech, and fake news.

References:
[1] D. Birnbacher, “Schule des Selbstdenkens – Das sokratische Gespräch", in: Texte zur Didaktik der Philosophie (K. Meyer ed.), 215-236, Stuttgart: Reclam, 2010.
[2] F. Brosow, “The TRAP-Mind-Matrix" (2019). Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.20574.48961. Accessed 5 July, 2019.
[3] D. Kahneman, Thinking, fast and slow. London: Penguin Books, 2012.
[4] F. Brosow, “Zur Relevanz kognitiver Verzerrungen für die Didaktik der Philosophie und Ethik", in: Lebenswelt und Wissenschaft. Jahrbuch für Didaktik der Philosophie und Ethik 2018, (B. Bussmann and M. Tiedemann eds.), 57-80, Dresden: Thelem, 2019.
[5] C. Roeger, Philosophieunterricht zwischen Kompetenzorientierung und philosophischer Bildung. Opladen, Berlin, Toronto: Verlag Barbara Budrich, 2016.

Keywords:

Philosophizing, neosocratic dialog, TRAP-Mind-Theory, TRAP-Mind-Matrix, critical thinking, problem-orientation, reasons, reasoning, educational process.