Rethinking Philosophy for Children: Agamben and Education as Pure Means

The authors of "Philosophy for Children (P4C)" argue that the most fundamental capacity of language, the potential to speak, is often taken for granted or instrumentalized for educational purposes. They introduce "Philosophy for Infancy (P4I)" as a non-instrumental educational practice that focuses on the experience of infancy through collective inquiry. P4I reimagines P4C by drawing on the work of Giorgio Agamben and exploring key concepts such as infancy, demand, rules, adventure, happiness, love, and anarchy within a collective, educational context. The book provides a new theoretical basis for appreciating the philosophical aspects of P4C and offers practical applications to inspire educators to experiment with language as a means without end.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 168 pages
Publication date: 20 April 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The practice of Philosophy for Children (P4C) is a subject that has philosophical implications. In this open-access book, the authors present a surprising answer to this question: a practitioner's contemplation of the potential to speak, or what can be called infancy. Although essential to the experience of language, this most basic and profound capacity is often taken for granted or simply instrumentalized for the educational purposes of developing critical, caring, or creative thinking skills in the name of democratic citizenship. Against this kind of instrumentalization, the authors radically reconceptualize P4C by focusing on the experience of infancy that can take place through collective inquiry. The authors' Philosophy for Infancy (P4I) emerges as a non-instrumental educational practice that does not dictate what to say or how to say it but rather turns attention to the fact of speaking. Referencing critical theorist Giorgio Agamben's extensive work on the theme of infancy, the authors philosophically engage the core writings of Matthew Lipman and Ann Sharp, foundational scholars in the P4C tradition, to rediscover this latent potentiality in the original P4C program that has yet to be developed. Not only does the book provide a new theoretical basis for appreciating what is philosophical in Lipman and Sharp's formulations of P4C, but it also provides a unique elucidation of key concepts in Agamben's work, such as infancy, demand, rules, adventure, happiness, love, and anarchy, within a collective, educational practice. Throughout, the authors offer applications of P4I that will provide anchoring points to inspire educators to return to philosophical experimentation with language as a means without end.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license on bloom.

Weight: 270g
Dimension: 234 x 156 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350216822