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

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 governance. 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. Preface 6 References 10 Acknowledgments 11 About This Book 12 Editions Used and List of Abbreviations 13 Primary Literature: 13 Contents 15 1 Spinoza’s Political Theory and Its Consequences for Civic Education: On Prophets, Philosophers, and Educators 17 1.1 Passions and Reason in Spinoza’s Philosophy 19 1.2 The Imitation of Affects and Relational Autonomy 24 1.3 The Importance of Understanding People 27 1.4 Different Ways of Understanding People and Different Ways of Influencing People: Prophets Versus Philosophers 31 1.5 Upshots for Civic Education 36 References 37 2 Illusions and Fictions: Educating the Imagination 39 2.1 The Educational Promise of Spinoza’s Use of Fictions 41 2.2 On False Beliefs and Illusions in Education 46 2.3 The Use of Fictions in Education 48 2.4 Necessary Illusions or Valuable Fictions? 52 2.5 Reconciling the Two Seemingly Contradictory Aims of Education 53 2.6 Identifying Valuable Fictions and Accommodating Them to Ordinary People: Engaging the Prophetic Teacher 55 References 58 3 The Pedagogical Importance of Ingenium: Exemplarism and Popular Narratives 59 3.1 Reconnecting with a Lost Pedagogical Tradition: Diagnosing and Accounting for the Student’s Ingenium and Understanding the Role of the Teacher Qua Exemplar 61 3.2 Spinoza on the Ingenia of Individuals and Collectives 65 3.3 Exemplarity in Spinoza: Ethics, Politics, and Education 70 3.4 The Paradox of Civic Education: Gaining Autonomy by Losing Oneself in a Crowd? 74 References 75 4 Teaching Doctrines to People: Manipulation and Civic Education 77 4.1 Indoctrination in Education 78 4.2 Idealism and Realism in Education and Politics: Spinoza’s Warning in the Political Treatise 80 4.3 Accommodation, Ingenium, and the Power of Collective Narratives 86 4.4 Spinoza on the Teaching of Doctrines in the Theological-Political Treatise 88 4.5 Civic Education and Emotional Manipulation 91 References 92 5 Spinoza’s Lesson to the Contemporary Political Imagination 94 5.1 Retracing the Steps Taken 94 5.2 Critical Questions to Spinoza 97 5.3 Spinoza’s Lesson 101 References 105