Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
SpringerLink
Log in

The Relevance of Political Philosophy to Educational Theory

Hannah Arendt and ‘Active Citizenship’

  • Chapter
Democracy, Socialization and Conflicting Loyalties in East and West

  • 33 Accesses

Abstract

The central question this chapter focuses on is whether Hannah Arendt’s political theorizing has relevance for educational thought. Her analysis of totalitarianism serves as the background for dealing with the concepts of intersubjectivity, plurality, space, and unique individuality. It is (contrary to Arendt’s own conviction) here maintained that there is, indeed, a relation between politics and pedagogy, a kind of ‘natural’ alliance with respect to keeping the space of ‘appearance in being’, and practicing differentiation. With respect to this relation, we distinguish between the political potential of the pedagogical relation and the contribution of education in directing human beings toward politics (that is, toward active citizenship).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Arendt, H. (1951). The Burden of Our Time. London: Secker & Warburg. (The British title of the 1st edition is The Origins of Totalitarianism)

    Google Scholar 

  • Arendt, H. (1958). The Human Condition. Chicago, IL/London, UK: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arendt, H. (1978). Between Past and Future. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biesta, G. (Summer 1994). ‘Education as Practical Intersubjectivity’, pp. 299–317 in Educational Theory, Vol. 44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canovan, M. (1992). Hannah Arendt. A Reinterpretation of her Political Thought. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1938). Logic: The Theory of Inquiry. New York, NY: Holt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohler, L. and H. Saner (eds.) (1992). Hannah Arendt to Karl Jaspers: Correspondence 1926–1969. New York, NY/San Diego, CA/London, UK: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masschelein, J. (1991). Kommunikatives Handeln und pädagogisches Handeln (Communicative Action and Pedagogical Action). Leuven, the Netherlands/Weinheim, FRG: Leuven University Press/Deutscher Studien Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masschelein, J. (1992). ‘Wandel der Öffentlichkeit und das Problem der Identität’ (Changes in the Public Sphere and the Problem of Identity), pp. 59–75 in J. Oelkers (ed.) Aufklärung, Bildund und Öffentlichkeit. Pädagogische Beiträge zur Moderne (Enlightenment, Edification and the Public Sphere). Weinheim, FRG/Basel, Switzerland: Beltz Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miedema, S. (1993). ‘De autonomie van het subject. Een moderne illusie?’ (The Autonomous Subject: A Modern Illusion?), pp. 83–94 in B. van Oers and W. Wardekker (eds.) De leerling als deelnemer aan de cultuur (The Student as Participant in Culture). Delft, the Netherlands: Eburon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miedema, S. and G. Biesta (1996, in press). ‘Democracy and Education: Are the Two Compatible?’, in: D. Green (ed.) The Practice of Education. New York, NY: Castillo Press International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Passerin d’Entrèves, M. (1992). ‘Hannah Arendt and the Idea of Citizenship’, pp. 145–68 in C. Mouffe (ed.) Dimensions of Radical Democracy: Pluralism, Citizenship, Community. London, UK/New York, NY: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prins, W. (1992). ‘Menselijkheid en de traditie van de politieke théorie’ (Humaneness and the Tradition of Political Theory), pp. 70–82 in J. de Visscher, M. van den Bossche, and M. Weyemberg (eds.) Hannah Arendt en de moderniteit (Hannah Arendt and Modernity). Kampen, the Netherlands: Kok.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rorty, R. (1991). Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth: Philosophical Papers Volume 1. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Siebren Miedema
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Connecticut, Hartford, USA

    Russell F. Farnen (Director and Professor of Political Science) (Director and Professor of Political Science)

  2. Leiden University, The Netherlands

    Henk Dekker (Associate Professor of Empirical Political Science) (Associate Professor of Empirical Political Science)

  3. University of Oldenburg, Germany

    Rüdiger Meyenberg (Professor and Head of Political Science) (Professor and Head of Political Science)

  4. Appalachian State University, USA

    Daniel B. German (Professor of Political Science) (Professor of Political Science)

Copyright information

© 1996 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Miedema, S. (1996). The Relevance of Political Philosophy to Educational Theory. In: Farnen, R.F., Dekker, H., Meyenberg, R., German, D.B. (eds) Democracy, Socialization and Conflicting Loyalties in East and West. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14059-6_17

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation