EPAT Special Issue on Canonical Pluralism: New Approaches to Teaching the History of Philosophy
When: 20 November 2024
https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/canonical-pluralism/
In contrast to academic philosophy, teaching philosophy consists largely of reading philosophers from the past. This approach presupposes selecting works and authors that culminate in a ‘canon’: a set of works or authors from a specific period deemed outstanding by individuals at a later period. The formation of a canon is inherently subject to tension: While the criteria for canonical relevance reflect the outcome of a collective deliberation process, guided by philosophical experts and educators, these criteria are prone to perpetuating the social biases of a dominant tradition, social group, or class. This tension is particularly pertinent in the educational context. On one hand, philosophy educators face the task of conveying thought traditions that preserve an intellectual history. On the other hand, educators ought to minimize the risk of adopting methods that perpetuate problematic social biases. To balance these aims, this special issue explores pluralistic approaches to canonical relevance. Canonical pluralism, as we understand it, suggests that in order to minimize social biases, philosophy education requires pluralistic standards of ‘relevance,’ reflected and integrated into the content of canons and teaching methods. We invite submission for this special issue aimed at its three objectives: 1. to scrutinize the hermeneutical methods that acknowledge social biases in canonical authors and to question how these approaches alter our view of the conceptualization of canonical relevance; 2. to reflect on the philosophical presuppositions that underlie interdisciplinary and inclusive approaches to the history of philosophy to redefine what is considered canonically relevant; and 3. to explore the insights gained from decolonial perspectives that perceive the canon as an ongoing negotiation process.