The present discussion is motivated by a broad sympathy for the educational commitments that run through René Arcilla's "Wim Wenders's Road Movie Philosophy" (2020). His framing of these commitments is imaginative, as is the invitation to Wenders' films that the book provides. It is, however, with attention to the figures of the frame…

In 'Levinas: Ethics or Mystification?' (Miller, 2017), Alistair Miller presents a searing indictment of the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas and a dismissal of claims for its importance for education. He provides a summary account of Levinas's philosophy and, in relation to this, refers briefly to a number of authors who have related Levinas's work…

The topic of testimony has gained increased prominence in recent years in epistemology, where it is typically taken to refer to the possible acquisition of knowledge through the understanding and acceptance of someone else's judgement. There is no doubt that learning in this way is a prominent feature of education. This conception of testimony…

This paper begins with the 'ancient quarrel' between philosophy and literature, which, with the subsequent splitting of "logos" into word and reason, comes to mark philosophy's self-conception and much other thinking besides--compartmentalising, in the process, what is understood by 'literature'. Philosophy, thus separated becomes…

Educational research is subject to orthodoxies of old and novel kinds. The 'foundations' approach risks becoming stuck in footnotes to received ideas, while new-fangled disciplines seek to legitimate themselves in jargon and deference to new 'authorities'. The critical deficit in both tendencies obstructs responsible enquiry. I begin by sketching…

Can Levinas' thought of the other be extended beyond the relation to the other human being? This article seeks to demonstrate that Levinas' philosophy can indeed be read in such a sense and that this serves to open up a new way of understanding human thinking. Key to understanding such an extension of Levinas' philosophy will be his account of the…

This article explores aspects of eros in education in relation to ideas of indirectness associated with the French concept of "pudeur," sometimes translated as "modesty". It explores lines of thought extending through Emerson and Nietzsche but reaching back to Plato's "Symposium." This is a means of exposing the…

Is the university to be thought of as in service of society - that is, on the inside? Or should it be regarded rather as its potential critic and prophet of its best prospects, and hence be understood to be on the outside? This is just one example of the multiple ways in which thinking in terms of the inside and the outside figures in educational…

In recent papers by Marc Depaepe and Daniel Trohler, philosophers of education are criticised for their tendency to address eternal questions in pursuit of timeless truths, with insufficient awareness of the genesis of the ideas they refer to and insensitivity to historical context. The suspicion of "presentism" in their approach is…

What is the place of philosophy in the study of education? What is its significance for policy and practice? This paper begins by considering the policy and institutional context of the philosophy of education in the UK and by tracing its recent history. It examines both the place of philosophy in Education (as a field of study) and the status and…

In his "Perspectives on the Philosophy of Education" John Wilson laments the confusion that surrounds the current state of the philosophy of education. Unlike other branches of philosophy, he claims, it is not clear what the philosophy of education is about, and a snapshot of current work in the field reveals its lack of coherence. To remedy this…

On what might a comparative discussion of philosophy of education that takes Europe as one of its terms be based? This paper begins by addressing the complexity that attaches to the name "Europe" in this context in order to lay the way for a more detailed consideration of so-called "Continental" philosophy--specifically of…

This paper is a response to Richard Pring's "Reclaiming Philosophy for Educational Research," which appears in this issue. While it provides broad support for the case for the importance of philosophy in the study of education that Pring advances, it seeks to refine and to extend this. It does this through a consideration of three sets of claims.…

Thoreau's "Walden" is a text that has been misinterpreted in various ways, one consequence of which is a failure to appreciate its significance as a perfectionist and visionary text for education. This paper explores aspects of what might be called its teaching, especially via the kind of teaching that is offered by Stanley Cavell's commentary,…

Drawing partial contrasts with Deweyan and poststructuralist approaches, this essay develops an account of democratic participation based upon the work of Stanley Cavell. In particular it explores Cavell's reading of the celebrated treatment of the theme of the body politic in Shakespeare's Coriolanus. The discussion examines what it is that…