The Complete Philosophy Files

"Like Julian’s book, this book enables a young child to read something that is close to ‘real’ philosophy. Yes. They’re much more representative of the things you might get into when you’re at university doing a philosophy degree, certainly in this country. That’s why I like to include them, because it’s great for very young children. Just to give you an example, I’ve had children in sessions actually explain to me the difference between qualitative and numerical identity — and even use the right nomenclature. The reason they’ve done it is because they have just read the chapter in Stephen Law’s book on whether or not you can step in the same river twice, which is a perennial favorite of mine in classrooms. The numerical identity is those particular materials that something is actually made of. Qualitative identity describes the properties of that thing. So, if you’re talking about water flowing in a river, some children will talk about the stuff the river is made of and they’ll say that because the water is always changing and evaporating you can’t step in the same river twice. Others will talk about the fact that it’s got water in it and it flows and follows the same path and it doesn’t matter that it’s not the same exact water. Young children are very good at identifying these sophisticated ideas. I’ve had children identifying an infinite regress, even though they don’t use those words. They might also notice that someone is working on an assumption. Or, as I’ve said, they might make a distinction between numerical and qualitative identity. These are the sorts of things children do, descriptively. On the whole they don’t have the nomenclature, so it’s rather nice, with Stephen Law’s book, that they can go off and read on their own and come back having learnt this and then apply it in the context of these dialogic sessions they’re having. That’s right. My favorite one, which captures all these qualities, is the story of Brad Baddely and the time loop. It’s about a man who is on a planet which is about to explode. He’s stuck there, his spaceship has broken down, and then, just before the planet explodes, he’s visited by his future self who has time travelled back to save him. So he steps into his future self’s spaceship and is taken back to the space station where he came from. It sets up this whole possible paradox and Stephen has got this nice way of framing it so he doesn’t get into too much trouble. At the end of it, he pans back and the two characters are watching this on the tv. Exactly, Stephen puts it into a frame within the book which works really nicely – it’s nice to get the kids thinking about the paradox before you reveal that it’s actually just a tv show."

"For those who are on holiday as a family, this is the ideal philosophy book to bring along. Written in short, humorous, easy-to-read chapters, with illustrations by Daniel Postgate, Law addresses most of the big philosophical questions, approaching them through imaginative sci-fi scenarios and thought experiments that are sure to get you discussing them. Is there a God? Should I eat meat? Where did the Universe come from? These are questions that children ask, and few adults can answer definitively. Once your children realise what you are reading, and how entertaining and stimulating this is, you’ll probably find them sneaking the book away to read themselves."