Centroids : Worthwhile study even if it might well have been more effective if another approach had been taken. The effectiveness part concerns findings that study of philosophy --in some form-- enhances ( or stimulates ) various reasoning and social skills which have real world value. That is, kids turn out better if they are introduced to philosophy during public school years. However, what is the best way to do this ? The article suggests a highly targeted approach, concentrating on citizenship and its meaning. But as an alternative how about a biographical approach ? What turned me on the philosophy was reading Will Durant's book, The Story of Philosophy, at about age 18. From then on the whole world of ideas became inspirational. The book is divided into chapters that discuss the biographies of famous philosophers and the role of ideas in their lives at various times in history. Among the philosophers presented are : Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, Descartes, Voltaire, Kant, Hegel,Nietzsche, Benedetto Croce, Bertrand Russell, William James, and John Dewey. There also is a book of similar scope to recommend, which I wish I had read much earlier than some time in my 50s, Robert Heilbronner's The Worldly Philosophers, This is about philosopher-economists, namely : Adam Smith, Malthus, the Utopian Socialists, Karl Marx, Thorstein Veblen John Maynard Keynes, and Joseph Schumpeter, among others. Obviously, to the extent that inculcating values of citizenship is a good idea --which can hardly be argued with-- we might add other thinkers to the list. Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison would each qualify as a philosopher, and so would John Stuart Mill. You might even include Mark Twain under the heading "philosophy of humor" or "philosophy of character." But there are others, for various reasons, including Hypatia, the Hellenistic woman philosopher, Lao Tzu, Omar Khayyam ( the poet as philosopher ), Thomas Aquinas ( no set of philosophers would be compete without him ), the Nyaya philosophers of classical-era India, and so forth. Camus ( philosopher as novelist ) , HL Mencken ( philosopher as journalist ), and Heisenberg ( scientist as philosopher ) are other suggestions. Read about these great people and what happens ? You'd need to have a dead brain not to be inspired. Through the lives of these outstanding thinkers the relevance of philosophy becomes evident and has meaning. You can see how ideas influenced people's lives. You can see the relevance of ideas to people's lives and understand why ideas can move mountains. Find a philosopher to be your guiding star and take things from there. Billy --------------------------------------------------------------------- Physorg School pupils learn about practical philosophy _January 5, 2012_ (http://www.physorg.com/archive/05-01-2012/) Children could learn valuable lessons in responsible citizenship, such as making moral judgements and informed choices, through taking part in philosophical dialogue, according to researchers at the University of Strathclyde.
A study of more than 130 primary and secondary _pupils_ (http://www.physorg.com/tags/pupils/) found that taking part in practical philosophy sessions improved the children's _listening skills_ (http://www.physorg.com/tags/listening+skills/) , gave them greater respect for other people, encouraged them to consider other perspectives and ideas they may not otherwise have thought about and helped them analyse problems so that they are thought through before making decisions. The sessions, following an approach known as Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI), involved pupils being given a _stimulus_ (http://www.physorg.com/tags/stimulus/) such as a picture, a piece of writing or a _piece of music_ (http://www.physorg.com/tags/piece+of+music/) and being asked to come up with questions prompted by it. A question was chosen and a structured dialogue followed, facilitated by a teacher trained in CoPI. Dr Claire Cassidy, a Lecturer in Education at Strathclyde, led the research. She said: "Doing practical philosophy in this way provides children with tools to enable them to participate as active citizens. "Teachers in Scotland are being encouraged, through Curriculum for Excellence, to foster responsible citizenship in pupils, although discussions are continuing on what citizenship actually means. We wanted to assess how effective the Community of Philosophical Inquiry approach can be in supporting children towards achieving the aims of the curriculum. While doing philosophy doesn't necessarily guarantee citizenship, it goes some way towards providing the necessary tools that a citizen requires. "When pupils taking part in the study were asked what they thought _citizenship_ (http://www.physorg.com/tags/citizenship/) meant, they emphasised that it related to representing the views of others, being environmentally aware, being law-abiding and sitting on committees, as well as having good manners and being respectful to others and their views. "They found they were able to debate and discuss reasoned argument without conflict and often continued their discussions after their sessions had finished. They felt CoPI got them thinking deeply- as one pupil put it, thinking like they had never thought before." The study involved more than 130 primary and secondary pupils around Scotland being presented with a series of scenarios in which people faced moral choices, including what to do with money they have found and choosing which charity to give funds they have raised. They were asked what course of action the people might take, what they would have done themselves and their reasons for their decisions. After taking part in a series of CoPI sessions over eight to 10 weeks, the pupils were presented with similar scenarios. Their answers this time tended to be considerably more detailed and offered far more justification for their responses. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
