Why Thinking Through Philosophy?
Why ?
During evolution our brains are evolved to help us survive. Challenges like finding food, escaping wild animals and creating shelter fed our brains and these experiences made them grow. The human brain needs challenges to become stronger and more able to perform tasks. Our memory is just a part of our brain functions. The memory is overvalued in the educational systems.
We spend so much effort in making children remember the content of the subjects but don’t actually offer them the opportunity to understand how to think, how to learn. If we don’t change that, it will have tragic consequences. So, we must give children time to think, we must help them learn to think, and we must challenge them to think and express themselves ! Because only challenges make the brain develop. Practical philosophy plays a big part in this.
Practical philosophy is not about philosophers or philosophical theories. It is about an approach to learning that allows people to explore and develop their own thinking and that of others
Don’t we already think?
Of course, we think!
But we hasten to conclude and as it’s our very own opinion, we cling to it and miss the depth
and complexity of reality in the process. This may land us to irrational thinking mode.
Mind is a pattern making system, it needs to be trained in questioning its patterns, and think afresh. The module, ‘Thinking Through philosophy (TTP)’ in a very subtle way creates an environment for deeper thinking, challenging the ideas, observing, and being open to unknown possibilities.
Process
TTP is a way to create a dialogue within the group in P4C (Philosophy for Children) and P4A (Philosophy for Adults) and with young children in IRA (Interactive Reading Aloud). The key to developing a good dialogue is the skill of the ‘facilitator’ in asking good, open-ended questions. Questions that go far beyond memory training. Questions that challenge our brains in a way that makes it develop. We don’t fill the brain with more and more information to remember, No, we “oil” the brains to help them work nicely. There is no easy answer to questions asked during CTK sessions. Answers cannot be learned by heart or found in a short definition so participants are forced to think deeply, which trains the brain. Because the approach is caring and gentle (which) it makes participants (to) feel free to take part in the group communication.
This includes such questions as:-
• Can you say more about that?
• What makes you say that?
• Do you have any evidence for that view?
• How do you know that?
• Why? Why? Why?
• Is it possible to know if that is true?
• Does anyone else support that view?
• If……. then what do you think about…...? and so on
It is through this process of dialogue that many things begin to take place. Thinking skills are developed. These include:
Information Handling : processing skills about analysing, interpreting, locating.
Enquiry : Posing and defining problems, planning, predicting, and testing conclusions.
Reasoning : giving reasons for opinions, making deductions, and making judgments informed by evidence.
Creative Thinking : generating ideas, being imaginative in thinking, being innovative.
Evaluation : evaluating what is read or heard, developing criteria for judging.
This module is an hour’s discussion within a group of students / employees / any other interest group, which is repeated weekly, preferably spread over a year for a particular group.
Thinking Through Philosophy concept is developed by understanding the need of small but continuous efforts taken over a period to see initially subtle but in the long term, a definite change in the personality.
Thus it has three important aspects –
• A session of one hour per week for over an year
• Focussing session at the beginning of the session to bring all in the present moment
• Thought for the Week at the end of every session for further observation and thinking (with awareness) for the rest of the week
Benefits
It is through this process of dialogue that many things begin to take place. Skills to think independently and to express themselves nicely are developed.
These skills include:
Information Handling : processing skills about analyzing, interpreting, locating.
Enquiry : Posing and defining problems, planning, predicting, and testing conclusions.
Reasoning : giving reasons for opinions, making deductions, and making judgments informed by evidence.
Creative Thinking : generating ideas, being imaginative in thinking, being innovative.
Evaluation : evaluating what is read or heard, developing criteria for judging.
Self-confidence, taking initiative, feeling responsible are the important behavioral changes seen in the TTP participants after implementing the program
Another main strength of the philosophy program is that it develops spiritual intelligence (SQ). This includes:
• Having vision and values
• Seeing holistically - that is seeing the unity of things around us
• Being ‘field independent’ - being able to work against convention
• Spontaneously adaptive - being able to learn as situations are developing and use that information to affect the situation
How societal change is possible with this Philosophy?
As parents, as a society, we are not only concerned about how smart our children are, but what kind of people they grow up to be. When children explore moral and ethical questions, thoughts, behaviours - there opens up the possibility of even seeing the causes for these. This is a very empowering process because it brings the youngster to a point where choice is possible instead of habitual behaviour.
A Just Society can be formed not by imposing rules (laws) from the outside but when the regulation comes from the ‘inside’, with each citizen being self-regulated through having the self-knowledge to make informed choices!
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