Students’ performance in ethics assignments in the Finnish Matriculation Examination 2017–2021

What is difficult in ethics teaching for general upper secondary students? Can they achieve as good results in metaethics as in normative ethics? These questions should not be addressed without consideration of the various traditions of ethics teaching. Finnish students complete their studies in general upper secondary school by taking the Matriculation Examination. In recent years, a growing number of students has chosen to take an exam in philosophy but there is no systematic study on how students perform in the philosophy exam. This study is focused on those assignments within philosophy that concern ethics. How do students meet the key goals of ethics education defined in the Finnish National Core Curriculum 2015? The material of the study consists of the curriculum, ethics assignments, grading guidelines and the performance statistics in 2017–2021. The main observation is that the average performance is better in assignments in normative ethics than in metaethics, but in neither area of ethics does the average performance surpass half of the maximum points that is considered the threshold for a satisfactory performance. Implications for ethics teaching? We recommend that normative considerations be combined with metaethical considerations when necessary. However, we issue this recommendation having in mind the teaching of ethics in a philosophy classroom. The question for further research is whether the recommendation can also be reasonably applied to the teaching of ethics in other settings.Peer reviewe

Opiskelijoiden suoriutuminen ylioppilaskokeen etiikan tehtävissä 2017 - 2021

What is difficult in ethics teaching for general upper secondary students? Can they achieve as good results in metaethics as in normative ethics? These questions should not be addressed without consideration of the various traditions of ethics teaching. Finnish students complete their studies in general upper secondary school by taking the Matriculation Examination. In recent years, a growing number of students has chosen to take an exam in philosophy but there is no systematic study on how students perform in the philosophy exam. This study is focused on those assignments within philosophy that concern ethics. How do students meet the key goals of ethics education defined in the Finnish National Core Curriculum 2015? The material of the study consists of the curriculum, ethics assignments, grading guidelines and the performance statistics in 2017–2021. The main observation is that the average performance is better in assignments in normative ethics than in metaethics, but in neither area of ethics does the average performance surpass half of the maximum points that is considered the threshold for a satisfactory performance. Implications for ethics teaching? We recommend that normative considerations be combined with metaethical considerations when necessary. However, we issue this recommendation having in mind the teaching of ethics in a philosophy classroom. The question for further research is whether the recommendation can also be reasonably applied to the teaching of ethics in other settings.Peer reviewe

Harkitsevaisuus kansalaishyveenä : Toisten sanaan perustuvien uskomusten oikeutus koulussa ja mediassa

Osallisuuteen ja julkiseen harkintaan perustuva liberaali demokratia edellyttää kansalaisilta kriittistä ajattelua, mutta kriittisyys voidaan myös ymmärtää väärin ja valjastaa palvelemaan tieteen ja demokratian vastaisia pyrkimyksiä, kuten hiljattainen rokotevastainen liike osoittaa. Oikein ymmärrettynä kriittinen ajattelu edellyttää myös harkintaan perustuvaa luottamusta asiantuntijoiden tuottamaan ja välittämään tietoon. Artikkeli tarkastelee kysymystä, mitä harkitsevaisuuteen kuuluva uskomuksen oikeuttaminen edellyttää viestinnän osapuolilta yhtäältä koulussa ja toisaalta mediassa. Nämä kaksi ympäristöä eroavat toisistaan keskeisesti siinä, että koulu on tiedollisessa mielessä huomattavasti turvallisempi kuin media. Erosta huolimatta artikkelissa esitetään, että toisten väitteeseen perustuvan uskomuksen oikeutus edellyttää kummassakin tapauksessa kolmen ehdon täyttymistä: kuulijan on (i) ymmärrettävä väite perusteineen, (ii) omattava perusteet olettaa puhujan olevan vilpitön ja asiantunteva sekä (iii) oltava herkkä uskomuksen oikeutuksen mahdollisesti kumoaville tekijöille. Artikkelissa osoitetaan, että ehdot voivat täyttyä yksittäisten uskomusten tapauksessa, vaikka henkilö ei olisikaan harkitsevainen, mutta harkitsevaisen henkilön uskomukset ovat kaikissa tapauksissa tällä tavalla oikeutettuja. Hyveteoreettisesta näkökulmasta harkitsevaisuus hahmottuu kansalaishyveeksi, joka on taitoa ja halua pohtia avaramielisesti ja ennakkoluulottomasti väitteiden tai toiminnan perusteita ja päätyä johtopäätökseen. Artikkelissa tulkitaan, miten yleissivistävän koulutuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteet sisältävät harkitsevaisuuden ja miten kouluopetus voi valmistaa lapsia ja nuoria olemaan harkitsevaisia suhteessa julkiseen sanaan.Peer reviewe

Affirmation and Denial in Aristotle’s De interpretatione

Modern logicians have complained that Aristotelian logic lacks a distinction between predication (including negation) and assertion, and that predication, according to the Aristotelians, implies assertion. The present paper addresses the question of whether this criticism can be levelled against Aristotle’s logic. Based on a careful study of the De interpretatione, the paper shows that even if Aristotle defines what he calls simple assertion in terms of predication, he does not confound predication and assertion. That is because, first, he does not understand compound assertion in terms of predication, and secondly, he acknowledges non-assertive predicative thoughts that are truth-evaluable. Therefore, the implications of Aristotle’s ‘predication theory of assertion’ are not as devastating as the critics believe.Peer reviewe

Elämänkatsomustiedon ylioppilaskokeen kehityslinjoja

Non peer reviewe

Käskysanat ja ajattelun taidot filosofian ylioppilaskokeessa

Non peer reviewe

Filosofian ylioppilaskokeen kehityslinjoja 2015-2019

Non peer reviewe