Education, extremism and utopian thinking

极端主义心态的一个突出特点是，相信为实现某种乌托邦理想付出任何代价都不为过。随着英国和其他地方的学校现在承担着培养儿童对极端主义的抵抗力的任务，我们应该如何看待这种信仰，以及我们是否以及如何适当地阻止人们持有这种信仰，这些问题已经成为紧迫的问题。这一理论研究项目的目的将是发展和捍卫这些问题的答案。学校应该对极端主义的威胁做点什么的想法最近在英国的教育政策中获得了相当大的支持。2015年《反恐怖主义和安全法》规定，学校有义务“适当考虑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实施预防责任的建议要求他们帮助儿童和年轻人“了解与恐怖主义相关的风险，并发展知识和技能，以便能够挑战极端主义论点”（DfE，2015，第5页）。英国教育标准局，英格兰的学校检查机构，现在判断学校在多大程度上使学生认识到激进和极端主义的风险，并发现他们不足时，“领导人和那些负责治理不保护学生免受激进和极端主义观点”（Ofsted，2019，第63页）。极端主义是一个复杂和有争议的现象。但很明显，对未来理想国家或乐土的预期在许多极端主义意识形态中起着核心作用。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”确定为极端主义思想的16个反复出现的特征之一（Saucier等人，2009年）。卡西姆·卡萨姆在他对这一主题的全面哲学论述中认为，虽然极端主义是一个家族相似的概念，没有任何一种信仰或态度是绝对必要的，但乌托邦思想在其区别性特征中是突出的（卡萨姆，即将出版），并不是每个预期乌托邦未来的人都相信，为了实现他们的理想，没有什么代价是太高的。但很容易看出这种想法是如何扎根的。如果人类有可能享受一种完美和谐或圆满的状态，那么还有什么比实现这种状态更重要呢？为什么要让共同道德的约束，或对他人权利和自由的关注，成为永久和平与幸福的障碍？完善人性的伟大价值证明了暂停普通道德和政治约束的合理性，对此我们应该说些什么呢？它是否以某种明显的方式犯了错误，如果是这样，又犯了什么样的错误？教育孩子们相信这种信念是错误的，这是否在教育的适当范围之内？教育者应该通过什么手段来说服他们相信这一点？如果要让学生具备“能够挑战极端主义论点的知识和技能”，那么他们需要了解什么样的论点，即实现乌托邦的责任凌驾于所有其他考虑之上？拟议的研究项目将借鉴道德，政治和教育理论来回答这些问题。由教育哲学家（教育学院，伯明翰大学）和政治哲学家（政治与国际关系学院，诺丁汉大学）共同监督，学生将使用哲学的分析和论证方法来制定教育工作者应该如何解决有问题的信念的规范性说明。

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.