Hume, Feyerabend & Habermas Assessment Pack | problem of induction, impressions and ideas, critique of method | Philosophy Unit | Grades 11–12

Hume, Feyerabend & Habermas Assessment Pack is a complete philosophy unit for grades 11–12 that trains reconstruction, comparison and reasoned judgment across three thinkers: a 32-page student book and a 20-page teacher guide, plus an editable Word text edition. Students first work through Hume's impressions and ideas and his problem of induction (Enquiry, sections 2–5), then Feyerabend's critique of one universal scientific method, then Habermas on the conditions of fair scrutiny. Each position is kept distinct before the three are related, and the pack ends with two original assessment texts and transparent marking suggestions.

The cases make abstract points easy to test. Someone imagines a golden mountain without ever having seen one: does that refute Hume? A device works in 100 trials, so someone says it must work on trial 101. One institute rejects a theory only because it contradicts the established account, while another accepts every claim and cites Feyerabend. A committee points to 100 successful tests, bans alternative models and lets only established members speak. In the main practice assessment, a research director declares a theory definitively true and calls the procedure empirically certain, methodologically consistent and communicatively fair. Students take each of those three claims apart separately.

What's Included

• 32-page student book (PDF, A4): four five-page lessons (explanation, case material, workshop, judgment, extension), a concept page, two practice assessments with writing plans, a jigsaw page, a portfolio page and a self-check
• 20-page teacher guide (PDF): aims, sequence planning, differentiation, minute-by-minute lesson plans, expected reasoning for every task and feedback pages for each lesson
• Four original teaching cases (M1–M4), each with an analytical task, a workshop task, a debate question and a worked reasoning example
• Two original practice assessment texts with tasks, writing plans and 100-point marking guidance: reconstruction 25, analysis and comparison 40, judgment 25, communication 10
• Concept page defining impression and idea, induction, methodological pluralism and argument reconstruction
• Editable Word text edition (its own pagination) for adapting tasks
• Cover thumbnail, A4 page preview and the unit's AI illustration as image files
• Source list and AI disclosure on the final page of the teacher guide

Four Lessons

1. Hume and the origin of ideas — Student book pp. 3–7. Impressions and ideas, simple and complex ideas. Students explain why the golden mountain does not simply refute Hume, invent another composite idea, and discuss what a borderline case such as the missing shade of blue reveals about a general theory.
2. Hume and the problem of induction — Student book pp. 8–12. A device that worked 100 times. Students reconstruct the missing premise, separate probability from necessity, and rewrite the claim as a cautious prediction.
3. Feyerabend against rigid methodological rules — Student book pp. 13–17. Two institutes, one shielding tradition and one accepting everything. Students explain why both fail and write a research rule that allows diversity but still requires justification.
4. Habermas and scientific disagreement — Student book pp. 18–22. A committee relying on 100 tests, banning alternatives and excluding junior voices. Students assign one precise problem to each philosopher and build an argument map with a shared recommendation.
5. Practice assessments and jigsaw — Student book pp. 23–32. Two original assessment texts about research groups, each with tasks and a writing plan, a four-perspective jigsaw that ends in a shared concept map, a portfolio page and a self-check.

Students Will Learn To

• Explain hume's distinction between impressions and ideas and how complex ideas recombine simple elements
• Reconstruct an inductive argument, name its hidden premise and distinguish well-supported expectation from logical necessity
• Explain feyerabend's critique of one universal method without reading "anything goes" as a claim that every assertion is equally good
• Distinguish logical scope, methodological diversity and communicative fairness when comparing hume, feyerabend and habermas
• Write a structured assessment response that reconstructs, compares and evaluates a position within a timed format

Perfect For

• Grade 11–12 philosophy courses covering epistemology and philosophy of science
• Exam preparation: two full practice assessments with a writing plan page each
• Mixed-ability classes, using the Support 1 and Support 2 prompts printed under every case
• Science teachers who want a short unit on what scientific evidence can and cannot prove
• Roughly maps to epistemology in UK A Level Philosophy (Years 12–13), senior secondary philosophy in Australia (Years 11–12) and IB Diploma Philosophy or Theory of Knowledge

Why Teachers Choose This Unit

• Expected reasoning for every A, B and C task, plus a subject-specific model answer for each practice assessment.
• A 100-point marking scheme that breaks every criterion down, for example analysis and comparison 40: conceptual precision 10, application to at least two details 15, comparison through a shared question 10, scope limitation 5.
• A timed plan for each 90-minute lesson: opening, exploration, analysis, experiment and consolidation.
• Two support levels on every case page: Support 1 starts with two observations and one justified connection, Support 2 asks for an alternative explanation and the information that would decide between them.
• All cases and assessment texts are original, and the philosophical explanations are original paraphrases, so students cannot look the answers up.

Save with the bundle: this unit is part of the Habermas & Ethics Bundle — all four philosophy units for $49.90 instead of $99.96. All 24 upper-secondary units are in Upper Secondary Complete for $149.90.

Created with AI assistance: ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Claude (Anthropic). Illustrations were generated with OpenAI image generation as discussion prompts; they are not photographs. Edited for classroom use before publication. Sources and the full AI note are on the final teacher guide page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which courses and exams does this unit fit?

It fits grade 11–12 philosophy courses and roughly maps to epistemology in UK A Level Philosophy (Years 12–13), senior secondary philosophy in Australia (Years 11–12) and IB Diploma Philosophy or Theory of Knowledge. The assessment texts are original practice tasks, not official papers, and the pack has no official endorsement from the College Board, the IB, any UK exam board, ACARA or any state education department. It was originally developed for German upper-secondary philosophy courses; the English edition is a full parallel version.

How long does it take?

The core is four 90-minute lessons, one for each thinker-focused section of the student book. The workshop and extension pages may need extra time. Each practice assessment takes 90 minutes, or 135 minutes for extended advanced work; this is a practice format, not an official exam duration. Plan 45–60 minutes for the jigsaw. Four double lessons do not cover every activity in the pack.

Do students need to read Hume, Feyerabend and Habermas in the original?

No. The explanations are original paraphrases, and each case and assessment text contains what students need. The teacher guide lists the sources the content draws on: Hume's Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, sections 2–5, Feyerabend's Against Method (German edition) and Habermas's Vorstudien und Ergänzungen. Close analysis of original wording requires access to an edition, which you can add as an extension.

How is it delivered?

Instant digital download after purchase. You receive the student book and teacher guide as A4 PDFs, which print on US Letter with fit-to-page, plus the editable Word text edition and the image files. For graded use, the teacher guide recommends handing out only the source material and tasks and keeping the teacher guide and worked examples separate.