Explaining the Meaning of Rationality and Analyzing its Place in the Philosophy for Children Program

Clarifying the meaning of rationality in order to provide a certainty criterion for knowledge is of vital importance in the pluralistic intellectual atmosphere of the present period. One of the most debated programs in the world of today is the Philosophy for Children Program, which is now being introduced into the educational system of our society. Learning about the significance of the meaning of rationality, its correct generalization to different scientific fields, its potentials, and its advantages and limitations not only results in identifying and employing a trustworthy criterion when dealing with scientific matters and everyday affairs, but also provides a logical and analytic perception of the meaning of intellect in the Philosophy for Children Program. In this paper, while discussing different classifications of the intellect and its place in religious education, the authors have examined the philosophical principles of philosophy for children and presented the relationships between different types of intellection and different types of thinking (critical thinking, creative thinking, collective thinking, and responsible thinking) in the Philosophy for Children Program. This study aims to demonstrate that, in the Philosophy for Children Program, rationality, more than being influenced by children’s potentials as natural and acquired values which can be promoted at a childish level, is indebted to the elements of intellection based on certain non-childish criteria which have been designed to evaluate rational behaviors at a different level of human growth. On the other hand, because of the influence of the elements and features of the dominant philosophical trend, that is, post-modernism, on the Philosophy for Children Program, the conformity between this program and the religious atmosphere of the country is under question. Following the analytic-descriptive method and employing Tafsir al-mizan by ‘Allamah Tabataba’i as the criterion, this study aims to discuss the required changes in the execution of the Philosophy for Children Program in terms of its content and goals in order to bring it into agreement with our country’s native and religious approach to education.