Jana Mohr Lone joins the conversation.  She believes that we all have a philosophical self, including kids as young as five years old.  This philosophical self is unfortunately left out when it comes to formal education.  Jana’s work tries to change this imbalance by discussing philosophical issues with kids of all ages, from kindergarten to high school.  And everyone, kids and adults alike, seem to love debating the issues, perhaps even as much as John and Ken.

But today’s show is not merely a philosophical discussion of children and philosophy—it’s a philosophical discussion by the fourth-grade live audience.  Together with John, Ken, and Jana the kids explore philosophical issues ranging from the nature of composite objects to the mind-body problem to the nature of personal identity.  Ken notices that the kids work through these deep issues in parallel steps to the history of philosophy.  For example, everyone seems to start out a dualist, but, with some prodding by John and Ken, some children start to question why the supposedly separate mind cannot exist without the brain.  The discussion, a good deal more heartwarming than your average philosophical debate, confirms that children are natural philosophers.  Even John has to admit to being amazed—the fourth graders grasp the issues quicker than most college students!

• Roving Philosophical Reporter (seek to 4:50): Angela Kilduff talks to some college students learning about how to teach philosophical issues to children.  Certain issues, such as justice, death, and right and wrong, are important issues that children can grasp and debate.  And these conversations have an incredible power; they can forever change how these young philosophers mentally develop, even the basic way they engage with the world!

• 60-Second Philosopher (seek to 45:25): Ian Shoales discusses how the way that parents treat the intelligence of children has changed in the last fifty years. Back in his day, kids were usually "too smart for their own good."  Nowadays, "helicopter parents" never leave their kids alone, always "hovering" to ensure that a child’s activities are appropriately educational.  Surely, there must be a middle ground?