The philosopher Adela Cortina has been invested as Honorary Doctorate by the UB for her contributions to the fields of ethics and values ​​education in an event held in the auditorium of the historic building. The rector, Joan Guàrdia, presided over the event, which was attended by the dean of the Faculty of Education, Roser Boix, and the UB professor, Miquel Martínez, among other personalities.

An inspiration in the field of values education

Miquel Martínez, professor of Education and member of the Research Group on Moral Education at the UB, defended the honorary doctorate awarded to Adela Cortina: “The continuous contributions Professor Cortina made to education show we are in front of a repeated case of cross-foundation between philosophy and pedagogy”. Martínez highlighted that in the eighties, “in the context of post-transition in Spain”, the philosopher’s contributions were important for construct a thought that helped “moving from a unique, morally monistic code to a society based on moral pluralism”. These contributions by Cortina were also a key in the field of education.

The sponsor also pointed out that the reflections of the thinker drove the proposals of the UB Research Group on Moral Education since its creation. “The proposals derived from the thinking reflected in Adela Cortina’s Ètica minima are still valid”, the professor concluded.

Personal autonomy and critical thinking, at risk

The education of a democratic citizenship was the main topic of Adela Cortina’s speech. In particular, the philosopher talked about the challenges brought by artificial intelligence technologies. “The question is whether these technologies are intended to be incorporated to education to achieve the shared future of humanity, in the sense of building a democratic and cosmopolitan citizenship, or whether it is rather a matter of preparing students to compete in the economic and political race to reach the top position, be the State the one vying for this place, following the Chinese model, or the market, following the lines of Silicon Valley”, she said.

Cortina warned about the dangers of the current functioning of digital platforms and social networks for our personal autonomy and critical thinking. She said these might lead to superficiality, polarization and an emotivism all incompatible with democracy. Cortina’s most radical criticism was aimed at the nature of an economic order, according to which “people are the means to trade and to political power”.

In the specific case of the field of education, Cortina admitted the intelligent systems are useful, for instance, when customizing the educational experience or avoiding repetitive tasks and routines for teachers. She warned, however, about the dangers they carry: “There is a huge techno-educational market offered as a personalization and automation of learning, and which is permeating the world of education. But what can also happen, just like in other platforms, is that it becomes a data mining mechanism”.

Cortina ended her speech with an optimistic message on how to fight these dangers: “We have the chance to take responsibility for our world as autonomous people, closely linked by bonds of solidarity. People who want to use any tool, including intelligent systems, to narrow the intersubjectivity among human beings. To achieve this, we need to educate in this union of heart and reason, which I have called cordial reason for some time now”.