John Buethe draws upon the Netflix series "Stranger Things" and develops this paper's ideas by using it as an allegory for and education towards subjectivity along lines suggested by Gert Biesta in "The Beautiful Risk of Education", and Jaeggi in her work, "Alienation." Buethe observes that the show places a wager on…

There is a sustained critique of autonomy in Iris Murdoch's work in moral philosophy and moral education. I explicate Murdoch's arguments against a moral education that aims at autonomy, showing that this kind of moral education is ensnared in problematic dualisms: a fact and value dualism (sometimes discussed as a dualism between metaphorical…

Michael Rosenak uses the twin metaphors of "language" and "literature," borrowed from Oakeshott and Peters, to argue that the goal of education is initiation into a language. This goal transcends the study of literature in that language. It includes, as well, the development of the capacity both to critique literature and to…

Education under neoliberal reform has been targeted as an indispensable source of profit. Market-based reforms have commodified education and are transforming public school into a corporatized industry concerned not with democracy but with the smooth functioning of the capitalist economy. Targeting public schooling as a site in which to accumulate…

This paper offers a critique of the "democratic state of education" proposed by Amy Gutmann in her influential book "Democratic Education". In the democratic state of education, educational authority is shared among the state, parents and educational professionals; and educational objectives are geared toward equipping future citizens to…

This article responds to certain objections Jeffrey Morgan raises against the theory of liberal education defended in "Justice and Legitimacy in Upbringing." First, it replies to his claim that the theory is too individualistic and pays insufficient attention to considerations of "care". Second, it recapitulates and clarifies the argument that the…

In this review of Christopher Winch's new book, "Education, Autonomy and Critical Thinking" (2006), I discuss its main theses, supporting some and criticising others. In particular, I take issue with several of Winch's claims and arguments concerning critical thinking and rationality, and deplore his reliance on what I suggest are problematic…

The proliferation of critics and critical approaches has produced a trend toward fragmentation and isolation among the practitioners involved. A suggestive counter-trend indicates that there is intense curiosity among critics to watch colleagues encounter texts, grapple with the preliminary questions of stance and method, and share the experience…

The author contends that by reclaiming their own valuable connection to reflective artistic experience and reception, aesthetic theory and art education can contribute to a reconceptualization of autonomy and critique and, perhaps more importantly, to a reorientation of educational practice. Adorno's aesthetics is exceptionally relevant to this…

While discussing critical individuality as one of the main goals of liberal education, the emphasis has usually been on direct educational measures. Much less attention has been given to the social preconditions for its development. This paper discusses the societal aspect of the question by employing the notion of sphere pluralism. The attempt is…

This article offers teachers a critical framework for use and adaptation in organizing class discussions focused on notions of freedom in young adult literature. The authors open by discussing the notion of freedom, including concepts related to negative and positive freedom and to arguments advocating critical discussion of common assumptions…

In this article, the authors deal with the question whether the concept of "Bildung" or "cultivation/edification" is still a concept which one can use to analyse and criticise actual developments in the field of education (both in thought/discourse and in action/technique) which are themselves related to broader social transformations often…

Examines works by Deloria, Mathews, Forbes, Allen, and Vizenor concerning how American Indians can face challenges of asserting sovereignty and the place of traditional culture in the struggle. Argues that Indian intellectuals should pursue critical analysis of the dominant society and understanding of the Indian experience in wider contexts. (SV)