The Very Idea of an Educated Public: On Philosophical Education and MacIntyre's Project

"The paper presents a concise history of enactivism in education, especially in mathematics education. Cases described by Davis’s, Proulx and Simmt’s work showcase the idea that enactivism is a viable alternative to constructivism or to classical views both in terms of practical teaching and theoretical models related to the process of learning. The idea that the student should solve a fixed problem, discover the universally correct solution, and eventually store that correct solution to find many other universally correct solutions to other fixed problems reduces the student to a very simple mechanism aimed at informational efficiency. This problem is met by the enactivistic tradition that began with Varela and Maturana’s work, now updated to the aforementioned researchers. Contra the classical perspective, enactivism proposes the idea that the student collaboratively produces the problem, being able to see multiple solutions, and eventually becoming a performer of knowledge. The article takes these ideas developed in mathematics education and finds their use in philosophical education. The article especially focuses on the student’s problem of being unable to link a new philosophical text discussed in class with their intuition. The last part of the article offers a lesson design example. The philosophical design focuses on making the students explore their own thinking regarding the topic about to be discussed by using a philosophy text before introducing the text. Keywords: enactivism, phenomenology, philosophy of education, classroom design "

Download Full-text

Prospects for the development of philosophical education in Ukraine. Round Table

Filosofiya osvity Philosophy of Education ◽

10.31874/2309-1606-2020-26-1-18 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 282-325

Author(s):

Angela Boiko ◽

Andriy Yosypovych Dakhniy ◽

Ivan Vasyliovych Karpenko ◽

Vadym Ihorovych Menzhulin ◽

Sergii Viktorovych Proleiev ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Working Group ◽

Current System ◽

Rapid Development ◽

Institutional Development ◽

Round Table ◽

Academic Education ◽

Current Crisis ◽

Philosophical Education ◽

Elite Status

On May 19, 2020, it took place online a meeting of the participants of the working group formed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to develop a state standard of philosophical education for three higher education levels – bachelor's, master's and PhD programs. The meeting was attended by most of the members of the working group, who had the opportunity to do so. The topic for discussion was the still unrealized potential of philosophical education, which is available in Ukrainian universities, in particular – the causes and consequences of the current crisis in higher education in Ukraine in general, and in philosophical education in particular. There were revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the current system of teaching philosophy in the Ukrainian higher school, its indisputable achievements and not yet realized opportunities, and accordingly – the prospects for the development of philosophical education in Ukraine. The following issues were discussed: lacks in philosophical education in Ukraine today, changes in the content and format of this education, experience of rapid development of public philosophy in Ukraine useful for improving academic education, benefits of academic philosophical education in Ukraine. During the discussion of these issues, it was emphasized the need to preserve the best academic traditions of Ukrainian universities, as well as their further institutional development and purification from outdated forms in order to update the content of philosophy. It was noted the need for a new definition of the goals of philosophical education – both for philosophy itself and for the education system and society as a whole. Among the tasks of improving the content of philosophical education was mentioned improving the quality of historical-philosophical research and in particular translations of world classics into Ukrainian, and at the same time stressed the need to study modern philosophical problems together with students and graduate students. Special mention was made of the large and still underused resource of involving students in the formation of a curriculum in philosophy (free choice of some disciplines), as well as creative resources and useful experience of non-academic teaching of philosophy, which has its weaknesses and strengths. The participants agreed on the need to return to philosophical education an elite status, which should be provided primarily on master's and PhD levels of education, while the new bachelor's standard of philosophical education is designed to provide quality broad humanities education.

Download Full-text

Student view on the prospects of philosophical education in Ukraine

Filosofiya osvity Philosophy of Education ◽

10.31874/2309-1606-2020-26-1-19 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 326-332

Author(s):

Zlatyslav Oleksandrovych Dubniak

Keyword(s):

Learning Process ◽

Academic Integrity ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Public Philosophy ◽

Education Students ◽

Philosophical Education ◽

Student Reflection ◽

Near Future ◽

Student View

The article analyzes the results of a questionnaire of students of philosophical specialties at leading Ukrainian universities about the prospects of philosophical education in Ukraine. Students answered five questions: «What should be changed in the content of philosophical education in Ukraine?», «What should be changed in the format of philosophical education in Ukraine?», «What do you consider an attribute of academic philosophical education?», «What projects of public philosophy in Ukraine do you know or perhaps participated in them?» and «What can students do on their own in the near future to make changes for the better in philosophy education tangible?» The study of the answers showed that the desired changes in the content of philosophical education are the actualization of literature and topics, inclusion in the curriculum of works, ideas of recent decades, as well as balancing courses, establishing a productive sequence and interconnection of different disciplines. In the format of philosophical education, students would like to change the number and quality of interactions between all participants in the learning process through the introduction of new ways of interaction. Another proposal is to give preference to creative practices over the practices of passive assimilation and reproduction of information. In addition, respondents drew attention to the need to increase the responsibility of the professor in terms of student assessment. Respondents also stressed the need for students to adhere to academic integrity, as well as the need to increase the organizational and administrative activity of students. In general, these and other answers presented in the paper can be considered as examples of student reflection on current issues of philosophical education in Ukraine.

Download Full-text

Value-semantic Dominants of the Philosophical Congress (COVID-19 Era Amendments)

Вопросы философии ◽

10.21146/0042-8744-2020-12-24-28 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 24-28

Author(s):

Pavel A. Olkhov ◽

◽

Elena N. Motovnikova ◽

Keyword(s):

Self Organization ◽

Stable Form ◽

Scientific Conference ◽

The Public ◽

Philosophical Education ◽

Substantive Content ◽

Special Value ◽

Historical Semantics ◽

Social Hermeneutics ◽

Philosophical Community

The article is a revised version of a report prepared and read at the international scientific conference “What is a community? Social hermeneutics, power and media” (Belgorod, 2019). Changes’ took place that significantly clarify the very idea of the congress, its substantive content and historical relevance during the preparation for the publication of the following report materials within a few months (!). Communication as a living sense-forming beginning of the congress has been tested by the idea of social distance as some completely stable form of self-organization of the philosophical community. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the emergence of new conditions for its possibility: the personal turned out to be in some involuntary, “digital” identity with the public. It was impossible not to take these changes into account in the final edition of the text of the report, which included some additional semantic accents and historical information. The presented material specifies the historical semantics of the idea of a philosophical congress, its substantive content and relevance. The article substantiates the understanding of the congress as a special, value-rich form of cognitive activism. The ethical and communicative meanings of the international philosophical congress are as a special or formative dialogic constellation of professional community, which does not require renouncing the individuality of each of the participants. It is thus important to suggest the moral prospects of the next VII Russian Philosophical Congress in probably an intensive connection with the renewal of value-epistemological attitudes and traditional technologies of philosophical education as an indispensable condition for the moral health of a philosophizing people.

Download Full-text