Public philosophy 4 kidz, continued
Last week, Marc asked whether there should be a mandatory “public philosophy” or “civics” course for high schoolers, especially given low rates of constitutional and philosophical literacy.
With all that is going on right now in education, including new recommendations from the Obama Administration, a school board fiasco in Texas, a tug-of-war between charter, private, and public schools, and widespread financial panic as all levels try to cut back, the importance of philosophy is likely to get lost in the chaos.
But as philosopher Stephen Law writes in The War for Children’s Minds, students have a lot to gain from even a small dose of philosophy, particularly with regard to critical thinking, logic, and ethics. Too many of us grow up learning lots of whats and hows and wheres but very few whys – and in the U.S., religion often fills that normative void. Law argues that the basic tools of philosophy serve as valuable resources for use in other disciplines and much-need insulation against the many bad arguments, deceptions, and fallacies that will be thrown there way as adults (particularly when it comes to politics).
While I have quite substantial doubts of these recommendations being enacted – if anything, we’ll probably see LESS philosophy in schools and more concrete job preparation – I can’t think of anything more important in a democracy than teaching citizens to think carefully and deeply about politics, ethics, and the social world.
-Colin
Related posts:
- Mandatory public philosophy courses in high school?
- Not public philosophy, but fun anyway…
- On the site of public philosophy
- Public philosophy in the face of uncertainty
- Education back on the table
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[...] month Colin and I looked at whether public philosophy should be taught in high schools. Apparently we [...]