Following the announcement by the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of the development of a new subject for secondary school students to study, which is “Critical Thinking Skills and Philosophy”, and in view of the intellectual and scientific development that philosophy is intended to lead to the benefit of society, the convoy in Riyadh organized a discussion session entitled “Philosophy in Life and Education”, in which a number of specialists participated in this topic. The convoy aimed, through the methods of this new and important topic, to familiarize the members of society with the importance of philosophy and what it adds to societal thought, by raising the most vital questions of the reasons for progress and building critical thought.
Eng. Abdullah Al-Nafaei assumed the task of managing the dialogue. He valued the distinguished attendees for their efforts in participating in this intellectual discussion and welcomed the participants, describing the symposium as a unique event and an emerging and important topic, which is the teaching of philosophy in the schools of the Kingdom. He added: "Following the decision of the Ministry of Education, a large and diverse dialogue began, whether in newspapers, visual media, or social media about this step, its impact, and the positives expected from it." It is consistent with the major changes that have followed since the announcement of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.
advertising materialPhilosophy as the art of living
Socrates would go down to the common people, arguing with everyone he met on the street, while Plato had the same reality in mind when he was talking about the theory of forms, trying to provide solutions to problems at the time. Thus, Professor Shaya Al-Waqayan, a member of the Riyadh Philosophical Circle, began the session, trying to correct some common concepts about philosophy, pointing out that philosophy was famous in the perception of most people as an abstract science isolated from living reality, or living existence, and that philosophers wander in the abstractions of abstraction. This perception may have a justification, knowing that it is wrong, because the goal of philosophy and abstraction is to understand existence today, as Socrates and Plato used to do.
He added: "In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, modern philosophies emerged that were fed up with those that were prevalent at the time and that transcended the living reality, called philosophies of life, as is the case with Nietzsche, and with existential philosophers such as Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre and others, and the state of philosophy Pragmatism with William James, where a kind of return to the world of things themselves and an attempt to understand everyday existence appears.
A better life with philosophy
So can philosophy help us live a better life? and how? This question was the cornerstone of the session, and from it Al-Waqiyan started noting that many people hold a negative attitude towards philosophy, at a time when important developments have emerged at the level of contemporary man’s relationship with philosophy, such as the emergence of philosophical clinics similar to psychiatric clinics, and this is something strange and new to us, To go to a philosopher to solve your problems instead of a doctor or therapist. But we have confidence that the "authentic philosopher" can help a person who suffers from problems in public life, or in his perception of himself, others, and existence in general, from placing himself within a reasonable and understandable natural context.
To illustrate this, Al-Waqiyan enumerated five important points about what can philosophy offer us? And what are the benefits that we will get from it in our lives:
Living authentically, meaning that human existence is coexistence with others, and it is a postulate that Heidegger alerted us to, who tried to go beyond what Descartes said before him, that he exists, but he does not know whether the external world exists or not, and he is not to blame for that; Because he used a certain method to reach existence, which is the method of "epistemological skepticism", Heidegger was saying that it is necessary to start from a certain axiom, which is that I exist in the world and exist with others, and therefore we must when philosophizing to proceed from this saying.
Existence is of two types: authentic existence and false existence. The counterfeit is a kind of dependent existence, meaning that a person becomes fed up of himself, becomes lazy and helpless, follows people, goes with them in their intellectual schools, engages in the same work as theirs, and does not have self-conviction, so he falls into gossip without his words having a meaning. As for the original existence, it is for a person to bear the existence of himself and the responsibility for what he does, and when a person is saturated with philosophy, he begins to deviate to this type.
Critical awareness, philosophy in general is a critical skeptical science that does not start from preconceived notions or postulates, but rather from “putting our convictions aside,” even if temporarily, as Descartes and Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali say, meaning that we do not deny it completely, but we put it aside in order to see reality as it is, and not As others portray it to us. Systematic unsatisfactory skepticism is very important and prevents falling into myths.
• Respect for others. Philosophy teaches respect for others if a person reads it and is saturated with it. Correct reading is to read and philosophize while reading, in the sense of arguing with the writer and discussing his ideas. Not being isolated requires respect for others; Because they are part of what it is.
• The love of knowledge, if philosophy is based on raising questions, rather than providing answers, it will necessarily push a person to continue knowledge and not stop, and every small and big question will continue to raise him questions, but without reaching the state of obsession, and to know how to ask the right question about Everyday phenomena, the universe, and the world. The questions raised by philosophical reading make the mind always anxious, searching for an answer, and this leads to study, research and reading.
Teaching freedom and dignity, whereby the philosopher must know himself well, and give it its value without glorification or contempt, because he will not be satisfied with degeneration into situations that violate his dignity and freedom, if he carries the true perception of himself and others.
Philosophy and its relationship to critical thinking
Dr. Abdullah Al-Mutairi went on to explain in detail about this relationship through the recent announcement by the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of the development of a new subject for secondary school students to study, namely: "Skills of Critical Thinking and Philosophy". This announcement revived questions about the relationship of philosophy with many things, including its relationship to critical thinking in particular; Because people are not in agreement about this relationship, between those who see it as essential and important, and those who see the possibility of teaching critical thinking without resorting to teaching philosophy, at a time when the Ministry of Education put philosophy and critical thinking in one course and one book as if it recognized this connection between them.
Does this relationship really exist? And if so, is it a privileged relationship, better than anything else?
Dr. Al-Mutairi said, "There are two types of relationship between philosophy and critical thinking, they are: the practical relationship and the conceptual relationship. The practical relationship is the practice of teaching critical thinking or teaching philosophy. Philosophy raises the possibilities of critical thinking for the learner. As for the conceptual relationship, it is a necessary relationship and cannot be Practicing philosophy without criticism, because criticism is essential in any thesis, as it is not considered philosophical unless it includes philosophical criticism.This leads us to another question as well: Is the relationship reciprocal between learning philosophy and learning critical thinking?The answer is that it is not reciprocal, because a person may learn Critical thinking, but he does not learn philosophy because there is a curriculum and content of its own. The question remains: Is philosophy superior to other sciences in teaching critical thinking? Behind this question are propositions saying that teaching sound thinking is rooted in all sciences and is a prerequisite for them, and therefore philosophy is not privileged over others in this field. The answer to this question, according to Dr. Al-Mutairi, is that philosophy is distinguished from other sciences in its relationship to philosophical thinking in two respects: First, that philosophy does not require sound thinking only, but it requires that sound thinking be critical as well. Proper thinking may limit its work to the application of established rules in a sound manner, but critical thinking requires revisions of principles and foundations, and this is what philosophy specializes in. A doctorate degree, as it is established in international academia, is called a degree of philosophy in a specific field. This means that the holder or holder of this certificate has not only been able to apply the scientific curricula (this has been achieved, for example, in the master's degree), but he or she has also been able to practice criticism of the first principles and premises in his field of specialization.
But we can object to the previous point by pointing out that philosophy is not the only science that studies thinking. For example, we have psychology that studies human thinking in its various types and forms. This is true, but there is a fundamental difference between the nature of the study of psychology to think and the study of philosophy to think. We can say that psychology studies human thinking while philosophy studies what human thinking should be. In the sense that psychology is descriptive science and philosophy is normative. The philosophical aspect concerned with the norm of thinking is logic, and here the picture becomes clear that critical thinking is in fact nothing but a teaching of logic, but this time not through symbols but through direct life examples.
Teaching philosophy in schools
Ms. Dalia Tounsi, founder of the Baseera Center for Philosophy Education for Children in Jeddah, was distinguished in the session as being part of the team that participated in developing the philosophy and critical thinking curriculum at the Ministry of Education. In her speech, she said, "The ministry focused on a basic idea, which is: What will be presented to students, through the method and habits of philosophical thinking, which I call 'possibilities'." The introduction to the curriculum that the students study included a return to the Socratic curriculum, which differs from the school curriculum, which is concerned with philosophical content. There are basic differences between philosophy in the two approaches. In the school curriculum, it is an integrated content of learning, and a dogmatism that begins with holistic theories, and is limited to academics. Whereas in the Socratic method it is an active process, which begins with questioning, and is for all.
And I reviewed the experience of a Tunisian academic in the sixties named Mathew Lipman, known as the founder of Philosophy for Children. Philosophical, presented in simple steps, befitting an ordinary teacher. She said: This leads me to stress that the idea of teaching philosophical thinking is not confined to academics at the university, but it is also valid for ordinary general education. But we will face many great challenges, including: the reputation of philosophy, the debates associated with it, the educational content and its inclusion in the curricula in general or as an independent subject, and the relationship of the teacher to the learner.
Types of Philosophical Thinking Methods
Tounsi addressed curricula for teaching philosophical thinking, saying: "There are three types of curricula: a teacher-centered type, which is concerned with content, and two student-centered types, namely: the curriculum concerned with objectives, and the curriculum concerned with the educational process. For the teacher-centered curriculum, the student is more like In an empty package, the teacher has full authority, and the content is always specific and separate, where the subject of expression is separate from the subject of literature.As for the student-centered curricula that are concerned with setting extracurricular goals, the teacher remains the one who has the greatest authority. Centered around the teacher asking a question, the answer to which is a long tunnel through which the student walks until he guesses a specific answer according to what the teacher wants.This leads us to the British study that found that the teacher asks 400 questions a day, but 60% of them are procedural questions, and the % The remaining 40 are questions from the lower ranks (such as: who is and when), because there are specific questions called: questions of the higher ranks according to the division of the scientist by color (such as: how is it possible), and these are guesswork questions that the teacher asks only 6% during the school day. This approach neglects tests or results, and is concerned with what happens during the educational process in the end, and it is a method that establishes a different relationship between the teacher and the learner.
Tunisia's experience with philosophy
After that, Dr. Noureddine bin Muhammad Al-Safi, Professor of Islamic Thought at King Faisal University, spoke about the Tunisian experience, and his personal experience in teaching philosophy. He started university teaching in 1984 AD, and he went through many very difficult experiences. He said that in the first half of the twentieth century, it became clear that the subject of philosophy was a basic subject in the formation of the student, whoever he was, and whatever his scientific specialization, so the Tunisian Ministry of Education developed the first curriculum for philosophy, and Dr. Al-Safi had learned philosophy in France, and he spoke in the French tongue. Fortunately for his generation at that time, he studied at the Faculty of Arts at Al-Zaytoonah University at the hands of French philosophers.
Then, in 1975-1976 AD, the law of Arabization of philosophy was issued in Tunisia within the wave of Arabization of education in full. The first integrated program of philosophy appeared, and the first book for the student and the professor, consisting of three volumes, containing the texts of philosophers and summaries of lessons according to the official program at the time. There was also a renewal and development of the philosophy program, which included moving away from the history and schools of philosophy and directing education to philosophizing itself through philosophical questions. In addition to the emergence of the new educational law for the educational system in 1991, the emergence of the directive law regulating school life in 2002, the reorganization of education in Tunisia and the rebuilding of the philosophy program anew in a different way in teaching, book architecture and course content.
The textbook at that time had to consist of two things:
The official text that defines the aims and objectives of teaching in Tunisia.
The pedagogical reality as it is practiced in the teaching classes, and as observed in the teachers' daily work.
At that time, the endeavor was to study the existential school, the Marxist school, Islamic philosophy, and Saxon philosophy, and the student would graduate with knowledge of all philosophical schools. The student was studying philosophy 7 hours a week.
He presented the general objectives of the philosophy programs in secondary education that focus on the idea of freedom and liberation, and that they are achieved thanks to the practice of thinking through the works of great philosophers and thinkers, in addition to helping the student to self-elevate from a spontaneous position to a conscious position that supports his choices in thought and behavior, and drives him to creativity. It is protected by intellectual and emotional flatness and surrender to minimal effort. As for the abilities that the student should acquire, they were as follows: • Analyzing issues through texts. • Technically expressing the problem posed by the text. • Identifying inference methods in the text. • Composing. • Reusing and disposing of acquired knowledge. Expressing and training students on methods Writing (philosophical essay).
I think
Dr. Al-Safi reviewed some of the books in which he studied or taught, such as the book: “I Think,” which includes a number of philosophers’ texts that do not use explanation. He stated that what corrupted the philosophers and gave philosophy a bad reputation are those who study philosophy from its history and not from its owners. Therefore, the saying of the philosopher himself must be taught, not what was said about the philosopher, and the student must learn how to deal with the source, not with the reference, and how to dialogue with the philosopher himself and not with those who wrote about the philosopher, and for example, Hegel is the philosopher, but the Hegelians are not philosophers, and Marx is The philosopher, but the Marxists are not philosophers..etc.
He added: "Before 2002 AD, another book was added for the third secondary grade, for the graduation year for Arts and Sciences, which is the book "Life and Thinking", which teaches students how to observe life in its biological, physical sense first, and natural and physical second, to understand the meaning of life, living and habit, where the student studies how to recognize With the intellectual and mental heritage, how do we think about extreme issues, how do we think about war, how do we think about death, how do we think about illness, and how do we think about pain.”
Then Al-Safi mentioned another book "unparalleled", consisting of 800 pages, which was taught in 8 hours a week, written in cooperation with the Ministry of Education in France, and it deals with the "issue of life and thinking." This book focused on the so-called intellectual fallacies that exist in society, and in the prevailing thought, meaning how do you understand that the speaker is misleading you, or that what is called an argument is not an argument.
Improving the image of philosophy, many suggestions and comments
These words were followed by a dialogue that Dr. Fares Bukhamseen started with the question: How can we improve the image of philosophy in society, and convince those who doubt it and the importance of critical thinking in their role in our daily and intellectual lives? He got several answers. Professor Shaya Al-Waqayan said that the best solution to free minds from stereotyped images of philosophy is to approach them, and to teach them. While Dr. Abdullah Al-Mutairi pointed out that the opportunity is present today for direct contact with people through social media, for example, and presenting the philosophical product must be done in a convincing manner as it is an existing challenge.
For his part, Dr. Nour Al-Din Al-Safi explained the necessity of understanding the student from his childhood that the teacher is not a source of knowledge, but rather the adoption of knowledge in the classroom in a circular motion between a teacher and learners and a knowledge mediator, which is the book, exercises, and others. This would create a generation with a mind who was brought up to be a worker who is good at philosophizing, which is a very refined mental process.
Duha Al-Moataz asked about the specialization and qualifications of the teacher prepared to teach the philosophy subject that the Ministry of Education introduced and which enabled him to teach it? Ms. Dalia Tounsi replied that the method of teaching philosophical thinking is directed to all types of teachers. It is assumed that the teacher can apply it with his students in most of the study subjects, for example, the Arabic language teacher uses the tools of philosophical thinking such as coming up with refutable sentences, or transforming the idea into a philosophical question or conceptual thinking. Therefore, the issue is not that you have good philosophical content, but that the teacher has a desire to develop himself, so that he uses the existing materials in teaching philosophical thinking and integrates them into the existing subjects with ease.
Dr. Nour Al-Din Al-Safi suggested that the Ministry of Education invest the large number of graduates of Saudi universities in the departments of education, psychology and sociology, after they have obtained specific training, whether in teaching methods, or in some philosophical content, so that they are temporarily qualified to carry out this task, pending the decision The ministry will open departments of philosophy in its universities, which will be soon, God willing, and the opportunity will be prepared for the son of the homeland, the environment and the land to carry out the task of addressing the existing mentality in a beautiful way that achieves its philosophical purposes.
Dr. Rashid Al-Abdulkarim, Professor of Curriculum and Teaching Methods at King Saud University, also raised a question about the extent to which it is possible to teach critical thinking without delving into philosophy. Dr. Al-Mutairi replied that teaching thinking skills apart from philosophy is similar to the behavior of someone who can travel by car or bicycle, so he chooses a bicycle instead of a car. As for Dr. Al-Safi, he added that the most important sciences were established at the hands of philosophers. For example, psychology was founded by the German philosopher Wundt Wilhelm, and sociology was founded by the French philosopher Auguste Comte, the founder of the positivist school, so that the birth of contemporary mathematics was the result of a philosophical question. Without philosophy, mathematics, natural sciences, ideology, psychology, sociology, and methodological science would not have developed!
Dr. Musa Al-Fifi, professor of adult education at King Saud University, expressed his opinion that a clear identity for philosophy should be defined by defining it in a comprehensive manner. The same opinion was expressed by Professor Muhammad Al-Nafisah, who demanded the necessity of defining philosophy, saying that “in its human history there is black and white.” Professor Mona Al-Hamoud, the educational supervisor at the Ministry of Education, also suggested presenting philosophy to students in a historical context that preserves the student’s idea away from distraction.
Dr. Fawzia Al-Bakr, a specialist in educational policies, believed that the ability to understand the Arabic language would greatly help us in philosophical understanding.
كما أبدت الأستاذة منيرة القحطاني رئيسة قسم الترجمة في أرامكو السعودية ملاحظة مفادها أنه إذا كان تعليم الفلسفة هو وسيلة لتحقيق هدف الارتقاء والتقدُّم والابتكار، فسيحتاج الأمر إلى منظومة كاملة تبدأ ببيئة محفّزة تعطي مساحة للإبداع والابتكار!
تعريف الفلسفة
استهل الدكتور عبدالله المطيري أستاذ فلسفة التربية بجامعة الملك سعود وعضو حلقة الرياض الفلسفية مداخلته بالتعريف اللغوي المباشر للفلسفة وهو حب الحكمة. وهي تعنى بالشغف الإنساني بالمعرفة. هذا الشغف الذي انطلق مع بداية وجود الإنسان وتطوّره مع التاريخ فأصبح هناك ما يمكن تسميته بالمنهج الفلسفي وهو طريقة التفكير الفلسفية وكذلك المضمون الفلسفي وهو مجمل الموضوعات والأسئلة والمباحث في المعرفة والأخلاق والماورائيات والجمال. والواقع أن تحديد الفلسفة هو من الصعوبة إلى درجة أنه أصبح هو نفسه مادة نقاش فلسفية.أما المنهج الفلسفي فيقوم على التساؤل والمناقشة والجدال بالمنطق وتقديم الحجج في نسق منتظم.
تعريف التفكير الناقد
التفكير النقدي هو العناية النشطة والمستمرة والدقيقة بأي اعتقاد أو معرفة مفترضة في ضوء الأسس التي تدعمها والنتائج التي تؤدِّي إليها، وهو تعريف فيلسوف التربية جون ديوي. ولذا تهتم مناهج التفكير النقدي بأنواع المنطق، مثل: المنطق الاستنباطي، والمنطق الاستقرائي، وتصنيف الحجج، وكيفية تحديد المقدِّمات من النتائج في الحجج، وإعادة ترتيب الأطروحات، ودراسة الحيل والمفارقات، وتمييز الحجج من الدعوى، وبهذا المعنى يسمى التفكير الناقد المنطق العملي (Practical logic) أو المنطق غير الرسمي (Informal logic) إذ يستخدم الأمثلة الحياتية البسيطة في حين أن المنطق الصوري يستخدم الرموز في تفسير الظواهر.
تجربة فلسفية شخصية
روى فارس الفرزان، وهو أحد الطلاب الجامعيين الذين حضروا الجلسة، تجربته مع الفلسفة عندما كان يدرس في المرحلة الثانوية، وقال: "كانت لدي أسئلة في مادة الفيزياء تحديداً، وكنت اُلحُّ على أستاذي بالسؤال: أنت تقول إن الإلكترون له طبيعتان فما هو الإلكترون نفسه؟ هل سأقتنع أن الإلكترون هو شيئان في الوقت نفسه؟ وكان يتحاشى الإجابة؛ لأنه كان هو نفسه متورطاً في هذا السؤال! غضبت، وبدأت أبحث عن الأجوبة، واتضح لي فيما بعد أن العلم لا يستطيع الإجابة عن السؤال. واتضحت لي أشياء كثيرة جداً، واكتشفت أهمية الفلسفة، والذي أرجوه نشر الوعي بأهمية الفلسفة، وتدريس التاريخ الفكري والفلسفي في المدارس. فأنا كنت أحاول أن أنشر بين أصدقائي ذلك".