Philosophy For Beginners.

A quote from the very readable Steerforth at The Age of Uncertainty…

A man has started teaching philosophy to children of nursery school age. What a brilliant idea. Small children are natural philosophers and it is sad to see their enquiring minds blunted by outside influences.

Primary school philosophy is a perennial ‘and finally’ story which pops up now and again, on quiet news days. And Steerforth is quite right, kids are extraordinarily adept at some kinds of philosophy, largely, I think, because they don’t think it’s inappropriate to ask “But, why?” more than three times in a row.

Nursery age children are at precisely the developmental stage where they are beginning to see themselves as one individual person among many; in a world over which they may not have causal control. This makes them ripe for enjoying the philosophy of responsibility, rights and duties. “That’s what big boys/girls do” is a pretty clear approximation of Spinoza’s instruction to behave as if one’s own actions were the universal law.

Their minds are a tabula rasa and consequently nursery children are good at epistemological thought experiments too. They are excitedly attracted to the suggestion that, in their absence, the room’s furniture will turn purple and fly around. Adults, sadly, can only see value in the Berkelian response, “Well, why would it?”

As I am writing this the same story pops up again on BBC Radio 4. A primary school teacher is using topical interest in the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery to start a discussion on freedom. Almost immediately the students question the nature of freedom; is it an absolute, as most people imagine, or conditional, which is nearer to the truth.

The one odd thing about reports of this kind is the revelation that students are repeatedly taught to respect the opinions of others, from the Cartesian principle of defending those others’ rights to say something with which one disagrees. While this is no doubt a good thing, it has virtually no provenance in the history of philosphy – in fact, if there is one at all, then rounding up and killing heretics is the historic tradition of longest standing.

Just don’t tell the kids.


Drew Mishmash