In the past thirty years, there has been a revolution in our scientific understanding of children and infants, a revolution that has also transformed our understanding of human nature itself. Activities related to children instead of meditation, thinking and perceiving the world.

Children have a great capacity for asking philosophical questions, such as "Why are we on Earth?"

And "Where were we before we were born?"

And “What is the purpose of wars?” However, philosophy is not taught - in most cases - only in the last year of secondary education, despite the importance of guiding children in their thinking from an early age.

With these last words, the French newspaper Liberation opened an interview on the occasion of the International Day of Philosophy, which took place on 19 November, with the French professor of philosophy Edouge Cerruti, in which she called for the practice of this specialization for young people in order to train them to acquire a critical mind.

The philosopher - a lecturer at the University of Nantes and holder of the UNESCO Chair in Philosophy with Children - said that a child can participate in philosophy as soon as he begins to ask questions to himself and as soon as he is able to express his surprise to the world, at the end of kindergarten at the age of four or five, When children question death, evil, love and justice.

Exceptional philosophical questions

The philosopher explained that the younger the person, the more people ask these questions directly and without self-censorship or fear of appearing like an idiot, in addition to that children can ask embarrassing questions about the world around them that adults do not dare to ask or ask themselves.

As evidence that children are able to formulate exceptional philosophical questions, the philosopher said that a child asked her, not long ago in the third grade of primary school, a great question about virtue and happiness, saying, "Can we be happy while at the same time evil, and are the bad people in the end happier?" Who are the good people ?!

And at the question, is man a philosopher of course?

Cerruti said that the human nature requires that a person ask himself metaphysical (metaphysical) questions that are universal and timeless and go beyond material reality, but the ability to use reason is not innate, like critical thinking, argument and analysis, but rather an acquired ability that needs to be learned, and therefore children cannot do So on their own and they must be directed early.

Without a critical mind - the philosopher says - one can fall prey to false news, populism and inaccurate vision, and therefore philosophy is the lever of democratic life, which means that learning to think is the essence of democracy, because the latter can only survive if future citizens are able to practice critical thinking.

This does not mean - according to Cerruti - that it is necessary that the philosophy lesson begins long before the last year of high school, but that it can have a more visible place in the context of moral and civic education, by giving incentives to discussions that can sometimes be described as philosophical.

Humility and self-respect

The philosopher indicated that things began to change, and that what existed from the rejection of philosophy with children no longer existed, and that philosophy began to gain legitimacy, even among the public opinion, even though people still saw it as far-fetched.

As for teaching philosophy to young people, the philosopher believes that there are many ways, which can be studied through cultural mediums such as tales, myths, or even an excerpt from a movie.

For example, Cerruti suggests that children read a story and put themselves in the place of the character. She puts the children in a situation by asking them what they would do with a "Gig" ring. This shepherd finds a ring that makes him invisible. This allows moral questions and dilemmas to arise and from there they can be discussed.

This helps with what the philosopher calls "brain jogging" that makes it stronger, because it is difficult for a person to learn by himself how to think, which calls for training, and thus children learn carefully to present arguments to clarify aspects of the issue and then how to discuss it.

And since philosophy does not have a single answer, children find that they have to accept their weakness, and that there is nothing wrong with not knowing, suspicion and difference.

Cerruti concluded that philosophy teaches children humility in the face of major questions such as justice or truth, and it also gives them self-respect, and shows them that they are able to think for themselves and that they have the right to ask questions about the world regardless of their age.

Stories as philosophical texts

The famous Swiss psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget (1896-1980) believes in his theory of growth and cognitive construction that before the age of 12, most children are unable to think philosophically, because before this time - according to Piaget - children are unable to "think of" Thinking, which is the type of deep thinking that is characteristic of philosophical thinking.

However, a large body of recent psychological and philosophical research considers that the Piaget idea seriously reduces the tremendous cognitive and philosophical capacities of children, according to a previous report by Al Jazeera Net.

Philosophy workshop for children presented by Tunisian professor Hoda El Kafi (Al Jazeera)

The American philosopher Gareth Matthews adopts a completely different view. In his book "Philosophy of Childhood," he lists different and great philosophical possibilities for "curious children," and sees childhood as a field and time for philosophical research.

Matthews believes that Piaget failed to see clear philosophical thinking in children, presenting a number of clear examples such as a simple question from a child to his father asking "How can we make sure that everything is not a dream?"

On the other hand, many researchers believe that the potential of children in philosophical thinking is very high thanks to their broad capacity for imagination, and most importantly, their inability to distinguish between truth and fiction and a mixture of surprise and unusual curiosity.

Children's stories are used as usual examples in philosophy lessons. According to Peter Worley, Director of the British Philosophy Foundation and Academic Researcher at Kings University, questions such as “Is beauty in the eyes of the beholder objective or subjective, is life worth living in, and should the leader hide the truth to save lives?” It is popular in philosophy lessons and children's stories alike.

Although stories are used regularly as educational tools, the possibilities of thinking that they bring with them are often overlooked, although the key to thinking is to arouse the audience, which is what the story does efficiently, according to Worley's article in the British newspaper The Guardian.

Stories open up more imaginations and spark points of tension, and help to think of alternatives while creating a protective distance between the audience that they are contemplating.

Thus, the children’s innocent questions and their curious amazement seem like a rich philosophical substance that philosophers try to provide answers to, while children simply and constantly question life philosophically as if they were philosophers of this age and all ages.