1. Philosophy teacher support material
External assessment: sample E
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Sample E
Philosophy is often regarded as the most abstract and abstruse of all subjects; it is often seen as
being removed from reality and dedicated exclusively to theoretical speculations about the origins,
nature and purpose of both the natural and human universe at large. A common (mis)conception of
philosophers is one where these are able to dissert sophisticatedly about ideas which can be hardly
applied in the practical world. Such stereotypes might distort the real nature of philosophy;
notwithstanding, they do highlight a crucial characteristic which brings out philosophical reflection:
some people, at a certain point of their lives, ask as well as think of basic questions about both their
individual and social conditions, the meaning of their life, etc. The value of doing philosophy rests
on the fact that it leads people to question and challenge ideas, beliefs and values held
unreflectively; it brings people to analyse, clarify and evaluate them in a serious fashion according
to logical procedures. Philosophy helps people examine their own life and it makes their existence
meaningful for, as the Greek philosopher Socrates put it, an unexamined life is not worth living.
And yet, human beings “can function in an immediate ‘survival’ mode”, accepting viewpoints and
opinions without questioning them, as well as “embracing pre-packaged ideology which provides
ready-made answers to our fundamental questions”. Whether we are aware of it or not, each of us
has a particular worldview, a certain ethical code, a definite position on religious beliefs: that is, all
of us have some philosophical views. But for some people it is not enough “to have a philosophy”,
for such people “may begin to feel unfulfilling” as well as to find their life empty and meaningless.
We can then “engage in doing philosophy” by challenging and examining our conceptions
consciously. As a thinking activity in its very essence, philosophy aims at examining those
principles on the basis of which we decide whether some ideas ought or ought not to be accepted.
Not only does it approach several fields of human and scientific enquiry, but also it questions and
evaluates itself. Doing philosophy is a radical activity, for it breaks ideas down into their principles to
analyse and evaluate them. Such activity might undermine completely some beliefs and opinions of
ours whose validity was not proven before; it might annihilate what we believed as being our
“truths”. And yet, doing philosophy must not be considered only as a vis destruens. It is also a vis
construens, which makes us conscious of our beliefs, opinions and values by leading us to
challenge their validity; and which brings us to substitute fallacious opinions with less erroneous
ones. From this perspective, doing philosophy helps us live a better life, as we may be able to
better assess our ideas and give consciously reasons for them. By articulating our views, facing
them and committing ourselves to them, such views truly become our views.
The feeling of wonder and amazement has often been mentioned as one of the starting points of
philosophy. Doing philosophy is essentially a reflective activity, which involves stepping back,
listening to yourself and other people and trying to understand and evaluate what it is that you hear
or what it is you believe. Two things are fundamental in doing philosophy: articulation and
argument. The first activity helps develop an argument in a clear fashion. The second activity helps

2. Philosophy teacher support material
External assessment: sample E
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
in the justification of the elements in the argument with evidence by considering counter claims and
counter arguments. But even the best answer might not survive this process because philosophical
activity never reaches an absolute answer. Old ideas are always analysed by new generations of
questioners. Philosophical activity is inconclusive and one can learn a great deal from studying the
history of philosophical activity in order to avoid repeating older problems. In this way, philosophy
makes progress and develops.
The activity of philosophising is intrinsic to every human being, since each of us can make an
inquiry into the nature of the universe and into the human condition. When we do this type of
activity each of us could be called a philosopher as soon as he or she starts to question, reflect
upon and evaluate ideas. To better understand what has been said above, it is useful to resort to a
popular story I was once told about two men who were drinking beer together. One of them looked
at his own glass of beer and said: “Life is like this glass of beer”. His companion asked: “Why do
you say so? What do mean by that?”. The other person went on: “I don’t know because I’m not a
philosopher”. The message of this story is that it is wonder, critical thought, and reflection that
makes everyone of us a philosopher. However, sometimes we simply do not believe that we can all
engage in the activities of doing philosophy at every minute of our life and about every issue that
comes up in our minds.
This having been said, it might be important to distinguish a trained professional from other
questioners. The former might be more accustomed to the logical procedures by means of which
philosophy can be done and, arguably, the trained professional might be able to articulate
arguments more skilfully. However, this does not make doing philosophy the private possession of
the trained individual. We can all enter into and participate in the activity of philosophizing every
time we ask questions about the world around us, every time we wonder about being a human
being.
To sum up, doing philosophy is a reflective activity which aims at challenging, criticising, examining
and evaluating accepted values, beliefs, opinions and ideas. Stimulated by a feeling of wonder
about both the human and the natural universe at large, the human beings start to question,
articulate and argue for ideas. Although the critical approach of philosophical enquiries never
reaches a final answer, it is important to study the philosophies of the past in order not to make the
mistakes already made. This having been discussed, it would be interesting to delve into the nature
of dangers and the conveniences of approaching life in a philosophical fashion and how different
cultures regard the philosophical inquiry. This would lead to further discussions concerning the
nature and the value of doing philosophy. But we would do this precisely by being philosophers
and engaging in philosophical activity.
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