Abstract
The connection between a non philosophical work and its reception in education through its transformation into a learning/teaching material and a possible philosophical reading, in order to recognize and define the philosophical stance of this very material, could not but be a challenge for philosophy of education itself, namely, in its relation to (or as) practical philosophy. This kind of reduction to the state of material could instrumentalize the latter raising practical, ethical and methodological issues about the pedagogical intention itself; subsequently, the art, literature, philosophy, and science lying behind materials become equally instrumentalized and evacuated. This article attempts, on the one hand, to circumscribe and describe this movement of “becoming material” as a question philosophically and pedagogically challenging and, on the other, to reflect about a critical understanding of this very question as an example of research in practical philosophy.
Highlights
A l’aide desquels on peut, certes, attaquer cruellement ce à quoi la philosophie en appelle sous le nom de matière ou de matrice, pour y enfoncer une marque, y laisser une empreinte ou une forme, mais aussi pour pousser une forme menaçante, la tenir à distance, la refouler, s’en garder – se pliant alors ou repliant, en fuite, derrière des voiles. (Derrida, 1978, p. 29). It seems to be a usual procedure in educational settings, the use or adaptation of a work of art or literature as study objects but, as teaching/ learning materials in order to serve particular objectives related either to this very work and the art it represents as well, or to educational purposes, mostly irrelevant to this material which, in this case, would serve rather as a tool for their attainment
Beyond any theory of didactics about the teaching with/through materials, this kind of reduction to the state of a material, instead of adding value to it by hereafter scrutinizing it, could, on the contrary, result in reifying, manipulating, denuding it from its singularity, dragging it to a hasty or even impetuous dissection: it seems that the material becomes progressively a tool
The art, literature, philosophy, and science lying behind materials are instrumentalized and evacuated. This procedure becomes even more complicated if its purpose is either the discovery and highlighting of philosophical elements within this material or a possible exercise based on the use of philosophical tools in order to analyze the material2
Summary
It seems to be a usual procedure in educational settings, the use or adaptation of a work of art or literature as study objects but, as teaching/ learning materials in order to serve particular objectives related either to this very work and the art it represents as well, or to educational purposes, mostly irrelevant to this material which, in this case, would serve rather as a tool for their attainment. The art, literature, philosophy, and science lying behind materials are instrumentalized and evacuated This procedure becomes even more complicated if its purpose is either the discovery and highlighting of philosophical elements within this material (a discovery which could result in the understanding of a certain relation between philosophy and the art associated each time with the particular object of study) or a possible exercise based on the use of philosophical tools in order to analyze the material. This article attempts, on the one hand, to circumscribe and describe this movement of “becoming material” as a question philosophically and pedagogically challenging and, on the other, to reflect about a critical understanding of this very question as an example for research in practical philosophy
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