This article proposes a distinct role for solitude in education, specifically as a means of promoting self-realisation. Solitude is understood as a willed disengagement, as described by Koch, and its relationship to loneliness and to silence is explained. Notwithstanding a degree of disengagement, solitude can be and often is experienced as…

In a recent thought-provoking piece, Peter Roberts argues against the central role of happiness as a guiding concept in education, and argues for more attention to be paid to despair. This does not mean cultivating despair in young people, but allowing them to make sense of their own natural occasional despair, as well as the despair of others. I…

This article discusses the educational significance of the moral demand for respect. In "Ethics and Education," Richard Peters presents a conception of educational respect that was recently taken up by Krassimir Stojanov. This article responds to both Peters' and Stojanov's contributions and proposes another understanding of educational respect:…

Experience indicates that the questioning and democratic nature of the community of enquiry can be demanding and unsettling for teachers, presenting unaccustomed challenges and moral dilemmas. This paper argues that such significant episodes in the practice of Philosophical with Children (PwC) offer rich opportunities for wider critical reflection…

The current discussion of consumerism in higher education focuses largely on what the providers are obliged to do for the consumers, against the background of rising tuition fees. This framework does not always sit comfortably with lecturers in the context of a learning and teaching relationship, as it appears to ignore the reciprocal obligations…

In analytic moral philosophy it is standard to use unrealistic puzzles to set up moral dilemmas of a sort that I will call Lockean Puzzles. This paper will try to pinpoint just what is and what is not problematic about their use as a teaching tool or component part of philosophical arguments. I will try to flesh out the claim that what may be lost…

This essay examines in detail the triangulated conversation Naoko Saito constructs, in "The Gleam of Light", among the voices of R. W. Emerson, John Dewey and Stanley Cavell. The pivot around which everything turns is the Emersonian ideal of moral perfectionism and, in particular, the implications of this ideal for the philosophy of education. As…

The moral potential of works of art, for good or ill, has been recognised from philosophical antiquity: on the assumption that the moral effects of art are invariably negative, Plato advised the exclusion of artists from any rationally ordered state. Arguably, however, the problem of the moral status of art has become yet more acute in contexts of…

Examines objections to the proposition in moral education that children should be exposed to a variety of opinions on moral issues to avoid indoctrinating them. D. Z. Phillip's critique of this argument (v14, 1980) is evaluated. (AM)

Moore (Journal of Philosophy of Education; v15 p235-40) argues that in some circumstances choosing between individuals on the basis of color, gender, or religion cannot be condemned morally. This article examines whether the considerations that influence Moore's position carry the implications he suggests. (SR)

Explores relationships between philosophical reflection upon morals and practical moral thought, and evaluates how social institutions influence moral and political concepts. Journal availability: see SO 507 421. (DB)