How to introduce your child to philosophy

When I was asked to write an article about philosophy for children, I thought, That’s going to be a challenge! Not because I don’t know the subject like the back of my hand (I could talk about it for hours!), but because it’s very complex. And although much has been written on the topic, it’s often technical, and therefore a bit daunting. So, to make it more accessible, I’ll skip the theoretical details and focus instead on concrete examples from our everyday lives.

We live in a society where we’re constantly bombarded with information. How does a person sift through it all? It’s a challenge, even for adults! Honing our judgment helps us see things more clearly. Imagine, then, the gift you could give your child by encouraging them to use and develop their judgment from the age of 4 or 5!

That way, when your child is older and a friend suggests, say, going for a drive after a night of drinking, they’ll have the critical judgment to say: “I don’t feel like putting my life and the lives of others at risk just to show off.”

They will consider the consequences because their brain will have been trained to process the information it receives, not just store it.

What it’s not: Teaching philosophical theories (e.g., the writings of Plato or Nietzsche). Of course, you can certainly smile to yourself when your child comes up with an idea that’s akin to a philosophical thought, but that’s not the main goal.

What it is: Using the Socratic method—that is, having conversations that allow your child to come up with their own ideas. The good news is that you don’t need to have any knowledge of philosophy to put this method into practice.

In a philosophy workshop, the students become philosophers. A philosophy workshop consists of a facilitator and a group of participants. The facilitator must remain neutral and never give their opinion. Their job is to give everyone a chance to speak and to move the discussion forward while ensuring that it respects democratic rules, which may include the following:

• Raising your hand to speak
• Listening to the person who’s speaking without interrupting
• Welcoming others’ ideas (just because you don’t agree with someone doesn’t mean you should get angry)
• Offering and accepting reasonable criticism (don’t criticize the person, only the idea)

Democracy is about respecting others. That means learning to listen to other people in order to understand them, not simply to give a quick reply. It’s also important to learn to offer reasonable criticism, in other words, without getting worked up emotionally.

There’s no secret formula: the key to applying philosophy in a way that promotes peaceful coexistence is regular practice. Fortunately, that’s something we can all do on a daily basis!

Simply get in the habit of encouraging your child to practise reflection.

Instead of always having all the answers, try responding to your child’s questions with questions of your own. For example, if they ask you why they have to go to bed early, turn the question around: “What do you think would happen if you stayed up really late? How would you feel in the morning? Would you have a good day at school?”

Ask them questions about the movies they watch and the stories you read to them. Most importantly, don’t expect perfect answers and don’t whisper the answers to them. The goal of this practice is to develop your child’s critical thinking skills so that they learn to think for themselves.

You can also sign your child up for philosophy workshops at their school or the public library, or check out some of the many resources suggested in the references section below (all in French only).