This paper explores the phenomenon of vulnerabilisation in relation to the experiences of persons with chronic illnesses. We distinguish a range of kinds of vulnerability, including epistemic vulnerabilities related to epistemic injustices, and describe various interpersonal and institutional processes which can create, exacerbate, and intensify those vulnerabilities. The dynamics of vulnerablisation are related to individual vices and institutional failings, the the pervasive pathophobia of many societies, and various contingent life-events. We conclude that susceptibility to varieties of vulnerabilisation is ultimately reflective (...) of the fragility that is definitive of the human condition. (shrink)

What distinguishes the philosophies of education advanced by pragmatists? Does pragmatism have something distinctive to offer contemporary philosophy of education? This paper applies these questions, which Randall Curren asks in “Pragmatist Philosophy of Education” (2009), to a more specific current debate in philosophy of education: the debate over educating for critical thinking, and/or for intellectual virtues. Which, if either, should be given priority in higher education, and why? This paper develops a Deweyan approach to these questions, inviting character content but (...) also offering specific ways for educators and institutions to stay alert to the pedagogical and indoctrination concerns with character education initiatives, including those for intellectual virtues specifically. (shrink)