The Philosophy of Childhood

by Gareth B. Matthews

So many questions, such an imagination, endless the child seems to be a natural philosopher--until the ripe old age of eight or nine, when the spirit of inquiry mysteriously fades. What happened? Was it something we did--or didn't do? Was the child truly the philosophical being he once seemed? Gareth Matthews takes up these concerns in The Philosophy of Childhood , a searching account of children's philosophical potential and of childhood as an area of philosophical inquiry. Seeking a philosophy that represents the range and depth of children's inquisitive minds, Matthews explores both how children think and how we, as adults, think about them. Adult preconceptions about the mental life of children tend to discourage a child's philosophical bent, Matthews suggests, and he probes the sources of these limiting restrictive notions of maturation and conceptual development; possible lapses in episodic memory; the experience of identity and growth as "successive selves," which separate us from our own childhoods. By exposing the underpinnings of our adult views of childhood, Matthews, a philosopher and longtime advocate of children's rights, clears the way for recognizing the philosophy of childhood as a legitimate field of inquiry. He then conducts us through various influential models for understanding what it is to be a child, from the theory that individual development recapitulates the development of the human species to accounts of moral and cognitive development, including Piaget's revolutionary model. The metaphysics of playdough, the authenticity of children's art, the effects of divorce and intimations of mortality on a child--all have a place in Matthews's rich discussion of the philosophical nature of childhood. His book will prompt us to reconsider the distinctions we make about development and the competencies of mind, and what we lose by denying childhood its full philosophical breadth.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Parenting, Psychology, Childrens

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Sue Lyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wonderful Gareth Mathews and his wonderful insights into children as philosophers so readable and full of real examples of children philosophising. I particular liked the chapter on children's art. He challenges us to explain why we don't have art galleries of children's work.

[Quin Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing given the topic. Matthews sets up a very exciting and much under-theorized domain of inquiry, but doesn't really follow through philosophically. This book is a collection of loosely related, unsystematic reflections on topics related to childhood. To be fair, Matthews does raise a few interesting points. Yet no topic is treated with sufficient depth to redeem the collection as a whole. Moreover, Matthews doesn't develop any of his most interesting points, and does not given a sustained account of any of his key concepts. For example, he takes "children" to be a fairly obvious social group, and so does not spend any time critically interrogating definitions of childhood and adulthood. The book only superficially engages with the philosophical literature, although it is worthwhile to mine the bibliography. And while Matthews does seem to support a "child liberationist" view, he doesn't bring a sufficiently political consciousness to his argument. This is a shame, because the work of post-structuralist feminists would be very helpful to critically interrogating the concepts of childhood, adulthood, and maturity. Overall, this is not a satisfactory read for those interesting in deeply theorizing childhood. It may serve as a starting point, but not much more.

[Sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be a bit better than it actually turned out to be. The title itself contains arguably 2 of my biggest interests in life. My children and philosophy but I think the amalgamation disappointed. The book talks about Piaget and some of his opinions on children and has some interesting insights but overall nothing which got me overly thinking. Any major point, having taken a leaf out of Mortimer J Adler’s recommendations, I usually mark with a black dot at the top of the page so that I can pick up any book at any point in time that I have read and quickly flick through and see some of the main points but this one didn’t have a single one, hence the 3 stars. The book covers topics such as the philosophers view of childhood, models of childhood, moral development in children, children’s rights, childhood amnesia, children’s concept of death, children’s literature and their art.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, engaging read. Are children miniature flawed adults who gradually shed their imperfections as they mature into real people? Informed by an appreciation for philosophical questions, Matthews argues no. He is especially skeptical of developmental theories that describe children as passing through stages until they attain adult enlightenment, partly because adults are not necessarily all that enlightened (the final stages of these theories are not always "correct") and partly because little children are often very imaginative and thoughtful (if not rigorous) philosophers (and this trait unfortunately tends to go away around age 10 or so).

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually dislike books about youth issues written by anyone other than very radical youth liberationists. Matthews is no radical youth liberationist, but I liked this book a lot anyway. The book raises fascinating philosophical questions about childhood that I have continued to ponder long since reading it. I highly recommend it, especially for its treatments of children's art, the nature of childhood memories, and his treatment of the issue of children as natural philosophers.

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gareth B. Matthews presents an astute, thoughtful, readable discussion of the nature of childhood and how adults might relate to and treat children. In this he shows a remarkable respect for children, the values of children's cognitive abilities and ethics, and children's rights.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read. Able to finish in a day. Matthews dives into topics of children’s natural ability to engage in philosophy. He shows a lot of respect and admiration for children and gives clear examples of how naturally good at philosophizing they are. My interest peaked during chapters 7-9 (Childhood amnesia, childhood and death, and literature for children). The latter two chapters gave me a lot of good ideas for stimuli for P4C.

[Doni · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging account problematizing the traditional developmental framework of childhood, including questioning Piaget's interpretations of his experiments.

[Femke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why we should take children more seriously. Not very well structured but he raises some interesting points.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Were I a freshman in college, I would have enjoyed this way more than the dense philosophy books I was assigned. But as a grownup reader who gets to choose what I want to read, this was too heavy on the philosophy. I guess from the title I should have expected that, but oh well. It was not bad. Just not as light as I would have wanted.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great argument about whether children are or can be philosophers...quick and engaging read!

[Hilal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this book in Indonesian edition...