kids thinking as philosophers?

I really miss studying philosophy.

I studied it at university a few years back as a side subject to my psychology degree and I loved it. Alot of the topics were controversial and emotion-fuelled (euthanasia, genocide, abortion…) and debates would become so intense in class that at times, people would walk out in tears (if you can imagine people expressing very strong opinions without knowing what people in the room have been through or experienced).

One topic that always intrigued me was Philosophy for Children. I remember watching a video ‘Socrates for six year olds’ which basically encourages children to think as philosophers - aka P4C. To not be afraid to ask questions. We often go through school and believe everything that the teacher/media/parents says and we stop asking questions and being inquisitive. I think this type of philosophical inquiry has merit.

Philosophy begins when children start to question the meaning of words, and exploring different ideas in a ‘detective like’ investigation from a young age. In this case, children generate the ideas they find interesting, not what the adults find interesting.

One the cutest videos I remember watching was a video where children were discussing whether you could love without a heart or think without a brain. You could see the self esteem rising as the children bounced ideas back and forth, listening to the others ideas and really thinking. It’s gorgeous. There’s something magical about watching these children freely discussing their thoughts without fear of rejection. Because they learn from a young age to accept other children’s thoughts and unlike adults, are less self-conscious and will answer almost anything you put to them.

• Freedom - What would life be like if everyone were perfectly free to do what they wanted?
• Intelligence - Is it intelligent not to be scared?
• Power - Can you be powerful without being wealthy?

Obviously the types of questions you ask are age dependent. If you are interested in learning more, you can do some google-ising. If you’d to give it a whirl with your youngsters, you could encourage them to think and question ideas such as the above, and tell us how it goes (warning: may contain funny/hilarious results)

When children learn to listen and to contribute, it’s an intoxicating experience.