Toward a New Philosophical Anthropology of Education: Fuller Considerations of Social Constructivism

Philosophical anthropology is philosophical inquiry into human nature that seeks to answer the fundamental question of what generally characterizes human beings and differentiates them from other creatures and things. Political theories considerably influence educational theories. We call attention to the fact that the three main political theories currently influencing education (liberal, neo-liberal, and neo-conservative) each have a distinct philosophical anthropology. This fact has especially significant implications for pedagogical social constructivism since it influences the kind of individual and society they strive to construct. We will propound a version of social constructivism we call “critical constructivism.”. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.