Philosophy for children: Capacity evaluation of humorous stories in Masnavi based on Lipmans views on philosophical thinking components

The aim of this research is to study humorous tales in Masnavi according to Lipman's views on “Philosophical thinking components”. To achieve this goal, first, Lipman's components of philosophical thinking were identified and divided into three dimensions of critical, creative and caring thinking components. In the second part, using deductive analysis method and based on the theoretical framework provided in the first part, the triple components were identified and analyzed in three humorous tales of Masnavi. Research findings showed that critical thinking components, in terms of frequency, have given more richness to stories. In the next stage, caring thinking components were more present in stories and components of creative thinking were also in the final stage. It is suggested that teachers in their lessons use stories that have more philosophical potential due to more components. In addition, it is recommended that children's literature authors interested in creating stories with intellectual and philosophical themes, be inspired by the components of this research to write their stories. Children's literature authors are also recommended to rewrite the stories of this research for two age-groups of children and adolescents. Rewriting stories should not neglect any component of the source texts.