Ad unum vertere? Education as con-versio from multitude

Abstract

 The complexity and universal validity of knowing became a reason and aim of intellectual effort expressed in the notion philo-sophia. The advantages of universalism can be summarised into several elements: the concept of human nature, the ontological fundament of human dignity, and their ethical demands, regardless of individual differences. On the other hand, universalism hides within itself an ever-present germ of potential destructivity, when, in the name of the “universal truth,” there occurs a factual and inhumane exclusion of certain individuals and groups from the community of those who “deserve” dignitas humana. Slovak philosopher of culture Ladislav Hanus in his work Principle of Pluralism defines “organic pluralism”. Hanusian “organic pluralism” connects and integrates multitude, which is its quantitative dimension, with organicness, which is its qualitative dimension. The development of a person takes place by a gradual and purposeful interweaving of quantity with quality, and this activity is called education, or con-versio from multitude.