What I have to present before you today will be more in the form of work in progress than a finished paper on the subject of reasoning in children. This work grew out of an NEH Summer Seminar 1988 at the University of Massachusetts, directed by Gareth Matthews. I had a number of motivations for attending this seminar, but the primary one was to have the opportunity to look at the work of Piaget on children's reasoning. The primary reason why (...) this interests me is a very pragmatic one. Often, in the course of introducing the Philosophy for Children program to teachers I am confronted with one or more "Piagetians" or "constructivists," as they sometimes seem to like to call themselves. (shrink)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to help bridge the digital divide that arises from people having such different viewpoints that little communication is possible, even though all have access to the internet and speak the same language. Design/methodology/approach The method is to catalog the best practices in collaboration and cooperation in the form of a pattern language. After describing pattern languages, some examples are given. Findings People have been trying to cooperate in many cultures over many centuries, and (...) there are many the best practices that can be useful to find a common ground. Research limitations/implications The patterns suggested do not easily allow empirical and objective A/B testing. Practical implications Any pattern or guideline will be applied by most people in most contexts. There will always be practical limitations in the appropriate scope of application. Social implications A more widespread use of the patterns should help heal the divisiveness in society. Originality/value While pattern languages have been used in many fields, this is the first attempt to do so in fostering civil engagement. (shrink)

Subjects in experiments use real-life strategies that differ significantly from those assumed by experimenters. First, true randomness is rare in both natural and constructed environments. Second, communication follows conventions which depend on the game-theoretic aspects of situations. Third, in the common rhetorical stance of storytelling, people do not tell about the representative but about unusual, exceptional, and rare cases.

Having been involved in the Philosophy For Children program for several years now as a philosopher/teacher trainer, I often have had the occasion to reflect upon my experience. While conduction "Philosophy for Children" workshops, I have discovered that one of the great joys of that process has been the way in which teachers have so often responded to the material. It has come as quite a surprise to me that after some initial hesitance, the teachers become enthusiastically involved in the (...) dialogues which take place in the workshop process. Perhaps this shouldn't surprise me, but it does. I have even found it somewhat confusing because, as a philosopher, I am used to the idea of being thought esoteric, divorced from reality and not really concerned with matters of everyday importance. But here is a case in which others, too, are discovering that it is not only permissible to talk about philosophical ideas, but actually encouraged. It was a surprise to me to discover that people do want to think about philosophical ideas. (shrink)