Prolegomenon to a pedagogy of the oppressor
David Rudrum will open up discussion on Karl Jaspers’s lectures on German guilt.
Prolegomenon to a pedagogy of the oppressor
07 May 2025, 17:30 – 19:15
In the winter semester of 1945-46, Karl Jaspers delivered a lecture course later published as Die Schuldfrage (translated into English as “The Question of German Guilt”).
His audience had been raised without freedom of thought or expression, and with scant access to uncensored information; they had been taught that blind obedience was preferable to the folly of democracy, and that critical or scientific thinking were less trustworthy than “Blutgefühl” (Blood-feeling). These lectures amounted to a crash-course in citizenship, controversially predicated on the concept of “collective guilt”.
Eighty years on, David will consider the implications of Jaspers’s pedagogy of the oppressor.
This event will be particularly useful for those interested in philosophy of education, the conceptualisation of democracy and freedom of speech.
To book your place, please email Yuxin Su <stnvysu@ucl.ac.uk>.
PESGB seminar series
This event is part of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (PESGB) seminar series. PESGB is a learned society that promotes the study, teaching and application of philosophy of education. Its London Branch hosts seminars every Wednesday in conjunction with the Centre for Philosophy of Education. These seminars are led by national and international scholars in the field, covering a wide range of issues of educational and philosophical concern.
All are welcome to attend.
Related links
Image
Nathan Dumlao via Unsplash.
David Rudrum
Senior Lecturer in English Literature
University of Huddersfield
He has published widely on the interdisciplinary relationship between literature and philosophy, and his most recent book is Trolling Before the Internet: an Offline History of Insult, Provocation and Public Humiliation in the Literary Classics.
Further information
Ticketing
Pre-booking essential
Cost
Free
Open to
All
Availability
Yes
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