Philosophy Should be Taught in Schools, but Which Parts?

There are many arguments for teaching philosophy in schools: that it can contribute to the development of students’ critical thinking which can then be applied to other academic areas, that it can contribute to the development of students’ communication skills by encouraging them to develop clear and coherent arguments and that it can form part of students’ moral education when they engage with moral philosophy.

But philosophy encompasses many different philosophical subdisciplines. If philosophy is to be taught in schools, decisions will need to be made about which areas of philosophy should be taught.

Last year I was invited to give a presentation to a group of Victorian philosophy high school teachers. The topic was teaching social epistemology to high school students.

Epistemology is the area of philosophy that investigates knowledge and justified belief. Social epistemology is the area of epistemology that investigates the effects of social interactions and social systems on knowledge and justified belief.

More concretely, social epistemologists are interested in testimony. A lot, perhaps most, of our beliefs are based upon what other people say. So, it’s important to ask, under what circumstance are we justified in trusting what other people tell us?

Social epistemologists are also interested in expertise. If there is anybody’s word that we can trust, surely it is the word of experts. But what is expertise? How do non-experts identify experts? And who should we believe when experts disagree?

Perhaps most pertinent to our current moment, social epistemologists are interested in the epistemology of the internet – questions about mis- and disinformation, about conspiracy theories, and about online free speech.

I was invited to present on this topic because a unit on social epistemology is soon to be added to the Victorian high school philosophy curriculum.

Of all the philosophical subdisciplines that could’ve been added, social epistemology is a great choice.

Social epistemology is one of the most, if not the most, exciting areas of philosophy right now. I am somewhat biased in making this claim, but I think there’s some truth to it.
There is an explosion of interest in social epistemology. Philosophers have been turning their attention to topics that haven’t previously had much of a philosophical look in. Topics include mis- and disinformation, conspiracy theories, fake news, deepfakes, and political disagreement and polarisation.

What better way to get high school students interested in philosophy than by introducing them to some of its most exciting recent developments?

Studying social epistemology in school can give students knowledge and skills that are useful for understanding and forming views on important contemporary debates that matter for them.

Numerous important current debates have social epistemological elements. In Australia, there is a heated debate over the mis/disinformation bill that is currently before the Australian parliament, the newly proposed Communications Legislation Amendment (Combating Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024.

The bill aims to keep Australians safe from the harms of mis/disinformation, but there are serious concerns over how what counts as harmful mis/disinformation will be decided and over the potential negative consequences for free speech.

There is also a debate over the government’s proposed social media ban for under 16s. The ban aims to improve the safety of children online, including their epistemic safety.

The government is concerned that social media is exposing children to information that leads to problematic beliefs and actions, such as boys being exposed to misogynistic material.

This is all before we step outside of Australia to begin thinking about whether and to what extent mis/disinformation explains President-elect Trump’s recent election success.

So, there is indeed good reasons to teach philosophy in schools, and for social epistemology to be among the philosophical topics that are taught.

Image by Charl Durand