Winner of the 2022 Book Award of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia, Gareth B. Matthews, The Child's Philosopher brings together groundbreaking essays by renowned American philosopher Gareth B. Matthews in three fields he helped to initiate: philosophy in children's literature, philosophy for children, and philosophy of childhood. In addition, contemporary scholars critically assess Matthews' pioneering efforts and his legacy. Gareth B. Matthews (1929-2011) was a specialist in ancient and medieval philosophy who had conversations with young children, discovering that they delight in philosophical puzzlement and that their philosophical thinking often enriched his own understanding. Those conversations became the impetus for a substantial component of Matthews' scholarship, from which this book features essays spanning the length of his career. Contemporary contributors to the book critically evaluate Matthews' scholarship, showing where he broke new ground and identifying developments and debates in the fields he helped to initiate. They take up pressing challenges, including biased idealizations of childhood in children's literature; the tensions between teaching philosophy to, and doing philosophy with young people; the merits of theorizing childhood without theorizing children; and how professional philosophy at once desires and resists a return to childhood. This second volume in the Philosophy for Children Founders series is an important resource for philosophers, educators, and anyone interested in children's philosophical thinking, developmental psychology, what it means to philosophize with children, the nature of childhood, and how children's literature goes philosophical. It will guide and inspire those who share Matthews' conviction that the impulse to philosophize begins in early childhood. Contributors (in addition to Gareth B. Matthews): Stephanie Burdick-Shepherd, Cristina Cammarano, Claire Cassidy, Stanley Cavell, Maughn Rollins Gregory, Jennifer Glaser, Walter Omar Kohan, Megan Jane Laverty, Jana Mohr Lone, Karin Murris, Peter Shea, Susan M. Turner, Susannah Sheffer.

This rich and diverse collection offers a range of perspectives and practices of Philosophy for Children (P4C). P4C has become a significant educational and philosophical movement with growing impact on schools and educational policy. Its community of inquiry pedagogy has been taken up in community, adult, higher, further and informal educational settings around the world. The internationally sourced chapters offer research findings as well as insights into debates provoked by bringing children's voices into moral and political arenas and to philosophy and the broader educational issues this raises, for example: historical perspectives on the field democratic participation and epistemic, pedagogical and political relationships philosophy as a subject and philosophy as a practice philosophical teaching across the curriculum embodied enquiry, emotions and space knowledge, truth and philosophical progress resources and texts for philosophical inquiry ethos and values of P4C practice and research. The Routledge International Handbook of Philosophy for Children will spark new discussions and identify emerging questions and themes in this diverse and controversial field. It is an accessible, engaging and provocative read for all students, researchers, academics and educators who have an interest in Philosophy for Children, its educational philosophy and its pedagogy.