The Case for Philosophy in Schools APT Inaugural

Transcript:The Case for Philosophy in Schools APT Inaugural:
The Case for Philosophy in Schools APT Inaugural Conference June 2023 The Overall Package In Why Teach Philosophy in Schools?, Jane Gatley gives two criteria that arguments must meet for philosophy in schools: 1) Does the study of philosophy enable students to interact effectively with the world in respect of prominent and pressing questions? 2) Is philosophy the best placed subject for enabling students to interact effectively with the world in such a way? The Overall Package And Gatley argues compellingly that philosophy can enable students to interact effectively with the world better than any other subject in two particular ways: i) Analysis of concepts ii) Making sense of the curriculum as a whole. I agree, but today I want to make a slightly different claim: The Overall Package I wish to argue that the potential benefits of philosophy in school, when considered as a complete package, offer a package that no other subject does. This means that I can also emphasise potential benefits of philosophy which do not necessarily meet the second of Gatley’s criteria, namely that philosophy is the best placed subject to offer that particular individual benefit. So although I will be returning to the vital importance of conceptual analysis, I want to start by talking about the creative potential of philosophy. The Philosophic Imagination Consider the role in philosophy of thought experiments and counter-factuals. For young people familiar with e.g. Harry Potter, Dr Who, The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, imaginative leaps through time and space to fantastical other worlds are an enticing challenge, not an obstacle. Consider the nuanced interpretative skills needed to explore some philosophical texts, such as the dialogues of Plato, the paradoxes of Heraclitus (‘the road up and down is one and the same’; ‘God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace …’), the Cretan Liar Paradox: ‘I always lie’, the many and varied ‘dancing’ styles of Nietzsche, the teasing ironies of Wittgenstein. The Importance of Style Encountering this wide diversity of styles serves three crucial purposes: i) the styles are fun and engaging in themselves, and attract imaginative young minds; ii) they invite interpretation, questions and debate; iii) the sheer variety of styles helps develop suppleness of mind in pupils and, as they grow older, encourages them to reflect on what philosophy itself is, and on what forms it may take. Inheritance, Environment