What Philosophy for Children? A Metaphilosophical Look at P4C (Philosophy for Children)

Year 2023, Volume: 22 Issue: 3, 92 - 112, 20.10.2023

Ferhat Onur

https://doi.org/10.20981/kaygi.1321623

Abstract

Although the main goal of P4C is to develop children's reasoning skills, there is another purpose that accompanies this goal and turns it into an ideal: to bring wisdom to children. According to this ideal, on the one hand children will be able to use the logical elements of philosophy, which at its center is critical and reflexive thinking, and on the other hand, they will attain the competency to put the formal and informal skills they have acquired into practice. However, how to reconcile thinking of philosophy in P4C as a kind of inquiry with the goal of cultivating wisdom remains a challenge that needs to be surmounted. Since wisdom is understood as the ability to judge well, the inquiry is expected to lead children to some non-relative truths. For it can be said that since a relativist understanding of truth requires suspending of judgment, it will weaken the will to take action. Accordingly, when we consider the criticism of foundationalism, which states that philosophy cannot provide the basis for our knowledge, it can be argued that thinking non-relative truths with a pragmatic approach instead of a Platonic understanding of objectivity provides the necessary step to overcome this difficulty.

Keywords

P4C, critical thinking, metaphilosophy, wisdom, truth

Çocuklar İçin Hangi Felsefe? P4C (Çocuklar İçin Felsefe)’ye Metafelsefi Bir Bakış

Abstract

P4C’nin temel hedefi çocukların akıl yürütme becerilerini geliştirmek olarak öne çıksa da bu hedefe eşlik eden ve onu bir ideal haline getiren başka bir amaçtan daha söz edilebilir: Çocuklara bilgeliğin kazandırılması. Bu ideale göre çocuklar bir yandan felsefenin, merkezinde, eleştirel ve refleksif düşünme olan mantıksal öğelerini iyi kullanabilir duruma gelirken diğer yandan edindikleri formel ve informel becerileri pratiğe dökebilecek yetkinliğe erişeceklerdir. Ne var ki P4C’deki felsefenin bir tür araştırma olarak düşünülmesinin bilgelik hedefiyle nasıl uyuşturulacağı açıklanması gereken bir güçlük olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bilgelik iyi muhakeme etme yeteneği olarak anlaşıldığından araştırmanın çocukları göreli olmayan birtakım doğrulara ulaştırması beklenmektedir. Zira rölativist bir doğruluk anlayışının yargıyı askıya almayı gerektirdiğinden eyleme geçme iradesini zayıflatacağı söylenebilir. Buna göre felsefenin bilgimize temel sağlayamayacağını bildiren temelcilik eleştirisini dikkate aldığımızda göreli olmayan doğruların Platonik bir nesnellik anlayışı yerine pragmatik bir yaklaşımla düşünülmesinin söz konusu güçlüğün aşılması için gereken adımı sağladığı ileri sürülebilir.

Keywords

P4C, eleştirel düşünme, metafelsefe, bilgelik, hakikat

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