First Hospitality for Educability: An Ethical, Epistemological, and Political Symbiotic Relationship

The major aim of the thesis is to inquire into the human problem of the exclusion and marginalization of 'the other' from a philosophical and historical perspective. The problem arises from a modern conceptual paradigm in which 'the other' is not engaged with. The modern paradigm was influenced by the rise of nationalism, imperialism and colonialism, as well as neo-Cartesian philosophy in which the self constructs his or her thinking on a non-relational process with the other since the emphasis is on the self. Traditionally in philosophy, the notion of 'first philosophy' was based on metaphysics (as in the case of Aristotle), or epistemology (as in the case of Descartes). The thesis argues that the problem of exclusion is intrinsically linked to the lack of a first philosophy that is based on a symbiotic relationship between ethics, epistemology and politics. Utilizing and building on the work of Hannah Arendt, Emanuel Levinas, Jacques Derrida, and Zygmunt Bauman the thesis develops an original argument for the centrality of the engagement with 'the other', a conception of 'first philosophy' based on ethics, epistemology and politics, and the formulation of 'first hospitality' for educability. To concretize the development of the philosophical argument developed in the thesis, the historical happening of the Holocaust is utilized as a hermeneutic for modernity through which the construct of 'first hospitality' emerges as an educable response to the problem of exclusion. The thesis ends with concrete and practical implications for education based on the argument of the thesis as well as the critique of the popular discourse in education on inclusion. From a practical perspective, the thesis offers the notion of 'welcoming education' that is based on 'the other' as agent, as a democratic alternative to inclusion.

Department dc:contributor.department

Social Justice Education

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Mifsud, Francois

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Portelli, John P

• Democracy
• Diversity
• Education
• Hospitality
• Inclusion
• Leadership

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1807/77476

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/77476