The educational daemon
Alessandro Versace
Encyclopaideia December 23, 2016 DOI: 10.6092/issn.1825-8670/6458 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Daimon Educazione Pedagogia Fenomenologia |
| Key points | Argues that the daemon, as introduced through Plato's myth of Er, serves as an educational concept guiding self-actualization and authentic identity formation, contrasting with low-quality pedagogies. |
Abstract
James Hillman uses the myth of Er by Plato to introduce the theory of the daemon, something that exists in each of us and that refers to concepts such as the calling, the self-image, the alignment that define us as unique human beings. The personality of every human being is marked by a "destiny" that pushes towards the authenticity of existence towards the so-called Me. The educational process is designed according to taking-form approach to deliver the man his own self-actualization. So the daemon becomes an educational daemon: it means that it expresses those vocational forms which are as a sort of peak experience that brings our deepest essence out. At a pedagogical critic framework, it implies the creation of professional /personal identity that goes beyond those mixed-up self-referential pedagogies of low quality, offering estrangement instead of clear concepts, theoretical poverty rather than conceptual growth, bluffs instead of substance.