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    Communicative Action, the Lifeworlds of Learning and the Dialogue that we Aren't


    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

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    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of the historical Socrates, the case is made that this kind of action became largely eclipsed in Western education and superseded by the strategic concerns to which Platonist conceptions of learning gave prominence.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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