The Philosophy of Narnia
I had the pleasure of organising and running a Philosothon for Year 6 students this week. The idea is that students read a passage from a philosophical or other book and then, with the help of some question prompts and a sympathetic sixth former, engage in Socratic dialogue as they attempt to reach a shared understanding of the truths suggested by that passage. It may not surprise you to learn that one of the texts I chose was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, specifically the passage beginning:
So they went and knocked at the study door, and the Professor said “Come in,” and got up and found chairs for them and said he was quite at their disposal. Then he sat listening to them with the tips of his fingers pressed together and never interrupting, till they had finished the whole story. After that he said nothing for quite a long time. Then he cleared his throat and said the last thing either of them expected.
and ending:
“Logic!” said the Professor half to himself. “Why don’t they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn’t tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.”
So what were the questions we used to get the discussion going?
1. What is logic? If you don’t know, can you work it out from what the Professor is saying?
2. Is the Professor right that there are only three possibilities: Lucy is either lying, mad, or telling the truth?
3. Is it possible to walk through a wardrobe to another world?
4. How do you know?
5. Later in the same conversation, the Professor tells the children that “nothing is more probable” than “that there could be other worlds – all over the place, just round the corner”. Is he right?
6. What is time?
7. Why does time fly when you’re having fun?
8. Can time run at different speeds (as it does in Narnia and England)?
One of the great benefits of a Philosothon is that it gives you the opportunity to listen in on how children think. Sometimes it’s frustrating when they misinterpret a passage, but those misunderstandings can be revealing in themselves.
Another point I made when introducing the passage to the students was that the Professor himself models the ideal approach to such a lesson: he listens without interrupting, then says nothing for quite a long time before making his decisive comments. He’s a great teacher!