The Philosophical Pragmatism of Children

Children are awesome. They really are. Of course, in a world hell-bent on being productive and efficient and getting things done 'on time' children can be a pain-in-the-ass. Really. Children in a world of efficiency are a problem. Children take time. Children--if we are to honour them--require us to slow down and address their questions and concerns.

And what is a child's question generally referenced to? Something pragmatic and practical. If I am working at my friend Brice's house and his second oldest son Gavin sees me using tools he wants to know what their name is--number 1--and what it is used for--number 2. The child's pragmatic philosophy is centered around two fundamental questions: what is it called--its name; and what is it used for--its purpose.

To me the notion that children are dubious 'Romantics'--thank you very much Ken Wilber, who has certainly been no friend to childhood philosophy/spirituality (and pardon me if I am wrong here)--who have these pie-in-the-sky notions of what things are--i.e., that children are wraught with the pernicious offshoots of mythical and magical thought and thinking--belies the central facts evident to anyone who has ever spent any time with a child (can you hear me now Ken?), which is that children are deeply pragmatic.

To suggest that children are all about fairies and unicorns and dragons and monsters is to create a caricature of children. It is offensive to anyone who cares about children, period! For it paints a prejudiced, one-sided picture of children and their philosophical tendencies that does not even an iota of justice to the child,n or to what a parent might be able to glean from the philosophical pragmatism of his or her children.

The truth is that children ask all sorts of questions. Not just 'Why is the sky blue?,' but also 'What is that called,?' and 'What's it for?'

And I would dare to say that children ask more of the latter type questions than the former: questions that have to do with creating a sense of intimacy and familiarity with the world around them. And gosh dang it folks--who couldn't love that!?!