"A spontaneous following" : Wittgenstein, education and the limits of trust

Burwood, Stephen

Abstract

It is now commonly argued that trust is fundamental to numerous and varied sorts of human relationships and activities and that education takes place within a fiduciary framework: that a basic trust is essential to child development and the very possibility of initiate learning . It has also been suggested that Wittgenstein’s remarks in On Certainty describe a “fundamental attitude of trust”. I argue that accounts of a generalized, background attitude of trust misuse the term “trust” and that no such notion is to be found in Wittgenstein’s remarks. Rather, Wittgenstein’s soft naturalism suggests that the phenomenon described is better understood as ein spontanes Mitgehen (a spontaneous following), something that he appears to have relied upon in his own, idiosyncratic approach to teaching .

Citation

Burwood, S. "A spontaneous following" : Wittgenstein, education and the limits of trust. In M. A. Peters, & J. Stickney (Eds.), A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education :Pedagogical Investigations (161-177). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3136-6_11

• Online Publication Date: May 4, 2017
• Deposit Date: Feb 3, 2017
• Journal: A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 161-177
• Book Title: A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education :Pedagogical Investigations
• ISBN: 9789811031342 ; 9789811098000
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3136-6_11
• Keywords: Basic attitude of trust; Initiate learning; On Certainty; Soft naturalism
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/447800
• Contract Date: Feb 3, 2017