Maria Montessori's Philosophy

How Montessori's commitment to "follow the child" can be understood as a philosophical method for answering the great philosophical questions that confront human beings In Maria Montessori's Philosophy, Patrick R. Frierson discusses historical influences on Montessori's philosophical views, focusing on showing how her commitment to children led her to profound insights about a wide range of philosophical questions, from foundational metaphysics to applied ethics and politics. Her metaphysics, grounded in the concept of life as she observes it developing in the child, helps to address fundamental questions about the nature of the universe and the emergence of consciousness and value within it. Her pragmatic empiricist epistemology provides the framework for a sophisticated account of various intellectual virtues conducive to excellent cognitive engagement with reality. Her moral philosophy weaves together a broadly Nietzschean emphasis on self-perfection with respect for all human being