Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte - Volume 110, Issue 1, 2018

‘Philosophy – what is the use of it?’ Dutch philosophers about education in philosophy

This article gives an overview of the ideas of twentieth-century Dutch philosophers on the use and function of education in philosophy, both in a university context and in secondary schools. In the first half of the twentieth century, there was a very strong emphasis on expanding the place of philosophy in other academic programmes, which was related to the neokantian conception of philosophy as the examination of the fundamental assumptions and the interconnectedness of the sciences. After the Second World War, this view had a unique institutional effect, in the form of the establishment of a ‘centrale interfaculteit’ at all Dutch universities, where philosophy was to be practised in relation to other disciplines. This institutional experiment was brought to an end in the 1980s. Since then, there has been a tendency to regard philosophy as an academic discipline in its own right, and less as a place for creating meaningful connections between other disciplines. From the 1970s onwards, the focus of thinking about philosophy education in the Netherlands has shifted from the universities to the secondary schools. Whereas philosophy was practically non-existent as a secondary-school subject in 1970, nowadays it has a remarkably strong presence as an elective in Dutch upper secondary education. Simultaneously, the didactics of philosophy became a flourishing field in the Netherlands, exploring the way in which secondary-school pupils can learn the skill of philosophical thinking.

The Best Trick to Teach Critical Thinking. How philosophy of science and magic make young people resilient to nonsense.

In a world of ‘alternative facts’ and fact-free opinions, all readily available through the internet, young people can easily fall prey to nonsense, thus running the risk to act on false information. Critical thinking is usually seen as a remedy against accepting and acting on such falsehoods. Under a pragmatist-naturalist interpretation of science, critical thinking is synonymous with scientific inquiry. Magic tricks in the classroom seem to trigger, in an attractive and accessible way, the scientific process of inquiry in students. Two examples are discussed. Provisional results look promising enough to further explore the use of magic tricks in the classroom to train critical thinking in young people.

How to teach value-loaded critical thinking in philosophical classroom discussions?

An important aim of education is that students learn to think critically about moral issues. Philosophy is one of the subjects that is expected to contribute to this aim, because of its subject matter and the dialogic teaching methods. The aim of this study is to explore how philosophical classroom discussions can promote value-loaded critical thinking. First, we discuss the work of Dewey, Arendt and Habermas on moral reasoning and educational literature on critical thinking, in order to find characteristics of philosophical classroom discussions in which students engage in value-loaded critical thinking. These characteristics are: the discussions are 1) genuine dialogues, in which 2) logical reasoning and 3) moral values are addressed in 4) a transfer-oriented manner. Second, we translate these characteristics into teaching strategies, based on empirical research complemented with examples from philosophical classroom discussions. We conclude that philosophical classroom discussions might promote value-loaded critical thinking by open and critical investigation of values; with an emphasis on logically valid reasoning (in the context of meaningful examples). However, we recommend further development of teaching strategies for perspective-taking, de- and recontextualisation, and reflection.

Towards the end of a ramble: transfer of knowledge, embracing values and the teaching profession according to Augustine

In this article the first traces of Augustine’s desire to be not only a teacher but also, in conjunction with this, a writer of protreptics are pointed out in his Soliloquia and his De catechizandis rudibus. Protrepsis and first catechesis need to coincide. In De catechizandis rudibus, he advised deacon Deogratias to clarify the Last Judgement and the resurrection of the body. These two doctrines were both a pièce de resistance for pagans, and therefore also for rudes. The choice of these doctrines demonstrates Augustine’s attempt to have the deacon adopt a protreptic approach in his first catechesis – possibly without Deogratias even knowing it himself. There was no chance that the beginners would already be truly acquainted with these essential aspects of the Christian view of the world and of the future. As it turns out, the line between protrepsis and catechesis is a very fine one in this case.

How can we learn to philosophize?

Classroom teaching in philosophy in secondary education has two aims: learning the names and positions of the great philosophers, and doing philosophy or real ‘philosophizing’. In this article doing philosophy is seen as training in specific ‘thinking skills’ that provides ‘slow thinking’ in the classroom. A Dutch model of these philosophical thinking skills is presented consisting of four categories of thinking skills which are derived from classical philosophical methods as phenomenology, hermeneutics, dialectics and analytical philosophy. Slow thinking can be reached when: a) these categories of thinking skills are trained successfully, b) the training in analytical thinking skills is followed by a fifth category of thinking skills in which a conclusion or decision must be formulated as well as the reason for the conclusion. Analysis shows that four of the five thinking skills are clearly recognizable in the dialogue Laches of Plato.

Footnotes to Plato. A plea for writing philosophical dialogues

This article aims to encourage writing philosophical dialogues. Its main focus is education. Writing philosophical dialogues introduces students to a genre that was once widely practiced. It can teach philosophical skills, such as the ability to put oneself in the position of another. Yet, writing philosophical dialogues is not as common as it used to be and this creates difficulties when teaching students to write such dialogues. In order to deal with these difficulties I first consider reasons for the contemporary scarcity of philosophical dialogues. I then provide possible ways to help students write philosophical dialogues. I show that writing philosophical dialogues today can benefit from working with other disciplines, especially creative writing and it thus has the additional benefit of encouraging reflection on philosophical practices. My argument is based on my own experience of writing (and failing to write) philosophical dialogues and as well as the experience of teaching philosophical dialogue writing to students.

Traces of and tracks towards philosophy and philosophizing in Flemish secondary education

At present philosophy has only a minor place in the Flemish secondary education curriculum. In the first part of the article, I defend the view that philosophy deserves a place as an autonomous subject in the final two years of secondary school. I sketch the content of such a philosophy course and I propose a didactical model for this course. The second part of the article discusses social tendencies that explain the current debate over whether there should be more philosophy in secondary schools. In the third part I try to explain why philosophy still lacks a structural place in Flemish secondary education. Finally I present a survey of ‘traces’ of philosophy and philosophizing in Flemish secondary education and I formulate a conclusion.