Talking in Class 2 INTELLECTUAL ADVENTURES
Mapping a single conversation emblematic of so many more
Students learn to think with agility and to speak and write with exceptional fluency, power and precision as they grow here. Each day they gain practice developing the self-assurance to speak up, propose ideas and participate actively. Eavesdropping on this Upper School Political and Social Philosophy elective gives a glimpse of how opinions are formed and ideas are explored on a path to a deeper understanding of material in partnership with teachers.
STUDENT 1
Was Plato the first feminist?
STUDENT 2
Well, he suggests that everyone has natural talent—women aren’t excluded from that. No one is inherently better than anyone else.
STUDENT 3
He also seems to think that women might have a higher pain threshold.
STUDENT 4
I’ve noticed at my volleyball practices that male coaches tend to be more squeamish around injuries.
Directly from an alumna’s notebook
24
STUDENT 2
STUDENT 4
Plato says that women have no single or fixed nature. The women in Sparta are different than the women in Athens.
Though he did want to abolish the family at one point. It reminded me of the Owenites in American history.
