Challenge high schoolers with Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, one of the most prominent — and complex— works of philosophy ever written. High schoolers view a short video that describes the difference between phenomena and noumena, as well as the ways empirical evidence can actually limit one's true understanding.

Concepts

philosophers, deductive reasoning, logical reasoning

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Flip the classroom; assign the video for homework and discuss learners' observations and questions in class the next day
• Use in a philosophy class or when discussing German philosophers in a world history class

Classroom Considerations

• Comment section is open to the public
• The full analysis of Kant's text is available at the publisher's website with a free trial or paid subscription

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Uses the image of an apple to demonstrate Kant's main points
• Short length makes it versatile for classroom use

Cons

• None

Common Core

RH.9-10.2 RH.9-10.9 RH.11-12.2 RH.11-12.9