Foundations of Philosophy for Children, Reasonableness, and the Education of Thinking

Philosophy for Children (P4C) shows that there is a unique and singular contribution of philosophy to the education of thinking. The chapter begins by explaining how certain fundamental traits of the pedagogical project P4C, which aim to improve thinking abilities based on philosophical sessions, embody an attitude that places reasonableness and plurality as crucial for education. However, because the notion of reasonableness remains ambiguous and, just like the notion of reason, can carry masked bias, these P4C claims cannot be fully understood without further explanation. It is possible to retrace P4C pragmatist insights by establishing a connection with Feminist philosophy, reinforcing its philosophical commitments and understanding the focus on reasonableness as a focal point of attention to highlight how lively thinking is situated. This will enable showing that pragmatism and P4C have strong theoretical links with Feminist philosophical positions, which can be poignantly illustrated by how these traditions incorporate affectivity in thinking. More specifically the notion of caring thinking and its reflexivity needs to be seriously incorporated to fully understand the P4C pedagogical project. The recognition of the situatedness of thinking, and the need for a pluralistic and fallibilistic conception of inquiry common to Pragmatism, Feminist Philosophy and P4C sets the stage to understand the unique role of philosophy contribution to educate thinking, and how caring thinking is a necessary element of being a critical and a creative thinker.