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Being critical does not come easy, not even within Critical Theory. In this article I respond to criticism of my book from 2019, Capitalism, Alienation and Critique, arguing that contemporary Critical Theory has something to learn from the founding fathers. Firstly, for Adorno immanent critique has metaphysical implications beyond Honneth’s critique of bourgeois society as inconsistent in terms of its professed ideals. Secondly, immanent critique is not the same as ideology critique, and when it comes to Horkheimer and Habermas, they conducted the latter rather than the former. Thirdly, even though today nature must be our concern, answers are to be found in politics and metaphysics rather than science. Finally, critique of neoliberalism should be conducted as critique of political economy, that is, ideology critique, rather than sociological descriptions of the empirical details of globalized capitalism. Denaturalizing economics is a condition for economic democracy.

The paper discusses how theories of ‘Bildung’ can contribute to the pedagogical professions. The point of departure is to view Bildung as a concept with a content of values which contributes to discussions about norms and value-orientation in education. Inspired by the philosopher Nicolai Hartmann, the paper introduces ‘fullness of value’ [Wertefülle] as an educational and analytical concept that helps to support a systematic study of value content in educational theory and practice. In order to provide an example, the paper offers a brief systematic analysis of the Bildung theorist Dietrich Benner’s concept of the non-affirmative. Theories of Bildung are not to be translated and directly applied in educational practice but provide a co- and counterplay to this. Theories of Bildung contribute to draft models of coherent educational views. In this way, the theories of Bildung propose, give the reason for and discuss the ideals of Bildung for future education in order to create reflection and discussion in public and the pedagogical profession.

Friedrich Schlegel’s critique of Immanuel Kant’s claim that democracy is necessarily despotic (as in ancient Greece, lacking a strict separation between legislative and executive power) led Schlegel to formulate an alternative concept of democracy, opposing republicanism and despotism. His alternative understanding led him to a new notion of the Rousseauian distinction (and relation) between general will and the will of the majority, and to seek new paths to a realization of the project of perpetual peace, viz. through political and historical formation. Schlegel’s aim is to bridge the gap between a priori principles and anthropological and empirical reality.

Peter Zinkernagel and David Favrholdt: A Response to George Berkeley in Twentieth-Century Danish PhilosophyThe purpose of this essay is to elucidate some aspects of the theoretical philosophy developed by Peter Zinkernagel (1921-2003) and David Favrholdt (1931-2012), and of their response to George Berkeley’s philosophy in The Principles of Human Knowledge (1710). My particular aim is to present what I consider as Zinkernagel’s and Favrholdt’s most important philosophical contribution; namely, to distinguish between two different human approaches to reality: the one by action, the other by perception. Their most interesting attempt is to be found in their development and use of that distinction, initially in Zinkernagel’s book Conditions for Description (1957/1962), and culminating in Favrholdt’s development of a new conception of the distinction between primary and secondary qualities. The two thinkers had very much in common, although Zinkernagel is the initiator. Nevertheless, Favrholdt maintained an emphasis on language and communication, and later on developed this into his own points and stances, although still relying on the same fundamental distinction between action and perception – and on insights borrowed from Niels Bohr.

Artiklen vil diskutere det pædagogiske paradoks primært ud fra D. Benner. Artiklen hævder, at det pædagogiske paradoks hviler på en forståelse af frihed, der hos Benner er underbelyst, og en idé om autenticitet, der ender i det isolerede Selv. Jeg foreslår her over for at studere appellens fænomen m.h.p. at indkredse en idé om frihed, der ikke udelukker enhver ydre indflydelse.

Pædagogikhåndbogen beskriver pædagogikkens vidensområde gennem seks tilgange:Pædagogikkens historie (hvad er baggrunden for det skolesyn vi har i dag?)Pædagogisk filosofi (hvad er skolens formål og etiske grundlag?)Pædagogisk sociologi (hvad er skolens sociale virkelighed?)Pædagogisk psykologi (hvad er udvikling, læring og motivation?)Pædagogisk antropologi (hvordan bliver skolens kulturelle mønstre synlige?)Didaktik (hvordan bliver pædagogik til planlægning, gennemførsel og evaluering af undervisning?)Pædagogikhåndbogen præsenterer et vidensgrundlag, som den studerende kan bruge til at reflektere over praksis med. Bogen er tænkt som den studerendes arbejdsredskab gennem hele studiet. Den henvender sig til læreruddannelsen og pædagogiske bachelor-, diplom- og kandidatuddannelser. Pædagogikhåndbogen er et originalt værk, der er sammensat af nyskrevne og reviderede kapitler fra udgivelsen Pædagogikhåndbogen, 1. udgave

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The idea of the university is habitually discussed in relation to German or English language classics. Instead, I will focus on the Spanish language periphery arguing that the discussions there merit attention for distinguishing between three central Old World models of the university, namely, apart from the English and the German, also a French one. Moreover, the marginal perspective stresses the social and political importance of the university. In this perspective, José Ortega y Gasset deserves attention for arguing for a university in the service of a modern republican state. Ortega stresses the importance of a cultural formation that includes the sciences to make enlightened decisions, the distinction between teaching a discipline and doing research within it, and that between a scientist doing research and a highly educated professional practitioner. Unfortunately, the role of knowledge and truth is neglected. The argument from the periphery is therefore necessary albeit not sufficient.

I det følgende stiller vi skarpt på en række nedslag i teori og forskning, som har været med til at inspirere beslutningen om at skrive denne antologi om almendidaktik. Almendidaktikkens forankring i pædagogisk-filosofisk dannelsestænkning kan umiddelbart synes at ligge langt væk fra den sociologiskinspirerede empiriske udforskning af didaktik i praksis. Ikke desto mindre åbner koblingen mellem de to op for en række problemstillinger og paradokser i samtidens pædagogiske praksisser.

Beyond knowledge, critical thinking, new ideas, rigorous science and scholarly development, this chapter argues for the university as a space of life. Through the complexities and incommensurabilities of academic life, and drawing on Julia Kristeva’s notion of revolt, Emmanuel Levinas’ notion of Otherness, and Novalis’ concept of Romantisierung, it makes a philosophical argument for recognizing what might appear as uncomfortable transgressions of the marketable, measurable characteristics of World Class Universities. In various ways, the chapter asks where there is space, in the World Class University, for elements which may not overtly align with the neoliberal clamour for international recognition and esteem. In elevating everyday life in the university, the chapter blurs boundaries of the celebrated, strived for rankings with the spaces of life that are dark and heterotopic, messily entangled with histories, polyphonic human and more than human voice, beings and energies, within the university. Revolt provokes a re-turn to re-question the ethics and boundaries of treatments of ‘world’ and ‘class’ in conceptions of the World Class University. Here, ‘World Class University’ is not necessarily a globally streamlined and internationally bench-marked institution, flexing its socio-economic muscles in the face of the world. Instead, it is an institution that speaks for others who have been made silent and deprived of their own critical voice. It speaks for the suppressed and marginalized, and it speaks for the ones who are no longer with us, or who have not yet arrived. It speaks for the people and the times yet to come.

The article contains a discussion of the contemporary crisis of general education (Allgemeine Pädagogik) with special attention to: (i) how the cultural erosion and societal differentiation the last 40 years has downgraded the concepts of upbringing and education (Erziehung, Bildung) in favour of an increased attention towards concepts of socialization and learning. Secondly, the question of the relation between (ii) general education and the empirical-methodologically specified sub-disciplines is also raised, as these sub-disciplines are currently in the process of detaching themselves towards enhanced autonomy. Finally, the article looks into the difference between the research-programs respectively of general education and the social-psychological paradigm of educational research (Bildungsforschung, uddannelsesvidenskab). The total argument of the article claims, that the research program as well as educational program of general education is justified today by maintaining an approximate unity of a field of knowlegde currently under pressure towards a diffuse or even non-pedagogical nature. Therein lies the current inevitability of general education in our current po-mo societal formation.

Considering citizenship education specifically in relation to deliberative politics, first, I focus on the role that Habermas in Between Facts and Norms allots to opinion and will formation as a kind of Bildung, emphasizing the collective aspect of discursive formation in the state as well as in civil society. Secondly, even though I have stressed the crucial role of deliberation in the formation to virtue, I recognize that Habermas attempts to combine the republican call for civic virtue with the liberal claims to have rights. Thirdly, I emphasize that also for Habermas Bildung in some sense constitutes the truth of human being, although it is not specified in detail. Fourthly, I argue that democratic citizenship education would benefit from a substantial notion of Bildung, but that Habermas does not support such an argument. Recognizing that Habermas’s idea of collective formation is restricted to providing justice in terms of politics and law, and bearing in mind the alienation in fact produced within the multitudes of modern capitalist and militarist society, I conclude by expressing the fear that Habermas’s account of democratic formation will not be sufficiently attractive to contemporary democratic citizens and thus unable to function as a normative ideal.

The growing number of universities today makes it relevant to consider again the idea of the university. Consulting the classics of the discussion, I argue that we must retain the idealist notions of knowledge, science and truth professed by Newman in his argument for liberal education, although he neglects the possible corruption of the university faculty. The problem of corruption is recognized by Jaspers, criticizing all idealist notions and leaving science and scholarship to rely only on existential commitment. The problem for both classics, however, is that they conceive of academic freedom in an all-too individualist way. Instead, I argue that the idea of the academic republic should be taken seriously, i.e., that a contemporary idea of the university must include suggestions for university government comprising institutional checks and balances. Only such a constitutional notion of academic freedom may counter neo-liberal reification of higher education, science, and scholarship.

In 1955 the fi rst Danish chair in education was set up at the University of Copenhagen and Knud Grue-Sørensen – Doctor of Philosophy – became appointed as holder of the chair. In 1965 the chair had an institute,Institute of Educational Th eory, connected to it.The following deals with the nineteen years (1955-74) in which Grue-Sørensen worked as a professor of educationat the university. The assumption upon which the essay rests is that his main ambition during theseyears was to lay the scientific foundations of educational theory as a an autonomous discipline in its own rightnext to neighbouring disciplines like, say, psychology and sociology. Although well acquainted with those disciplineshe nevertheless consequently subjected their research results to critical examination of their relevanceto the solution of educational problems. Infl uenced in general by a strong interest in language matters andby English philosophers (e.g. George Moore and Gilbert Ryle) in particular he practiced a method of ordinarylanguage analysis and applied it to bring to light important language nuances often overlooked in empiricalresearch. Convincingly, he demonstrated this method in his analysis of the concept of learning.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the reception of George Berkeley in a particular corner of 20th-century Danish psychology and philosophy. In contrast to philosophers, such as Peter Zinkernagel and David Favrholdt, Danish experimental psychologists, including Edgar Rubin and Edgar Tranekjær Rasmussen, made highly appreciative reference to the methodology and experimental observations of Berkeley and David Hume. This paper focuses on these psychologists’ interest in Berkeley’s ideas. I will first present Rubin’s path from a mosaic-like understanding of psychological phenomena (elemental psychology) to a holistic view, detailing what he termed adspective psychology and its method. I then turn to Rubin’s embrace of certain experimental observations made by Berkeley and, in particular, by Hume concerning theminima visibilia. The second part of the paper deals with Tranekjær Rasmussen’s interpretation of Berkeley’s work, and in particular of his immaterialism, his notion of God, and his critique of abstract ideas.

Den tyske filosof Odo Marquard fyldte i 2013 femogfirs år. I den anledning blev der på det tyske forlag Reclam, der gennem fire årtier har været Marquards faste forlag, udgivet to bøger: Dels bogen Der Einzelne. Vorlesungen zur Existenzphilosophie, der som titlen angiver er en forelæsningsrække om eksistensfilosofi, dels artikelsamlingen Endlichkeitsphilosophisches. Über das Altern, der samler en række tidligere udgivne essays om alderdom og endelighed.

Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy introduces an intriguing combination of so-called ‘drives’, seemingly biologically inspired forces behind humanity’s cultural ways of relating to what is, and extensive distrust of science. Despite the Greek mythological context, the insight and the arguments provided by Nietzsche seem relevant to contemporary biologically inspired approaches to cognition found within biosemiotics, as well as the embodied cognition paradigm. Here, I discuss how Nietzsche’s biological conception of our relation to what is, incessantly emphasises a critical approach to our predilections and mindless conventionalist beliefs.

Proponents of the ‘practice turn’ in the social sciences rarely mention American pragmatism as a source of inspiration or refer to pragmatist philosophy. This strikes us as not only odd, but also a disadvantage since the pragmatist legacy has much to offer practice theory in the study of organizations. In this paper we want to spell out the theoretical similarities and divergences between practice theory and pragmatism to consider whether the two traditions can find common ground when gazing upon organization studies. We suggest that pragmatism should be included in the ‘tool-kit’ of practice-based studies of organizations. Proponents of the ‘practice turn’ in the social sciences rarely mention American pragmatism as a source of inspiration or refer to pragmatist philosophy. This strikes us as not only odd, but also a disadvantage since the pragmatist legacy has much to offer practice theory in the study of organizations. In this paper we want to spell out the theoretical similarities and divergences between practice theory and pragmatism to consider whether the two traditions can find common ground when gazing upon organization studies. We suggest that pragmatism should be included in the ‘tool-kit’ of practice-based studies of organizations.

Det er de færreste, om overhovedet nogen, der ikke har kedet sig i skolen; de fleste ved, hvad det vil sige. Som regel tematiseres kedsomhed som et problem, som en hindring for at lære eller som spildtid. Kedsomhed tilskynder først og fremmest til flugt og afstedkommer krav om pædagogiske tiltag. Her skal der derimod tales for, at kedsomhed kan give anledning til tænkning. Kedsomhed kan være vejen til intet mindre end selve det metafysiske spørgsmål om det værende i sit hele, til tilværelsens grund, til det værende i sit hele som mulighed snarere end nødvendighed. Kedsomhed er med andre ord filosofiens grundstemning. Det kan den være, fordi kedsomhed også er et forsvar mod angst, et forsvar mod, at mening i og med tilværelsen når som helst kan falde bort.

Education without a commitment to truth seems to be meaningless and raises serious questions about its legitimacy. Education is a cultural process dependent on and transferring acknowledged values. However, because we need to distinguish between what is true and what is recognised, reflection on epistemological and foundational issues is needed in relation to education. Thus, epistemological questions about truth and communication, and metaphysical questions about knowledge and reality, need to be raised. I draw on discussions in classical, modern epistemology and theories of truth, and of their relation to educational issues (Section I). In addition, the interdependency of culture and education and their mutual relations come up as an issue of principal importance for the mutual foundation of both of these relata. My reasoning relates to the philosophy of education developed by the German philosopher Richard Hönigswald (1875-1947) (Section II). Lastly, I discuss why truth and critique matter for education and human life today, including ethical and political formation, in relation to two cases, viz. the algorithms and data targeting of internet search technology, and, secondly, the special problem of propaganda and disinformation (Section III).Keywords: Philosophy of education, epistemology, metaphysics, culture, data search machines, disinformation

Afhandlingen har undersøgt fænomenet elevstemme i en gymnasiesammenhæng og tager udgangspunkt i elevers oplevelser af ’at sige noget eller ikke sige noget’ i forskellige undervisningssituationer. Undersøgelsen bidrager med begrebsudvikling af elevstemme og tilføjer et vigtigt perspektiv i forhold til at forstå gymnasieelevers stemme.Samtidig giver den anledning til at rejse en diskussion af pædagogisk imødekommenhed ud fra fænomenet elevstemme, der blandt andet handler om at kvalificere måden at lytte til elever på, anerkende deltagelse som tavs og undervise med blik for elevers tvivl.

Dedicating a special issue of the Danish Yearbook of Philosophy to discussing the idea of the university may seem a little odd, since neither the idea, nor the institutions targeted by this idea, should be limited by national borders. The term ‘Universitas,’ though originally designating a guild as a legal corporate body, has since the Middle Ages come to denote a universal academic association, devoid of national and political borders, physically as well as mentally. Especially in Denmark, however, the last few decades have demonstrated how fragile both the ideals and the realities of the university can be, and this very real horizon, i.e. the particular ideological situation in Denmark and its historical background, is the first of the subjects discussed in the present introduction (I.). Secondly, we will briefly relate the Danish context to the philosophical attention the university and higher education have received over the last decades internationally (ii.) Finally, we will of course introduce the articles selected for this theme, acknowledging the contribution from the international intellectual community that helps reveal the particularities of the narrow national setting in relation to the idea (iii.).

Den sovjetiske pædagog Anton Semjonowitsch Makarenkos (1888-1939) bog Vejen til livet – en fortælling om opdragelse var en klassiker for mange pædagoger i 1970’erne. Originaludgaven er fra 1936 med titlen Pædagogisk Poem (Pedagogitjeskaja Poema), som Karen-Lykke Poulsen oversatte til dansk med titlen Vejen til livet, der blev udgivet i 1955 på forlaget Mega, der udelukkende udgav russiske bøger, som Forlaget Tiden havde i kommission. Mega ophørte sin virksomhed omkring 1960. Efter pres fra pædagoger blev Vejen til livet genudgivet i 1974 på Forlaget Tiden med nyt forord også af Karen-Lykke Poulsen. Denne udgave blev genoptrykt på Tidens forlag i flere oplag, 5. oplag i 1981, og herefter overtaget af sovjet-forlaget Sputnik, der i 1988 udgav bogen i ny oversættelse ved den russisk kyndige oversætter Ragna Grøngaard. Begrundelsen herfor var, at man vurderede at oversættelsen var for dårlig. Bogen var ligesom alle Sputniks andre udgivelser i kommission på Forlaget Tiden.

Fortunately, the challenge of alienation is now again taken seriously in intellectual discussions. Already years ago, Axel Honneth made the reflection on alienation a defining issue for social philosophy per se, and as the prime example of social philosophy, he brought forth Critical Theory. Within this horizon, recently two conceptions of alienation have been proposedby Rahel Jeaggi and Hartmut Rosa, and the present article takes issue with both of these proposals, criticizing in particular their anti-essentialism. Hence, questioning the post-metaphysical agenda that Jaeggi has inherited from Honneth, I criticize her juxtaposition of the existentialist and the Marxist critique of alienation, her understanding of the good life as autonomy, and finally her acceptance of post-modern and liberal criticism of metaphysics and ontology. Turning to Rosa, I appreciate his societal approach to the critique of alienation, emphasizing the significance of capitalist modernity, but also he accepts the post-metaphysical agenda, and his aesthetic idea of the good life as resonance remains strongly individualistic. Both of these conceptions of alienation thus have ideological implications that threatens to turn upside down the original intentions and implications of Critical Theory in relation to social and political justice. To conclude, the criticism of capitalism, political economy and real life politics is still relevant for understanding alienation, and therefore it is worth returning to the classics of the discussion.

This chapter argues for the potentiality of the Lovecraftian Denial-Insanity-Death spectrum and insists that a special pedagogical potential is found in the twilight zone between denial and insanity when targeting issues such as environmental, sustainability and climate change issues. Pedagogy (and pedagogy in learning and education) should aim higher than the classic linear notion of acquiring knowledge, skills and competences and ensuring emancipation through enlightenment. A dark pedagogy should address the issues and concepts that escapes efforts to fully understand them and drag them into an illuminated position. The point is to emphasize that pedagogical approaches dealing with wicked problems such as climate change, environmental and sustainability issues needs to move in the twilight zone between denial-Insanity-Death, or push for a collapse of these distinctions in order to develop our understandings and our possibilities for dealing with the challenges that seemingly moves closer day to day. By levering different positions within speculative realism on the potentiality of a denial-insanity overlap this chapter pushes for non-cynical pedagogy that both accepts the fallibilities of human beings and the need to address what is not only human, and often way beyond our comfort zone.

In Capitalism, Alienation and Critique Asger Sørensen offers a wide-ranging argument for the classical Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School, thus endorsing the dialectical approach of the original founders (Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse) and criticizing suggested revisions of later generations (Habermas, Honneth). Being situated within the horizon of the late 20th century Cultural Marxism, the main issue is the critique of capitalism, emphasizing experiences of injustice, ideology and alienation, and in particular exploring two fundamental subject matters within this horizon, namely economy and dialectics. Apart from in-depth discussions of classical political economy and Hegelian dialectics, the explorative and inclusive argument also takes issues with Émile Durkheim’s theory of value, the general economy of Georges Bataille and the dialectics of Mao Zedong.

I denne artikel foreslår jeg at lade den pragmatiske filosofi - således som den blev formuleret af den amerikanske filosof John Dewey (1859-1952) - inspirere os til at udvikle og arbejde med en læringsteori, der retter sig mod både hverdagens og verdens problemer på nye og visionære måder (Dewey, 1917 [1980]). Det betyder at arbejde med uddannelse med blikket rettet mod både indholdets relevans, og at arbejde med en metode, der har udviklingen af kreativ fantasi som pejlemærker - uanset om det er inden for uddannelsessystemet eller i virksomheder og institutioner. Et pragmatisk filosofisk grundlag er en god ballast for både undervisning, vejledning og konsulentarbejde, fordi det stort set er umuligt at forudsige fremtidens behov for kvalifikationer og kompetencer, og fordi vi lever i ”en tid, hvor vi er begyndt at indse, at der ikke er én rationalitet, men mange” (Biesta, 2005: 55). Vi har derfor brug for støtte til at udvikle kreativ fantasi og (nye) fællesskaber for at kunne agere i og forholde os til de nye (og eksisterende) former for virksomheder muliggjort af mobilteknologien (fx Uber, Airbnb, Google, Facebook) (Davis, 2010) og i institutioner med krav om brugerinvolvering og konstant stillingtagen til dette og hint (Pedersen & Tangkjær, 2013). Her er hverken kravet om dannelse eller forhåndsdefinerede læringsmål tidssvarende og tilstrækkelige som rettesnore.

This chapter will engage denial as a term and a mechanism that harbors both negative and positive aspects. The negative being; denying uncomfortable facts and suffering the consequences of failing to acknowledge them. The positive aspect: the ability to limit the impact of uncomfortable facts, as not to be paralyzed in horror and/or existential angst – e.g. even though we are faced with plausible 'doomsday prophecies', we are still able to cook dinner for our family and 'kick back' once and a while. This chapter examines Denial in relation to education, and how denial of specific scientific, historical, medicinal facts has been applied as societal strategies, through education, in order to implement certain attitudes and values. Finally we argue that denial offers a great potential when linked with the emerging thoughts related to Speculative Realism and Object Oriented Ontology (henceforth OOO) and how we could, perhaps, enter a more critical and productive relationship with Denial on a societal, individual and educational level.