Hannah Arendt: The Promise of Education (SpringerBriefs in Education)

This book gathers some of Hannah Arendt’s core themes and focuses them on the question, ‘What is education for?’ For Arendt, as for Aristotle, education is the means whereby we achieve personal autonomy through the exercise of independent judgement, attain adulthood through the recognition of others as equal but different, gain a sense of citizenship through the assumption of our civic rights and responsibilities, and realize our full potential as sentient beings with the capacity for human ‘flourishing’ and ‘happiness’ (__eudaimonia__). In order to appreciate the pivotal role that education plays in Arendt’s analysis of the human condition, we have to understand the emphasis she placed on ‘thoughtfulness’, as the measure of our humanity and on ‘thoughtlessness’, as the measure of our inhumanity. Education sustains and develops the human capacity: to think together (__phronesis__), to think for oneself (what Arendt called ‘the two-in-one’ of thinking), and to think from the point of view of others (what she termed ‘representative thinking’). From the developing constellation of ideas embedded in her vast and varied body of work, the author infers a notion of education as a necessary preparation for personal fulfillment, social engagement, and civic participation. Preface 7 Acknowledgement 12 A Note to the Reader 13 Contents 14 About the Author 16 1 Arendt as Public Educator 17 1.1 Introduction 17 1.2 Origins and Beginnings 18 1.3 From Philosophy to Politics 19 1.4 Border Crossings 22 1.5 The Eichmann Controversy 23 1.6 The Legacy 27 1.7 Conclusion 28 References 29 2 Natality, Promise and Plurality: Education in and for the World 31 2.1 Introduction 31 2.2 New Beginnings 32 2.3 The Power of Promise 35 2.4 Education Within and for the World 38 2.5 Conclusion 39 References 40 3 Thinking, Judgement and Action: Education for Human Agency 42 3.1 Introduction 42 3.2 Thinking and Thoughtlessness 43 3.3 Judgement as ‘Enlargement of Mind’ 45 3.4 Education for Human Agency 47 3.5 Conclusion 50 References 51 4 Equality, Freedom and the Public Sphere: Towards an Educated Citizenry 53 4.1 Introduction 53 4.2 Equality and Difference 55 4.3 The Paradox of Freedom 56 4.4 Towards an Educated Citizenry 59 4.5 Conclusion 61 References 62 5 Education and Intellectual Friendship: Mutual Flourishing 64 5.1 Introduction 64 5.2 Jaspers: A Man of Contradictions 65 5.3 Difference and Equality 67 5.4 Talking About Nationhood 69 5.5 Talking About ‘Jewishness’ 70 5.6 Mutual Flourishing 72 5.7 Coda: What We Owe One Another 74 References 75 Appendix A Chronology of Arendt’s Life and Works 77 Appendix B Select Bibliography 80 I Major Works 80 II Collected Letters 81 III Critical Interpretations 81 IV Studies of Arendt’s Educational Thinking 82 V Biographical Accounts 82 "This book gathers some of Hannah Arendt's core themes and focuses them on the question, 'What is education for?' For Arendt, as for Aristotle, education is the means whereby we achieve personal autonomy through the exercise of independent judgement, attain adulthood through the recognition of others as equal but different, gain a sense of citizenship through the assumption of our civic rights and responsibilities, and realize our full potential as sentient beings with the capacity for human 'flourishing' and 'happiness' (eudaimonia). In order to appreciate the pivotal role that education plays in Arendt's analysis of the human condition, we have to understand the emphasis she placed on 'thoughtfulness', as the measure of our humanity and on 'thoughtlessness', as the measure of our inhumanity. Education sustains and develops the human capacity: to think together (phronesis), to think for oneself (what Arendt called 'the two-in-one' of thinking), and to think from the point of view of others (what she termed 'representative thinking'). From the developing constellation of ideas embedded in her vast and varied body of work, the author infers a notion of education as a necessary preparation for personal fulfillment, social engagement, and civic participation." -- prové de l'editor Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Arendt as Public Educator (Jon Nixon)....Pages 1-14 Natality, Promise and Plurality: Education in and for the World (Jon Nixon)....Pages 15-25 Thinking, Judgement and Action: Education for Human Agency (Jon Nixon)....Pages 27-37 Equality, Freedom and the Public Sphere: Towards an Educated Citizenry (Jon Nixon)....Pages 39-49 Education and Intellectual Friendship: Mutual Flourishing (Jon Nixon)....Pages 51-63 Back Matter ....Pages 65-71 A brief introductory text on Hannah Arendt and her educational philosophy