wisdom and other aims for pre-college philosophy

Wisdom and Other Aims for Pre-College Philosophy

Maughn Gregory

Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children

www.montclair.edu/iapc

http://www.montclair.edu/iapc

Maughn Gregory




Educational Objectives & Standards• Describe knowledge & skills children should

demonstrate at various stages• Make it possible to judge merits of varying

educational approaches• --- to make formative and summative program

assessments• ---to regulate consistency and equity of educational

experiences across populations• Dialogue about what it means to practice a

discipline well and likely means to initiate newcomers

4 Problems for Pre-College Philosophy

1. Approaches so diverse, it is confusing & unfair to compare their relative merits

2. Programs rarely evaluated, or evaluated for external objectives

– Philosophers not trained in methods of empirical research

– Authentic objectives of philosophy education difficult to observe & measure empirically

4 Problems for Pre-College Philosophy

1. Programs uninformed by research in ed. sciences: pedagogy, educational psychology, cognitive science.– Programs may not be developmentally

appropriate or pedagogically sound

2. Lack of collaboration among program developers

– 40 years of philosophical & empirical research on philosophy for, of and with children and adolescents

Negative Consequences of Objectives & Standards

• Insulation of majority opinion from minority criticism and innovation

• Valuing of pre-determined, narrowly-defined performance objectives over the experience and process of philosophical inquiry itself

• Determining program objectives on basis of what can be readily assessed, instead of determining assessment on basis of authentic program objectives

• No meaningful consensus as to the proper aims of pre-college philosophy education

Tasks for Pre-College Philosophy

• Articulate authentic purposes, objectives & standards for programs

• Defend with arguments & evidence from philosophical & educational research

• Formulate research-based guidelines for materials, methods & professional development likely to achieve objectives

• Find ways to gather evidence of achievement of objectives

•

Common Objectives for Pre-College Philosophy

• Help students acquire cognitive skills and dispositions

• Help students learn philosophical inquiry – Concept of inquiry as disciplined, open-ended, self-

corrective search for reasonable beliefs and values– Inquiry strategies: identifying problems, formulating

questions, constructing & testing hypotheses, constructing & critiquing arguments, analyzing relevant data, drawing reasonable conclusions

• Help students learn philosophical dialogue– Concept of dialogue as a method of collaborative

inquiry and peer accountability – Learn to dialogue with cognitive & social competence

Common Objectives for Pre-College Philosophy

• Help students learn canonical philosophical content:

– Questions, problems, concepts, arguments, and key figures

– Ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, political philosophy and logic

• Help students learn to discern philosophical concepts and issues wherever they arise –to as develop “a philosophical ear”

Plato on Education

• Education for “getting ahead” – acquiring disciplinary knowledge and intellectual, social and technological skills necessary for academic & professional advancement

• Education for “living well,” or wisdom - learning to cultivate personal and collective wellbeing; regulating desire & action in ways that bring meaning and purpose to life

John Dewey “Philosophy is love of wisdom; wisdom being not

knowledge but knowledge-plus; knowledge turned to account in the instruction and guidance it may convey in piloting life through the storms and the shoals that beset life-experience as well as into such havens of consummatory experience as enrich our human life from time to time.”

Adriaan T. Peperzak “The philosophical search for truth is a

meditative way of living out the answers it finds and the questions it asks such that they are felt, understood, and incorporated in growing wisdom; it is a gradual, not only theoretical but also emotional and practical transformation of the philosopher.”

Richard Shusterman “There is no essential opposition compelling us

to choose between philosophy as theory and as artful life-practice. Indeed, we must not choose between them…. [W]e surely should build our art of living on our knowledge and vision of the world, and reciprocally seek the knowledge that serves our art of living. Philosophy is strongest when both its modes of practice are combined to reinforce each other as they did in ancient philosophy.”

Stoic Components of Wisdom1. Moral component: living ethically,

virtuously & with integrity

2. Psychological component: maintaining tranquility in the midst of chaos & tribulation

3. Intellectual component: disciplined thinking & construction of value-oriented understanding of world and one’s life

Stoic Components of Wisdom1. Moral component: Ethics

– Theoretical Ethics– Lived Ethics

2. Psychological component: Physics– Theoretical Physics– Lived Physics

3. Intellectual component: Logic– Theoretical Logic– Lived Logic

Wisdom Objectives for Pre-College Philosophy

Theoretical Ethics• Develop skills of communication & empathy; learn about values

& interests of others & about relationships to environments. • Learn relevant ideas, personalities and episodes from history of

philosophy as options for living well.• Learn alternate ethical theories.• Understand procedures & develop skills of collaborative inquiry

to resolve social conflict.• Reflect philosophically on rewards & responsibilities of

interpersonal relationships & community membership.• Reflect philosophically on a paradigms of physical and mental

health as options for living well.


Lived Ethics• Wake up to ethical dimension of experience - recognize when

issues of right and wrong, good and evil, duty, justice and compassion arise – and conduct ethical inquiry toward making sound ethical judgments in the course of everyday life.

• Cultivate habits of moral feeling & action, e.g. curbing appetites and egocentric passions, maintaining physical and mental health, & exercising compassion and concern for social justice – as episodes of meaningful experience.


Theoretical Physics• Understand relationship between suffering & egotism; study

diverse philosophers, sages, prophets & playwrights:– Much suffering can be alleviated by reducing egotism and

cultivating habits of mindfulness, gratitude & appreciation of simple pleasures.

– Much suffering is inescapable, better met with tranquility than with hubris, denial or escapism.

– Suffering should be occasion for empathy and solidarity.


Lived Physics• Reflect on emotional life & practice emotional self-regulation • Reflect on their experiences of discontent, unrequited desire,

fear, humiliation, aversion, anxiety, & other forms of suffering, and on experiences of tranquility, gratitude, empathy, reverence and awe, to discern ways in which we contribute to our own suffering & contentment.

• Experiment with contemplative practices, e.g. communal ritual, empathic awareness, aesthetic appreciation, present-moment mindfulness, contemplation of nature, yoga, recommended in wisdom traditions


Theoretical Logic• Acquire the cognitive skills and dispositions.• Master inquiry strategies & learn the concept of philosophical

inquiry.• Learn theory of collaborative inquiry & practice dialogical

competencies.• Construct value-oriented worldview of meaning and purpose of

life.


Lived Logic• Experience the enjoyment of intellectual challenge.• Learn to use thinking & inquiry skills to solve problems in non-

academic experience.• Develop a “critical spirit” to avoid manipulation & achieve

personal autonomy.• Discipline “inner dialogue,” acquire dispositions of self-

examination & self-correction of beliefs & values; become more thoughtful, more reflective, more considerate, more reliable, more reasonable.

Conclusion

Reinstating philosophy’s wisdom-oriented objectives in pre-college education could help return philosophy to its original identity as the disciplined study and practice of living well.

Wisdom and Other Aims for Pre-College Philosophy

Maughn Gregory




wisdom and other aims for pre-college philosophy

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