Reconciling Socrates and Levinas for the Community of Inquiry: A response to Sharp and Laverty (2018)

Abstract

In the publication <em>In Community of Inquiry with Ann Margaret Sharp</em> (2018) the editors, Maughn Rollins Gregory and Megan Jane Laverty present a series of significant essays that honour Anne Margaret Sharp and her significant contribution to the Philosophy for Children (P4C) program. One of the essays, <em>Looking at others’ faces</em> (Sharp &amp; Laverty 2018), is a revised version of Sharp’s earlier essay (see Sharp &amp; Laverty 2018, p. 128, note 2) and further develops her original themes and interests in post-structuralist research and its implications for the P4C program. Sharp and Laverty argue for recognising alterity as informed by Emmanuel Levinas and his notion of the ‘Other’ (<em>L’Autre</em>) in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) alongside the well-established model of Socratic maieutics. But can Socrates and Levinas be reconciled as Sharp and Laverty invite us? In this essay I examine an interpretation of maieutics from Levinas that makes it both incompatible and yet, ultimately, reconciled with alterity in his notion of teaching. Finally, I explore ambiguities and implications that emerge from accepting this approach and suggest further questions that remain to be explored in relation to the pedagogy of the CoI.