Intentionality and Thinking as 'Hearing'. A Response to Biesta's Agenda. Issue 3 (23rd February 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: d'Agnese, Vasco
• Is Part Of: Educational philosophy and theory. Volume 48:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 251
• Page End: 266
• Publication Date: 2016-02-23
• Subjects: Biesta -- Heidegger -- weakness of education -- intentionality; Education -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; Teaching -- Periodicals; Éducation; Philosophie de l'éducation; Théorie de l'éducation; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 370.1
• DOI: 10.1080/00131857.2015.1004154
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-1857

Abstract

Abstract: In his 2012 article Philosophy of Education for the Public Good: Five Challenges and an Agenda, Gert Biesta identifies five substantial issues about the future of education and the work required to address these issues. This article employs a Heideggerian reading of education to evaluate 'Biesta's truth'. I argue that Biesta's point of view (a) underestimates knowledge's predominance and relativism; (b) frames intentionality in pre-Heideggerian terms, which—although not a problem in itself because an individual is free to choose a particular perspective on the concept—raises the issue of consistency in Biesta's theoretical framework; and (c) a final criticism concerns Biesta's choice of tools for engaging with the identified challenges: The primary tools Biesta uses are intrinsic to the perspective he challenges. The use of a 'first person perspective' to frame pedagogy that focuses on the subject and 'subjectification' reaffirms the fundamental Western gesture that makes human beings subjects who 'stand-over-and-against' the world. I argue that it is possible to penetrate Plato's 'theoretical gaze' and find a 'weak' alternative to an all-encompassing point of view of education through a Heideggerian approach that regards intentionality and thinking as 'hearing'.