As a Ph.D. philosopher, Dennis Arjo, JCCC professor and chair of philosophy and religion, can expound upon ethical theory, the philosophy of psychology, Asian philosophy and comparative philosophy. But as a JCCC College Scholar, he will talk about something everyone can relate to — child rearing.

Arjo will give two presentations this week that are free and open to the public.

• From Little Brutes to Equal Partners: A Philosophical History of Western Childhood will be from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in the Hudson Auditorium of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, JCCC. A reception precedes the lecture at 6:30 p.m. in room 270 of the Regnier Center

• The Politics of Moral Development will be from 11 a.m.-noon Thursday, Nov. 4, in the Hudson Auditorium.

In his evening presentation Arjo talks about the changes from ancient Greek philosophers who had no qualms in asserting that children come into the world in desperate need of civilizing to modern ideas about children as morally admirable. In particular, he looks at how today’s ideals of children’s equality and autonomy have led to profound changes in the process of education.

The daytime presentation will examine psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg’s theories about children’s behavior, heatedly debated in the 1960s and 1970s, that pit “conservative” methods of teaching right and wrong with more permissive strategies allowing children to “think for themselves.”

Arjo received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara. His dissertation was The Very Idea of a Naturalized Semantics. His main interests are in philosophy of mind, comparative philosophy and philosophical moral psychology. He has numerous publications and presentations on a wide variety of topics ranging from Confucianism and Our Duties to Animals to What Darwin Doesn’t Tell Us about Morality.

For more information about these presentations, e-mail Arjo. For more information about the JCCC College Scholars program, contact Karen Martley, director, Staff and Organizational Development, 913-469-8500, ext. 3467.