Prosocial dispositions in education: causes of their absence and their conditions of possibility

Abstract

Prosocial dispositions is a term intended to encompass human qualities such as empathy, altruism and solidarity. These are qualities that propel the individual beyond self-interest as he begins to take the common good as the axis of his reflections, projects and actions in the world. In my philosophy internship experience, interacting with students led me to consider reflection on pro-social dispositions as the axis of philosophical investigation, insofar as two aspects were evident in the students' positions: the absence of self-perception as social agents capable of promoting the changes they themselves aspire to in the world and the lack of pro-social dispositions to motivate their life projects. I develop the causes for the absence of such dispositions and the students' self-perception as social agents throughout the article, resorting to theoretical references. In summary, the causes I develop are: I. The hijacking of subjectivity by neoliberal ideology; II. The erasure of students in an education system perceived by them as authoritarian and content-oriented; and III. The lack of methodologies, in the conventional education system, capable of developing the attitudinal knowledge necessary for social engagement. I keep in mind that the pro-social dispositions discussed throughout the article are not necessarily the result of a choice, but arise from an inescapable inner appeal, which surfaces in the individual's encounter with injustice, with suffering. The necessary conditions for this ethical appeal to emerge and develop into concrete actions, as well as the role of school teaching and, in particular, the discipline of philosophy in favoring it, were the subject of my reflection.