Skip to main content

Pragmatism, Education and the Problem of Pluralism

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Rethinking Ethical-Political Education

Part of the book series: Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education ((COPT,volume 16))

Abstract

The concept of pluralism is of central importance in contemporary moral and political education, where a crucial aim is to promote acceptance of the life choices of others and to teach tolerance towards diversity of values. However, this promotion of pluralism suffers from two immediate difficulties. Firstly, the concept of pluralism has proved somewhat elusive, and it is far from clear that its various uses are congruent. Secondly, there is a long-standing criticism against ethical and political pluralism which maintains that pluralist views are difficult if not impossible to defend without succumbing to dreaded relativism. In this article, I will firstly distinguish an educationally interesting form of pluralism and then, drawing from thinkers in the tradition of philosophical pragmatism, attempt to meet the criticism that such pluralism has no interesting philosophical defense.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bernstein, R. (2015). Cultural Pluralism. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 41(4–5).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1976–83). The middle works of John Dewey, 1899–1924 (MW). Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hand, M. (2014). Towards a theory of moral education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 48(4), 519–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hand, M. (2018). A theory of moral education. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holma, K. (2012). Fallibilist pluralism and education for shared citizenship. Educational Theory, 62(4), 397–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, W. (1908). A pluralistic universe. Hibbert lectures at Manchester college on the present situation in philosophy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kallen, H. (1915). Democracy versus the melting pot. The Nation, 100, 190–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peirce, C. S. (1903). The three normative sciences. In: The essential peirce: Selected philosophical writings. Vol 2. The Peirce Edition Project (Ed.). Bloomington: Indiana University Press (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J. (1996). Political liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydenfelt, H. (2011a). Epistemic norms and democracy: A response to Talisse. Metaphilosophy, 42(5), 572–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rydenfelt, H. (2011b). Naturalism and normative science. In J. Knowles & H. Rydenfelt (Eds.), Pragmatism, science and naturalism (pp. 115–138). Berlin/New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydenfelt, H. (2013). Constructivist problems, realist solutions. In J. Kegley & K. Skowronski (Eds.), Persuasion and compulsion in democracy (pp. 153–169). Lanham: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydenfelt, H. (2015). Pragmatism, objectivity and normative science. In U. Zackariasson (Ed.), Action, belief and inquiry: Pragmatist perspectives on science, society and religion. Nordic Pragmatism Network: Helsinki.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydenfelt, H. (2019a). Realism without representationalism. Synthese. Online first. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-019-02251-4.

  • Rydenfelt, H. (2019b). Democracy and moral inquiry: Problems of the methodological argument. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, 55(2), 254–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rydenfelt, H. (2020). Pragmatism, social inquiry and the method of democracy. In T. Kontinen & K. Holma (Eds.), Practices of citizenship in East Africa. Perspectives from philosophical pragmatism. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, H. (1985). Educating reason: Critical thinking, informal logic, and the philosophy of education. Part two: Philosophical questions underlying education for critical thinking. Informal Logic, 7(2–3), 69–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talisse, R. B., & Aikin, S. (2005). Why pragmatists cannot be pluralists. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, 41(1), 101–118.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Rydenfelt, H. (2020). Pragmatism, Education and the Problem of Pluralism. In: Strand, T. (eds) Rethinking Ethical-Political Education. Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49524-4_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49524-4_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-49523-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-49524-4

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics