The Austrian Society for Philosophy of Children was founded in 1985 and is dedicated to the promotion of the new branch of research "Philosophy of Children and Youth", i.e. to further develop it theoretically and practically. The society is the sponsor of the Institute for Philosophy of Children and Youth (ACPC), was the first in Europe and is still the only one in the German-speaking world.
The " Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children" (IAPC) at Montclair State University (New Jersey, USA), where intensive studies have been carried out since the late 1960s, provided the main impetus for "Philosophy for Children and Young People". The philosopher Matthew Lipman did pioneering work in this field and founded the world's first Institute for Philosophy for Children at Montclair.
The Institute for Philosophy of Children and Youth promotes education and further training for children, young people and adults, advises educational institutions, plans and develops projects as well as seminar and work materials and serves as a philosophical advice centre.
It also supports the exchange between the philosophy of children and young people and other philosophical traditions and promotes transdisciplinary work at the interface between the philosophy of children and young people and the social, cultural, formal and natural sciences.
Research and EU projects, theoretical work in the field of basic scientific research, material development, concrete investigations and evaluations of school experiments are carried out and published with the aim of transferring knowledge into practice.
Further information
An additional task is the processing and documentation of historical and current references to the philosophy of children and young people as well as the archiving of the extensive literature collected and accessible in our library. Seminars, courses, workshops, symposia and congresses are organised, working and project groups initiated, experiences and work results published.
2025 is a special year - the "Institute for Philosophy of Childhood" celebrates its 40th anniversary. The results are very pleasing: more than 30,000 teachers attended training and further education events organised by the Institute and more than 60,000 children and young people took part in philosophy courses.
There is close co-operation with domestic and foreign universities, schools, NGOs, institutions working in the field of children and youth, as well as various adult education institutions.
The Austrian Society for Philosophy with Children is an active member of the "International Council for Philosophical Inquiry with Children" (ICPIC), a founding member of the "European Foundation for the Advancement of Doing Philosophy with Children" (SOPHIA), an international institution that aims to promote the exchange of experience between academics and practitioners from more than 90 countries and to organise conferences and congresses. The Austrian Society for Philosophy with Children is also a long-standing member of the Austrian Association of Scientific Societies (VWGÖ) and a member of the Austrian League for Child and Youth Health.
Philosophising with children and young people
Why philosophise with children and young people?
Philosophising with children and young people is not about reproducing factual knowledge, but about an activity. We endeavour to make children and young people aware of their ability to reason and to build on this ability. However, it is not a reduction to conceptual, argumentative and classifying thinking, nor is it merely an adoption of certain rules and conceptual content of existing language games, but rather an awareness of one's own use of language, which is reflected upon.
You can read more about philosophising with children and young people here.
Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendphilosophie
+43 (0)316 90370 201
Karmeliterhof
Karmeliterplatz 2/2. Stock
A- 8010 Graz
Mo - Do 08:00-16:00
Fr 08:00-12:00
Oder nach telefonischer Vereinbarung
kinderphilosophie-gesellschaft.uni-graz.at