The great hope of dialogical pedagogy such as the Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) as advocated for by practitioners of philosophy for and with children (P4C) was to cultivate critical thinkers who would be guided by epistemic and moral virtues in their engagement with one another in an effort to uncover truth. And, further, that those…

In this article, the author examines Dewey's moral deliberation. Liu argues that Dewey's work will enrich both character education and Kohlberg's moral education. Liu focuses on character education and on Kohlberg's moral education because these are the two dominant approaches. Character education seeks to cultivate good…

This chapter looks at John Dewey's consideration of childhood as a platform which to view the significance of childhood in moral life. It argues that the concept of childhood is integral to our thinking in the teaching and learning relationship. When we consider childhood from Dewey's platform, we see that childhood is relevant to…

Questions of identity such as "Who am I?" are often answered by appeals to one or more affiliations with a specific nation (citizenship), culture, ethnicity, religion, etc. Taking as given the idea that identity over time--including identification and re-identification--for objects of a particular kind requires that there be criteria of identity…

Children as learners need adults who love them, even when the children are unable to give anything in return. Furthermore, adults should be able to make wise judgements concerning what is good for the children. The clarification of these principles and of their educational import has to start within our own cultural tradition. "Agape"…

This essay subjects to philosophical scrutiny a well-known theory in social psychology, the theory of a belief in a just world ("BJW"-theory). What are the implications of the theory for moral philosophy, in general, and moral education/schooling, in particular? Should parents and teachers discourage or encourage children to believe in a just…

Comparing the conception of human development found in the educational theories of Plato and Rousseau, it is found that the nature of childhood in Rousseau's "Emile" so resembles the account of child development in Plato's "Laws" that any difference claimed between them must be one of degree. (Author/SJL)