Böcker av Gareth Matthews

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.

A discussion of whether Aristotle was a dialectic thinker. May Sim gathers together experts to offer a variety of interpretative possibilities. The contributors include Allan Back, J.D.G. Evans, Michael Ferejohn, Eugene Garver, Lenn E. Goodman and Martha Husain.

In a series of exquisite examples, Matthews demonstrates that children have a capacity for puzzlement and mental play that leads them to tackle many of the classic problems of knowledge, value and existence that have traditionally formed the core of philosophical thought.

Every week for a year, Matthews and eight children met to make up stories reflecting philosophical problems. With examples of these dialogues, the author invites all adults to be open to those moments when they can share with children the pleasures of joint philosophical discovery.