Hi, Owen. I think it’s wonderful that you are discussing philosophy in highschool. I didn’t discover philosophy until my third year in university. When I did – the heavens opened.
While I originally spent much time in existentialist thought (and certainly experienced, ‘angst,’) I am presently focused on Baruch Spinoza, Euclid, George Boole, the scientist Seth Lloyd and the neuroscientist , Antonio Damasio.
When sharing philosophers, you will find that often they have gone on, as Wittgenstein said, ‘to language games on holiday.’ When speaking to your English class, as much as possible, use your ordinary Australian words.
Doing my B.A., I once wrote an existentalist paper describing the dump in our small college town where my wife and I worked metals to make money for food while we went to school. Got an A + on it.
This weekend, I worked at a Music Festival doing a presentation which I called, The Old Philosopher. (I can do this because I am 72).
I had a box in which was a skull with an exposed rubber brain on which were rubber maggots, and a loaf of bread. 
I explained to those who came up that the bread represented our life and was NOW.
I told them each slice of bread was like an incident in their life – both happy and sad.
I made 2 piles of bread – things they felt hate for and things they loved.
Then I told them inside the box was the cause and sometimes the cure for all the world’s problems.
They would stick their hand in and feel around.
I asked them what they felt. Sometimes they identified it as a brain.
Then I’d open the box to reveal the brain with the maggots.
“This is a brain filled with hate,” I said. “And it causes all the world’s problems.”
Then I went back to the piles of bread which I reminded them was NOW, and I said: “An old philosopher (Spinoza) said every time we thing about something in the ‘hate’ pile, we bring hate back into the NOW. the place we presently occupy. Things like anger, guit, greed and the rest, only have the power we give them. They produce the emotions that cause hate in the world.
But we can stop thinking about the ‘hate’ pile and focus on the other pile, the ‘love.’ Here we find truth, beauty, science and so forth.
It doesn’t hurt to memorize quotes from thinkers you appreciate and focus on these when the ‘hate’ pile seems to be taking over your thinking.
This is a simplified version of Spinoza’s ideas. He is quite complex when you read him.
While very simple, the presentation with the brain and the bread was quite effective on that summer afternoon.
Think of something you can do using ordinary language that can show ideas to your audience.
Let me know how you do. Have a happy slice of NOw doing your presentation.
Dick DeShaw
<script type=”text/javascript”>
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-17496559-2']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement(’script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true;
ga.src = (’https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName(’script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>