Philosophy and Us

The word philosophy comes from a Greek term because this way of giving more attention to questions than to answers was named in Greece. Do I tell you what Philosophy means in Greek? It’s two words in one! Like when we say jellyfish (jelly-fish). The word philosophy is made up of two ideas:
Philo, which means love in Greek
and sophia, which means wisdom.

Philosophy is not only for adults. In fact, many philosophers believed – and still believe – that in order to do philosophy it is necessary to be amazed by life as a child would be. The story of Sebastian, our protagonist, has a lot to do with the story of every child. He invites us to discover a life full of treasures and mysteries that could be waiting for us at the doorstep right now, like a game that never ends. Sebastian also invites other children to understand that philosophy is an essential part of our own life and thinking. This book aims to be a travelling companion to discover that philosophy is more present than we think in everyday details and that asking questions is more important than knowing all the answers.

Key points

2023 – CLAP Selection Award, Best Book Cover
2023 – PELIKANOR Selection Award, Best Illustration Applied to a Book

• Told by a group of children, subjects of rights and creators of culture.
• Teaches that people have contributed to the development of humanity regardless of their gender or sexuality.
• It is inspired by Humberto Maturana’s biology of love and Francisco Varela’s humanist biology, teaching the reader the value of our emotions and sensations as a way of creating and thinking with our body.
• Reinforces the value of the question over the answer, overcoming the fear of not knowing or being wrong, and finding pleasure in the act of searching through amazement.
• Shows how Western philosophy has resolved thematic challenges collectively and collaboratively, highlighting the democratic approach and the value of diversity for human development.

Joceline Pérez

2018 – IBBY Chile Award, Album Book
2018 – El Mercurio newspaper, 100 Young Leaders Award