by Barbara Williams

Questions for Philosophical Discussion
by Gareth B. Matthews
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The nature of reality:

Albert Turtle says he has a toothache. Albert's father says it is impossible, and points to his own toothless mouth.

1. Can you point to something that isn't there, like no teeth?
2. Suppose you ask your friend for a cookie, and she points to the cookie jar. You reach in, and are disappointed to find that the jar is empty. Is your friend pointing to something that isn't there?
3. Is pointing to something the same as saying it?
4. Are there times when you don't understand what someone is pointing to? When?
5. Are there times when you point to something, and people don't know what you mean? When?
6. Find something in the room and point to it. Now, without moving your finger, try to think of three different things someone might think you are pointing to. What are they?
7. By the way, are fingers the only part of your body that can point?
8. Can animals point?
9. Can plants point?
   
   Albert still insists he has a toothache. His father says that Albert's brother has never had a toothache; that Albert's sister has never had a toothache, and that Albert's mother has never had one. "It's impossible," Albert's father says, for anyone in this family to have a toothache."

1. If something has never happened before, does that mean it is impossible that it will ever happen?
2. Can you think of something that has never happened in the past, but might happen in the future? What?
3. Has anything ever happened to you that has never happened to anyone else? What?
4. How do you know it has never happened before?
5. Can you imagine something that is "impossible"? What?
6. How do you know it is impossible?
7. When things happen to you like aches and pain, does it matter if you know that they have happened to other people, too?
8. Does it matter sometimes more than others? Why?

Turtles don't have teeth, but Albert says he has a toothache.

1. Do you need to have a tooth to have a toothache?
2. If you lost a tooth while you were sleeping, and thought you had a toothache when you woke up, would it hurt any less when you found out you didn't have the tooth anymore?
3. Is there such a thing as an imaginary ache?
4. Do imaginary aches hurt less than "real" ones?
5. Turtles don't have teeth, but Albert says he has a toothache. Could Albert have forgotten he was a turtle?
6. Could Albert have forgotten he didn't have teeth?
7. Could you ever forget who you were?
8. Could you ever forget about a part of your body?
9. Sometimes, your hands or feet get all tingly feeling, and "fall asleep". Is that like your body forgetting a part of itself?

Albert says the Gopher bit him. Maybe by "toothache" he meant the Gopher's teeth, and his ache.

1. Can you have an earache because of someone else's ear?
2. Can you have a headache because of someone else's head?
3. How about a heartache?
   

Albert says his father never believes him. Albert's father says he'd believe him if he told the truth.

1. Do you always know when something is true?
2. If you know for sure that something is true, is that like believing it?
3. You know what your name is. Does that mean you believe you know what your name is?
4. What is something that you know?
5. What is something that you believe?
6. Is there a difference between knowing something and believing it? What?
7. Have you ever believed something, then changed your mind? What?
8. What made you decide not to believe it?
   

Albert's father thinks Albert is lying.

1. Is everything someone says either the truth or a lie?
2. If you think today is Wednesday, and say so, and then find out that it is really Thursday, does that mean you have lied?
3. Can you think of something that you have said wasn't true, but wasn't a lie either? What?
4. Can you tell a lie without knowing it is a lie?
   
   

Albert's grandmother says the trouble with Albert's family is that they never believe Albert.

1. Can you believe what someone means rather than what they say?
2. Which do you think made Albert feel better, having his grandmother wrap her handkerchief around his toe, or having his grandmother believe him? Why?
3. Can not being believed be a kind of ache? Why?
4. Where would it hurt?

 

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