{"id":56854,"date":"2021-04-14T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T15:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=56854"},"modified":"2021-04-13T21:37:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T04:37:58","slug":"helping-a-child-gain-self-confidence-advice-from-three-great-philosophers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/helping-a-child-gain-self-confidence-advice-from-three-great-philosophers\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping a child gain self-confidence: advice from three great philosophers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The years 2020 and 2021 will have been, for schoolchildren as well as for students, years “heckled”, not to say “black”.\u00a0The strong disturbances due to the pandemic have generated a lot of stress, caused psychological distress, and psychologically weakened a large number of children and young people.<\/p>\n

Under these conditions, can parents cherish the hope of restoring their children’s self-confidence?\u00a0And how should it go about it?\u00a0Three great philosophers seem to us to provide valuable advice.\u00a0Let’s listen to them.<\/p>\n

Descartes’ advice: fight indecision<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We generally retain of\u00a0Descartes<\/a>\u00a0that he is the\u00a0philosopher of<\/a>\u00a0systematic\u00a0doubt<\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0If he decides to reject “as absolutely false everything in which {he} could imagine the slightest doubt”, it is in order to find “something which was entirely unmistakable”.<\/p>\n

His whole endeavor is motivated by “the desire to learn to distinguish the true from the false, to see clearly in {his} actions, and to walk confidently in this life”.<\/p>\n

Now, if doubt is a necessity for philosophical reflection which, in its search for truth, must be able to uproot error, it is an obstacle for action, which “often does not suffer any delay”.\u00a0It is in order not to remain unresolved in his actions while reason obliges him to be so in his judgments, that Descartes has endowed himself with a “morality by provision”.\u00a0His second maxim, “be as firm and resolute in my actions as I can,” expresses a\u00a0radical condemnation<\/a>\u00a0of irresolution.<\/p>\n

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You have to know how to make decisions, even if uncertainties persist. by Engin Akyurt from Pexels , CC BY<\/p><\/div>\n

Irresolution is the hallmark of “weak and faltering minds.”\u00a0It is by acquiring strength and firmness of mind that children will gain self-confidence.\u00a0You have to know how to make decisions, even if they are based only on opinions, doubtful by nature;\u00a0and to put them into practice, even if this involves considerable effort, and requires perseverance which is not always straightforward.<\/p>\n

You can start simply, in a period of confinement: accompany your child in the development of a schedule, and be vigilant as to his respect.\u00a0There is no small decision, for who is able to make it.\u00a0And the constancy in the effort is the key to the success which will give confidence.<\/p>\n

Kant’s advice: focus on sports activities<\/h4>\n

Kant is not only the author of the three great\u00a0Critics<\/em>\u00a0(of Pure Reason, Practical Reason, and Judgment) that every student of philosophy must have read.\u00a0He was interested in a great many subjects, including earthquakes, westerly winds, head diseases, bodily medicine, counterfeit books\u2026 and education!\u00a0His\u00a0Reflections on Education<\/em><\/a>\u00a0offer solid considerations on the educational enterprise.<\/p>\n

A great rule could be retained: education has the essential task of forging the will of children.\u00a0But this has to be understood in two ways.\u00a0The first is to resist whims: “the child will therefore have to meet resistance”.\u00a0“Natural” resistance is not to give in.\u00a0For parents and educators not to resist is a \u201cbig mistake\u201d, because true freedom is the fruit of culture, of which discipline is a condition.\u00a0But, specifies Kant, if \u201ceducation must include constraint\u2026 it must not for all that become slavery\u201d.<\/p>\n

The second way to forge will is to offer \u201causpicious opportunities\u201d to exercise \u201cmental faculties\u201d, by combating \u201csoftening\u201d.\u00a0It starts with the cultivation of the body!\u00a0Kant is a staunch supporter of serious physical and sports education.\u00a0He advocates in particular the learning of swimming, and the practice of any exercise allowing to acquire “of the force, the skill, the speed, the safety”.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, you must be able to cross narrow footbridges, climb steep heights where you can see the void in front of you, walk on a wavering floor.\u00a0If a man cannot do this, he is not quite what he could be \u201d.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Encountering resistance, and strengthening and hardening one’s body, are for Kant the two privileged paths of character formation. by MathDudels.com from Pexels , CC BY<\/p><\/div>\n

It is therefore by registering their children for activities (as long as they are not prohibited by confinement!) Such as swimming, gymnastics, or climbing, which make it possible to fight against “fear” which ” paralyzes \u201d, that they will be allowed to develop their self-confidence.<\/p>\n

Encountering resistance, and strengthening and hardening one’s body, are for Kant the two privileged paths of character formation.\u00a0Kant thus joins Descartes, in condemning irresolution:<\/p>\n

“The character consists in the firmness of the determination with which one wants to do something and also in its actual execution … Because a man who proposes something to himself and who does not do it can no longer have confidence in himself”.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We must help the one who has decided on an hour to get up to stick to it, because he does not end up “not having confidence in himself”.\u00a0As Alain will say: “the programs are not a small thing” … when you follow them!<\/p>\n

Alain’s advice: make people feel the joy that comes from overcoming difficulty<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The advice that Alain gives us in his\u00a0Comments on education<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is therefore in line with what Descartes and Kant suggest.\u00a0For Alain too, educating children consists above all in “strengthening the will in them”.\u00a0But the will is not something that is transmitted by teaching.\u00a0And parents cannot want for their children.\u00a0What can be done, then, to develop an \u201cart of wanting\u201d that is never lost?<\/p>\n

The solution is to “put their own learning into their hands”, which implies two conditions:<\/p>\n