Education is an aim oriented action by its nature. The question of aims is always related to the ontological and metaphysical conceptions, especially to the idea of temporality. The ontological and metaphysical questions of education are, however, considered uninteresting, even futile from the perspective of forward oriented life-long learning. Failing to acknowledge the ontological commitments of education dangers the specificity of education as non-reducible to prevailing ideological hegemony constituted by the economical thought. Among the educational scientists and researchers it is not uncommon to see the intertwining of lifelong learning, technology, economic ideology as self-evident truth. This is problematic as these phenomena involve fundamental problems ecological, social, and political by nature.

Education proves, thus, incapable of solving the fundamental problems of our civilization in terms of ecological threats and inequality for example. The ecological impasse of our civilization, we claim, is in essence, an ontological impasse. The way out of these problems involve rethinking and deconstructing the very ontological fabric of our existence. Education is a part of this impasse, but, at the same time, it is one essential way to overcome this impasse.

Ontological thinking means, first, considering the relationship of education to other social practices. According to D. Benner (2005) the formation of any society consists of six constitutive phenomenon, namely political system, economy, moral system, aesthetics, religion and education. We argue with Benner that education is and it must be at least relatively autonomous area in its relations to any other phenomenon in the society, so that it will not be reduced to only the means of political, economic, or religious aims.  

Second, in this paper we are rethinking educational aims in relation to metaphysics of temporality. Prevailing conception of temporality has profound implications to education, and other social practices. What is the ontology of the present, and how this affects education, and where does it originate from? Third, ontological thinking in the context of education means, asking how economics have influenced our conceptions of being in the world and being humans (see Marglin). Does our ontological conceptions of time arise from economy as the given teleological horizon of human efforts?

Ontological analysis is important because the (relative) autonomy of education is facing significant threats that can make education impotent if it is conceived only as a means to daily goals of economy and politics constituted by economic ontology. The relative autonomy of education is the condition for both creating one’s moral resources (individuation) and developing democratic society (socialization).

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