Philosophy for Children

The present paper addresses the question about "philosophy for children", abbreviated as "p4c", which is an educational program that aims at developing children’s power of thinking and reasoning. The research method is based on group research (the circle of research and seminary sitting) and seeks to train thoughtful, attentive, deliberately ambitious, conscious and God-seeking individuals. The term "philosophy" in this discussion is not used to mean philosophical beliefs and view; rather, it refers to another dimension of philosophy, i.e. the skill of philosophizing. Before elaborating on the issue, the concept of "philosophy for children" is defined and its aims and benefits are reviewed. Then, the necessity of implementing the project is explained. Since, according to the Holy Quran, man is demanded to think and Islam considers thinking as an act of worship, it is finally concluded that this project is in harmony with the goals and general spirit which governs Islamic education and can be considered as part of the Islamic educational system.