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12 - The Ethics of Phenomenology and Hermeneutics in Education

from Part I - Traditions in Ethics and Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2024

By
Clarence W. Joldersma
Edited by
Sheron Fraser-Burgess ,
Jessica Heybach  and
Dini Metro-Roland
Sheron Fraser-Burgess
Affiliation:
Ball State University, Indiana
Jessica Heybach
Affiliation:
Florida International University
Dini Metro-Roland
Affiliation:
Western Michigan University
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Summary

This chapter explores the connections between ethics, the phenomenological (and hermeneutical) traditions, and education. It focuses on the idea of the subject, showing phenomenology’s contrast with the modernist picture of the autonomous subject. The chapter first briefly traces the idea of the subject in phenomenology through four representative figures – Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer, and Levinas – and then sketches their approaches to ethics. Then it pivots to four ethical concepts in philosophy of education in this tradition – understanding, risk, subjectification, and responsibility – by connecting them to phenomenological tradition’s broad conception of the subject. The chapter brings into relief the contribution phenomenology makes to envisioning living well together and human flourishing, and education’s role in fostering ethical subjects that would enact such societies.

Keywords

subjectivityEmmanuel LevinasEdmund HusserlMartin HeideggerHans-Georg Gadamerunderstandingrisksubjectificationresponsibility
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Ethics and Education , pp. 237 - 256
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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