Many comments underline the fact that learning philosophical theories is not philosophy, and thinking by yourself is better, and all this stuff. I think it is

Many comments underline the fact that learning philosophical theories is not philosophy, and thinking by yourself is better, and all this stuff. I think it is very arrogant of we contemporary people to think that 17 something kids can think by themselves and should not need to dig the past to answer such important questions. And in a philosophy class, as I received them in France when I was young, the teacher would expose contradictory positions and let you prefer the one you want. So, yes, you'd get a low score if you wouldn't name Plato on a question about idealism, but you would get the best score if you show personal and deep understanding of the topic.