Abstract

Could Plato be Convinced by the Merits of Philosophy for Children? The exclusion of childhood from the realm of philosophy traditionally dates back to the work of Plato. In his dialogues Gorgias and Republic, the founder of the Western philosophical tradition argues against a childish practice of philosophy: the search for truth is too serious and complex an undertaking for young people. This has led to a persistent presupposition that still hinders the implementation of the practice of philosophy with children. Our objective with this paper is to show that there is in fact a continuity between P4C and philosophy according to Plato. We present another reading of these Platonic reasons to show that they leave an opening for a playful and democratic approach to philosophy.