'Plato in primary school? Existentialism, moral responsibility and determinism as topics for key stage 2 exploration? Is this book suggesting that primary children can tackle these big ideas? Has Peter Worley ever been inside a school? The answers are yes, yes, yes and yes. Worley is seriously presenting this material for use in schools...This is, I think, a pretty comprehensive package. Many of the stimulus stories derive from classical origins, but these are mixed with the contemporary tale of Billy Bash the school bully and the futuristic Ceebies stories, which use an increasingly humanoid robot to explore what it means to be human. In all cases, the quality of the stimulus material is high and the task questions are engaging and demanding. Without the context of the stories, many of the questions, such as "Do you think the mind is the same thing as the brain?" or "Is it possible to think of nothing?" would be out of reach for primary pupils. But within context, they are exciting opportunities for exploration and I can imagine primary children getting very involved with them.' ” – Martin Spice, TES Magazine,
Each session in the book offers an imaginary situation, followed by a series of questions to encourage children to challenge key philosophical ideas such as values and ethics, gender and identity, and existence and beauty. All the enquiries have been tried-and-tested in the primary and early secondary classroom, and a handy star system is included to indicate the difficulty level of each one, enabling quick ability differentiation. With a comprehensive introduction and key sections on the philosophy behind the experiments, this book also includes an online teacher's resource to guide practitioners through using the sessions to best effect in the classroom.