Kant’s children
Orientation in thinking for young philosophers
What does independent thinking mean? In which direction should I think? What if I get lost in thinking? And why should I think at all?
Girls and boys aged 11 to 14 ask pedestrians on Kreuzberg’s Oranienstraße these and other questions. Puzzled faces. Questioning looks. Frowns on their faces. Difficult!
13 pupils from the nearby Jens Nydahl School meet every Monday for three hours with artists and theatre educators Julia Schreiner, Fred Pommerehn and Rudi Keiler Gómez de Mello to engage with none other than Immanuel Kant.
Kant wrote a text entitled “What does it mean to orientate oneself in thought?”. In it, Kant compares geographical-spatial orientation with orientation in the abstract-logical space of thought. Both require points of orientation that are present in each of us and that we learn to use: an inner compass. The 13 young philosophers already have this in their pockets. In mid-December, they will present the results of their foray into thinking as part of a performance and subsequent exhibition. Not only passers-by are cordially invited!
The “KANT-Kinder” are part of the “tanz + theatre machen stark” programme of the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste e.V. (Federal Association of Independent Performing Arts). Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
