Educating through Alienation to Democracy: Engaging Critical Theory in Pedagogical Philosophy / Asger Sørensen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sørensen, Asger, author.

Series:

Critical Studies in German Idealism ; 42.

Religious Studies, Theology and Philosophy E-Books Online, Collection 2026.

Critical Studies in German Idealism ; 42

Religious Studies, Theology and Philosophy E-Books Online, Collection 2026

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education.

Educational Philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (781 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : BRILL, 2026.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The alienation generated in modern capitalist societies has a corrosive effect on social cohesion and democratic deliberation. This thesis stresses the importance of citizenship education in combating alienation in order to achieve a democratic and just society. Insights provided by Critical Theory suggest that education promoting social democratic citizenship may overcome social alienation if it is practiced as Bildung in a comprehensive sense and administered with the right dose of political economic alienation. To develop this argument, the thesis considers both classical and contemporary conceptions of alienation in detail and includes in-depth discussions of Hegel, Marx, Marcuse, and Habermas.

Contents:

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Bibliographical Note

Introduction

A. Introducing the Horizon, Themes, and Arguments of the Thesis

B. Methodological Reflections on Research in Philosophy of Education

C. Progress Achieved in Science and Scholarship: Results and Findings

D. Summarizing the Thesis

Book One: Considering Capitalist Modernity through Critical Theory

1 Arguing for Classical Critical Theory: Horkheimer, Adorno, Habermas, and Honneth

A. Classical Critical Theory

B. Philosophical Social Research

C. The Grandeur and Decline of Dialectics

D. Rethinking Critical Theory

E. Critical Theory as Social Philosophy

F. Conclusion

2 Dialectics, Critique, and Liberation: Marcuse

A. Marcuse, Dialectics and Critical Theory

B. One-Dimensional Thought

C. Two-Dimensional Thought

D. Imagining Liberation

Book Two: Bildung for Democracy: from Individualism and Law to Culture, Pedagogy, and Didactics

3 De-ideologizing and Collectivizing Bildung : Habermas

A. Introduction

B. Formation Is Social, Not Inborn

C. The Bourgeois Ideal of Liberal Education Is Ideology, but Not Just Ideology

D. Bildung Is a Core Concept in the Philosophy of Consciousness, but It Can Be Reconstructed Communicatively

E. Concluding Remarks: Democracy Requires Collective Opinion and Will Formation

4 Transforming Bildung for Critique and Democracy beyond Alienation: Habermas

B. Deliberative Democracy Transcends the Liberal–Republican Dichotomy

C. Bildung is Crucial for Habermas’s Deliberative Politics

D. Bildung Contains an Element of Truth for Human Being

E. Citizenship Education Needs a Thick Notion of Bildung

5 Responding to Alienation with Bildung for Critique, Democracy, and Solidarity: Klafki

B. Remedying Alienation through Bildung

C. Introducing Bildung , Pedagogy, and Didactics

D. Reappraising the Classical Concept of Bildung

E. Opening Up Bildung to the World of Politics

F. Opening Up to Exemplarity in Other Fields

G. Becoming Political by Recognizing Human Being

H. Conclusion

Book Three The Challenge of Alienation: from Capitalist Economy to Republican Politics

6 Educating for Alienation and Bildung : Hegel

A. The General Argument

B. Some Details from the Phenomenology Supporting the Argument

C. Further Details from Nürnberg

D. Concluding Remarks: Formation Requires Education; Critique Requires Alienation

7 Reconsidering Alienation, Modernity, and Metaphysics: Jaeggi and Rosa

B. Anti-essentialism and Ordinary Language Philosophy Accept Existing Conditions

C. Existentialism and Empiricism Blur the Societal Conditions of Malaise

D. Capitalism Generates Alienation

E. Resonance Is Not the Good Life

F. Displacements in Contemporary Critical Theory

G. Conclusion: Reclaiming Metaphysics for Critique

8 Experiencing Alienation in Alienating Modernity: Diderot and Hegel

B. Rameau’s Nephew : Open-Endedness as a Principle

C. Satire and Social Criticism, Not Cynicism

D. Alienation as Being out of Your Mind or Insane

E. Goethe Translating Alienation—and Hegel

F. The Spirit as It Immediately Is

G. The World of the Spirit Alienated from Itself

H. Alienation beyond the World of Bildung : Faith, Insight, and Enlightenment

I. Relating Alienation to Bildung , Alienation, and Exteriorization

J. Excursion: the Destiny of Diderot’s Dialogue

K. Conclusion

9 Alienating Alienation through Politics and Education: Marx, Marcuse, et al.

Part I. Situating the Argument: Capitalism, History, and Politics

Part II. Scrutinizing the Basic Concepts

Part III. Revisiting Twentieth-Century Marxist Controversies

Part IV. Criticizing Alienation as a Capitalist Pathology

Part V. Overcoming Alienation: Revolution, Reform, and Education

Conclusion

Book Four: Reconsidering Critical Theory: from Critique to Democracy

1 Democracy, Dialectical Negativity, and Political Economy: Rasmussen, Tong, and Ivković

A. Classical Critical Theory Is Relevant as Epistemology

B. The Dialectics of Critical Theory Is Destructive

C. Dialectical Epistemology Does Not Imply Relativism

D. Determinate Negation Develops Universality, Not Totality

E. General Economy Is Not Just about Political Economy

F. Sovereignty Makes General Economy Apolitical

G. Republican Social Democracy—What Else?

11 Immanent Critique, Ideology Critique, and Capitalism: Ibsen, Jepsen, and Langergaard

A. Immanent Critique Is Not Ideology Critique

B. Critique of Enlightenment Is Critique of Capitalism

C. Neoliberalism Is the Ideology of Capitalism

12 From Critique of Capitalism to Social Democracy: Saar, Benhabib, et al.

A. Moving beyond Capitalism and Forced Labor to Social Democracy and the Work of Human Beings

B. From the Ideology of Universalism and Experience to Solidarity and Critical Theory

C. From Critique of Ideology to Immanent Critique and Dialectics

D. Conclusion: Critique Must Be Criticized and Defended

Bibliography

Index of Names

Index of Subjects.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Sørensen, Asger Educating Through Alienation to Democracy: Engaging Critical Theory in Pedagogical Philosophy

ISBN:

9789004757899

OCLC:

1611789683

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004757899 DOI