This paper contends that the focus on “conceptual learning” at the expense of “deeper learning” is an important and pervasive problem in educational institutions. Whereas students are able to articulate philosophical concepts and offer strong arguments for their preferred philosophical positions, these views often are not instantiated in their daily lives, e.g. they are able to articulate the importance of analyzing an argument before casting judgment on an argument, but when actually faced with an argument, they ignorance analysis for judgment. (...) This paper provides an account of what “deeper learning” is and offers several suggestions for how to produce deeper learning in students. (shrink)

There is a tendency in philosophical discussions to see beliefs as belonging to specific people—to see things in terms of "your" belief, or "my" belief, or "Smith's" belief. I call this "personal attachment to beliefs." This mindset is unconscious, deeply ingrained, and a powerful background stance in discussion and thinking. Attachment has a negative impact on the quality of philosophical discussion and learning: difficulties in acknowledging error and changing beliefs, blindness to new evidence, difficulties in understanding new ideas, entrenchment in (...) views, rancorous behavior, and the encouragement of competitive personal contests rather than collaborative searches for the truth. This article investigates the nature of attachment and traces out some of the undesirable consequences for classroom philosophical discussion, thinking, writing, and learning. It presents an alternative model to attachment and offers constructive suggestions for implementing the results of the investigation in the philosophy classroom and elsewhere. (shrink)