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Spinoza

Fiction and Manipulation in Civic Education

  • Book
  • © 2021

Overview

Authors:
  1. Johan Dahlbeck

    1. Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

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  • Draws from a reading of Spinoza’s political philosophy that advances conclusions for philosophy of education
  • Presents Spinoza’s political philosophy as an integral part of his larger ethical project
  • Provides an accessible understanding of Spinoza’s thoughts on civic education

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Education (BRIEFSEDUCAT)

Part of the book sub series: SpringerBriefs on Key Thinkers in Education (BRIEFSKEY)

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Spinoza’s Political Theory and Its Consequences for Civic Education: On Prophets, Philosophers, and Educators

    • Johan Dahlbeck
    Pages 1-22

  3. Illusions and Fictions: Educating the Imagination

    • Johan Dahlbeck
    Pages 23-42

  4. The Pedagogical Importance of Ingenium: Exemplarism and Popular Narratives

    • Johan Dahlbeck
    Pages 43-60

  5. Teaching Doctrines to People: Manipulation and Civic Education

    • Johan Dahlbeck
    Pages 61-77

  6. Spinoza’s Lesson to the Contemporary Political Imagination

    • Johan Dahlbeck
    Pages 79-90
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Keywords

About this book

This book is a philosophical enquiry into the educational consequences of Spinoza’s political theory. Spinoza’s political theory is of particular interest for educational thought as it brings together the normative aims of his ethical theory with his realistic depiction of human psychology and the ramifications of this for successful political governance. As such, this book aims to introduce the reader to Spinoza’s original vision of civic education, as a project that ultimately aims at the ethical flourishing of individuals, while being carefully tailored and adjusted to the natural limitations of human reason. 

Readers will benefit from a succinct introduction to Spinoza’s political philosophy and from an account of civic education that is based on careful exegetical work. It draws conclusions only hinted at in Spinoza’s own writings.

Reviews

“This book is a brief, tightly packaged, and expertly elucidated philosophical study, which never strays needlessly from its central theme, and is all the better for it. … the book successfully accomplishes what it sets out to do, offering an insightful contribution to our understanding of the problem of fiction and indoctrination in education. It is highly engaging and deserves attention from philosophers of education and those with an interest in Spinoza alike. I strongly recommend it.” (Aurélien Daudi, Educational Philosophy and Theory, February 6, 2023)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

    Johan Dahlbeck

About the author

Johan Dahlbeck is Associate Professor of Education at Malmö University, Sweden. His research interest is in the philosophy of education, focusing especially on the convergence of ethics, political philosophy and educational theory. Dahlbeck has recently published two research monographs: Education and Free Will: Spinoza, Causal Determinism and Moral Formation (Routledge, 2018) and Spinoza and Education: Freedom, Understanding and Empowerment (Routledge, 2016), as well as co-edited a recent special issue on exemplarism in Spinoza and Arendt (Ethics and Education, 15:2, 2020). Dahlbeck’s research is also published in academic journals such as Journal of Philosophy of Education, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Ethics and Education, Philosophy of Education Yearbook, and Educational Philosophy and Theory as well as in anthologies such as International Handbook of Philosophy of Education (ed. Paul Smeyers, 2018). Dahlbeck is currently a programcoordinator of the international MA program in Educational Theory at Malmö University. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Spinoza

  • Book Subtitle: Fiction and Manipulation in Civic Education

  • Authors: Johan Dahlbeck

  • Series Title: SpringerBriefs in Education

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7125-8

  • Publisher: Springer Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Education, Education (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-16-7124-1Published: 03 November 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-16-7125-8Published: 02 November 2021

  • Series ISSN: 2211-1921

  • Series E-ISSN: 2211-193X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVIII, 90

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Educational Philosophy, History of Education, Educational Policy and Politics

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