Why teach philosophy in a world dominated by science?

• Main Author: Millet, Stephan
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: Philosophy; Children; Science; Teaching; Wonder
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/budhi/vol21/iss3/5; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/budhi/article/1544/viewcontent/Budhi_2021.3_205_20Article_20__20Millett.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

The significant benefits children gain from doing Philosophy together in the classroom are increasingly well-documented and include enhanced social skills, statistically significant improvement of measured cognitive abilities, and better performance in English, science, mathematics and computers. However, the present day emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects across Western schools is correlated with a decline in the relative importance given to Humanities, Philosophy included. This paper explores the reasons why teaching children to do Philosophy, and to do it collaboratively, is vitally important to the moral and intellectual health of future generations. In doing so, it notes also that doing Philosophy will improve appreciation of (and very possibly, performance in) the very STEM subjects that overshadow Philosophy and other Humanities subjects.