Leading a Philisophical Discussion

Abstract

Introduction: The nine principles ennumerated below form the core of classroom methodology in any participatory philisophical discussion appropriate to a pre-college setting. They have been taken from the Teacher's Manual of a soon to be available literature based critical thinking and evaluative reasoning text, THE FEILDSTON ETHICS READER, edited by myself and Beatric Banu and published by the Ethical Culture Schools. Although most of these principles are contained either implicitly or explicitly in the manuals for IAPC material and various published books and papers on Philosophy for Children, they have never to my knowledge, been enumerated and presented as conditions necessaryfor philisophical discussions that reflect the centrality of participtory and non-indoctrinating classroom practices and the formation of a Community of Inquiry. Hopefully, thse conditions, presented starkly and without compromise, will furnish a core that defines the essence of a non-didactic and philosophical approach based on the insight of Lipman and others. Such an approach, whether utilizing IAPC materials or other sources more congenial to particular school settings could then serve as a means of distinguishing between programs consistent with the ideals of philosophical thinkingin Lipman's sense and other approaches to critical thinking or reasoning skills development.