Session Information
13 SES 12, Educational Research in Transition, Teaching and Resistance
Long Paper Session
Contribution
In this paper it is argued that although Spinoza, unlike other great philosophers of the Enlightenment era (such as Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau), never actually wrote a philosophy of education as such, he did – in his Ethics – write a philosophy of self-improvement that is deeply educational at heart. When looked at against the background of his overall metaphysical system, the educational account that emerges is one that is highly curious and may even, to some extent at least, come across as counter-intuitive in a contemporary setting. This is so because it grounds the greater social and political endeavors of humanity in the individual’s striving for an ever-increasing power of acting. Hence, education, for Spinoza, is a decidedly individualistic affair, but then again, so is the making of society. Since, for Spinoza, every instance of knowledge bears the unique mark of the individual body that expresses it, one might conclude that at the foundation of every social structure is an encounter between concrete bodies; each expressing a particular perspective from where to grasp the world. I would argue, based on this, that one of Spinoza’s main contributions to educational theory is his grounding of larger social endeavors in the striving of the individual.
Hinged on the striving to be more rational, as dictated by the doctrine of the conatus, education appears to offer a way of grounding the structure of the human social world in the same (egoistic) principles as those guiding the individual. Spinoza’s doctrine of the imitation of affects thereby offers a way of linking the egoistic striving for power on behalf of the individual with the educational goal of building a sustainable society. It does so as it conditions self-improvement by the human characteristic to imitate what others desire. By being surrounded with people who desire to be more rational, one can utilize this desire for the good and become strengthened in one’s own striving for increasing one’s degree of existence. Consequently, the teaching situation is geared for guiding students towards a more rational life, at the same time as it is geared for the self-improvement of the teacher. This aspect of self-improvement is, ultimately, what will motivate the teacher in striving to enhance the lives of his or her students in the first place. Being unable to self-improve in isolation, the doctrine of the imitation of affects dictates that the rational person will be moved toward a life of generosity, not primarily for altruistic reasons, but out of a desire to become more rational and thus to gain in his or her own power of acting. The question that follows from this, of course, is how does one go about when inculcating a desire to be more rational in one’s students?
Education, from a Spinozistic point of view, is ultimately about the cultivation of the potential that lies dormant in each individual, so that a person may live a happier life as a result of understanding, more adequately, their place in the natural world. The challenge, then, becomes one of overcoming the many obstacles that prevent a person from developing their potential. Pedagogy, from this point of view, may be understood in terms of the art of offering the right amount of resistance. This notion is based on the assumption that if a student encounters no resistance – or too much resistance – his or her potential remains just that – a potential. In order to develop this potential the student needs to overcome certain barriers. With regards to this, the role of the teacher may be conceived in terms of the one balancing the amount of resistance so that the student is properly challenged but at the same time not overwhelmed.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Aloni, N. (2008). Spinoza as Educator: From Eudaimonistic Ethics to an Empowering and Liberating Pedagogy. Educational Philosophy and Theory 40(4), pp. 531–544. Della Rocca, M. (2008). Spinoza. New York: Routledge. Della Rocca, M. (2012). Rationalism, Idealism, Monism, and Beyond. In: E. Förster & Y. Y. Melamed (eds.) Spinoza and German Idealism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 7–26. Derry, J. (2006). The Unity of Intellect and Will: Vygotsky and Spinoza. Educational Review, 56(2), pp. 113–120. Lloyd, G. (1998). Spinoza and Educating the Imagination. In: A. O. Rorty (ed.) Philosophers on Education: Historical Perspectives. London: Routledge, pp. 157–172. Melamed, Y. Y. (2013). Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nadler, S. (2002). Eternity and Immortality in Spinoza’s Ethics. Midwest Studies in Philosophy 26(1), pp. 224–244. Poulimatka, T. (2001). Spinoza’s Theory of Teaching and Indoctrination. Educational Philosophy and Theory 33(3 & 4), pp. 397–410. Spinoza, B. (1994). The Ethics. In: E. Curley (ed) A Spinoza Reader: The Ethics and Other Works. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 85–265.
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