Date of Completion
5-1989
Document Type
Open Access Capstone
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
First Advisor
John R. Murray
Second Advisor
Steve Schwartz
Third Advisor
Gareth Matthews
Abstract
Philosophical Spacing (PS), a phenomenon found in the philosophic dialectic, is defined as a space or break from the formal work of the philosophical dialectic, and is suspected to be a necessary interval which permits higher order cognitive processing to take place so that the analytical work of the dialectic can develop. An example of modern philosophical dialectics, the philosophical novels for children by Matthew Lipman, was analyzed to study the structural and contextual nature of PS in order to complement a study in progress of the philosophical dialectics of the Earliest Socratic Dialogues. Using a structural analysis of 21 randomly chosen philosophical dialectic, PS was found to occur with consistent regularity in a majority of the segment structures of these philosophical dialectics. Using a contextual analysis of 147 randomly chosen PSs to study its qualitative composition, PS was found to be comprised of positive and negative synergetic combinations of elements, of which 7 were identified. An interrater reliability test, scored with Cohen's Kappa statistic, confirms the study's reliability. It was found that a sample of contemporary dialectics, the philosophical dialectics in the philosophical novels for children by Matthew Lipman, confirms the existence and use of PS in the philosophical dialectic.
Recommended Citation
Greeley, Lillian, "Philosophical Spacing (PS): It's Function and Composition in the Philosophical Dialectics of Matthew Lipman's Philosophical Novels for Children" (1989). Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection. 128.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cct_capstone/128