Page - 27 - in Reflective Cosmopolitanism - Educating towards inclusive communities through Philosophical Enquiry

TINA AND AMIR (MANUAL) 27 Leading Idea 2. Reasons for decision-making We talked about children´s rights and that children should be able to make use of their rights. But is it always so easy to decide and to make use of the rights. Can children or adults always make decisions themselves and for themselves? Can children and adults always do what they want? Sometimes there are difficult situations. Children want to do something and parents do not allow it. Parents want to do something and are not allowed to do it. Think about situations like this. You can also find resources on the concept of “reasons” in the manual to Ella, episode 2, leading idea 6, discussion plan and exercise on “Reasoning”; the manual to Christian, episode 3, leading idea 2 “Good reasons”; and the manual to Hanadi, episode 3, leading idea 2 “Correlation, causes, reasons” and Episode 7, leading idea 1 “Reasons” Discussion Plan: Reasons for decision-making 1. There are many reasons not to go to a school sport week. What would you say are good and what are poor reasons? No money Parents No interest Anxiety Sickness Friends Teachers School 2. What reasons could there be not to do what you want? Parents No time Anxiety Sickness Friends Money Teachers School 3. What reasons could there be for parents not to do what they want? Sickness No money No motivation Anxiety No time Children Work Friends Leading Idea 3: Empathy Empathy is a complex concept. It is an important ability that involves: (i) understanding of the situation, (ii) communicating this understanding (iii). acting on that understanding in a helpful way. Empathy is an essential skill to connect with people around you. In this episode Manar sits beside Tina on a bench. She has the empathy to recognize emotions that Tina is experiencing. She is able to share and feel Tina´s emotions. She is caring for her. Emotions are important to the quality and the meaning of our experience. Many phi- losophers like Plato, Descartes, Hobbes, and Hume developed theories about emotions. Also in recent years, emotions have become more and more the focus of philosophical concern. The American philosopher Martha Nussbaum emphasizes, in her work on the importance of emotions in moral philosophy, the central role of story-telling in expanding our empathy. Empathy is a necessary part of a just society, Nussbaum claims. Sometimes we are able to put ourselves in another’s place. It could be an act of silent communication – a shared understanding or we imagine feeling how a certain person. For example if we read a story or a book, if we see a film – the identification with the victim, the animal, the hero or with any other person or creature in the story, book or film puts us in the place of the Other. So we are able to take another´s perspective. It can be an interesting experience to see things differently. We learn to imagine what other people or