tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post8982167887816498390..comments2024-03-14T04:16:20.472-07:00Comments on In Socrates' Wake: If students can't play, can they learn to philosophize?Michael Cholbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02012523929044363216noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-9583048888638420822013-10-20T04:27:52.720-07:002013-10-20T04:27:52.720-07:00Thanks for this excellent piece. I especially enjo...Thanks for this excellent piece. I especially enjoyed your introductory remarks on the parallels between philosophy and play. These call to mind some other interesting observations I read elsewhere:<br /><br />From Anthony Gottlieb’s critical review (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/books/review/Gottlieb-t.html) of Alison Gopnik's book 'The Philosophical Baby', I learned that playful immersion in hypothetical worlds is what teaches kids how to make sense of the real world; children's grasp of counterfactual situations helps them understand alternative courses of action; kids who have imaginary friends are better than other kids at predicting the thoughts and feelings of real people; and from as young as two years of age, children can grasp the difference between moral rules which are intended to avoid harm, and rules which are merely social conventions. <br /><br />I also recall a powerful short piece on the importance of play (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/28/six-year-olds-need-to-play) by Susie Steiner, who wrote that: "legions of adults [are] fighting to get back to the creative freedoms of childhood and playing, the free-associating of an unfettered imagination. If you can't play, you'll never be able to write, compose, imagine, sculpt or sketch. And yet I have never seen less emphasis on playing in the education of small children. The urge my son has, to project himself into his game – to allow this 'not-self' to engage in an imaginary world – is essential for his development."<br /><br />I'm glad to have discovered your blog and look forward to exploring the archives.<br />Michellehttp://www.thephilosophyclub.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-16475346175493129302013-10-08T15:06:23.641-07:002013-10-08T15:06:23.641-07:00Sorry...Stich.Sorry...Stich.Beckohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16074821953202236848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-63917082909164526122013-10-08T15:05:49.947-07:002013-10-08T15:05:49.947-07:00There is a significant literature (see, e.g., Nich...There is a significant literature (see, e.g., Nichols, Nichols and Stitch, etc.) that modal intuitions (both nomological and absolute) depend on (but do not reduce to) imagination (make-believe). If play plays a central role in activating and strengthening the imaginative system, or conversely, if the lack of play limits functioning of the imaginative system, then we should expect this to have significant effects for all pedagogy and especially philosophical pedagogy. It's not just philosophers who rely on modal (especially nomological) judgments. In fact, modal (especially nomological) judgments seem to play a role even in very young children in performing hypothetical reasoning. This is just to say - yes, this is an important topic in philosophy and cognitive psychology to which we should attend not just as a philosophers but as philosophy teachers.Beckohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16074821953202236848noreply@blogger.com