Citizen Philosophy Classes - Politics

« Citizen Philosophy Classes » [Utne Reader]

Banned during military dictatorship, philosophy classes are now required for students in Brazilian high schools, in an effort to boost political participation.

►http://www.utne.com/politics/philosophy-classes-zm0z12sozlin.aspx

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In 1971 the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985 eliminated philosophy classes from high schools. Teachers, professors in departments of education, and political activists championed its return, while most academic philosophers were either indifferent or suspicious.

The 2008 law—the world’s largest-scale attempt to bring philosophy into the public sphere—represents an experiment in democracy. Among teachers at least, many share Ribeiro’s hope that philosophy will provide a path to greater civic participation and equality. Can it do even more? Can it teach students to question and challenge the foundations of society itself?

#Philosophie #Idées #Brésil #Démocratie #Enseignement #dip

Citizen Philosophy Classes - Politics - Utne Reader
►http://www.utne.com/politics/philosophy-classes-zm0z12sozlin.aspx
Source : ►http://www.bostonreview.net/BR37.1/carlos_fraenkel_brazil_teaching_philosophy.php

they study philosophy two hours each week because of a 2008 law that mandates philosophy instruction in all Brazilian high schools. Nine million teenagers now take philosophy classes for three years.

Among the greatest skeptics of the 2008 law is José Arthur Giannotti, one of Brazil’s most respected academic philosophers. “Teaching philosophy to students who can hardly read and write,” Giannotti said in 2008, “is sad foolishness.”

To be sure, conditions are dire in public schools. More than 12 million poor families get tiny financial incentives to keep their children in school. Brazil still has 15 million illiterate people and an additional 30 million “functionally” illiterate who can decipher a text, but not understand it, much less write something coherent.

When I mentioned Giannotti’s statement to students they were outraged. They thought he described a vicious circle: if you can’t establish a just society democratically without the citizens knowing what justice is, and if you can’t know what justice is without philosophy, it would be impossible to achieve justice in an unjust society like Brazil.

#enseignement #philosophie #religion #Brésil via @opironet