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Some thoughts for a new critical language of education

Truth, justification and deliberation

Department of Education, Stockholm University, Sweden

The notion of `truth' is one of the most important concepts within critical thinking and critical pedagogy as well as in other traditions or theories, and truth is seen by many as the outcome of inquiry. In this article I will argue for an alternative notion of truth to those that will be discussed in it and that such a view has to be included in a new critical language in education. I discuss a realist notion, a postmodernist social constructivist notion, a relativist notion, a deflationist and a cautionary discursive conception of truth put forward by Habermas, and contend that they are problematic in the light of my interpretation of Donald Davidson's philosophy of language. I also argue that truth cannot be a goal of inquiry, but that understanding and justification are legitimate goals. Finally, I contend that it is reasonable to include notions such as understanding, justification and deliberation in Davidson's terminology in a new critical language of education.

Key Words: critical pedagogy • critical theory • deliberation • justification • truth • understanding

Philosophy & Social Criticism, Vol. 35, No. 6, 685-703 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0191453709104453


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