Philosophy for Children and the Redefinition of Philosophy: Total Immersion at Mendham

Abstract

Introduction:  Philosophy, like the IAPC Mendham seminar itself, is a place apart.  I don't mean by this that philosophy is a realm of timeless ideas, or a dream time, or a place of the ancestors where all the seminal ideas are, although it may very well be that; what I mean is that when we do philosophy, everything stops.  Everything stops, I think, because if, as we are flowing along in life and language, we encounter a problem, and we don't smooth it over or push it to the side and go on, we discover that it actually represents a question.  And if we follow the question to ask itself, it often turns out that: 1) it seems to be a very important question about meaning; 2) it doesn't have an answer, although it may promise one; and 3) it tends to raise even other such questions.