The if Machine

Philosophical Enquiry in the Classroom

Each session in this practical book offers an imaginary situation, followed by a series of questions to encourage children to challenge key philosophical ideas such as values and ethics, gender and identity, and existence and beauty.

All the enquiries have been tried and tested, and a handy star system is included to indicate the difficulty level of each one.

With a comprehensive introduction and key sections on the philosophy behind the experiments, this book also includes an online teacher's resource to guide practitioners through using the sessions to best effect in the classroom.

 “'This is a timely and valuable contribution: a capacity to think critically is the key component of any education, and Worley is an inventive enhancer of children's ability to think for themselves.'” –  A.C.Grayling, Professor of Philosophy, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK, 

Table of Sessions ( for the PhiE sessions below.   Indicating the matching Themes, Age of appropriateness, and level of Difficulties)

1. How to Do Philosophical Enquiry in the Classroom \ Introduction \ The If Machine \ Philosophical Enquiries in the Classroom \ Teaching Strategies 

2. The PhiE Sessions \ The Chair \ The Meaning of Ant Life \ Can You Step in the Same River Twice? \ Republic Island \ The Ring of Gyges \ The Prince and the Pig \ The Ship of Theseus \ The Happy Prisoner \ Goldfinger \ The Frog and the Scorpion \ The Little Old Shop of Curiosities \ The Shadow of the Pyramid \ Billy Bash \ Thinking About Nothing \ Yous on Another Planet \ The Ceebie Stories \ The Ceebie Stories: Friends \ The Ceebie Stories: The Tony Test \ The Ceebie Stories: The Robbery \ The Ceebie Stories: The Android \ The Ceebie Stories: The Lie \ The Ceebie Stories: The Rebuild \ The Ceebie Stories: Finally Human? \ To the Edge of Forever \ Where Are You? \ Get Stuffed: Fun with Metaphysics 

The Philosophy Foundation

Peter Worley

Peter Worley is founder and CEO of The Philosophy Foundation (www.philosophy-foundation.org), a charity that specialises in philosophy in primary and secondary schools, based in the UK. Peter has over 15 years' experience in teaching and regularly gives talks and presentations about philosophy in schools. He is a Fellow of the RSA and is currently studying for a PhD at King's College London, UK.