(in Polish) MKJO - Phronetic Education: Crisis of Thinking in Education

This lecture-course on phronetic education addresses the problem of crisis of thinking in education.

Our lecture-course on phronetic education addresses the problem of the crisis of thinking in education. In his essay, “Philosophy as a Strict Science” in the volume, The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology, Husserl examines science’s openness to life on the basis of his phenomenological analyses of intentionality that lead him toward the notion of the “Lebenswelt.” Thematizing the crisis, we will concentrate on the phenomenon of thinking, which is reduced to the intellectual activity dominated by the hegemonic idea of instrumental rationality. Following Gadamer’s reading of Plato and Aristotle on φρόνησις (practical wisdom), we will elaborate on hermeneutic understanding as an art of applying that which needs to be understood to the factic life of its interpreter. Every application is a phronetic application, since it cannot be performed as a technique guided by a set of established rules. It requires, far more, that the general principles in the particularity of the factic life experience should be reciprocally illuminated. By enriching our understanding of rationality, we will argue for the overcoming of the divide between thinking, feeling, and embodiment, in order to promote a notion of phronetic rationality, which will allow for a more complex understanding of education when guided by anticipations, expectations, and questions.

Edmund Husserl, The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: An Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1970).

Maria Luisa Portocarrero, Luis Umbelino, and Andrzej Wierciński, ed., The Hermeneutic Rationality/La rationalité herméneutique (Münster: LIT Verlag, 2012).

Barbara Weber and Arthur Wolf, “Questioning the Question: How to Cultivate Philosophical Questioning in a Community of Inquiry,” in M. Gregory, J. Haynes, and K. Murris, ed., The Routledge International Handbook of Philosophy for Children (London: Routledge, 2016).

Andrzej Wierciński, “Hermeneutic Notion of a Human Being as an Acting and Suffering Person,” Ethics in Progress, 4, no. 2 (2013): 18-33.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge:

o the student is familiar with the new literature, as indicated in the bibliography

o is familiar with new directions in the philosophy of education

o knows the state of research in the hermeneutics of education and is able to design an innovative research project

Skills:

o can identify philosophical aspects of education

o can address the importance of feelings (curiosity, patience, courage, uncertainty, self-esteem) and validates them in the process of learning

o has skills in presenting aspects of philosophical hermeneutics when discussing issues in contemporary education in an international setting

o can effectively communicate with other scholars in hermeneutic philosophy and education

o shows depth in thinking and when elaborating on original and novel ideas, as a creative and insightful student

Social competences:

o appreciates the need to learn to understand one’s life

o can set measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals and ways to achieve them in the context of academic, professional, and social activity

o sees the need of dialogue between different academic disciplines and schools of thought

Assessment criteria

Students must attend classes, actively participate in discussions, and write a research paper of ca. 2500 words. The grade will be based on the paper 50%. Students should clear their topic with the instructor before writing. Final revised paper due Friday, December 20, 2019. Attendance/ Active in-class participation (50%). Along with the final paper, students are required to submit a detailed report on their attendance and a self-evaluation of their activity in the class.