Education, extremism and utopian thinking

极端主义心态的一个显著特征是相信，为了实现某种乌托邦理想，付出的代价再高也不为之。随着英国和其他地方的学校现在肩负着培养孩子们对极端主义的抵抗力的任务，我们应该如何理解这种信念，以及我们是否以及如何恰当地阻止人们持有这种信念，已经成为一个紧迫的问题。这个理论研究项目的目的将是找到并捍卫这些问题的答案。学校应该采取措施应对极端主义威胁的想法最近在英国的教育政策中得到了相当大的支持。2015年《反恐和安全法》规定，学校有义务“适当考虑到防止人们卷入恐怖主义的必要性”(第26条第1款)。教育部向学校提供的关于执行预防职责的建议责成他们帮助儿童和年轻人“了解与恐怖主义有关的风险，并发展能够挑战极端主义论点的知识和技能”(教育部，2015年，第5页)。英国的学校检查机构Ofsted现在根据学校让学生认识到激进化和极端主义的风险的程度来评估学校，并发现当“领导人和负责管理的人没有保护学生免受激进化和极端主义观点的影响”时，这些学校就不够用了(Ofsted，2019，p.63)。极端主义是一个复杂而有争议的现象。但很明显，对未来理想状态或应许之地的预期在许多极端主义意识形态中扮演着核心角色。在他们对激进极端分子心态的实证研究中，Gerard Saucier及其同事将“乌托邦化”确定为极端主义思维的16个反复出现的特征之一(Saucier等人，2009年)。在他对这一主题的全面哲学论述中，卡西姆认为，虽然极端主义是一个家庭相似的概念，没有任何一种信仰或态度是严格必要的，但乌托邦思维在其显著特征中是突出的(卡萨姆，即将出版)。并不是每个预测乌托邦未来的人都相信，为了实现他们的理想，付出任何代价都不会太高。但很容易看出这种想法是如何站稳脚跟的。如果人类有可能享受一种完美的和谐或圆满的状态，还有什么比实现这种状态更重要的呢？为什么应该允许普通道德的限制，或对他人权利和自由的关心，阻碍永久的和平与幸福？我们应该如何看待这样一种观点，即完善人性的巨大价值可以证明暂停普通的道德和政治约束是合理的？它是否在某种明显的方面是错误的，如果是的话，犯了什么样的错误？教育孩子们信仰是错误的，这在教育礼仪的范围内吗？教育者应该通过什么方法来说服他们呢？如果学生们想要具备“能够挑战极端主义观点的知识和技能”，那么他们需要知道什么才是实现乌托邦的责任压倒一切其他考虑因素的论点呢？这项拟议的研究项目将利用道德、政治和教育理论来回答这些问题。在一位教育哲学家(伯明翰大学教育学院)和一位政治哲学家(诺丁汉大学政治和国际关系学院)的共同指导下，学生持有者将使用哲学的分析和辩论方法来制定关于教育者应该如何处理有问题的信仰的规范说明。

A salient feature of the extremist mindset is the belief that no price is too high to pay for the achievement of some utopian ideal. With schools in the UK and elsewhere now tasked with building children's resistence to extremism, the questions of what we should make of this belief, and whether and how we might properly discourage people from holding it, have become pressing ones. The aim of this theoretical research project will be to develop and defend answers to these questions.The idea that schools should do something about the threat of extremism has recently gained considerable ground in education policy in the UK. The 2015 Counter Terrorism and Security Act imposes a duty on schools to 'have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism' (Section 26, para 1). The Department for Education's advice to schools on implementing the Prevent duty charges them with helping children and young people to 'understand the risks associated with terrorism and develop the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge extremist arguments' (DfE, 2015, p.5). Ofsted, England's school inspection agency, now judges schools on the extent to which they enable pupils to recognise the risks of radicalisation and extremism, and finds them inadequate when 'leaders and those responsible for governance are not protecting pupils from radicalisation and extremist views' (Ofsted, 2019, p.63). Extremism is a complex and contested phenomenon. But it is clear that anticipation of a future ideal state or promised land plays a central role in many extremist ideologies. In their empirical study of the mindset of militant extremists, Gerard Saucier and colleagues identify 'utopianizing' as one of 16 recurrent features of extremist thinking (Saucier et al., 2009). And in his comprehensive philosophical treatment of the topic, Quassim Cassam argues that, while extremism is a family resemblance concept to which no one belief or attitude is strictly necessary, utopian thinking is prominent among its distinguishing characteristics (Cassam, forthcoming).Not everyone who anticipates a utopian future believes that no price is too high to pay for the achievement of their ideal. But it is easy to see how the thought takes hold. If it is possible for humankind to enjoy a state of perfect harmony or fulfilment, what could be more important than realising that state? Why should the constraints of common morality, or concern for the rights and liberties of others, be allowed to stand in the way of everlasting peace and happiness? What should we say about the idea that the great value of perfecting humanity justifies the suspension of ordinary moral and political constraints? Is it in some demonstrable way mistaken, and if so what kind of mistake has been made? Is it within the bounds of educational propriety to teach children that the belief is false, and by what means should educators seek to persuade them of this? If pupils are to be equipped with 'the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge extremist arguments', what do they need to know about the argument that the duty to bring about utopia overrides all other considerations?The proposed research project will draw on moral, political and educational theory to answer these questions. Co-supervised by a philosopher of education (School of Education, University of Birmingham) and a political philosopher (School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham),the studentship-holder will use the analytical and argumentative methods of philosophy to develop a normative account of how educators should address the problematic belief.