I encountered a lot of skepticism when I was working on my first book, my biography of Spinoza for young adults. The usual responses were raised eyebrows, open mouths, and barely suppressed mutterings that sounded a lot like “You must be insane.” Although some of Spinoza’s ideas are notoriously difficult, my friends and acquaintances weren’t thinking specifically about him. They were questioning the whole idea that teenagers would be interested in philosophy. Their doubts made no sense to me.
Just consider the kinds of questions that philosophers ask. Why are we here? Does the world even have a purpose that makes that question meaningful? What is the best way to achieve happiness? Can we ever truly understand another human being? Is there a God? Are we ever truly free to act as we wish? Must we obey laws that we finds unjust? The list goes on and on.
These questions are important. They hover around us in our passage through life, and our answers to them, whether well considered or not, shape the way we relate to ourselves, to others, and to the world in which we live. They determine our personal lifestyles, our involvement in our communities, our vision of government. They steer us toward religious belief or non-belief, toward activism or quietism, toward novelty or tradition.
Most teenagers realize that these sorts of questions matter. From almost four decades of classroom experience, I know that when teachers get good discussions going about a meaty question, students hardly hear the bell at the end of the period. Young people love to tackle big questions, and one of the most wonderful parts of a teacher’s job is to help students develop intelligent responses.
But our thoughts do not arise out of nowhere. People throughout history—whether ancient Greeks, medieval Christians, Renaissance humanists, Enlightenment skeptics, postmodern atheists—have grappled with many of the same issues that continue to occupy us now. Their answers are whetstones against which we can sharpen our thinking as well as signposts along the path that has brought us to where we are today.
Unfortunately, books about philosophy and philosophers are often quite difficult, even for adults. Through my writing I am trying to make our grand philosophical heritage accessible to young readers who care about big questions.
Devra Lehmann 