What does a strong philosophical argument entail? This easy to implement activity has students reconstruct a philosophical argument.
This activity can be done with any philosophical argument. The instructor that contributed it used it frequently with his section.
The activity proceeds as follows: After the students have learned about a philosopher's argument on some topic, the instructor breaks the students into groups. Students work in their groups to break the argument into premises and then reconstruct the logic of the argument. Groups share how they reconstructed the argument with the class. Then, as a class, the students discuss how the different groups constructed the steps. The instructor helps the students evaluate which argument reconstruction was stronger and why. Students are assessed observationally.
See also: Discussion, Sequence Reconstruction, Observational, ER 30: The Just World, The Just World, Broad/Fundamental, Theoretical/Abstract, General Education, Sociology, Data for Discussion, Brandt, James, Expanding Depth and Breadth, Group & Cooperative Learning; Students as Classroom Leaders, Stimulating Students to Think, Collaborate, Interpret Primary Sources to Propose a Model or Argument, 10 to 30 minutes, Whole class, Group, Broadly Applicable, Humanities, Single Class