Common good as a pedagogical category

Abstract

The common good is a category from the area of political philosophy, underestimated by liberalism, and very important for the republican tradition. This category is problematic because there are difficulties with defining it and setting the scope. The author puts forward the thesis that the common good – regardless of the controversy that arouses in political philosophy –is a category important for pedagogical reflection, and at the same time is an absent category. The rationale behind this thesis focuses on two issues: 1) the aims of education are neoliberally oriented and the category of the common good is almost absent in them, which is very undesirable in the context of shaping the citizens of a democratic community; 2) processes taking place inside the education are also not conducive to thinking in terms of the common good, mainly due to the advantage of rivalry over cooperation and faulty interpersonal communication.