Education, Liberal Democracy and Populism: Arguments from Plato, Locke, Rousseau and Mill

Description

Education, Liberal Democracy and Populism: Arguments from Plato, Locke, Rousseau and Mill provides a lucid and critical guide shedding light on the continuing relevance of earlier thinkers to the debates between populists and liberals about the nature of education in democratic societies. The book discusses the relationship Rousseau and Plato posited between education and society, and contrasts their work with the development of liberal thinking about education from John Locke, and John Stuart Mill's arguments for the importance of education to representative democracy. It explores some of the roots of populism and offer a broader perspective from which to assess the questions which populists pose and the answers which liberals offer. The book makes a substantial contribution to the current debate about democracy, by emphasising the central importance of education to political thought and practice, and suggests that only an education system based on liberal democratic principles can offer the possibility of a genuinely free society. This book is ideal reading for researchers and post-graduate students in education, politics, philosophy and history. It will also be of great interest to Educational practitioners and policy makers. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Four thinkers Four themes Education and a stable society Expertise in education and politics Education, politics and critical thinking Autonomy in education and politics Notes 1 Populism, education and challenges to liberal order: The crisis of democracy Historical scepticism about democracy Liberalism Two uses of ‘liberalism’ The moral primacy of the individual The rule of law The development of liberal ideas Cosmopolitanism Populism Defining populism The general will The people Elites The purification of society Nationalism Populism and liberalism Populist versus liberal education: the case of the CEU Three points of clarification Notes 2 Plato: Two philosophies of education? Plato and skilled experts Plato and democracy Education and expertise Challenging the experts: the Socratic Method Notes 3 John Locke: A liberal philosophy of education Locke’s writings Education and epistemology Some limits of Locke’s liberal philosophy of education Critical thinking and expertise Education and the state Education and civility Critical thinking and autonomy Growth or transformation Notes 4 Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Education, Emile and remaking society Rousseau and populism Emile From savage to citizen Poland: education for a just society Sovereignty and the general will: the foundations of a stable and cohesive society Authoritarianism and the general will Manipulation Notes 5 John Stuart Mill: Education and liberty Education and the Autobiography Democracy and the need for an education in critical thinking Developing the self Nationality Mill and Plato The Socratic Method Experts Educating adults Conclusion Notes 6 Education in democratic societies Four themes Education and a stable society Nationality and national education Expertise in education and politics Education, politics and critical thinking Autonomy in education and politics Education and the crisis of democracy Notes Bibliography Index