Description
Book SynopsisIncreasing doubts over the narratives that traditionally served to legitimize the tasks and possibilities of societal institutions – such as science – have also called into question the significance of philosophy to educational thinking. Related debates largely concern epistemological issues, i.e. issues regarding the nature and status of (scientific) knowledge. This dissertation takes as its starting point the nowadays hardly controversial idea that all knowledge is to a certain extent ‘uncertain’. The questions addressed are how this ‘epistemic uncertainty’may be intelligibly understood, and what consequences can be drawn from such an understanding for the tasks and possibilities of philosophy of education as an academic discipline. In response to antifoundationalist as well as fallibilist authors, the author develops a discursive contextualist approach to epistemology that gives way to a philosophy of education that has both critical-reflective and theoretical-constructive potential, as is illustrated in relation to the educational issue of dealing with ‘students at risk’.
Table of ContentsFacing Epistemic Uncertainty - 2 CONTENTS - 7 I INTRODUCTION: A BRIEF RECONSTRUCTION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE - 12 II BEYOND FOUNDATIONS - SIGNS OF A NEW NORMATIVITY IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION - 30 III EPISTEMOLOGICAL INSIGHTS AND CONSEQUENCES FOR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION I: FOUNDATIONALISM, FALLIBILISM, AND CONTEXTUALISM - 54 IV THE FRUITS OF IRONY: GAINING INSIGHT INTO HOW WE MAKE MEANING OF THE WORLD - 68 V EPISTEMOLOGICAL INSIGHTS AND CONSEQUENCES FOR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION II: RELATIVISM, ARBITRARINESS, AND DYNAMIC-DISCURSIVE CONTEXTS - 92 VI NEGOTIATING THE WORLD. SOME PHILOSOPHICALCONSIDERATIONS ON DEALING WITH DIFFERENTIAL ACADEMIC LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN SCHOOLS - 102 VII EPISTEMOLOGICAL INSIGHTS AND CONSEQUENCES FOR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION III: DISCURSIVE EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE GROWTH OF KNOWLEDGE - 120 VIII THE PRIMACY OF COMMITMENT IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION - 128 IX SUMMARIZING AND CONCLUDING REMARKS: COMMITMENT AND ACADEMIC RIGOR IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION - 154 NEDERLANDSE SAMENVATTING (DUTCH SUMMARY)OMGAAN MET EPISTEMISCHE ONZEKERHEID: KENMERKEN, MOGELIJKHEDEN EN BEPERKINGEN VAN EEN DISCURSIEF-CONTEXTUALISTISCHE BENADERING VAN DE OPVOEDINGSFILOSOFIE - 170 DANKWOORD (ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN DUTCH) - 182
