Education, freedom and reason: The Foucauldian challenge to enlightenment ideals

Abstract

This thesis explores the formative influence which the enlightenment movement's proposal for the pursuit of freedom through the exercise of reason has had upon the development of liberal and Maxist thought. !t indicates how liberal and Marxist philosophies of education, as derivative studies, share the dilemmas and quandaries which their respective parent traditions confront in the pursuit of this enlightenment ideal. It argues that Michel Foucault's reflections on the problematic relationship between freedom and reason crystallize contemporary difficulties with this cardinal enlightenment notion, challenging us implicitly as educators to continue with the arduous task of promoting autonomy despite this definitive but antinomous legacy.