Philosophy and Children on Volume 19
A Critical Analysis of the Program of Spirituality for Kids in USA and its Kabbalah Principles
Zaynab Barkhordari, Associate Professor (corresponding author), Department of Philosophy and Islamic Kalam, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Sodeh Jafari, M.A. student of philosophy and Islamic Kalam, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
The project of spirituality for kids as an educational method is founded by Karen Berg in USA. This method is rooted in Kabbala principle and affiliated to Jewish mysticism. According to this doctrine all kids in the world regardless of their religions should have some kind of spiritual experience. Thus the founders of this movement do not bother if the majority of their addressees are Muslim or Christian, and it has no effect on the movement of spirituality for kids, for they hold that its gate is open to everyone. That is to say, the proponents of this program go beyond religions and consider their principles in general as a spiritual gift, and are of the view that kids have right to utilize the spiritual treasures of the worlds.
At present the program of spirituality for kids have been translated into several languages and is about to reach other countries. So it is the duty of the researchers of this field to carry out a serious study of the principles and sources of this movement and make an assessment of this trend before taking up similar activity in Iran even by its founders. The present article is a scientific work intending to introduce the principles of spirituality for kids and also make a critical assessment of this movement without referring to its feasibility in Iran.
Key words:
spirituality, spirituality for kids, Kabbala, inner light, Karen Berg
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Iranian Disposition of the Transcendent Philosophy and its Application to the Fundamental Transformation of Education
Nawab Moqarrabi, PhD in philosophy of religion, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan Branch
A great deal of research works have been carried out so far on the Transcendent Philosophy which symbolizes Iranian philosophy. But in spite of all these efforts still a basic question remained unnoticed, that is, what is the Iranian disposition of Mulla Sadra who seems to be the last systematic and paradigm maker of the history of Iranian philosophy? What is the specific and essential feature of Mulla Sadra that sifts him from other philosophers of different cultures? On the other hand, it is a fact that if the Transcendent Philosophy is supposed to come out of the shelves of the libraries and play an effective role in people's daily lives, it should be able to bring about a fundamental change in education, i.e. change in philosophical approach towards education, instead of grappling with certain useless and sterile theoretical discussions
This paper is an attempt first to revise the salient features of Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy, and then proceed to apply it to certain new teaching programs like that of philosophy and children which has totally a different attitude towards education in Iran and the world.
Key words:
Transcendent Philosophy, Iranian disposition, change in teaching, philosophy and children, Oriental wisdom, selectivistic methodology
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Teaching Conservation of Environment to Children (with Reference to Religious Teachings)
Esmail Kharestani , PhD student, philosophy of education, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
Developing necessary outlook, values, commitment, and skills for the sake of conserving environment usually begins from the childhood. Teaching seems to be most important and effective ways for enhancing people's awareness of the environmental problems, and this may bring in its wake a kind of positive and lasting change in one's behavior in conserving the environment. If teaching the environment begins from childhood then certain changes may occur in their views, awareness, and skills following which they can practically proceed to conserve the environment and use their resources properly. The present study aims at analyzing the teaching of environment in an analytic- descriptive method to children with reference to religious teachings. In this research after referring to certain works on this topic, the author presents its definitions and specific terms in his research work, then proceeds to study the following issues: the place of environment, the importance of conserving environment, teaching, the main domain of environment, the necessity of teaching environment, philosophy of teaching environment, aim of teaching environment, impact of untainted environment upon man, and the necessary of teaching children for conserving the environment. The main conclusion of this study is that teaching the protection and conservation of the environment in childhood will lead to their active participation in conserving environment in later years.
Key words:
environment, teaching, children, aims, necessity
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Meditative Thinking in a Research Circle of Teaching Program of “Philosophy and Children”
Laya Raimzadeh, PhD student, philosophy of education, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
Masumeh Samadi, Associate Professor (corresponding author), Research Center for Educational Studies, Tehran, Iran
Fahimeh Ansarian, Assistant Professor, Islamic Azad University of Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
Meditative thinking is considered to be an intellectual, moral, emotional and normative skill, based on validation and active participation in a society along with a bit concern for the expansion of public good which alongside the critical and creative thinking can pave the way for the growth of intellectual analysis power. Thankful, normative, emotional, active, and sympathetic thinking are among the components of meditative thinking in a society. To change and promote the students beliefs in the phenomenon of meditation is an undeniable necessity and facilitating missions for the psychological well-being and intellectual growth of students in the research circles.
The present article aims at defining the meditative thinking in research circle of teaching of philosophy and children, based on certain relevant sources. Research methodology of the work is analytic-descriptive of theoretical foundations for explaining the concept of meditative thinking, its use in promoting this kind of thinking in research circle of teaching philosophy and children. The sample for this analysis is selected under two pre-conditions of being new and fundamental and collected sources from the libraries.
Key words:
meditative thinking, research circle, teaching philosophy and children
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A Comparative Study of Iranian Models of Education and other Schools of Education
Ali Akbar Nasiri, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy and Islamic Kalam, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran
Haniyah Shabani, M.A. student (corresponding author), Department of Philosophy and Islamic Kalam, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran
The concept of education and man are concomitant concepts. That is to say, wherever man begins to live, the issue of education came into being. The necessary role of education in human life is an inevitable and evident fact. The authors of the present article intend to explain the views of the two Iranian-Islamic philosophers, namely Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra concerning the models of education. Philosophical anthropology in Suhrawardi's philosophy enjoys an important place, and it is impossible to provide education without sufficient knowledge of man. Accordingly, in his view the first step is to attain self-knowledge. Subject gives meaning to any kind of knowledge that enters the mind. Thus knowledge is determined on the bases of certain internal intuitions and man is brought up through his rational faculty following which one can form certain pattern to contain his knowledge. Suhrawardi seeks to connect reason and gnosis so that in the light of which man can get proper education and attain the station of lordliness. But Mulla Sadra maintains that perceptual activity of the soul- directly or indirectly- begins through the senses. Soul by nature lacks any kind of knowledge. On the one hand, man can earn knowledge through confronting with objective and sensible things. On the other hand, by means of his faculty of imagination can attain the reality of the matters. It is provided that the faculty of imagination follows the right path in the light of the growth of reason and thought. Apart from his common ground with Suhrawardi, Mulla Sadra refers to his doctrine of the substantial motion according to which the soul can ascend from the lowest level to his highest substantial level. Suhrawardi's intuitionism and Mulla Sadra's belief in substantial motion of the soul constitutes the most important distinction between the views of these two great philosophers.
Key words:
teaching, training, educational method, Mulla Sadra, Suhrawardi
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Facilitating Principles in Philosophy and Children Corresponding to Islamic Thought
Iman Dindar Isfahani, M.A. in Islamic Philosophy, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
Today philosophy for children is an issue that has drew the attention of different communities to itself, for through this program it is possible to impart various teaching to children, and bring them up with creative and critical thinking. In Iran this program initiated by Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (Siprin) in 1994, following which it proceeded to work out an Iranian version of this philosophical program. The present article makes an attempt to give an account of the program of philosophy and children in the following sections: 1- tutor, 2- time table, 3- environment, 4- method of beginning discussion, 5- thinking, 6- method and form of presentation, 7- content. In this paper the authors seeks to deal with the notion of tutor as a facilitating role in detail. This program have been formulated formally in the West and it is possibly tinged with Western ideas, so it requires to be localized and consorted with native culture, namely Iranian tradition. Moreover, Islam has reiterated the intellectual upbringing of man and there are sufficient Islamic resources which contain certain principles, methodology, content, etc. on the basis of which one can work out an indigenous program consorted with its culture. The present work is based on a library work and is regarded as a small example of the present capacity.
Key words:
philosophy and children, facilitating principle, intellectual upbringing, Islamic- Iranian culture