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Nonideal Theorizing in Education
Author(s) -
Brighouse Harry
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
educational theory
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1741-5446
pISSN - 0013-2004
DOI - 10.1111/edth.12108
Subject(s) - ideal (ethics) , scholarship , humility , epistemology , sociology , education theory , value (mathematics) , philosophy of education , law , higher education , philosophy , political science , computer science , machine learning
In this essay, Harry Brighouse responds to the collection of articles in the current issue of Educational Theory , all concerned with nonideal theorizing in education. First, he argues that some form of ideal theory is indispensable for the nonideal theorizer. Brighouse then proceeds to defend Rawls against some critics of his kind of ideal theorizing by arguing that a central feature that is often misconstrued as unduly idealizing — the full compliance assumption — in fact constrains utopianism. Next, he discusses each of the contributions in turn, and he concludes by sounding a warning that lack of humility is an ever‐present danger for nonideal theorizers who seek to evaluate, and provide guidance for, policy and practice. Falling prey to this vice, Brighouse cautions, can seriously dent the value of nonideal scholarship.