Product Description

The War for Children’s Minds is a candid and controversial call for a liberal, philosophically informed approach to raising children.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #266811 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

The Economist
'...a succinct and eloquent defence of liberalism'.

Review

'The War for Children's Minds is a brilliantly clear and convincingly argued defence of liberalism in moral education. Stephen Law examines and demolishes all the arguments in favour of authoritarian ways of teaching, and shows that in spite of the insistence of popular commentators from the religious right, a liberal and rational examination and discussion of moral questions does not lead to relativism and the decay of ethical behaviour, but can in fact be the best defence against them. This book won't be read by popular journalists: they will attack it without reading it. But it should be read by every teacher, every parent, and every politician. What's more, it should form the subject for discussion in every church, synagogue, mosque, and religious youth group. It's one of the most engaging as well as one of the most necessary books that I've ever read in the field of moral education.'  - Philip Pullman

'Progressives schools, they say, promote the wishy-washy, anything goes mentality that is the source of our social malaise. In The War for Children’s Minds, Stephen Law does a splendid and philosophically thrilling job of cutting that argument to shreds.' - The Guardian

'...a succinct and eloquent defence of liberalism.' - The Economist

'A stirring defence of liberal values.' - Times Educational Supplement

'A passionate philosophical defence of a liberal approach to parenting and education.' - The Guardian

'This defence of reason should be obligatory reading, not just in schools, but in parliament and the press. ' - Sunday Herald

'[The] debate about children’s education…seems to be dominated by the other side. It’s a side that believes Liberal is a dirty word, that the Enlightenment did more harm than good and that children should be taught in a much more formal way. In his book [Law] begs to differ. He suggests that children should be allowed to examine and discuss religious and moral issues in a liberal, philosophically informed and rational way.' - The Oxford Times

'...this volume has a hugely significant contribution to make. It is also highly readable, and provides a useful pocket guide to current philosophical thinking - a sort of religious Bill Bryson.' - Church Times

Melissa Benn, The Guardian
'A passionate philosophical defence of a liberal approach to parenting and and education'.

Customer Reviews

Entertaining myth-busting book
Phillip Pullman says this book "Should be read by every teacher, every parent and every politician". He's right. A liberal-bashing mythology has grown up over the past couple of decades, led by social and religious conservatives who blame everything wrong with modern society on the collapse of religious authority. This is an entertaining book designed to bust these various anti-liberal myths. It argues for the importance of getting young people to think and question, even about religious matters. Law also completely demolishes the arguments of some well-known media figures in a very amusing way.

Excellent
This is excellent. As a teacher I found this defence of the liberal approach refreshing and hard-edged. There really is no point in trying to force people to believe what you believe, but every point in helping them to work things out for themselves. The important thing is that children take the important questions of life seriously and that they reach conclusions that they genuinely believe in and would be prepared to stand up for. This is not relativism but an aproach that accepts that people are right and wrong about what they believe - but that they should be encouraged to hold well-thought out beliefs regardless of this. This book made me realise that we humans are not as bad as I thought we were, and that I really should have more faith in the capability of individuals to get to the truth.

a blow is struck for common sense
Although this book may well annoy some people, I would recommend it to any parent, teacher or youth worker who is keen to give children the best possible chance to develop their powers of reason.

The author's main emphasis is on the value of teaching children to think critically about serious issues, rather than merely to accept without question.