Philosophical Education


"The Concept of Philosophical Education"
Educational Theory, 60 (5), pp. 543-559, 2010 .


Strangely, the concept of philosophical education is not much in use, at least not as a philosophical concept. In the present essay, I attempt to outline such a philosophical concept of philosophical education. I will use Plato’s allegory of the cave, Descartes’ life of doubt, and Kant’s criticism of metaphysics as paradigms or defining examples of the concept. My aim is not exegetical. Rather, I hope to describe these examples in a way that will let their character as conceptions of philosophical education show forth. The underlying aim will be to show which forms such conception may take and also why philosophical education is or should be an important topic for both philosophy and education.

Keywords: philosophy; education; Plato; Descartes; Kant.