Folktales and Philosophy for Children

“You know,” Socrates says, “that the beginning of any kind of work is its most important part, especially when it deals with young and tender things during the period when they are most easily formed” (Plato, 1873, p. 377ab). This seems right. Socrates continues, “Then should we be so careless as to allow children to hear just any story made up by anyone who comes along, taking ideas into their minds that are the exact opposite of the ones they should have when they grow up?” Perhaps, but which stories are the ones children shouldn’t have? The false stories? Even Socrates admits, “[W]e begin by telling stories to children that are mostly false but contain a grain of truth” (Plato, 1873, p. 377b). Perhaps there are “bad” stories. If so, either we must write the stories ourselves or, as Socrates recommends, “we must first supervise the storytellers, accepting what is good and rejecting what is bad” (Plato, 1873, p. 377a). The presumption here that children cannot themselves philosophize and thus cannot discriminate between “good” and “bad” stories has recently been challenged. Indeed, today’s Philosophy for Children (P4C) movement turns on genuine optimism about children’s thinking. Yet there is something of merit in what Socrates says. Not only can very young children not be expected to discriminate between “good” and “bad” stories, but even the philosophizing of older children can be helped with a bit of direction.