Author: Philip Cam
Plot Summary: A family goes to the local fair, where they see a parade, visit a fortune-teller, and watch a magic show. The children wonder whether it is possible to tell the future, and how the magic works.
Posted In: Epistemology, Metaphysics

Discussion Questions

• What does a fortune teller claim to know? How could she know that?
• Do you think we could know what the future holds? If so, how? If not, why not?
• Would it be easier to predict the immediate future, or the distant future? Why?
• Is human behavior more difficult to predict than other behavior (maybe dogs?) or easier?
• Are people free? What does that mean?
• If people are free, would it be possible to predict their behavior?
• If people aren’t free, could we still feel free, because we don’t know exactly what the future holds for us?
• When we call something magic, what do we mean?
• Could the magician really do impossible things?
• Are there different ways for something to be impossible? What might they be?