Cam, Philip Interview 27 May 2025
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Description
In this IAPC Oral History Interview, Philip Cam, Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales, reflects on his intellectual, professional, and personal journey into philosophy and philosophy for children (P4C). Beginning with his early identity as an artist and secondary school art teacher in Australia, Cam recounts his gradual turn toward philosophy through formative encounters with books, mentors, and academic study in philosophy and psychology. He describes his involvement with P4C as a recovery of childhood curiosity and a way of uniting teaching, philosophical inquiry, and humane education. Cam discusses his early engagement with the IAPC, including his time at the IAPC Seminar at Mendham, New Jersey, his collaboration with figures such as Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp, and the tensions between philosophy as an academic discipline and philosophy as a pedagogical practice. He reflects on curriculum development, teacher education, and the creation of classroom materials, as well as the global spread of P4C through workshops across Europe, Asia, and Australia. The interview concludes with Cam’s reflections on education, dialogue, intellectual community, and his later return to art, emphasizing philosophy as a lived, social practice at the heart of democratic and humane schooling.
Publication Date
2026
Document Type
Interview
Publisher
Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children
City
Montclair
Keywords
art, curriculum, education, philosophy, philosophy for children, IAPC, Matthew Lipman, Ann Margaret Sharp
Disciplines
Education | Philosophy
Recommended Citation
Cam, Philip, "Cam, Philip Interview 27 May 2025" (2026). All IAPC Oral Histories. 20.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/iapc_oral_histories/20