Philosophical Pedagogy in the Service of Ideology in the Times of the Polish People’s Republic

Abstract

In my paper, I would like to consider the problem of entanglement of philosophy of education in the communist ideology. I will show it on the example of one Polish concept, created by Karol Kotłowski. He was a disciple of Sergiusz Hessen and developed his own concept of philosophical pedagogy, presenting the philosophy of dialectical materialism, that is Marxism as a perspective in which the entire philosophical thought culminates. Reading Kotłowski, we can see, on the one hand, his rooting in broad philosophical thought, on the other hand – his adherence to the ideology of the socialist state, which demands that education serve the political system and prepare people to be the builders of the system. The theoretical basis for my analysis is Arendt’s concept of totalitarianism and Tischner’s view of homo sovieticus. The analysis is preceded with an historical overview of the situation in Poland in the first decade after World War II with reference to academic pedagogy.