The egoistic teacher: educational implications of Spinoza’s ethical egoism

Dahlbeck, Johan

doi:10.1080/17449642.2017.1343653

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Typically, but not always. In my previous work I have studied and learned from Spinoza's naturalistic philosophy (Dahlbeck, , , , ). Spinoza, of course, is one of the more prominent causal determinists in the history of western philosophy.…”

Section: Autonomy and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Education and the Free Will Problem: A Spinozist Contribution

Dahlbeck¹

2017

Journal of Philosophy of Education

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In this Spinozist defence of the educational promotion of students’ autonomy I argue for a deterministic position where freedom of will is deemed unrealistic in the metaphysical sense, but important in the sense that it is an undeniable psychological fact. The paper is structured in three parts. The first part investigates the concept of autonomy from different philosophical points of view, looking especially at how education and autonomy intersect. The second part focuses on explicating the philosophical position of causal determinism and it seeks to open up a way to conceive of education for autonomy without relying on the notion of free will in a metaphysical sense. The concluding part attempts to outline a Spinozistic understanding of education for autonomy where autonomy is grounded in the student's acceptance and understanding of the necessary constraints of natural causation rather than processes of self‐causation.

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Section: Autonomy and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Education and the Free Will Problem: A Spinozist Contribution

Dahlbeck¹

2017

Journal of Philosophy of Education

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“…When discussing Spinoza and education, moral education is often the centre of concern. SeeAloni (2008);Dahlbeck (2017a);Dahlbeck (2017b). 202 On Spinoza's eudaimonism, seeKisner (2011);Sangiacomo (2019).…”

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Spinoza’s Philosophy of Language: Physiology, Imagination, and Education

Lin

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This dissertation reconstructs Spinoza's theory of language and explains how different facets-from physiological to semantic-work together to determine language's function.While the Ethics provides the underpinnings for Spinoza's account of the human mind, the TTP illustrates how language functions in a social context.In Chapter 1, I reconstruct Spinoza's theory of language based on his account of the human mind provided in the Ethics. Language has its root in the mind's power of imagination, which is based on a physical-physiological framework that I call the physical-physiological mechanism of language. In Chapter 2, I address how language shapes the way in which individuals interact with each other. This chapter focuses on the communicative function of language in Spinoza's political writings. Language shapes the social life of human beings. In such a way, language constitutes and sustains the ratio by which a State maintains itself as an individual. Chapter 3 stresses language's role in Spinoza's pedagogy. Language, with its communicative and cognitive functions, represents two types of educators: prophets and philosophers. Chapter 4 focuses on Spinoza's employment of the geometrical method as a philosophical language in the Ethics. The geometrical method is a pedagogical tool, a pedagogical tool that addresses language's cognitive function and aims to educate philosophers. Spinoza's use of the geometrical method establishes a semi-artificial language designated for reasoning. With regard to Spinoza's theory of language and pedagogical concerns, I engage in the scholarly debate on the "free man." I propose that the "free man" is a literary persona that aims at the readers' cognitive capacity and serves a pedagogical function.

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The egoistic teacher: educational implications of Spinoza’s ethical egoism

Cited by 2 publications

References 20 publications

Education and the Free Will Problem: A Spinozist Contribution

Education and the Free Will Problem: A Spinozist Contribution

Spinoza’s Philosophy of Language: Physiology, Imagination, and Education

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