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While I have life and strength, I shall never cease from practicing and teaching philosophy.
-Socrates, in Plato’s Apology
When did we humans first begin to think about our place in the universe and what it all means? What moved us from thinking only about such basic life-sustaining actions as building a fire to musing about what is real, what is true? Or is it just human nature to wonder about a world that contains so many secrets?
The word philosophy means "love of wisdom." Inspired by a sense of wonder and countless questions, philosophers investigate life. Ordinary things usually taken for granted acquire new meaning when we look deeper and ask ourselves, "What’s going on?" The more often such a seemingly simple question is asked, the bigger the world appears and the more curious the questioner becomes about that world. Regardless of age, anyone who sets out to explore the unexplained, to ponder the mysterious, is by definition a philosopher.
I like to tell my as-yet-unrealized philosophers at the start of our journey together that everyone has a philosopher inside and that kids always impress me with their seemingly endless ability to wonder. How high does the sky go? Why are there so many different languages? Does the world look the same to a frog as it does to me? Why do people hurt one another? Does my dog know how much I love him? Who or what is an alien? What’s more important, numbers or letters? Is there a reason I’m on the earth? How was the world invented? What’s going to happen in the future? I tell them that all these questions they’ve been pondering and perhaps asking their parents since they were very small are philosophical questions.
"Do any of you know what the word philosophy means?" is my first question on opening day. When I asked this long-rehearsed question to my very first group of child philosophers, I was surprised to see one hand shoot up immediately. Children already know what philosophy is? Here’s what eight-year-old Rebekah had to say: "I think I know what philosophers do, but first I have a question that I’ve always wanted to ask. Why is life?"
It’s clear to me that children have such questions in mind from a very early age, and philosophy is their chance to go exploring. They want to talk about their questions and travel the world of ideas with the assurance that they’ll be listened to. The philosopher within comes out and is ready to go!
Beginning with the assertion that the key to good living is clear thinking, Socrates (sah-kruh-teez) and his star pupil, Plato, are the perfect philosophers to introduce children to the bigness of their minds.
The life which is unexamined is not worth living.
-Socrates, in Plato’s Apology
Often referred to as the founder of Western philosophy, Socrates was born in 470 b.c.e. in Athens, Greece. Socrates turned his inquisitive mind into his own form of art and took what had been previously only a pastime (philosophy) and turned it into a vocation. Young boys with time to spare found great entertainment in Socrates’ persistent questioning and subsequent humiliation of authority figures. This led to a trial against him, with corruption of the youth of Athens as the major accusation. The guilty verdict resulted in a death sentence that he accepted as the price to be paid for disturbing Athenian complacency through his insistence on a vigorous mental life for its citizens.
Socrates’ philosophy and personality are known mainly through the writings of his pupil Plato. There is no written work that bears Socrates’ name. While the dialogues Plato wrote late in his life moved beyond his teacher’s theories, the works written in the early and middle stages of Plato’s career show the blending of his theories with those of Socrates. The two Platonic works that I favor using with child philosophers, "The Myth of the Cave" and the Apology, set forth their shared philosophical theories.
I share Plato’s "Myth of the Cave" every time I introduce children to the world of ideas. I explain to the children before telling the story that Plato wants us to understand that each of us is a prisoner if we live without wonder and curiosity, and we must be willing to explore the world of ideas if we want to be free. I ask them to sit staring straight ahead and imagine that they are handcuffed to their desks. Then I begin the story.
"Imagine a very dark cave. There are people inside who have been there all their lives and they have never once been outside. Just like you, they are chained where they sit and cannot move. The only light in the cave comes from a fire behind them, and all they can see are the shadows cast on the wall in front of them by all sorts of objects that have been placed in front of the fire. These objects might be things like bushes, boats, or animals, but all the prisoners can see are the objects’ shadows on the wall of the cave. Since this is the only world the prisoners know and all that they have ever seen, to them the shadows seem to be more than just shadows. To the prisoners, the shadow of the boat is the boat, and the shadow of the bush is the bush.
"One of the prisoners, Socrates, manages to escape from his chains and crawl toward the world outside the cave. The path is very steep and long, and it is an extremely hard climb. When he reaches the opening of the cave, the sunlight blinds Socrates at first because it is so bright in comparison to the cave’s darkness. When his eyes adjust to the light, however, Socrates looks all around at the real world. Here are real bushes, real boats, and real animals! He no longer sees only shadows but sees the true world."
I explain to the kids that Plato tells this story as a way of presenting his main philosophical theory. The prisoners in the cave are exactly like people who ignore the exciting world of ideas in favor of easy, fuzzy thinking. His myth is like an alarm clock going off, screaming at our minds to "wake up!" It is the job of philosophy to help us focus on our ability to understand ideas. For the kids, I compare our minds to lightbulbs covered in heavy dust, and I explain that clear thinking will be the dust cloth that lets the light shine through again. A number of children have found it "kind of funny to think about taking care of my brain." It seems quite different from brushing your teeth! I tell them that Plato would say that the best way to begin dusting off their bulbs is to talk about ideas.
I ask the child philosophers for examples of ideas to make sure that they can distinguish concepts from physical things that can be known by the senses. Some examples they have agreed on include loyalty, thankfulness, and honesty. After listening to their examples, I ask the children if they can explain what an idea is. I’ve been told most often that "ideas are what’s in our minds." This usually leads to a discussion of our inability to see or touch ideas. Child philosophers find it quite curious that something invisible is also real! I ask them if all ideas are real and give them this test as an example: "If you have an idea of a purple horse with wings, is it real?" Kids from kindergarten through eighth grade often make the distinction that "the imaginary horse isn’t real, but your idea of it is real."
I tell children that Plato will be their companion in one important way for every philosophical topic we discuss. Plato insists that we think hard and talk with others to uncover the one true, unchanging meaning of a particular idea. I assure kids that as we become philosophers together, we may not always determine to our satisfaction one definition for an idea that is true for all. But Plato challenges us to make the mental effort that provides better clarity and less confusion about our ideas. This effort is essential because what we think motivates every action we take.
Socrates was devoted to the vocation of philosophy, endeavoring to bring an active mental life to Athenian citizens. It was with dismay that he realized that most people in the Greek city-state that he loved cared only for bodily pleasure and material possessions. This preoccupation cost them dearly, as they neglected the most important thing of all: the quality of their minds. To Socrates, social problems as well as personal difficulties result from dusty minds, and it seemed so very clear to him that a good life and a good character come from clean, crisp thinking. What could he do?
Socrates claimed that he was wise in only one way. He knew how little he knew. This gave him the opportunity to grow in knowledge and to avoid the pitfalls experienced by those who believe they know everything. Describing himself as the "gadfly" of Athens, he resolved to seek out those who assumed this posture of expertise and question them about their knowledge. His legend grew in proportion to the irritation of the experts and those citizens who were comfortable with the world as they knew it. And Socrates continued to ask questions.
I suggest to the children that we get on Socrates’ side and admit that there are some things that we don’t know. Kids appreciate it when I begin with some of the things on my endless list. While something new that I don’t know occurs to me every time I work with children on philosophy, some of their favorite examples of things I have told them that I don’t know include the following: "What is lightning?" and "I wonder why my brain makes me a conscious person and my kneecap doesn’t. . . ." What they don’t know can range from "why I’m alive" to "how to be happy like I used to be" to "why I don’t have two mouths and three eyes." Admitting so many things that remain a mystery paves the way for a good discussion of the benefits of examining your life. "The capacity to learn and the organ with which to do so are present in every person’s soul" (Plato, The Republic).
I ask the children what Socrates might mean by examining their lives. Many of them have said that it means that they would have to look inside themselves and be honest about it, and that it’s up to them what to do with what they find. Together we search for problems that could be addressed through better understanding of ideas. I begin by giving the example of the many environmental problems we face and how a stronger grip on the meaning of responsibility could help all of us care for the earth. Some of the kids’ examples include: "I might not disappoint my friend over and over if I understood the idea of trust better." "I guess I don’t really understand patience because I get frustrated every time I have to wait around." After all his classmates had contributed their ideas, one quiet eight-year-old boy stated that "the reason for war is that everybody has forgotten what peace means."
Kids quickly recognize that the Socratic challenge to look hard at their lives is not exactly an easy one to accept. Some have told me that "it would be nice to live in and out of the Cave." Several times children have acted out having one leg in each world, and it is quite a stretch! I assure the child philosophers that almost everyone experiences the desire to be a thinking person and also to have lazy days. But what if every day were a "lazy day"? Asking children to describe their picture of an unexamined life helps them to see the benefits of an examined one. Many have imagined it as a life in which they "just go along with everybody else," while others have described it as a life in which you’re never "really satisfied" or "happy in your heart." Through discussion, kids can see the connection between a "mixed-up mind" and a life that’s "much harder than it needs to be."
I’ve found it valuable to look at the importance of an examined life by asking children how they would try to philosophize with someone who expressed no interest. They love imagining that they are gadflies like Socrates. Some suggestions from the kids: "I’ll ask them if they ever wonder what’s going on. I mean, something big is going on." "I would just quietly ask what they think it means to be alive and be nice and just hang around." "I’d nudge them and ask them if they ever thought our world was just part of someone else’s dream." An interesting suggestion from a first-grader: "I will ask them when you think, what do you think about?"
As I begin the first philosophy session with any group of children, I chat with them about the importance of good conversation in becoming a philosopher. Most children have participated in conversations that have been all about winning an argument and getting in the last word. I describe this unproductive form of communication to kids as "verbal tag," and explain that while the game of tag can be great fun at recess, keeping everyone in the game is the goal of true philosophizing. The philosophical dialogue that is so dear to Socrates is not about proving your point or being "right." I tell them we will learn to talk together. I compare philosophers to jugglers who, rather than keeping many balls in the air, instead hold many ideas in their minds during philosophical conversation.
Socrates insisted that asking questions and talking, allowing the conversation to follow the questions wherever they may lead, enables philosophers to get closer and closer to the truth. Even on the day he died, he spent all his time in dialogue with his friends and followers, reminding them never to lose faith in the power of discourse to reveal the meaning of ideas. You will see this willingness to continue in hot pursuit of understanding in your child philosophers. As their guide, you encourage their interest every time you ask a question, whenever you indicate that there’s something you don’t know that’s really piqued your curiosity, and any time you praise them for their philosophical abilities.
I ask kids as they are learning the art of good conversation to pretend that they are students in Plato’s Academy. I want to show them how the world opens up to us as we discover how little we know, so I ask them a question about something that many people assume they know and perhaps never questioned before. One that has worked very well for me is "What does it mean to be a good person?" Hands go up quickly and come down, and then come quick answers accompanied by looks of dissatisfaction, then shrugs of disbelief that the question is so hard. They welcome the chance to go back to the beginning and talk about what it could mean to be this "good person." You will see that most children find it thrilling that something that seemed obvious can be so remarkably elusive. And what they love is the excitement of conversation with an adult about "important stuff" when "my ideas matter." The chance to join you in your quest for knowledge is an enticing incentive for a child to engage in philosophy.
At the end of one of my philosophy sessions, which parents had observed silently on the outskirts of our circle, one new child philosopher invited her mother to join in with this remarkable question: "Mom, now that you’ve heard about the Cave, what’s yours? What’s your own Cave?" In their semiprivate conversation afterward, Quanshe explained to her mother that everyone has her own Cave because everyone’s different. This six-year-old told her mom that hers was fear because "You know, it’s hard for me to stand up to stuff. I was scared to change schools. And I was a little afraid to ask you that question just now." Quanshe concluded their exchange with her acknowledgment that she was going to work on understanding the idea of courage better.
After you have been philosophizing with kids for a while, it’s great fun to ask them what they make of this philosophy business. Horatio told me that he had been having trouble in school until he became a philosopher, but now philosophy is his favorite subject. What makes him so good at it is that "I just say that not every question has an answer or that I don’t know and this makes me a good student!" Third-grader Jenny thought for a long time before finding words suitable for a description of philosophy’s effect on her: "It makes me fall into my body and think hard, really hard." Brendan, a lively seven-year-old, confessed that every single time we talk about ideas, the question pops into his head, "Do we really want everything we think we want?" Brendan and I had a great conversation about this question, and so can you and your little big minds.
With the kids, I have enjoyed the beauty of keeping philosophy simple. The child philosophers led me from the Cave into the sunlight.
