The way we think lies at the core of the Philosophy for Children program, which was created
in the 1970s by Matthew Lipman and Ann-Margaret Sharp. Initially, they introduced two
primary forms of thinking: critical thinking, guided by the pursuit of truth as a regulative idea,
and creative thinking, driven by the quest for meaning. In their later works, they also delved into
caring thinking, rooted in the values that the research community puts into play. A question has
arisen about whether this caring thinking is connected to the ethics of care, as presented by Carol
Gilligan in the early 1980s. In this study, I demonstrate that while Lipman insisted on the epistemological
aspects of caring thinking, in relation to critical and creative thinking, Sharp emphasized
the ontological dimension of caring thinking and presented it as a fundamental condition for
engaging in philosophical practice with children.
