Periodic Reporting for period 2 - InRatio (INCLUSIVE RATIONALITY. Rearticulating Philosophy’s Social Role Through a Dialogue Among Dialectic Hegelian Conceptual Tools, Contemporary Metaphilosophy, and Gender Perspectives)
Période du rapport: 2024-01-01 au 2024-12-31
WHAT AND WHY?
How can philosophy produce change? In what ways can it be communicated? What role can it play in education for thinking?
These are the questions that inspire InRatio.
The overall goal of this project is to rearticulate the social role of philosophy through the re-reading and transformation of three major reservations held against it: philosophy’s alleged lack of objective knowledge and scientificity, its uselessness, and its abstractness. By addressing said problems not only what counts as (good) philosophy can be critically explored, but also the impasse in philosophy’s relation to practitioners of other disciplines and society at large can be tackled.
InRatio’s key move is to turn the above-mentioned prejudices upside down and ‘extract’ from their new reading some decisive features that characterise the educational, critical and transformative role of philosophy in society. In this way, those initially belittling arguments become tools for a (healthy and needed) self-criticism of philosophy and for a rearticulated account of its work and social impact. Such self-criticism must also invest the material and conceptual conditions in which philosophy has been commonly practiced. It is necessary to go beyond a mere ‘Western metaphilosophy’ and acknowledge the profound changes brought about by anti-oppressive perspectives, such as feminist philosophies, which integrate theoretical analyses with societal-transformative work. Furthermore, the gender gap in philosophy as a discipline and profession should be addressed.
OVERALL OBJECTIVES
InRatio aims at elaborating an inclusive, pluralistic model for presenting philosophy’s social-cultural role in contemporary societies. It should: overturn said prejudices, incorporate non-mainstream and under-represented perspectives, integrate diverse philosophical approaches and traditions, and forge new educational methods to contribute to societal transformations, while being able to convey its results to society. Accordingly, this project pursues three main objectives:
1) To elaborate a metaphilosophical account that (a) redefines the kind of knowledge and scientificity belonging to philosophy based on a conception of knowledge broader than what is modelled on the observational-empirical method of the natural sciences; (b) reconsiders philosophy’s usefulness in terms of its impact on education for critical thinking; (c) recasts the notion of concreteness in terms of concept networks capable of explanatory power.
2) To ideate new philosophical-educational programmes aimed at addressing societal challenges. Such programmes should emphasise philosophy's ability to tackle sensitive social issues (e.g. gender inequality in various public and epistemic fields).
3): To implement a strategy to improve philosophy’s dialogue with society.
To reach these objectives, InRatio links four areas: classical German philosophy (especially Hegel); contemporary metaphilosophy; feminist (meta)philosophy; philosophy as education for thinking.
WHY IS THIS PROJECT IMPORTANT FOR SOCIETY?
This project intervenes within processes of social and cultural change. It fosters critical and transformative thinking through philosophical practices. In this way, it contributes to creating more inclusive and reflective communities, capable of questioning their own practices of thought and action in a non-violent manner.
How can philosophy produce change? In what ways can it be communicated? What role can it play in education for thinking?
These are the questions that inspire InRatio.
The overall goal of this project is to rearticulate the social role of philosophy through the re-reading and transformation of three major reservations held against it: philosophy’s alleged lack of objective knowledge and scientificity, its uselessness, and its abstractness. By addressing said problems not only what counts as (good) philosophy can be critically explored, but also the impasse in philosophy’s relation to practitioners of other disciplines and society at large can be tackled.
InRatio’s key move is to turn the above-mentioned prejudices upside down and ‘extract’ from their new reading some decisive features that characterise the educational, critical and transformative role of philosophy in society. In this way, those initially belittling arguments become tools for a (healthy and needed) self-criticism of philosophy and for a rearticulated account of its work and social impact. Such self-criticism must also invest the material and conceptual conditions in which philosophy has been commonly practiced. It is necessary to go beyond a mere ‘Western metaphilosophy’ and acknowledge the profound changes brought about by anti-oppressive perspectives, such as feminist philosophies, which integrate theoretical analyses with societal-transformative work. Furthermore, the gender gap in philosophy as a discipline and profession should be addressed.
OVERALL OBJECTIVES
InRatio aims at elaborating an inclusive, pluralistic model for presenting philosophy’s social-cultural role in contemporary societies. It should: overturn said prejudices, incorporate non-mainstream and under-represented perspectives, integrate diverse philosophical approaches and traditions, and forge new educational methods to contribute to societal transformations, while being able to convey its results to society. Accordingly, this project pursues three main objectives:
1) To elaborate a metaphilosophical account that (a) redefines the kind of knowledge and scientificity belonging to philosophy based on a conception of knowledge broader than what is modelled on the observational-empirical method of the natural sciences; (b) reconsiders philosophy’s usefulness in terms of its impact on education for critical thinking; (c) recasts the notion of concreteness in terms of concept networks capable of explanatory power.
2) To ideate new philosophical-educational programmes aimed at addressing societal challenges. Such programmes should emphasise philosophy's ability to tackle sensitive social issues (e.g. gender inequality in various public and epistemic fields).
3): To implement a strategy to improve philosophy’s dialogue with society.
To reach these objectives, InRatio links four areas: classical German philosophy (especially Hegel); contemporary metaphilosophy; feminist (meta)philosophy; philosophy as education for thinking.
WHY IS THIS PROJECT IMPORTANT FOR SOCIETY?
This project intervenes within processes of social and cultural change. It fosters critical and transformative thinking through philosophical practices. In this way, it contributes to creating more inclusive and reflective communities, capable of questioning their own practices of thought and action in a non-violent manner.
The work carried out has yielded the following results:
OBJECTIVE 1
1. The broader context of the research was identified, namely, the relationship between philosophy (as an academic discipline) and the horizon of post-disciplinarity.
2. A methodological analysis of the problems of a feminist approach to Hegel was also produced, and the ‘Doubled View’ approach (Benhabib) was identified as a useful tool for InRatio to exploit certain Hegelian concepts by redefining them from a feminist perspective.
3. The Hegelian notion of the 'concrete universal' has been identified as the conceptual key to simultaneously addressing the aforementioned prejudices against philosophy. This concept makes it possible to investigate: the critical-transformative function of philosophy (vs. the prejudice of uselessness); the questioning of the universal and so-called objective knowledge (vs. the prejudice of philosophy’s lack of objective knowledge); the concrete dimension of philosophy (vs. the prejudice of philosophy’s abstractness).
4. Another fundamental notion for InRatio has been singled out and articulated: ‘feminist metaphilosophy’. On a general level, this expression can be understood as the work of critique and transformation that the feminist philosophical project has produced and is producing with respect to the way philosophy is done and thought. By using this conceptual tool, it is possible to develop a critique of what has been defined above as the material and conceptual conditions of philosophical practice.
OBJECTIVE 2
Three philosophical-educational programmes have been designed and successfully implemented (exploitation):
1. "Historias que nos transforman. Filosofía y literatura para el cambio de sí mismo a través del conocimiento" (Stories that transform us. Philosophy and literature for self-change through knowledge).
2. "GIUSTO PER CHI? Pensare e praticare insieme la giustizia distributiva" (JUST FOR WHOM? Thinking and practising distributive justice together).
3. "Pensare insieme per pensare meglio" (Thinking together to think better).
OBJECTIVE 3
InRatio has implemented an extensive research dissemination and communication plan.
• 4 published articles, 4 articles accepted for publication (forth.), 3 articles under review process, 1 journal special issue (in print), 1 planned edited volume, 6 organised scientific events, 24 presentations.
• Launch of the website 'OUT of the ROOM'.
• InRatio’s communication strategy development.
• InRatio’s podcast design.
OBJECTIVE 1
1. The broader context of the research was identified, namely, the relationship between philosophy (as an academic discipline) and the horizon of post-disciplinarity.
2. A methodological analysis of the problems of a feminist approach to Hegel was also produced, and the ‘Doubled View’ approach (Benhabib) was identified as a useful tool for InRatio to exploit certain Hegelian concepts by redefining them from a feminist perspective.
3. The Hegelian notion of the 'concrete universal' has been identified as the conceptual key to simultaneously addressing the aforementioned prejudices against philosophy. This concept makes it possible to investigate: the critical-transformative function of philosophy (vs. the prejudice of uselessness); the questioning of the universal and so-called objective knowledge (vs. the prejudice of philosophy’s lack of objective knowledge); the concrete dimension of philosophy (vs. the prejudice of philosophy’s abstractness).
4. Another fundamental notion for InRatio has been singled out and articulated: ‘feminist metaphilosophy’. On a general level, this expression can be understood as the work of critique and transformation that the feminist philosophical project has produced and is producing with respect to the way philosophy is done and thought. By using this conceptual tool, it is possible to develop a critique of what has been defined above as the material and conceptual conditions of philosophical practice.
OBJECTIVE 2
Three philosophical-educational programmes have been designed and successfully implemented (exploitation):
1. "Historias que nos transforman. Filosofía y literatura para el cambio de sí mismo a través del conocimiento" (Stories that transform us. Philosophy and literature for self-change through knowledge).
2. "GIUSTO PER CHI? Pensare e praticare insieme la giustizia distributiva" (JUST FOR WHOM? Thinking and practising distributive justice together).
3. "Pensare insieme per pensare meglio" (Thinking together to think better).
OBJECTIVE 3
InRatio has implemented an extensive research dissemination and communication plan.
• 4 published articles, 4 articles accepted for publication (forth.), 3 articles under review process, 1 journal special issue (in print), 1 planned edited volume, 6 organised scientific events, 24 presentations.
• Launch of the website 'OUT of the ROOM'.
• InRatio’s communication strategy development.
• InRatio’s podcast design.
The most relevant advancements are as follows:
1) Identification of the Hegelian notion of 'concrete universal' as a conceptual tool to respond to the prejudices against philosophy.
2) Individuation of the notion of 'feminist metaphilosophy' as an example of critical and transformative metaphilosophy.
Both of these concepts have been further developed, dialoguing with non-Western feminist philosophical perspectives.
3) Production of educational philosophical programmes integrating different methods and perspectives (philosophy for children, service-learning, feminist-decolonial approaches, intersectional approaches).
4) Experimentation of new scientific meeting formats to create intergenerational, interdisciplinary and inter-institutional research communities.
5) Intense third mission activity involving host universities, local policy makers, primary and secondary schools.
IMPACT AND WIDER SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROJECT
The ways through which InRatio acted socially and academically are various. The most important ones are the following: first, it operated in educational paths, through programmes that make students experience the critical and transformative power of philosophy. Second, InRatio boosted reflection on the material and conceptual conditions in which philosophy is practised as an academic discipline, thus contributing to analysing, denouncing and converting gender inequalities. Third, via the elaboration of a communication plan, it sought to translate the results of academic research into useful tools for students and educators.
1) Identification of the Hegelian notion of 'concrete universal' as a conceptual tool to respond to the prejudices against philosophy.
2) Individuation of the notion of 'feminist metaphilosophy' as an example of critical and transformative metaphilosophy.
Both of these concepts have been further developed, dialoguing with non-Western feminist philosophical perspectives.
3) Production of educational philosophical programmes integrating different methods and perspectives (philosophy for children, service-learning, feminist-decolonial approaches, intersectional approaches).
4) Experimentation of new scientific meeting formats to create intergenerational, interdisciplinary and inter-institutional research communities.
5) Intense third mission activity involving host universities, local policy makers, primary and secondary schools.
IMPACT AND WIDER SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROJECT
The ways through which InRatio acted socially and academically are various. The most important ones are the following: first, it operated in educational paths, through programmes that make students experience the critical and transformative power of philosophy. Second, InRatio boosted reflection on the material and conceptual conditions in which philosophy is practised as an academic discipline, thus contributing to analysing, denouncing and converting gender inequalities. Third, via the elaboration of a communication plan, it sought to translate the results of academic research into useful tools for students and educators.