Fostering toleration in secondary school students through Enlightenment philosophical tales
This paper argues that teachers of philosophy in school, interested in the use of literature in their classrooms, can benefit from teaching the wonderful, but today widely-neglected, literary works of the Enlightenment philosophes. As we examine in Part 1: Theory, these works of philosophical litera...
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University of Birmingham Library Services
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Philosophy in Schools |
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| Online Access: | https://account.jps.bham.ac.uk/index.php/up-j-jps/article/view/243 |
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| author | Matt Sharpe |
| author_facet | Matt Sharpe |
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| description | This paper argues that teachers of philosophy in school, interested in the use of literature in their classrooms, can benefit from teaching the wonderful, but today widely-neglected, literary works of the Enlightenment philosophes. As we examine in Part 1: Theory, these works of philosophical literature were written to reach a large reading public, and engage nonexpert audiences who, like our secondary students, were not necessarily otherwise interested in philosophical questioning. In particular, Enlightenment philosophical literature served to advocate to the reading public the value of religious toleration, and its epistemic preconditions, in forms of intellectual humility. These texts, we argue, are thereby perfect for classroom use in philosophy in schools. In Part 2: Exemplifications, we look at how, in Montesquieu’s Persian Letters and Voltaire’s Micromégas, literary conceits are used to open readers’ eyes to how the ideas and customs they take for granted must appear very differently to others, and how these ‘others’ whom they might have previously disregarded share a good deal with ‘us’, and may even have things to teach us. Such an ‘expanded’ enlightened mindset as these texts foster through engaging readers in their stories and comedy, we propose, remains at the heart of educating our students to be good citizens in multi-faith, post-Enlightenment societies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f723b7b77aff49bdacc23b3695cf9dc9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2204-2482 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Birmingham Library Services |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Philosophy in Schools |
| spelling | doaj-art-f723b7b77aff49bdacc23b3695cf9dc92025-01-08T08:38:36ZengUniversity of Birmingham Library ServicesJournal of Philosophy in Schools2204-24822024-12-0111213715210.46707/jps.v11i2.243220Fostering toleration in secondary school students through Enlightenment philosophical talesMatt Sharpe0Australian Catholic UniversityThis paper argues that teachers of philosophy in school, interested in the use of literature in their classrooms, can benefit from teaching the wonderful, but today widely-neglected, literary works of the Enlightenment philosophes. As we examine in Part 1: Theory, these works of philosophical literature were written to reach a large reading public, and engage nonexpert audiences who, like our secondary students, were not necessarily otherwise interested in philosophical questioning. In particular, Enlightenment philosophical literature served to advocate to the reading public the value of religious toleration, and its epistemic preconditions, in forms of intellectual humility. These texts, we argue, are thereby perfect for classroom use in philosophy in schools. In Part 2: Exemplifications, we look at how, in Montesquieu’s Persian Letters and Voltaire’s Micromégas, literary conceits are used to open readers’ eyes to how the ideas and customs they take for granted must appear very differently to others, and how these ‘others’ whom they might have previously disregarded share a good deal with ‘us’, and may even have things to teach us. Such an ‘expanded’ enlightened mindset as these texts foster through engaging readers in their stories and comedy, we propose, remains at the heart of educating our students to be good citizens in multi-faith, post-Enlightenment societies.https://account.jps.bham.ac.uk/index.php/up-j-jps/article/view/243montesquieuphilosophy and literaturephilosophy in schoolstolerationvoltaire |
| spellingShingle | Matt Sharpe Fostering toleration in secondary school students through Enlightenment philosophical tales Journal of Philosophy in Schools montesquieu philosophy and literature philosophy in schools toleration voltaire |
| title | Fostering toleration in secondary school students through Enlightenment philosophical tales |
| title_full | Fostering toleration in secondary school students through Enlightenment philosophical tales |
| title_fullStr | Fostering toleration in secondary school students through Enlightenment philosophical tales |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fostering toleration in secondary school students through Enlightenment philosophical tales |
| title_short | Fostering toleration in secondary school students through Enlightenment philosophical tales |
| title_sort | fostering toleration in secondary school students through enlightenment philosophical tales |
| topic | montesquieu philosophy and literature philosophy in schools toleration voltaire |
| url | https://account.jps.bham.ac.uk/index.php/up-j-jps/article/view/243 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mattsharpe fosteringtolerationinsecondaryschoolstudentsthroughenlightenmentphilosophicaltales |