Educational Passivity: Levinas’s philosophy of moral education and the possibility of "Learning from the Other"

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Candidate in Philosophy of Education, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor of Philosophy of Education Department, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

3 Professor of Philosophy of Education, University of Tehran. Tehran, Iran

4 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/jpiut.2026.70341.4344

Abstract

This research, employing a conceptual-interpretive analysis, investigates the educational implications of Emmanuel Levinas’s philosophy of "the Other" to identify a pathway for escaping the subject-centered and individualistic (Egological) paradigms of education. The central question of the study is: How does Levinas’s transition from ontology to ethics reshape conventional paradigms of learning and the teacher-student relationship? The findings reveal that Levinas’s critique of Socratic maieutics (inwardness) and testimony epistemology invites a redefinition of learning—not as "recollection" or "information transfer", but as the revelation of the Infinite and encounter with the teacher’s "Height". Based on this, the article proposes a novel concept, "educational passivity", which challenges the classical dichotomy of "authoritative teacher/passive student" or "facilitator teacher/active student". In this model, both poles of the relationship engage in "infinite education" through the acceptance of “the virtue of openness” and the rejection of self-centeredness. The results indicate that implementing this approach requires transforming the teacher’s role from "Facilitator" to "Disturber", designing polyphonic curricula, and shifting the evaluation system toward "response-based" assessment. The goal of such education is not to empower the subject, but to transform it into a sensitive and responsible being in the face of the Other.

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References

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 19, Issue 53 - Serial Number 53
Articles
Issue 53, Winter 2026
December 2025
Pages 656-682

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