This article examines the nature of individual goods, public goods, and the common good in the context of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID). ‘Common’ in ‘common good’ is what applies to all persons without exception, and ‘good’ is what contributes to human flourishing. The common good is regarded as the communion of persons in good living. Addressing the relationship between the economy and society, it is proposed that the marketplace subsists within society. Acknowledging that we are deeply connected, the article (...) employs the philosophies of MacIntyre, Maritain and Sandel to highlight the importance of reciprocity, relationships, and generosity as characteristics of the common good. Two narratives in the public discourse are observed in these COVID days – one characterised by fear and selfishness, the other by hope and generosity. The author recognises that this pandemic can be conceived as a ‘wicked’ problem in a ‘volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous’ world, and implications for leaders and citizens in managing COVID are suggested. (shrink)

This article contributes to conversations about the “Hitler problem” in leadership ethics and the use of literary narratives in leadership studies by proposing Tolkien’s fiction as a model of leadership. Resonating with Aristotelian and Thomistic themes, these narratives present leadership as more a matter of practical wisdom than of morally neutral craft, or, more precisely, they model leadership as a matter of using craft for the sake of wisdom’s ends. Those ends become intelligible in terms of a triadic account of (...) human action that depicts it as a response to a gift or call. I argue that this model of leadership suggests that Hitler-type leaders are corrupted leaders, rather than partially excellent leaders or no leaders at all. I also maintain that these insights demonstrate the fruitfulness for leadership studies of approaching literary narratives in something like the way scientists treat their models. (shrink)

After the end of the Second World War, Italy was thefirst Axis country (followed by Germany and Japan), toundergo a process of ``reeducation'' by the alliedtroops, focusing initially on the education system.Under the direction of American scholars and schoolinnovators, school syllabi and textbooks wererewritten in order to replace the ideologicalindoctrination exerted by the Fascist regime from 1923to 1943 with democratic ideas. This articlereconstructs different phases of the influence of JohnDewey's progressive education in Italy. This influencewas predominant in policy and experimental (...) schools, aswell as in educational theory in the periodimmediately following the War, but it was almosteliminated from policy documents in a restorativebacklash of the Cold War. From the sixties on however,Dewey's pedagogical thinking, which never lost groundwithin the liberal, laicist and Marxist circles,gradually and selectively regained influence inpolicies and reforms. (shrink)

The direct reference point for these analyses is the process of making moral decisions, but a particular point of interest is the difficulty associated with making decisions when acting subjects are aware that their choice of moral good can lead to the breakdown of relationships with those close to them or to their exclusion from the group that have been most important to them so far in their lives, consequently causing them to experience loneliness. This difficulty is a challenge for (...) education, which in supporting the moral development of a maturing person should prepare her/him for choosing moral good even if this requires personal sacrifices. In these analyses, assuming that knowledge of moral good is not sufficient for morally good actions, I refer mainly to the virtues of character that facilitate making morally good decisions and I seek the answer to the question: what character traits should be shaped in maturing persons, so that as adults they can resist moral evil, even when this will clearly lead to the experience of loneliness? I propose these character traits as expressing moral virtues—especially the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude. In this way, I join in the discussion relating to the teleology of education. I do not touch on the methodology of education, however. The argument is presented in two parts. In the first, I introduce the problem of decision-making implying consent to loneliness. In the second, I reflect on the characteristics of a person who is capable of making such a decision. (shrink)

After the end of the Second World War, Italy was the first Axis country, to undergo a process of “reeducation” by the allied troops, focusing initially on the education system. Under the direction of American scholars and school innovators, school syllabi and textbooks were rewritten in order to replace the ideological indoctrination exerted by the Fascist regime from 1923 to 1943 with democratic ideas. This article reconstructs different phases of the influence of John Dewey’s progressive education in Italy. This influence (...) was predominant in policy and experimental schools, as well as in educational theory in the period immediately following the War, but it was almost eliminated from policy documents in a restorative backlash of the Cold War. From the sixties on however, Dewey’s pedagogical thinking, which never lost ground within the liberal, laicist and Marxist circles, gradually and selectively regained influence in policies and reforms. (shrink)

As Modernist doctrines emphasizing the unity and agency of the educated self are increasingly set up as the straw men of contemporary educational discourses, premodern and Medieval theories of selfhood tend to disappear from the horizon of educational thought altogether. In this essay, in order to subvert this overcoming of our intellectual past, I examine Thomas Aquinas’ reading of the doctrine of original sin. Relying on Graham McAleer’s claim that Aquinas’ metaphysical theory sanctifies the body, I argue that Aquinas’ understanding (...) of original sin relies on a discursive, pedagogical model to account for human finitude. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThe purpose of my paper is to determine the consequences of including an education for forgiveness in the context of developing prudence. I aim to answer two questions: what is prudent forgiveness; what constitutes education for prudent forgiveness? I present my analyses in six parts. After introduction, I point to the advantages and doubts concerning forgiveness. Then, I present prudence as a basic virtue guiding human actions. I draw mainly on the approach proposed by Thomas Aquinas, who argued that prudence (...) refers to the perfection of the command. The fourth part addresses the question of the mechanisms of prudent forgiveness. I note that a decision to forgive cannot be made in haste; that it is a decision concerning some good that the victim wants to attain in the future; finally, that forgiveness is prudent in its achievement. In the last part, I transfer prior analyses to the pedagogical level. (shrink)

What Israel Scheffler analyzed in his The Language of Education was a corpus of slogans and metaphors which obviously influence public communication. But are these a language of “education”? The article argues that “language of education” is a historical enterprise that constitutes a special public discourse on and about education. The writings of the eminent educators developed and reflected this discourse, the language of education is composed out of typical arguments and suggestions not just of slogans and metaphors. And this (...) corpus is historically very stable: The basic arguments are similar and there is little change in the basic creeds of what one can call the public language of education (to be opposed to philosophy of education). (shrink)