Žižek
pp. 457-469
in: Paul Smeyers (ed), International handbook of philosophy of education, Berlin, Springer, 2018Abstract
The Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek mainly refers to concepts taken from Hegel's idealism and Lacan's psychoanalysis, and rarely takes a direct account of educational issues. Nonetheless, he is dealing with important pedagogical concepts; therefore, his work should be taken up as a provocative "interruption' in the field of pedagogy and educational philosophy. His "negative' thinking of subjectivity (in terms of a "void', "lack' or "desire') results, amongst other things, in a critique of how concepts like learning or knowledge are shaped by the current politics of education. The "expertise' granting a rational and transparent handling of educational processes and likewise the transformation of the educational system are challenged by the insight that the back side of this may be called "excess' or "madness'. This flipping perspective coincidentally reveals the ideology we take part in, precisely because it organises our desire and behaviour. But instead of leading to a dead-end, new prospectives for "emancipation' are emerging here, not intimately tied to the "enlightenment' any more, but to a critical stance under conditions of subjectivity in antagonistic, paradox socio-symbolic orders.
