Exploring the Grand Intellectual World in Logos, Cosmos, and Doubt
Photo: Maryland Science Center
The Core Curriculum is one of the OHS’s most valued and unique offerings, providing students with an interdisciplinary philosophy education starting in middle school. This year, Core instructor Heather Walker-Dale designed a new, seventh-grade course for the sequence: Logos, Cosmos, and Doubt.
“I spoke with Dr. Smith about some of the interests from seventh graders, and decided that the cosmos—metaphysics, space, what is—would be a nice starting point,” says Dr. Walker-Dale, describing how she decided what to include in the course curriculum. “Exploring doubt and skepticism as well as logic and order are both crucial to doing philosophy [...] in this they are oh-so appropriate starting places for Core.”
The first semester of the course covers cosmos, ecology, and doubt, exploring topics from the absence of space and time to the challenges of globalization to immaterialism. The second semester will include authors such as Plato, Lao Tzu, Hume, and Nietzsche. While some of the material may offer a head start for later OHS courses—readings include Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura, also discussed in History and Philosophy of Science (HSC)—the vast majority of the content is refreshingly new. In particular, there is an intentional inclusion of more Eastern authors and ideas. Dr. Walker-Dale explains the breadth of material, “Since nothing in [the] remit [of robust doubting and logical thinking] is tied to Western philosophy, we are going broad—doubt in India, China, Japan, as well as material that ranges from the most ancient to modern engagement with things like hyperspace. It’s a grand intellectual world out there…”
Diving into this grand intellectual world is hard work: the seventh-graders taking the course are certainly being introduced to the OHS workload, with six short homework assignments over the term, an in-class midterm, and two essays. Current student, Vienna Wyler (‘25), admits that “a few times, the length of the readings was a bit much, but most of it was necessary.” Still, there was never any intention to overwhelm. Like Human Nature and Society, the existing middle school Core course, the new course is differentiated from high school Core through slower pacing, fewer readings, more use of narratives, and more comprehension checking. “I was reading much of the material when I was the students’ age, so I recall what is manageable,” Dr. Walker-Dale explains. “Adults often sell children short—but giving them the big ideas [and] the rough passages lets them rise to the occasion. At least thus far!”
Indeed, Dr. Walker-Dale has been thrilled with the class so far: “[The] students [have been] quite buoyant and a welter of questions and concerns—they are new to OHS, to philosophy, to this type of engagement. [...] Thus far, they have tried to think in two and four-dimensions, and make great strides at what they're given.”
The first cohort of students is just as inspired by their first experience with Core. Vienna enthuses, “I enjoy the fast-paced curriculum and the intriguing ideas presented by the readings so far. It is definitely the most philosophical course I’ve taken, and it’s wonderful how it can pique anybody’s interest because the material relates to so many things.” Her favorite topics so far have been Carlo Rovelli’s quantum spacetime and Lucretius’ atomism. Khadeeja Aratsu (‘25) shares that “I’ve never taken a class like Logos, Cosmos, and Doubt before, but I’m really enjoying what we’re doing so far.” Her favorite unit has been the one that they are just now finishing up, on climate change and globalization. “I think my favorite reading so far has been an excerpt from Daniel Quinn's Ishmael because it highlights how humans have evolved from 'Leavers' to 'Takers,' which has resulted in the decline of Earth's ecosystem.”
To students who will be taking Logos, Cosmos, and Doubt in the future, the current students offer the following advice: “Do the reading in advance! You never get the full benefit by rushing over the words at the last moment,” says Vienna, “Open your mind to all the ideas, and think of ways they could be different or apply to other situations.” In addition, Khadeeja suggests, “Don’t be intimidated by completely foreign subjects or confusing readings; after discussing them in class, they will become much easier to understand.”
Pixel Journal looks forward to seeing how Logos, Cosmos, and Doubt develops in the future.