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Freire, Wittgenstein and the Critical Being

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Reflections on Criticality in Educational Philosophy

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Educational Philosophy and Theory ((PSEPT))

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Abstract

In what ways do Paulo Freire and Ludwig Wittgenstein show us how to develop a person’s criticality? What connections are there to be made between the Delphic maxims, ‘Know thyself’ and ‘Nothing overmuch’, Freire’s notion of conscientização and Wittgenstein’s position on encouraging others to think for themselves? I argue that an appreciation of the Freirean notion of conscientização is key to the critical being developing his or her own criticality. And I argue that the Wittgensteinian conception of thinking for one’s self is of fundamental significance. My exploration into Freire and Wittgenstein’s ideas serves to broaden our epistemological and ontological horizons.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Socrates recounts: ‘You can see that distinctive kind of Spartan wisdom in their pithy, memorable sayings, which they jointly dedicated as the first fruits of their wisdom to Apollo in his temple at Delphi, inscribing there the maxims now on everyone’s lips: “Know thyself” and “Nothing in excess”’ (Plato 1997: 774).

  2. 2.

    I opened this book with the idea that criticality scholarship is, essentially, a logical space of perspectival horizons in which scholars are free to pursue their own political, ethical and philosophical interests. I acknowledge that, possibly, for some scholars, human emancipation may not register within their intellectual compasses. All of us are entitled to walk their own distinct paths. That said, we ought to be prepared to engage in collective dialogue and negotiation.

  3. 3.

    Following convention, titles for Wittgenstein’s works are abbreviated (BB = The Blue and Brown Books, BT = The ‘Big Typescript’ (TS 213), CV = Culture and Value, LWL = Wittgenstein's Lectures, Cambridge, 1930-1932, PG = Philosophical Grammar, PI = Philosophical Investigations, RPPII = Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology Volume 2, WV = Preface to the Dictionary for Elementary Schools, and Z = Zettel), with section (§) or page number, and with the full citation and initials given in the References.

  4. 4.

    Here I read Wittgenstein as attacking his contemporaries and, as he perceives them, their bourgeois thinking and complacency with the established order (Cf. CV 17; Kenny 1984: 55–56; Monk 1991: 246–247).

  5. 5.

    Cf. Bearn (2019: 705–706), Burbules and Peters (2001: 20–21), Edwards (2019: 676), McGinn (1997: 27–31), Monk (1991: 366), and Skilbeck (2017: 205).

  6. 6.

    The mind is not a gaseous medium; nor is thought a mental activity or inner process.

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    Marc James Deegan

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Deegan, M.J. (2024). Freire, Wittgenstein and the Critical Being. In: Reflections on Criticality in Educational Philosophy. Palgrave Studies in Educational Philosophy and Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57330-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57330-9_12

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