Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Philosophy for young teen?

Good luck in your search, amylou!

Your question reminded me of two of my high school teachers who made classical philosophy interesting enough to me to start out my undergraduate years as a philosophy major.

I did go to a Catholic high school, and did have trouble with the day "the hierarchy of religions" was discussed. But that was a few days out of two very interesting years.

I liked reading CS Lewis' and Madeleine L'Engle's non-fiction works. I even went to a talk given by Madeleine L'Engle at a nearby university, about which I only remember that I got to bask in her presence and that my dad was so willing to drive me to things he had no interest in himself.

For one class, we watched the movie "My Dinner With Andre."

A third vote for the UUs. Especially for an ardent and vocal atheist (I am an atheist and feel very at home in my UU church). Our church spends a lot of time considering questions of morality and philosophy. Sometimes using religious texts as one point of reference in the discussion, but looking at the subjects from many perspectives and not through a theistic lens. Different congregations do have different flavors on this, though. My oldest D belongs to a large UU congregation in Washington DC with several pastors, and when I went to church with her I noticed that some of the pastors were more "theist" than others. So if she wants to try it you might plan to go to a couple different ones if there are choices in your area.

I also attended my first Mensa meeting recently and there were a few teenagers there. I chatted with them, and they seemed like the types who would enjoy a good philosophy discussion!

What is a good overview of philosophy? There is a multi-volume series by Frederick Copleston, but what are the better single-volume treatments?

Two of my favorite philosophical works are Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" and Spinoza's "Ethics" (the original is tough going, but I suggest "Spinoza: An Introduction to His Philosophical Thought" by Stuart Hampshire).

Several posts have mentioned the intersection of religion and philosophy. I read "Atheism: The Case Against God" by George H. Smith in my early 20s. I think it was well-argued, and it confirmed my non-belief.

Tech entrepreneur and essayist Paul Graham has argued that philosophy has largely been a dead end http://paulgraham.com/philosophy.html , and he has actually read the philosophers he criticizes (he started college as a philosophy major).

I just remembered that one of the things we did a few years ago was use sparknotes.com philosophy study guides. Plato's Republic is one of the things we read. I only bought a few philosophy books and spent more time using sparknotes than reading those books.

E-gifted sometimes hosts a philosophy class. I believe we are doing one in October. You should get on the mailing list by going the website and at the bottom you can put your email in.

www.egifted.org