ERIC Number: EJ1106819
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1744-9642
EISSN: N/A
The Primacy of Pity: Reconceiving Ethical Experience and Education in Rousseau
Bojesen, Emile
Ethics and Education, v11 n2 p131-140 2016
For Rousseau, there are only three things he does not reason away apart from reason itself: self-interest, the good and, at least until Emile, pity. This paper argues that it is Rousseau's original formulation of pity in the Second Discourse that is able to provide the extra-rational conception of ethics that his political and educational philosophy lacks when limited to a reading of the "Social Contract" and "Emile." This paper will also show how the reconceptualisation of these existential predicates is usefully aligned with a reading of Derrida's conceptions of immunity and autoimmunity. By reconceiving Rousseau's educational and political thinking in terms of the primacy of pity rather than reason, this paper will present a kind of philosophical prototype for beginning to rethink contemporary educational and political logic in terms of the primacy of pity more generally.
Descriptors: Ethics, Educational Philosophy, Political Attitudes, Logical Thinking, Emotional Response, Social Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A