Almost 150,000 people sign for Philosophy not to be expelled from schools
Plato, Descartes, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Marx, Kant ... are not only the names of men who "were dedicated to think", they are the ones who laid the foundations of philosophy, of what we are today: Western thinking. Because of the importance of philosophy in the creation of adults and their ethical and moral integrity, more than 150,000 people have signed a petition so that this subject is not "expelled" from the classrooms.
The impeller of the petition is called Enrique P. Mesa García And it is Professor of Philosophy: "During the last 20 years I have had the best job in the world: Philosophy professor in an institute", he explains himself in the platform Change.org, where his request has achieved in two weeks almost the 150,000 signatures required.
"Cutting philosophy means minimizing the teaching of critical thinking and impoverish democracy, "warns and regrets this Institute professor in his letter, which has already gone around the country and has achieved that even the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, has been willing to study to extend the hours of Philosophy in Baccalaureate.
Teach philosophy
For Mesa, "there is no greater satisfaction than helping thousands of students every day to develop the critical and autonomous thinking, to constantly question everything that surrounds them and to reject any outside imposition. "All an important function that the professors of Philosophy fulfill in the institutes of all the country.
"When thousands of colleagues from all over Spain and myself spoke to our students about myth of Plato's cave, of the Kant's categorical imperative or of superman of Nietzsche, we are inviting them to become awake and critical citizens, "he continues in his letter in a call to the importance of that subject.
The professor regrets that the Government "does not see it or does not want to see it like that and has cut the Philosophy of the Lomce: it expels it completely from ESO, and in Baccalaureate it eliminates the History of Philosophy", he explains referring to the new educational reform promoted by the Government whereby the History of Philosophy passes from compulsory to optional the next course.
Up to this course (included) are taught in Secondary and Baccalaureate three subjects that have to do with Philosophy: Philosophy, Ethical Values and History of Philosophy. However, from the next course only the first one will be compulsory in the first year of Bachillerato and the rest It will depend on each autonomous community.
"Cut Philosophy"
For this reason, this professor has decided to start the collection of signatures asks the Government to turn back and put Philosophy back as a compulsory subject and, thus, avoid that the students can leave the Institute without having seen the foundations of the structure of Western thought, from the classics such as Socrates or Plato to Marx or Sartre, to mention a few examples.
Mesa insists that "cutting philosophy" would be "undermining that ideal of democracy in which a critical citizenry he governs his life in a free and active manner and permanently questions the exercise of power and the norms that govern society. "In short, for this professor and almost 150,000 more people, To remove the Philosophy from the classrooms would be "a cut that we can not afford".
For this reason, and with the support of the Spanish Philosophy Network (REF), this petition seeks that Ethics becomes a common subject in ESO and that History of Philosophy becomes compulsory in 2nd year of Bachillerato. "Because the future of a society with critical and autonomous thinking is at stake because our democracy is at stake". If you agree with this request, you can support it by signing here.
Angela R. Bonachera
