The role of philosophy in integral human formation in the face of utilitarian advancement

Abstract

This article, which is situated in the field of philosophy of education, aims at questioning the utilitarianism that has increasingly shaped educational discourse, in order to state the importance of integral human formation, as well as the role of philosophy teaching in it. It draws on the argumentative context of Ordine and Nussbaum to defend that reducing the idea of usefulness to economic interests represents an affront to the very idea of education. The text is organized into three sections. The first one defines integral human formation, based on the Greek Paideia, as a general, disinterested way of education that presupposes skholé, a space and time free from utilitarian interests. The second part addresses the alleged uselessness of philosophy, characterizing it as knowledge and an end in itself, thus free from utilitarian determinism. The third one discusses the role of philosophy in human formation, defending two central arguments: philosophy as a cultivator of a philosophical attitude, and philosophy as a literary tradition that favors free thinking. The philosophical attitude, which dates back to Socratic non-knowledge, whose practice is linked to doubt, reasoning and conceptualization, is essential for the development of free minds in democratic societies. The literary tradition in philosophy offers a formative collection, capable of generating more universal perspectives than those given in the immediacy of the utilitarian context, thereby opening a window to free thinking.