Teaching The Philosophy of Art in Elementary School

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Professor of Philosophy, Mount Holyoke College, USA

10.22034/jpiut.2025.21119

Abstract

This chapter makes a case for elementary-school children having the ability to discuss difficult, abstract philosophical issues. The question of whether judgments of artistic merit are objective or simply an expression of one’s preferences is used as an example of an issue in the philosophy of art that young children can discuss. To make the abstract discussion easier to enter into, a children’s picture book functions as the vehicle to raise it. In this case, Peter Catalanato’s book, Emily’s Art, raises the question about the objectivity of judgments of artistic merit. In the book, a judge clearly makes a mistake when she rejects Emily’s painting because it is a painting of a dog and she hates dogs. We ask the children what the difference is between saying one painting is better than another and saying that you like one flavor of ice cream better than another. Without introducing the names of either great philosophers or labels for philosophical problems, we are able to get young children to engage in deep philosophical discussions and even propose innovative solutions to the problems they discuss.

Keywords

References

Catalanotto, P. (2006). Emily’s art. Atheneum.
Kant, I. (1999). The critique of pure reason (P. Guyer & A. Wood, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.
Kant, I. (2001). The critique of judgment (P. Guyer & E. Matthews, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.
Kant, I. (2003). Teaching philosophy through teaching philosophy teaching. Teaching Philosophy, 26(3), 283–297.
Kant, I. (2007). Philosophy for children goes to college. Theory and Research in Education, 5(3), 329–340.
Kant, I. (2009). Big ideas for little kids: Teaching philosophy through children’s literature. Rowman & Littlefield.
Wartenberg, T. (2011). The nature of art (3rd ed.). Cengage.
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Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 19, Issue 53 - Serial Number 53
Articles
Issue 53, Winter 2026
December 2025
Pages 307-314

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