Hogan, Pádraig
(1996)
Communicative Action, the
Lifeworlds of Learning and the
Dialogue that we Aren't.
International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 4 (2).
pp. 252-272.
ISSN 0967-2559
Abstract
The first section of the paper reviews the kind of action which unfolds in
Plato's Republic, and argues that, from Book II onwards, its character shifts
from a genuine dialogue (communicative action) to a more manipulative
kind of intercourse (strategic action). While the former kind of action was
characteristic of the educational activities of the historical Socrates, the case
is made that this kind of action became largely eclipsed in Western education
and superseded by the strategic concerns to which Platonist conceptions
of learning gave prominence. The Platonist legacy, it is pointed out, had a
decisive impact on Western conceptions of learning, even beyond the
Enlightenment. These conceptions were largely custodial rather than emancipatory
in character. An argument is presented in thirteen steps in the
second section of the paper, to establish the case that the kind of action
which properly describes the experience of teaching and learning is that of
a cultural courtship. A distinction is drawn between honourable and dishonourable
forms of courtship, the honourable being a candidate for defence
in universalist terms. The practical import of the distinction is considered.
Under the title 'The Dialogue that we Aren't', the third section reviews
postmodern objections - particularly those of Lyotard - to the kind of argument
made in the thirteen steps, and the concluding section considers
Habermas' later theories in relation to my own 'universalist' argument.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
communicative action; courtship; 'the dialogue that we are'
(Gadamer); postmodernism; Plato's custodianship; virtues of teaching and
learning; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Education |
| Item ID: |
8595 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1080/09672559608570834 |
| Depositing User: |
Dr. Padraig Hogan,
|
| Date Deposited: |
09 Aug 2017 16:06 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
International Journal of Philosophical Studies |
| Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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