If this is indoctrination, we are all indoctrinated. (November 2022)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- If this is indoctrination, we are all indoctrinated. (November 2022)
- Main Title:
- If this is indoctrination, we are all indoctrinated
- Authors:
- Armstrong, Luke
- Abstract:
- When thinking about moral education, a concern of liberals is that such education ought not to be indoctrinatory. There are various definitions of indoctrination, but a common theme is that indoctrination prevents us from critically assessing our own beliefs. Indoctrinatory education, then, teaches a doctrine in such a way that students will not countenance any alternative doctrines. A state which forced its citizens to endorse a doctrine in this way would not be a liberal state. However, if indoctrination consists in an inability to critically assess our own beliefs, I argue that we are all partly indoctrinated. Evidence drawn from neuroscience and psychology suggests that the basis of our beliefs lies in emotion rather than reason, and there is no independent space from which we can critically assess our own belief systems. This is not to justify an explicit form of state indoctrination, in which the state forces beliefs upon us. Instead, it is to assess problems with how we understand indoctrination within education. There is no entirely adequate solution to these problems, though education aimed at open-mindedness offers the most promise.
- Is Part Of:
- Theory and research in education. Volume 20:Number 3(2022)
- Journal:
- Theory and research in education
- Issue:
- Volume 20:Number 3(2022)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 20, Issue 3 (2022)
- Year:
- 2022
- Volume:
- 20
- Issue:
- 3
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2022-0020-0003-0000
- Page Start:
- 272
- Page End:
- 288
- Publication Date:
- 2022-11
- Subjects:
- Critical thinking -- free will -- indoctrination -- liberalism -- moral development -- neuroscience -- open-mindedness
Education -- Research -- Periodicals
Education -- Philosophy -- Periodicals
370.1 - Journal URLs:
- http://tre.sagepub.com/ ↗
http://www.uk.sagepub.com/home.nav ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1177/14778785221143770 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1477-8785
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 24347.xml