ERIC Number: EJ979523
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1946
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Human Science for Human Freedom? Piaget's Developmental Research and Foucault's Ethical Truth Games
Zhao, Guoping
Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, v48 n5 p450-464 2012
The construction of the modern subject and the pursuit of human freedom and autonomy, as well as the practice of human science has been pivotal in the development of modern education. But for Foucault, the subject is only the effect of discourses and power-knowledge arrangements, and modern human science is part of the very arrangement that has given birth to the subject who is thoroughly subjected. In his final years, however, a strong passion for human liberty reemerged, and he proposed that a different truth game, the ancient ethical truth practices may actually constitute a self that is free and enjoys self-mastery. In this article, I analyze how modern human science, exemplified by Piaget's child developmental research, has become the means of unfreedom and domination and discuss the ancient ethical truth games Foucault so admired and how they bring self-mastery and freedom to the self. Furthermore, I discuss whether liberal education can ground its notions of autonomy and liberty on the Foucauldian concept of the subject and truth games.
Descriptors: Freedom, Personal Autonomy, Ethics, Developmental Stages, Child Development, Scientific Research, Power Structure, Self Concept, Self Actualization, General Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
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