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Philosophy and Democracy in the World: a UNESCO Survey; 1995

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Philosophy and Democracy in the World: a UNESCO Survey; 1995 Philosophy and democracy in the world A UNESCO survey ROGER-POL DROIT Philosophy and democracy in the world A UNESCO survey Foreword by Federico Mayor Translation by Catherine Cullen UNESCO PUBLISHING The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts contained in this hookas well as for the opinions expressed, which are not necessarily those. of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. © Unesco publishing, 1995. CONTENTS FOREWORD A school of freedom, by Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO 7 References: Constitution of UNESCO 11 References .The Paris Declaration for philosophy 15 Introductory note 17 PART ONE PHILOSOPHY AND DEMOCRACY I. A recent question 19 II. UNESCO and philosophical education 21 References: Memorandum of June 1946 31 III. The programme and the survey 37 References: Questionnaire 45 PART TWO FOUR FACTS AND THEIR COMMENTS I. A creation of the century 65 References: Economy and philosophy (François Rachline) 86 Socialist Europe (Stéphane Douailler) 91 II. A double position 95 References: Philosophy and democracy in the United States (Christian Delacampagne) 110 Democratic processes and the teaching on philosophy in Africa (Paulin J. Houtondji) 114 HI. The indirect policy 117 References: Political philosophy and citisenship (Etienne Tassin) 129 IV. Autocentrism 135 References: Which classics? 145 Science - Philosophy - Teaching (Dominique Lecourt) 152 PART THREE WHAT CAN BE DONE? I. The teachers, the books and the screen 157 References: Internet and humanism (Lucas Scarantino) 170 II. Synergies 173 References: Conclusions 176 ANNEXES Summary table 180 A cknowledgements 182 FOREWORD A SCHOOL FOR FREEDOM As you who have just opened this book already know, we are living in a period which, more than any other, is a time of great dangers and great hopes. Whether you live in the North or the South, whether you are young or old, you know that we are, all of us together, confronted by major planetary risks in a number of basic areas. Never has humanity held such means of destruction, and never has it had at its disposal such means of construction. This is why we encounter new difficulties every day, and see new ini­ tiatives aimed at making the world a more human place. In this time of change, does philosophy have a role to play? The answer is, resoundingly, yes. I believe the contribution of philosophers to be essential for unders­ tanding our present and building the societies of tomor­ row. That is why I have decided to see to it personally that UNESCO will develop its activities in the area of philo­ sophy. There are two main reasons for this conviction, which I would like to explain briefly. First of all, the vast heritage of world philosophy pro­ vides a number of intellectual tools which can help us to better understand the changes taking place before our eyes. This of course does not mean we can simply turn to past or present philosophers for ready-made answers. Nevertheless, it is important to consult this extraordinary stock of ideas and concepts offered by philosophical doc­ trines. Tools can be found there to help us develop the 8 Philosophy and Democracy new analyses we need. It should not be forgotten that in all cultures the oldest and deepest source of interdiscipli­ nary thinking stems from the philosophers. For them, the need to remove the barriers around fields of knowledge, to compare different theoretical approaches, to broaden as far as possible the scope of thought, is no recent require­ ment, it is the natural horizon of their spiritual quest. In this sense, philosophy is a school for freedom. It encourages the constant renewal of thought. Its remedy against intellectual routine is the creation of new concepts. "Dare to have new ideas! Ideas that no one has ever had before. " That is the main thrust of philosophy. It is why we must invite philosophers to analyze the major problems facing humanity today, in all areas. UNESCO's mission is not to compete with the many research institutions throughout the world pursuing specialized studies in, for example, the history of philosophy or the scholarly analysis of phi­ losophical doctrine. Its task is different; it is to incite phi­ losophers to participate actively in international thinking on the world's problems, through writing, public mee­ tings, recorded interviews and media-related action. Judging for oneself The second reason why I believe that philosophy is cru­ cial to the building of our future is doubtless even more compelling. It concerns education. The widely diffused, accessible and relevant teaching of philosophy contri­ butes in an essential way to the development of free citi­ zens. It encourages one to judge for oneself, to confront all sorts of arguments, to respect what others have to say, and to submit only to the authority of reason. In this way, too, it is undeniably a school for freedom. This practical training in basic rights also leads to the discovery of the universal. It enlarges our capacity for reflection, and the scope of our thinking, by helping us to understand unaccustomed points of view. It allows us to comprehend, beyond the diversity of the answers, the degree to which the basic questions of life actually make humans look more alike rather than more different from Foreword 9 one another. For example, the questions about the foun­ dations of knowledge, the values that should guide our acts, the respect for others, and our responsability towards future generations, are truly universal. Such an initiation to philosophical reflection, open and accessible to all, is a concrete embodiment of the "society of minds" that Paul Valéry called for in the thirties, in the context of the Office of International Intellectual Cooperation. In this sense, everything that enhances pos­ sibilities for teaching philosophy contributes to building "defences of peace in the minds of men", one of UNESCO's founding tasks. This organization has thus always had as a mission to support the development of philosophy teaching to the young as well as to adults. For this support to be effective, for UNESCO's initiatives to catalyze energies, precise knowledge of the situation of philosophy teaching around the world is indispensable. Since its creation, UNESCO has taken various steps towards this goal: in 1950, the General Conference during its fifth session decided to organize "an inquiry into the place occupied by the teaching of philosophy in the diffe­ rent educational systems, the way it is taught and its influence on the training of the citizen" (resolution n° 4- 1212). This first survey, whose results were published by UNESCO in 1953 under the direction of the French phi­ losopher Georges Canguilhem, needed to be updated, expanded, and systematized. That is the goal of the pro­ gramme "Philosophy and democracy in the world" which I have placed under the responsability of the philosopher and journalist Roger-Pol Droit. New Democracies Between the middle of the twentieth century and its close, there have been major political and cultural trans­ formations. In a way, we no longer live on quite the same planet as the men and women of the 1950's. Philosophy and its teaching have doubtless also changed. But above all, new forms of democratic life have arisen in Africa, in Asia, in post-communist Europe, in a Latin America freeing itself from military dictatorships, and in certain 10 Philosophy and Democracy Arab countries. Furthermore, in the course of this half- century, UNESCO has also been transformed. It has seen a considerable increase in the number of Member States and in the scope of its activities. After weathering a num­ ber of crises, it has been able to renew itself and come back to its founding principles. A few figures will give an idea of the difference bet­ ween the enquiry of 1951 and today's survey. The first only really involved, in the last analysis, nine countries. The data collected by the programme "Philosophy and democracy in the world" come from 66 countries, whose multiple responses have been gathered and tabulated in just a few months. Independently of the quantitative aspect, unprecedented in this area, the survey has produ­ ced four major findings, and a very useful sketch of the preliminary analyses. The report by Roger-Pol Droit also assembles an impor­ tant series of concrete proposals concerning, for example, a multi-level pedagogical approach associating books, dis­ tance teaching, audiovisual and computer technologies. This concrete aspect is essential, since any changes, albeit minimal, which an effort of this type can produce are to my mind major victories over universal bureaucracy. There are so many meetings, colloquia, seminars, and expert commissions that yield no practical proposals at all! The mere fact that the proposals here are so numerous and detailed augurs well for their concrete realization. What exactly are the links between philosophy and democracy? I think a crucial point should be emphasized right now, in advance of the analyses and conclusions of this book. We have observed that the teaching of philo­ sophy develops and spreads concomitantly with demo­ cracy. Dictatorships and totalitarian systems forbid it or pervert it from its vocation as a force for freedom. The Paris declaration for philosophy adopted by the partici­ pants during the International Study Days of "Philosophy and democracy in the world" organized by UNESCO on the 15th and 16th of February, 1995, rightly emphasizes that "philosophy education, by training independently-min­ ded, thoughtful people, capable of resisting various forms of propaganda, fanaticism, exclusion and intolerance, Foreword 11 contributes to peace and prepares everyone to shoulder their responsibilities in regard to the great questions of the contemporary world, particularly in the field of ethics." This important text, which deserves to be widely distribu­ ted, also recalls, quite appropriately, that "the develop­ ment of philosophical reflection, in education and in cultural life, makes a major contribution to the training of citizens, by exercizing their capacity for judgement, which is fundamental in any democracy." The autonomy of philosophy I wish, here, to forestall a possible confusion.
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