Should Philosophy be Taught Much Earlier Than College? An IAM Limited Singapore Review

The importance of philosophy

Philosophy is just as important as sports, arts, language, and nutrition in forming a well-rounded human, if not more so, yet those are the first programs to be cut due to budget because they are considered fringe courses. Kids are impressionable and, by no fault of their own, tend to blindly believe whatever moronic garbage their parents spew, as they are their only link to a moral authority. Philosophy would enable children to consider their own judgments: Do I have good reasons for thinking that people who have different race/sexual orientation/religion/sex from my own are less than? Do I have reasons at all? What are my motivations for x? (etc.)

It would be great for society to be rid of its seemingly rampant ethical egoism.

Even though I agree philosophy should be taught in grade school. I think even before philosophy is taught, logic should be taught. Logic can be used in many things especially helping people understand general philosophy. Philosophy in schools wouldn't work in too many people sadly. However, the same thing can be said of many academic subjects. Plenty of people think that learning about things that happened hundreds of years ago, or how to do math "that they'll never need in their daily life" or speak another language is pointless. It doesn't mean that they shouldn't have a basic understanding of the skills underlying those subjects, and that they shouldn't be given access to those things from a young age. Not liking a subject is not equal to not being able to gain useful and necessary advantages from having competency in it.

Change is tough; the cycle for public schooling is just terrible in the first place. We have to ask ourselves if we want to teach philosophy in schools what age do we start? When is it possible to have intellectual debates about philosophy and questioning certain ideas?

Philosophy is mandatory in high school in Italy and Yokohama Japan. Graduates from those schools learned to question everything (even what the professor said), to use logic and rational thinking, to dialogue and defend a thesis. Learning about the great philosophers and school of taught of the past is very valuable in clearing your path to the management level. It's a part of human knowledge that should not be overlooked.

What do you think, should Philosophy be taught to earlier than college? Give us your thoughts.

IAM Group Limited Ltd Singapore is a group of managers worldwide that share their experiences to serve as inspiration for the aspiring managers and middle-management individual from Yokohama, Japan; Bangkok, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and more.