El maestro Zuleta: la educación filosófica como escenario para defender la democracia

Abstract

This document presents the findings of research conducted within the framework of the Doctoral Program in Philosophy at Santo Tomás University. Its objective is to explore the meaning of the category of philosophical education based on the work of Estanislao Zuleta, within the context of the relationship between education and democracy. First, the Colombian philosopher's conception of democracy, understood in a positive sense, is developed. Here, the articulation of the Kantian perspective with Marxism within a critique of capitalism is fundamental. Second, Zuleta's reflections on education are analyzed, an aspect that allows for a clear distinction between two processes: training for integration into the productive apparatus and the formation of the individual's way of being. This analysis reveals that, in addition to being an element of the economy or a political or social institution, education (understood broadly as a formative process) has a clear cultural component. It is through this lens that education responds to the positive sense of democracy outlined by Zuleta, thus opening the door to the category of philosophical education. The third part of this research is dedicated precisely to exploring the meaning of philosophical education. In addition to presenting the context in which Zuleta formulated this category, it argues that it possesses four dimensions: political, ethical, epistemological, and aesthetic. After a detailed analysis of each dimension, a set of conclusions is offered, among which the following stand out: research as the central organizing principle of philosophical education; the importance of a sense of adventure and a sense of possibility; anguish and rebellion as ethical values; and, finally, philosophical education as a setting for cultivating a democracy in a positive sense, that is, for the genuine recognition and respect of human plurality.