Lesson video

Hello, everyone, how are you today?

I hope you're feeling really good.

My name is Miss Afzal, and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling really pleased about that, because we have such an interesting topic.

We are looking at philosophers.

Which philosophers?

Famous ancient Greek philosophers.

That's the title of our lesson.

I wonder if you know any, have you heard of any?

Do you know about philosophy?

Don't worry if you do or not have the answer to any of these questions, we are gonna be getting right into it all today.

As I said, our lesson is called, "Famous Ancient Greek Philosophers", and it comes from the unit of work, "Ancient Greek Civilization.

What is its most significant legacy?

" So if you are ready to get into this subject, find out about famous ancient Greek philosophers, if you have focus, energy and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is, I can name some important ancient Greek philosophers and describe their legacies in the modern world.

I hope that sounds really interesting to you.

I can't wait to get into it.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

I'd like us to go through them one at a time, saying them out loud, my turn, your turn.

Philosophy.

Philosopher.

Morality.

Reasoning.

Legacy.

It is good to hear those keywords out loud.

And now I'd like you to turn to someone nearby and tell them, have you heard of any of these words before?

Do you have any idea what these words could mean?

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's find out what these words mean.

The study of the nature of life is known as philosophy.

A philosopher is someone who studies philosophy.

Inner beliefs about what is right and what is wrong is known as morality.

Coming to a conclusion about something using facts is reasoning.

And a legacy is the long lasting impact of historical events, actions, a person or group of people.

So these are our keywords, philosophy, philosopher, morality, reasoning and legacy.

Let's look out for them and let's listen out for them.

Let's think carefully about these keywords that will be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called, "Famous Ancient Greek Philosophers", and it has two learning cycles.

What is philosophy and what are the legacies of Greek philosophers?

Let's begin by exploring, what is philosophy?

Philosophy is a subject like history or English.

People that study philosophy are called philosophers.

The very first people that were interested in philosophy and began to study it and talk about it were from ancient Greece.

Let's get a fact from Sam.

The word philosophy comes from the ancient Greek philosophia, which means love of wisdom.

What a fantastic word.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Where did the study of philosophy first begin?

Choose from this selection.

A, ancient Egypt, B, Sumer, C, ancient Greece.

Pause here while you decide, where did the study of philosophy first begin?

Well done if you selected ancient Greece.

This is where the study of philosophy first began.

Philosophy is not a fact-based science subject, like maths or science.

In philosophy, there are many questions, but there are often no agreed answers.

Instead, there can be many answers, because different people can have different opinions about the same thing.

And here's Andeep, "I can think of other subjects that end in -phy too, like photography and geography.

" The kind of questions that we ask in philosophy are questions about the nature of life.

Philosophy encourages us to think deeply about what is right and what is wrong or what is good and what is evil.

Knowing what is right and what is wrong is called morality.

Here's Lucas, "Questions that are to do with morality are often called the big questions.

" Pause here and share with someone.

Can you think of a big question, perhaps something to do with morality, to do with what is right, to what is wrong?

Thanks for sharing a big question.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these statements is an example of a big question that would be studied in philosophy?

Choose from this selection.

A, what is the capital city of England?

B, how many sides does a triangle have?

C, is it ever okay not to tell the truth?

D, when was Queen Elizabeth the Second crowned?

Pause here while you decide which of these statements is an example of a big question that would be studied in philosophy.

Well done if you selected C.

Indeed, is it ever okay not to tell the truth is a big question that could be studied in philosophy.

Today, some people spend their lives studying philosophy and reasoning with moral questions.

Here's Sophia, "In 2022 in the UK, more than 70,000 people studied philosophy at university.

" None of this would be possible if it had not been for the very first philosophers from ancient Greece.

Philosophy is an important legacy from the ancient Greeks.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What is an important legacy of ancient Greek philosophy?

Choose from this selection.

A, that it inspired other subjects in school, B, the popularity of philosophy today, C, that it reminds us of the ancient Greeks when we study it.

Pause here while you decide, what is an important legacy of ancient Greek philosophy?

Well done if you selected answer B.

Indeed, it's the popularity of philosophy today that is an important legacy of ancient Greek philosophy.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to write a definition of philosophy and include the following in your answer.

Where it comes from, the name used for the people that study philosophy, what types of things people study in philosophy, how it is an example of an ancient Greek legacy.

So pause here while you write your definition of philosophy, remembering to include the aspects of it that we can see on the screen in your answer.

Enjoy your task defining philosophy and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with writing your definition of philosophy?

Your answer could include something like this.

Philosophy is a type of subject that is studied by philosophers.

The study of philosophy first began in ancient Greece.

When people study philosophy, they look at big questions and morality.

The subject's popularity today is an important legacy from the ancient Greeks.

Well done for writing a definition of philosophy.

Well done for having a go at this task.

Let's continue to find out more about ancient Greek philosophers and their legacies.

And now we're on to our next learning cycle, what are the legacies of Greek philosophers?

In most parts of ancient Greece, only boys were allowed to be educated.

They studied maths, public speaking and poetry and learned how to read and write.

Here's Aisha, "Athena was the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom.

The huge Parthenon temple in Athens was dedicated to her.

" I would love to go and visit that one day.

Some boys then went into the army or became seafarers, farmers or merchants.

Some boys continued their studies as adults.

Teachers passed knowledge to their students and many students then became teachers.

Three important ancient Greek philosophers and teachers were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

And they have a connection.

Socrates was Plato's teacher and Plato became Aristotle's teacher.

So there is a link between the three of them.

Here's Jacob to remind us, "So Plato learned from Socrates, and then later Aristotle learned from Plato.

" Let's have a check for understanding.

Who passed knowledge to who?

Put the philosophers in order.

Start with the first teacher.

So here are our three philosophers.

We have Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.

So put them in order so we know who passed knowledge on to who and start with the first teacher.

Pause here while you do this.

So which order did you put the philosophers in?

Did you start with Socrates who passed knowledge on to Plato, who passed knowledge on to Aristotle?

Well done if you place the philosophers in this order.

Socrates encouraged ancient Greeks to start thinking about the type of society they would like to live in and to think more about morality.

And there we can see an illustration of Socrates.

This new way of thinking was seen as strange and exciting.

Socrates' legacy is that he continues to inspire philosophers.

Plato was a student of Socrates who developed Socrates' ideas further.

Plato had many ideas about how societies should be run or governed.

Plato's ideas have left an important legacy and have helped to shape how many governments are run today.

And there we can see an illustration of Plato.

Pause here and share with someone.

Can you remember who was the student of Plato?

Thanks for sharing.

Well done if you said Aristotle.

Aristotle was the student of Plato.

He further developed Socrates' and Plato's ideas.

And there we can see a marble bust of Aristotle.

Aristotle is most famous for coming up with the idea of logic, using reasoning to come to a conclusion.

His method of solving problems is still used today.

So these are our three philosophers.

Socrates who passed knowledge on to Plato, who passed knowledge on to Aristotle.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Match the ancient Greek philosophers to the area in which they developed ideas.

So here our philosophers, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and the areas in which they developed ideas.

Developed ideas about logic and using reasoning to work things out.

Encouraged people to think more deeply about their society and morality.

Developed ideas about the ways governments should run.

So pause here while you match the ancient Greek philosophers to the area in which they developed ideas.

Did you match Socrates to encouraged people to think more deeply about their society and morality?

Plato developed ideas about the way governments should run and Aristotle developed ideas about logic and using reasoning to work things out.

Let's have another check for understanding.

Match the ancient Greek philosophers to their legacies.

What have they left behind?

Here are our philosophers, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

And their legacies, method of solving problems using logic and reasoning is still used, shaped how many modern governments are run, inspired other philosophers.

So pause here while you match the ancient Greek philosophers to their legacies.

Did you match them in this way?

Socrates' legacy is that he inspired other philosophers.

Plato's legacy is that he shaped how many modern governments are run.

And Aristotle's legacy is his method of solving problems using logic and reasoning is still used today.

Well done if you matched the ancient Greek philosophers to their legacies in this way.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to add three facts about each ancient Greek philosopher to the table.

And at least one fact needs to be about the philosopher's legacy.

So here are our philosophers, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

And I'd like you to write three facts about each.

And remember, one needs to be about each philosopher's legacy.

Enjoy your task of completing this table and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

So how did you get on with that task adding three facts about each ancient Greek philosopher to the table and remember at least one fact was to be about the philosopher's legacy?

Your answers could include something like this.

Socrates was the teacher to Plato.

He encouraged people to think about morality and the society they lived in.

He inspired other ancient Greek philosophers and continues to inspire philosophers today.

That's his legacy.

And Plato was a student of Socrates and became a teacher to Aristotle.

And had ideas about how society should be governed and shaped how many modern governments are run.

That's Plato's legacy.

And finally, Aristotle.

Was a student of Plato, had ideas about reasoning and using logic to solve problems.

Method of solving problems is still used today.

That's Aristotle's legacy.

Well done, everyone for completing this table with facts about these amazing ancient Greek philosophers and especially about their legacies and what they have contributed to the world.

Well done for having a go at this task.

In our lesson, "Famous Ancient Greek Philosophers", we've covered the following.

Philosophy is the study of some of life's big questions.

Philosophy started in ancient Greece and some of the most important ancient Greek philosophers were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

They have all left lasting legacies.

Socrates encouraged the ancient Greeks to think about morality and how society should work.

He inspired many other philosophers.

Socrates's student, Plato, was interested in how states should be governed.

His ideas still help governments today.

Plato's student, Aristotle, used logic and reasoning to solve problems.

His ideas still help people problem solve today.

Well done, everyone for joining in with this lesson.

I thought it was so interesting finding out about these famous ancient Greek philosophers.

It's such a fascinating subject philosophy, to look at these big questions about life, what's right, what's wrong?

How should we live?

I've always loved this subject and was so pleased to share this with you today.

These philosophers left such incredible legacies.

What kind of legacy would you like to leave behind?

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing the legacy that you'd like to leave.

And I will leave you here now at the end of this lesson with some more words of thanks for joining in here today and I really look forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.

Bye for now.