Introduction: What’s the Use of Philosophy of Education?

Abstract

The worldwide economic crisis has led many countries to reconsider their educational priorities, particularly with regard to higher education. Not surprisingly, utilitarian arguments play a prominent role in this. There is not only the question whether higher education offers value for money. There is also a strong emphasis on particular domains of value — most notably economic and technological value — resulting in the often-heard argument that investment in the so-called STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is the one and only way toward securing financial prosperity in the global economy. Thus we can see governments in many countries shifting funding away from the social sciences and the humanities toward those fields and disciplines that are supposed to be of more immediate and more tangible use.