Gareth B. Matthews, The Child's Philosopher

Gareth B. Matthews, The Child's Philosopher
Author: Maughn Rollins Gregory
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2021-08-26
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0429800452

Winner of the 2022 Book Award of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia, Gareth B. Matthews, The Child's Philosopher brings together groundbreaking essays by renowned American philosopher Gareth B. Matthews in three fields he helped to initiate: philosophy in children’s literature, philosophy for children, and philosophy of childhood. In addition, contemporary scholars critically assess Matthews’ pioneering efforts and his legacy. Gareth B. Matthews (1929-2011) was a specialist in ancient and medieval philosophy who had conversations with young children, discovering that they delight in philosophical puzzlement and that their philosophical thinking often enriched his own understanding. Those conversations became the impetus for a substantial component of Matthews’ scholarship, from which this book features essays spanning the length of his career. Contemporary contributors to the book critically evaluate Matthews’ scholarship, showing where he broke new ground and identifying developments and debates in the fields he helped to initiate. They take up pressing challenges, including biased idealizations of childhood in children’s literature; the tensions between teaching philosophy to, and doing philosophy with young people; the merits of theorizing childhood without theorizing children; and how professional philosophy at once desires and resists a return to childhood. This second volume in the Philosophy for Children Founders series is an important resource for philosophers, educators, and anyone interested in children’s philosophical thinking, developmental psychology, what it means to philosophize with children, the nature of childhood, and how children’s literature goes philosophical. It will guide and inspire those who share Matthews’ conviction that the impulse to philosophize begins in early childhood. Contributors (in addition to Gareth B. Matthews): Stephanie Burdick-Shepherd, Cristina Cammarano, Claire Cassidy, Stanley Cavell, Maughn Rollins Gregory, Jennifer Glaser, Walter Omar Kohan, Megan Jane Laverty, Jana Mohr Lone, Karin Murris, Peter Shea, Susan M. Turner, Susannah Sheffer.

The Philosophy of Childhood

The Philosophy of Childhood
Author: Gareth Matthews
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 152
Release: 1994
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780674664807

Adult preconceptions about the mental life of children tend to discourage a child’s philosophical bent. By exposing the underpinnings of adult views of childhood, Matthews clears the way for recognizing the philosophy of childhood as a legitimate field of inquiry and conducts us through influential models for understanding what it is to be a child.

Philosophy and the Young Child

Philosophy and the Young Child
Author: Gareth B. Matthews
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 132
Release: 1980
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780674666061

Anecdotes and the insights gained through study combine to probe the philosophical thought of children and the ways children blend reasoning and curiosity to deal with problems concerning knowledge, value, and existence.

Dialogues with Children

Dialogues with Children
Author: Gareth B. Matthews
Publisher:
Total Pages: 121
Release: 1984
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780674202849

Dialogues generated over a year of weekly meetings with 8 children at a school in Edinburgh. The author and the children attempted to craft stories reflecting philosophical problems.

The Philosophical Child

The Philosophical Child
Author: Jana Mohr Lone
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2012-09-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1442217340

What does it mean to be good? Why do people die? What is friendship? Children enter the world full of questions and wrestle with deep, thoughtful issues, even if they do not always wonder them aloud. Many parents have the desire to discuss philosophical ideas with their children, but are unsure how to do so. The Philosophical Child offers parents guidance on how to gently approach philosophical questions with children of all ages. Jana Mohr Lone argues that for children to mature emotionally, they must develop their desire and ability to think abstractly about themselves and their experiences. This book suggests easy ways that parents can engage with their children's philosophical questions and help them develop their "philosophical selves."

A Child's Garden of Verses

A Child's Garden of Verses
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 108
Release: 1916
Genre: Children's literature
ISBN:

A collection of poems evoking the world and feelings of childhood.

Jewish Childhood in the Roman World

Jewish Childhood in the Roman World
Author: Hagith Sivan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2018-05-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107090172

The first full treatment of Jewish childhood in the Roman world. Explores the lives of minors both inside and outside the home.

Socratic Perplexity and the Nature of Philosophy

Socratic Perplexity and the Nature of Philosophy
Author: Gareth B. Matthews
Publisher:
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2003
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780198238881

Gareth Matthews suggests that we can better understand the nature of philosophical inquiry if we recognize the central role played by perplexity. The seminal representation of philosophical perplexity is in Plato's dialogues; Matthews examines the intriguing shifts in Plato's attitude to perplexity and suggests that these may represent a course of philosophical development that philosophers follow even today.

I Know a Lady

I Know a Lady
Author: Charlotte Zolotow
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 28
Release: 1992-05-22
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0688115195

If you are lucky you know someone like the elderly lady in this book. Whenever she sees you--coming home from school, trick-or-treating at Halloween, or walking with your dog in the wood--she makes you feel special. She is someone you admire. She is someone you love.

Philosophy in the Classroom

Philosophy in the Classroom
Author: Matthew Lipman
Publisher: Temple University Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2010-06-18
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1439905630

This is a textbook for teachers that demonstrates how philosophical thinking can be used in teaching children. It begins with the assumption that what is taught in schools is not (and should not be) subject matter but rather ways of thinking. The main point is that the classroom should be converted into a community of inquiry, and that one can begin doing that with children. Based on the curriculum that Matt Lipman has developed at the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children, which he heads, this book describes the curriculum and explains its use. The text is self-contained, however. This revision is thorough-going and incorporates new chapters, as well as new material in old chapters. Part One focuses on the need of educational change and the importance of philosophical inquiry in developing new approaches. Part Two discusses curriculum and teaching methodology, including teacher behavior conducive to helping children. Part Three deals with developing logic skills and moral judgment. It concludes with a chapter on the sorts of philosophical themes pertinent to ethical inquiry for children: the right and the fair, perfect and right, free will and determinism, change and growth, truth, caring, standards and rules, thinking and thinking for oneself. Education, in this sense, is not a matter of dispensing information; it is the process of assisting in the growth of the whole individual.