Thursday, January 26, 2012

Enlightened Brazilians

Brazil has required high school students to take philosophy courses since 2008 because it is "necessary for the exercise of citizenship." Here's a recent article from a Boston newspaper on the program.

What I find especially interesting about the article is the discussion toward the end about perceptions of justice.

(Thanks to Brian Leiter for posting the link on his blog.)

1 comment:

Audrey Wenger said...

I certainly find this topic interesting. This is my first philosophy class that I have ever taken and I feel that philosophy should be a class required in high school. I wouldn’t suggest this class earlier then high school because I do feel that reading and writing are important tasks to have learned otherwise it will be very difficult to defend and refute others in a philosophy class.

I think that having philosophy in high school would help students to become aware of some more of the problems or dilemmas that many people face. Philosophy in general also helps a person to be able to better defend their actions, and also helps an individual to understand why they act the way they do. By having a philosophy class you would be able to have people who have a better understanding of other’s views and maybe there would not be so many outbreaks of violence because at a young age people would be able to discuss their views and maybe convince others to join their point of view.