Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy

Volume 74, 2018

Teaching Philosophy

Ewa Wyrebska
Pages 73-77

Teaching Philosophy in Modern Liberal Democracy

The aim of this paper is to investigate the arguments in favor of philosophical education in the dimension of the political, namely, the significance of teaching philosophy for the sake of modern liberal and democratic state. The main reference points are the ideas of Jurgen Habermas and Martha Nussbaum, as representatives of different philosophical traditions and attentive observers of modern societies, who (indirectly or directly) discussed these issues. Firstly, the concern expressed by Habermas with regard to the processes observed in western societies causing the instrumental rationality to take over the lifeworld is being presented. Secondly, more specific issue, is being discussed - an issue described in the works of Nussbaum, concerning connections between teaching curricula and requirements of citizenship. The last part of the paper presents arguments in favor of a thesis that inclusion of philosophy courses in educational programs is of fundamental significance for preserving crucial values of modern liberal democratic states.