On education: John Ryder’s Relentless Mirror

Abstract

This chapter focuses in the latest development of John Ryder's work, in which he offers himself as a philosopher of education. Ryder is seen as a political author, i.e., a thinker who moves mainly in the sphere of active judgment, in Buchlerian terms. His thinking is rooted in relational ontology. Therefore, in the initial parts of this paper the ontology is presented with the help of the relational concepts of Dewey and Buchler, who have influenced Ryder significantly. The final part deals with the Ryder’s forthcoming monograph Philosophy of Education: Thinking and Learning Through History and Practice. It emphasizes the use of important figures in the philosophy of education (Plato, Rousseau, Dewey, Freire), who serve as a field of tension that supports the relational approach. The concluding segment of the text is devoted mainly to equality, which in Ryder’s monograph is conceived as a relational matter of autonomy and community. © 2021 Central European Pragmatist Forum. All rights reserved.