Education and the Ethics of Democratic Character

This article argues, first of all, that much educational practice in liberal-democratic society officially aims to promote what I call a democratic character-ideal for the citizens of the future. It embodies the Deweyian belief that democracy is not just a form of polity but also a way of life in which individuals can flourish in socially just circumstances. The demanding nature of the ideal may appear to be a problem for it, but I demonstrate how this is not so. What is a problem is the extent to which the actual theory and practice of education is diverting from the ideal, regardless of official protestations to the contrary. Deweyian insights into the links between forms of education and forms of society suggest that the democratic character-ideal’s current betrayal or abandonment should yield a radical critique of how considerations of contemporary capitalist economics are undermining what remain widely cherished aspirations of how it is good to live, and how education should help us to achieve those aspirations