Philosophy and Children on Volume 20
Centrality of the Economy of Culture in Fārābian Moral Pattern and its Function in the Program of "Philosophy and Children"
Nadia Maftouni
The program of "philosophy and children" is meant to touch the ethical foundations of children and one of its chief objectives is to train and promote the intellectual growth of children in order to construct an advanced and utopian society. In this work the author, first, seeks to explore the Fārābian Islamic ethics, which as compared to other models of Islamic ethics, turns out to be a kind of Copernican revolution, then proceeds to prove the efficiency of Fārābian model for philosophy and children. The salient features of the Fārābian model is as follows: 1. The primacy of social ethics to individual ethics; 2. Defining individual ethics by social elements; 3. Exerting maximum effort for building wealth as the first necessary of individual ethics; 4. Exerting maximum effort for getting higher social positions as second necessary of individual ethics. It seems that in his model for establishing a utopia, Fārābī seeks to bring up a spirited and dynamic generation.
Key words:
utopia, social dynamic, social ethics, model of training, Fārābī
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Children and their Philosophical Worlds
Seyyed Sajjad Sadati Zadeh
Muslem Shojaei
The most important task of teaching is to work out a program for triggering thinking among students and bringing about dynamism among them. To this end, it is necessary to develop a science that can teach children the way of thinking on the basis of reasoning for which philosophy should be involved in all levels of teaching particularly in childhood. Since the importance of sciences depends on their applicability, in this research we try to develop a theoretical framework for understanding the functional task of philosophy in its relation to the system of teaching and children. In this way, we can understand the role of philosophy in answering the questions raised by children. If the teaching atmosphere is prepared for children, then drawing on their philosophical capability, they will presumably turn out to be creative, talented and efficient in various field of society.
Key words:
philosophy, children, teaching
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The Necessity of "Philosophy and Children" as Tested by Islamic Thought with
Reference to the Present Potentialities of Islamic Culture
Iman Dindar Esfahani
Mehdi Mansuri
The method of "philosophy and Children" turned out to be one of the modern methods that today not only have been appreciated in the field of education, but also have been used in different societies. The objective of this program is to bring up certain critical and creative thinking in children as is stressed by Islam as well. On the basis of the principles of Islamic training and from the perspective of Religious texts, intellectual training should be commenced from the childhood, which exactly can meet the goal of the program of "Philosophy and Children". As a matter of fact, the present program of the philosophy for children is affected by Western society, for instance we can easily detect the trace of pragmatist and pluralistic views in them. With respect to these intellectual roots, the existence of copious capacities in the religious seminaries, and their principles, methods, and contents in Islamic-Iranian culture, it is befitting to localize the program of "Philosophy and Children" in accordance with Islamic-Iranian culture.
Key words:
Philosophy and Children, Islamic-Iranian culture, intellectual training, Islamic training
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Place of the Art of Dialectic in the Program of "Philosophy and Children": An Explanation
Ali Asghar Jafari Valani
Mahya Mehrjedi
The concept of philosophy is closely intertwined with the concept of intellectualization. Moreover, the way of transmitting thought from the realm of subject to the realm of object has been the inevitable concern of thinkers. A question may arise in our mind as to how can we express our ideas so that to be perceivable to the lovers of philosophy? On the one hand, the technique of choosing proper terms, the way of chapter wising and referring to philosophical ideas, all acknowledge the close relationship between art and philosophy. On the other hand, in the program of "philosophy and children" the way of developing stories and rising questions as well as the style of speaking of teachers indicate the use of a kind of art in this field. Dialectic or conversation in the program of "philosophy and children" is one of the basic principles and if we succeed to apply exactly the art of dialectic to attain exact definitions of philosophical concepts then we can concede our relative success in implementing this program. The present work, by reviewing the pattern of critical thinking and giving a brief account of the program of "philosophy and children", intents to explain the place of the art of dialectic in the program of "philosophy and children".
Key words:
philosophy, philosophy and children, critical thinking, art,dialectic, the art of dialectic
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The Impact of Philosophical Thinking on the Questioning Spirit of Students: a Qurānīc Approach
Roya Abdolahpour
The present work deals with the impact of philosophical thinking on the questioning spirit of students from the perspective of the Qurān based on certain documents and analysis. According to the findings of the researchers, based on the Qurānīc verses we can find five fields for raising questions: whom questions, what question, how question, the way of questioning and question about what. The Qurānīc responses are as follows: 1. raising question from the knowers, thinkers, and experts is permissible, 2. everything can be called into question, e. g. expending, alms, mountain, crescent, resurrection, spirit, and so on, 3. Question should be logical, sound, intelligible, and not for showing but for knowing. 4. For example, question should be about the way of expending, the way of treating the orphans, the homeless, and the way of happening of resurrection. 5. Question about ourselves, God, others, nature which are among the most original human questions. Out of these the fifth question turns out to be the most important one in the development of education and the national curriculum of students. This kind of raising question paves the way for the intellectual, and scientific development of students. It is to be pointed out that by highlighting this question it does not mean that other questions are not important.
Key words:
philosophical thinking, questioning, student, the Qurān
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Fārābī on Rational Training
Fariba Adelzadeh Naeini
Reza Ali Norouzi
Jahanbakhsh Rahmani
Reason enjoys a particular significance and place in Peripatetic philosophy in general and Fārābī's thought in particular, to the extent that he wrote a particular treatise on reason. Moreover, Fārābī as the founder of Islamic philosophy has an unparalleled place in the history of philosophy. Accordingly, to carry out a research on his view concerning reason seems to be very important. The present work aims at exploring rational training based on Fārābī's theory of reason for which the author has followed an analytic-descriptive method. To this end, the author first treats Fārābī's view of reason then embarks upon explaining the concept of rational training. According to the findings of this research, rational training in Fārābī is implemented by both practical and theoretical reason. The aim of rational training is to lead man to follow all levels of intellect, ranging from potential intellect to the acquired intellect, in the light of Active Intellect. That is, in the field of rational action and knowledge man should attain intellection; put it in other words, to attain perfect actuality and pure detachment.
Key words:
rational training, theoretical reason, practical reason, Fārābī