Reflection And Reinterpretation Of Philosophy For Children From Existential Perspective

For more than half a century,Philosophy for Children has made great progress in both research results and development scale.However,there are still theoretical shortcomings and practical difficulties in Philosophy for Children.This is manifested in the fact that on the one hand,there is disagreement in the definition of Philosophy for Children in the academic world,which will lead to the unreasonable treatment of the relationship between “Children’s Philosophy” and “Philosophy for Children Curriculum”.On the other hand,the academic world does not systematically distinguish the epistemological and ontological dimensions of Philosophy for Children,which will lead to the separation of Philosophy for Children from children’s life experiences.In view of the above problems,this thesis summarizes the previous research results,including the academic research on concepts and methods of Philosophy for Children.On this basis,this thesis makes a distinction between two connotations and two dimensions of Philosophy for Children,and points out that “Children’s Philosophy” is inherently consistent with “Philosophy for Children Curriculum”.Furthermore,from existential perspective,this thesis reflects and constructs the Philosophy for Children,including the following three aspects:First of all,it is pointed out that the epistemological dimension defines philosophy as knowledge about curiosity and rational activities,which actually fossilizes the essence of “Children’s Philosophy”.Furthermore,starting from existential perspective of “existence precedes essence”,“Children’s Philosophy” is interpreted as: children grasp their own existence through the way of understanding and speech.Secondly,it is pointed out that the epistemological “Philosophy for Children Curriculum” overemphasizes the role of thinking training,so it has a tendency of conceptualization and instrumentalization.Furthermore,starting from existential perspective,“Philosophy for Children Curriculum” is interpreted as a place for teachers and students to have a dialogue about survival.Teachers and students discuss each other’s life experiences through dialogue,so as to find the meaning of survival together.The thesis explains the role of “Philosophy for Children Curriculum” as:guarding children’s original way of survival and encouraging children to continuously develop their own survival possibilities.Finally,this thesis points out in the conclusion that only by establishing Philosophy for Children on the basis of children’s survival,that is,understanding Philosophy for Children as the original way of survival for children,can it gain the foundation of the theory of survival.Only in this way can the Philosophy for Children become possible,and the epistemological dimension and the existential dimension can mutually complete and promote each other.