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Amechanon, Vol. I / 2016-2018, ISSN: 2459-2846

they won’t disappear. They will live through me and through the website which
breathes life into all my memories of her».

The philosophical and narrative discourse with the deceased

The philosophical self is created by the human capacity to contemplate existence and think

about our experiences. It is challenged by the complexity of daily life, primarily by the
profound significance of the way in which we understand life, which reveals itself in our

tendency to ask questions about our views and the way in which they develop. The
traditional perspective attaches great importance to the intellectual, social, ethical, and

emotional development of identity, being less concerned with our philosophical identity.
It is thus no wonder that the philosophical self of most children remains underdeveloped,

compelling them to understand life concretely in the way presented to them by adults via
all the social agents the latter have at their disposal. Philosophical abstraction as a skill

withers and its significance vanishes in the face of the reality of life, adults conveying the
clear message that children must deal with the latter with «concrete», «practical» tools.

In her seminal book The Philosophical Child, Jana Mohr Lone argues that, in most cases,
we exhibit a tendency to develop abilities that appear to be naturally human capacities. It
is thus reasonable to assume that those of us who are drawn to the philosophic approach

will be those who develop their philosophical thinking skills 200 . Philosophical sensitivity

around issues like death and body begins in an interest in unresolved questions relating to
all areas of life. Thinking about such questions makes us aware that the way in which we

understand things is not necessarily commensurate with what they actually are. This
awareness leads to further questions. The more we examine the nature of our existence,

the more questions we ask. Cultivation of this philosophical identity strengthens our ability
to pay attention to the complexity that lies below the surface of life. Just as Aristotle’s

ethical notion links learning with identification of the ethical aspects in events and
experience, so the development of philosophical sensitivity enhances our ability to more

easily and simply discern and distinguish the philosophical aspects of the situations we
encounter.

200 Lone, J.,M., The philosophical child, op.cit.

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