Spinoza:Fiction and Manipulation in Civic Education (SpringerBriefs in Education)

by: Johan Dahlbeck (Author)
Edition:1st ed. 2021

Publication Date: 3 Nov. 2021

Language: English

Print Length: 108 pages

ISBN-10: 9811671249

ISBN-13: 9789811671241

Book Description

This book is a philosophical enquiry into the educational consequences of Spinoza’s political theory. Spinoza’s political theory is of particular interest for educational thought as it brings together the normative aims of his ethical theory with his realistic depiction of human psychology and the ramifications of this for successful political goveance. As such, this book aims to introduce the reader to Spinoza’s original vision of civic education, as a project that ultimately aims at the ethical flourishing of individuals, while being carefully tailored and adjusted to the natural limitations of human reason.Readers will benefit from a succinct introduction to Spinoza’s political philosophy and from an account of civic education that is based on careful exegetical work. It draws conclusions only hinted at in Spinoza’s own writings.
Review “This book is a brief, tightly packaged, and expertly elucidated philosophical study, which never strays needlessly from its central theme, and is all the better for it. … the book successfully accomplishes what it sets out to do, offering an insightful contribution to our understanding of the problem of fiction and indoctrination in education. It is highly engaging and deserves attention from philosophers of education and those with an interest in Spinoza alike. I strongly recommend it.” (Aurélien Daudi, Educational Philosophy and Theory, February 6, 2023)
About the Author
Johan Dahlbeck is Associate Professor of Education at Malmö University, Sweden. His research interest is in the philosophy of education, focusing especially on the convergence of ethics, political philosophy and educational theory. Dahlbeck has recently published two research monographs:Education and Free Will:Spinoza, Causal Determinism and Moral Formation (Routledge, 2018) and Spinoza and Education:Freedom, Understanding and Empowerment (Routledge, 2016), as well as co-edited a recent special issue on exemplarism in Spinoza and Arendt (Ethics and Education, 15:2, 2020). Dahlbeck’s research is also published in academic jouals such as Joual of Philosophy of Education, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Ethics and Education, Philosophy of Education Yearbook, and Educational Philosophy and Theory as well as in anthologies such as Inteational Handbook of Philosophy of Education (ed. Paul Smeyers, 2018). Dahlbeck is currently a programcoordinator of the inteational MA program in Educational Theory at Malmö University.