Matthew Lipman is Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children.

Ann Margaret Sharp, Assistant Director of the Institute, is also co-editor with Matthew Lipman of Growing Up with Philosophy.

Frederick S. Oscanyan is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Yale University.

Preface

Part I: Encouraging Children to Be Thoughtful

1. The Need for Educational Redesign
Educational Dysfunction ¿ Failure of Remedial Approaches ¿ Meeting Expectations ¿ Discovery ¿ Frustration ¿ Meaningful Experiences ¿ Need for Adventure ¿ Meaning versus Rationality

2. Thinking and the School Curriculum
The Child's Hunger for Meaning ¿ Thinking Skillfully ¿ Thinking Skills and Basic Skills ¿ Thinking Skills and Other Academic Disciplines ¿ The Relationship between Dialogue and Thinking ¿ Thinking Well about Things That Matter

3. Philosophy: The Lost Dimension in Education
Philosophy Begins in Wonder ¿ Wonder and Meaning ¿ Scientific Explanation ¿ Symbolic Interpretation ¿ Philosophical Investigation

4. Some Educational Presuppositions of Philosophy for Children
Preserving the Integrity of Philosophy as a Discipline ¿ Converting the Classroom into a Community of Inquiry ¿ Preparing the Teacher and the Curriculum

Part II: Aims and Methods of Philosophy for Children

5. The Philosophy for Children Curriculum
Description of Curriculum ¿ Aims and Objectives of Philosophy for Children ¿ Improvement of Reasoning Ability ¿ Development of Creativity ¿ Personal and Interpersonal Growth ¿ Development of Ethical Understanding ¿ Development of the Ability to Find Meaning in Experience

6. Teaching Methodology: Value Considerations and Standards of Practice
Getting Children to Think for Themselves ¿ Conditions for Teaching Philosophical Thinking ¿ Teaching Behavior Conductive to Helping Children Engage in Philosophical Thinking

7. Guiding a Philosophical Discussion
Philosophy and the Strategies of Dialogue ¿ Guiding a Classroom Discussion ¿ The Role of Ideas in a Philosophical Dialogue ¿ Fostering Philosophical Dialogue ¿ Eliciting Views or Opinions ¿ Helping Students Express Themselves: Clarification and Restatement ¿ Explicating Students' Views ¿ Interpretation ¿ Seeking Consistency ¿ Requesting Definitions ¿ Searching for Assumptions ¿ Indicating Fallacies ¿ Requesting Reasons ¿ Asking Students to Say How They Know ¿ Eliciting and Examining Alternatives ¿ Orchestrating a Discussion

Part III: Applying Thinking Skills to School Experience

8. Encouraging Children to Be Logical
Formal Logic as an Aid to Philosophical Thinking ¿ Giving Reasons: The Good Reasons Approach ¿ Acting Rationally ¿ Conclusion

9. Can Moral Education Be Divorced from Philosophical Inquiry
The Presumption of Rationality ¿ Setting the Stage for Moral Growth ¿ Socialization and Autonomy in Moral Education ¿ Dangerous Dichotomies in Moral Education ¿ What to Do to Help the Children Know What to Do ¿ Imagination and Moral Education ¿ Where to Begin ¿ Why Moral Education Cannot Be Divorced form Philosophical Education ¿ The Relationship between Logic and Morality ¿ The Improvement of Moral Judgment

10. Philosophical Themes in Ethical Inquiry for Children
The Relation of Logic to Ethics ¿ Consistency ¿ The Right and the Fair ¿ Perfect and Right ¿ Free Will and Determination ¿ Natural ¿ Change and Growth ¿ Truth ¿ Caring ¿ Standards and Rules ¿ Questions and Answers ¿ Thinking and Thinking for Oneself in Ethical Inquiry

Appendix A: The Reform of Teacher Education
Appendix B: Experimental Research in Philosophy for Children
Bibliography