نشریه فلسفه و کودک
پیاپی 2 (تابستان 1392)

The Greek paid great attention to the education of children and young adults. However, the initiator of theoretical discussions in this field was Socrates. After him, Plato and Aristotle took further steps in the fields of ethics and training and provided some effective views in this regard. Aristotle accepted some of the ethical-educational thoughts of the other two philosophers, but criticized some others and, in this way, introduced a new and independent approach to education. The present paper is intended to explore his theoretical principles and educational recommendations and, based on the views of his commentators, clarify some of the ambiguities in the understanding of his ethical-educational thoughts.

If we accept that it is necessary to have a branch of philosophy called the philosophy of ignorance, the first question that comes to our mind is: What does this philosophy do? In a general definition, the purpose of the philosophy of ignorance is to ask some basic questions about the nature of ignorance. Therefore, the next question is: What is ignorance? If we wish to deal with ignorance following a philosophical method, the first question targets its nature, and the next asks whether ignorance is essential. The other questions that may follow include: What is the nature of man and his relationship with ignorance? Do we really become ignorant or knowledgeable? (This question is important because sometimes something that we learn increases our ignorance rather than our knowledge.) Which one is a value: ignorance or knowledge? Is knowledge a fixed entity to stay with human beings for ever once it is attained? Can we blame people for their ignorance? There are two views here: On the one hand, man’s life is so closely intertwined with ignorance that there remains no place for blaming him. This is because the general assumption is that we have been born or have appeared ignorant. On the other hand, it is assumed that, comparing to other existents, man is a different one. As we know, in his classification, Aristotle calls human being a rational animal and considers his most prominent distinction over other animals to be his ability to think. If so, thinking is essential to the self; in other words, man seeks knowledge by nature. In the present paper, while posing some questions, the writer has tried to explain the backgrounds of man’s ignorance and the role of philosophical thinking in this regard.

The traditional perception of philosophy, which has Greek and Hellenistic roots and considers theoretical knowledge prior to practical knowledge, is self-contradictory regarding teaching philosophy to children. Therefore, it is not useful and perhaps leads to more confusion. The recent philosophy of linguistic analysis, which criticizes the whole body of traditional philosophy and considers practice prior to theory mainly emphasizes training, rather than teaching, in children’s education or, basically, in any method of living and language game rather than teaching. Moreover, it views philosophy as a kind of activity rather than a collection of theoretical and abstract teachings. This new approach can be useful in teaching philosophy to children and young adults and is also more compatible with the religious-Islamic philosophical tradition which is manifested in Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy. In this paper, in addition to exploring the philosophy of linguistic analysis and its impacts on the philosophy of modern education and training, it has been tried to introduce Mulla Sadra’s transcendent wisdom of throne versus the Greek and Hellenistic paradigm as a strong and systematic alternative and a way of meaningful life within the boundaries of the religious-philosophical paradigm. This paper mainly addresses those teachers of Islamic wisdom and philosophy who are involved in the training and education of children and young adults.

The purpose of this research was to study the effects of teaching philosophy on the questioning skills and critical thinking of female grade five primary school students of district two in Qazwin. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire, and the research design was quasi-experimental, which was carried out following Lipman’s method. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, philosophy was taught to the participants of the study for 16 sessions in order to improve their questioning skills. The sample consisted of 50 students chosen from among the population of female grade five primary school students in Qazwin following the purposive method. Later they were divided into two experimental and control groups each consisting of 25 students. In order to stimulate the students’ sense of curiosity and questioning attitude, which is necessary for teaching philosophy to children and conducting philosophical discussions, the researchers used some of the philosophical stories of Kam, Fisher, Lisa, and Layla and some of Mulla Nasr al-Din’s moral stories. In order to analyze the data for the confirmation or rejection of the first research hypothesis a t-test for dependent groups was run. Similarly, an independent t-test was run to test the second research hypothesis. After rejecting the null hypotheses formulated in relation to the two analyses, the findings confirmed the first hypothesis at α = 0.01 and the second hypothesis at α = 0.05. In other words, the statistical analysis of the data indicated that there was a significant statistical difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the questioning skills of the students who participated in the philosophy course. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference between the posttest scores of the control and experimental groups. Thus it was concluded that the teaching of philosophy improves the students’ questioning skills and critical thinking. Key Terms ,

Philosophy for children (P4C) which has been devised by Lipman in the United States of America during the last four decades is intended to develop philosophical thinking through using stories for children. However, today it is implemented with some changes in its methodology, form of execution, and story contents in different countries. In some versions, such as philosophy with children (PWC), the philosophical approach is dominant and familiarizing children with the content of philosophy is of greater importance. In this regard, we can refer to the book Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder. However, in some books, such as Stories for Thinking by Robert Fisher or The Philosophy Fables by Piquemal, the dominant approach is of a literary nature, and it has been tried to provide an attractive version of ancient stories embedded in literary texts. Sometimes, as we can see in Jespersen’s works, the intended approach is a cultural one. In fact, by foregrounding the category of culture in philosophical stories, he has tried to provoke children’s interest in thinking through utilizing native stories and national myths. In order to benefit from the existing approaches in the native project of philosophy for children in Iran, we can list a number of important topics and questions with reference to the history of philosophy and philosophers’ related views. These topics are chosen based on the stories included in classical Persian literary texts. Then they are prepared for use in research communities following Lipman’s procedural approach.

The development of philosophical thought in children and young adolescents is a necessity which equips them with the required skills for individual and social growth. Moreover, it provides them with some appropriate subjects to think about and to deal with. One of the most prominent features of this project (Development of Philosophical Thought) is to encourage a questioning attitude towards tangible and normal phenomena, so that through promoting philosophical curiosity in children and young adolescents and creating logical doubt concerning their perceptions of their environment, they are assisted in attaining an internal insight and a more profound knowledge of the world and themselves. Accordingly, in this paper while presenting a short account of the principles and origins of the Project of the Development of Philosophical Thought in Children and Young Adolescents, it has been tried to clarify the distinction of the philosophical aspect of thinking from other aspects. Furthermore, in another part of this paper, the writer mainly focuses on introducing various philosophical fields. Given the fact that children are continually trying to understand the world around them and asking questions which often enjoy a philosophical aspect, it is necessary to have a more accurate knowledge of philosophy and philosophical fields. In this way, grown-ups can evaluate their questions more correctly, direct their intrinsic curiosity, and provide them with more logical answers. However, one must pay attention that children’s questions often pertain to some major fields. This paper focuses on four of them: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and mind. Through relative knowledge of the main philosophical field, the philosophical mentality of the teachers and trainers in their field will be naturally more developed, and they will turn into efficient and influential individuals in this area.

The development of the intellect and the correct use of it have an important place in Islamic training and are considered two of the most significant problems in man’s individual and social life. This is because Islam is the religion of the intellect, and the perception of realities, knowledge of teachings, logical relationship with the origin and resurrection, knowledge of the prophets and Imams, and recognition of the ways of man’s growth, guidance, and development in material and spiritual aspects of life and resurrection depend on the intellect. Here, the method of thinking, which can be viewed as one of the original bases of correct training, must be taught to people in early childhood. Through learning about the correct method of thinking, children can be safeguarded against many threats. Moreover, they will be able to create some good opportunities for themselves, which is one of the most important life skills. Children’s thinking is a collection of supreme mental abilities such as reasoning, problem solving, creativity, memory, organization of assignments, language use, etc. Some children possess a series of innate abilities that flourish in appropriate contexts through practice and reinforcement. Learning ability, memory, and intelligence are among the essential constructs in the process of thinking and grow in appropriate environmental, family, and educational contexts. It is only in such contexts that children develop the necessary health in terms of understanding and perception, and their learning is consolidated. In this paper, the writer has tried to reveal the significance of this problem based on Qur’anic teachings and methods of thinking. At the end, through explaining the elements of creative thinking and methods of thinking, he suggests to parents some ways for strengthening the spirit of thinking in children.