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Amechanon, Vol. I / 2016-2018, ISSN: 2459-2846
During the young people’s philosophical Community of Inquiry, a variety of philosophical
and narrative processes have been performed. These certainly confirm the argument of
Lipman, Sharp and Oscanyan: «Philosophy is therefore of enormous benefit to persons
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seeking to form concepts that can effectively represent aspects of their life experience» .
It also strengthens Lone and Burroughs claim, that «every child’s approach to philosophical
thinking is valued requires a clear awareness of the dangers of setting up any ‘voice of
authority’ that can shut down a student’s ability to be heard and/or inhibit a student’s
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willingness to express honestly his or her point of view» .
In many senses, these young people have developed philosophically-based narratives and
a way to observe their reality by writing «a life story», in the words of one of the children.
«Even after my grandfather died», he describes:
«I continue the story of his life. I refuse to put a conscious gravestone on him. I go
on living with him or if you want – with his body, body of memories, and this is
expressed by my often examining my changes, the path of my life through the man
who is no longer physically with me, but who is with me at every moment. I look at
my life in an existential manner, look for its meaning, and discuss the question of
human existence with myself and with the people who write on the site».
These narratives are the public revelation of the mind in action, windows to the content of
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the mind and the actions that take place in it .
In many ways, the philosophical involvement of the children and adolescents in their lives
and their hermeneutics perspectives in contrast and with those who have died (some of
whom have refused to refer to them as «deceased» but refer to them by their names) has
made their lives dynamic and able elevated through spoken or written language, and able
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to contain «moving images» .
201 Lipman, M., Sharp, A.,M., & Oscanyan, F.,S., op.cit., p. 90.
202 Lone, J.,M., & Burroughs, M., Philosophy in education: Questioning and dialogue in schools,
Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016, p. 210.
203 Chafe, W., «Some things that narratives tell us about the mind», in: Britton, B.,K., & Pellegrini,
A.,D., (Eds.), Narrative thought and narrative language, London: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1990, pp. 77–98.
204 Barthes, R., «Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives», in: Sontag, S., (Ed.), A Barthes
Reader, New York: Hill and Wang, 1983, p. 251.
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