Globl 110 Study Guide Midterm Review

Unmündigkeit (Oon-moon-dig-kite)

This is Kant’s specific term for Immaturity. It does not refer to a child, but rather to an adult who possesses the intelligence to think for themselves but lacks the courage to do so without external guidance. (Kant, p. 17)

Vormünder (For-moon-der)

This refers to the Guardians. These are the institutional figures—priests, doctors, officials, and now algorithms—who "kindly" offer to take over the labor of thinking for the population. (Kant, p. 17)

Sapere Aude!

This is the motto of the Enlightenment, translating to "Dare to Know!". The emphasis here is placed entirely on the verb Dare, framing knowledge not as a pleasure, but as an act of risk. (Kant, p. 17)

The Limit-Attitude: 

This is Foucault’s definition of the philosophical life. Rather than staying safely inside the limits of knowledge as Kant proposed, Foucault suggests we must stand at the boundaries of our own identity and interrogate their necessity. (Foucault, p. 45)

Clerical Flattening

We use this term to describe the administrative process of reducing a complex human life to a standardized file entry or data point. (Refer to Week 2, Lecture 1)

The Sanitized Persona

This is the obedient, predictable identity we construct to satisfy the institution and avoid social friction.

The Bureaucratic Alibi

This refers to the claim that "I was just doing my job"—operating strictly within Kant's "Private Reason"—to avoid taking ethical responsibility for one's actions.

Messiness (The Biophilic)

This is the disorderly, contradictory reality of human life that the state tries to suppress and that true freedom requires. (Refer to Week 1, Lecture 2)

What did Immanuel Kant live through?

Under what duress did Kant write “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? (1784)”?

The Shadow of the King (1784)

• the Prussian Monarchy under Frederick the Great

• Kant separates the subject in two:

  • the “PRIVATE” BODY and the “PUBLIC” MIND

    • a mind free to argue

Immanuel Kant writes from the dawn of the modern era, yet he lives in the shadow of the Prussian Monarchy. He is a subject of Frederick the Great, a ruler known as an "Enlightened Despot" because he supports the sciences while maintaining absolute military control. Kant faces the immediate and very real danger of censorship. He is acutely aware that if his exercise of "Reason" is perceived as a threat to the State's order, the King will not hesitate to crush it. To navigate this, Kant constructs a brilliant but dangerous compromise. He splits the subject in two, creating a "Private" body that must obey the King and a "Public" mind that is free to argue. As you read, you must ask yourself: Is this split a liberation, or is it a trap?

What did Michel Foucault live through? Under what pressures did Michel Foucault write, “What is Enlightenment? (1984)”?

The Shadow of the Century (1984)

• reason and obedience did not save us

• the state used enlightenment ideas for mass death

• FOUCAULT REJECTS KANTS COMPROMISE

  • Foucault says we cannot afford to simply “obey” in private

****************************************

• Foucault’s message: we must instead maintain a permanent critique of the institutions that govern us

***********************************

Michel Foucault writes from the twilight of that era. He looks back at the wreckage of the 20th century—the Holocaust, the Gulag, and the total administration of life. He confronts the terrifying realization that "Reason" and "Obedience" did not save us. On the contrary, the administrative state utilized the tools of the Enlightenment to organize mass death. Consequently, Foucault rejects Kant’s compromise. He argues that we cannot afford to simply "obey" in private. We must instead maintain a permanent Critique of the institutions that govern us.

Who wrote “the indictment of laziness” on page 17?

He states, “Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why such a large part of mankind gladly remain minors…”

Kant (1784) wrote “the indictment on laziness,” placing the blame squarely on the subject, not the state. He argues that we are “glad” to remain in the *cage* b/c it is more comfortable than the responsibility of freedom.

Kant —> the subject (ppl) are lazy cowards, so they are immature —> they choose to remain in the cage to avoid the responsibility of freedom and stay in the familiar

Who wrote “the contract” on page 18?

He says, “The public use of one’s reason must always be free… But the private use of reason may often be very narrowly restricted…”

the core mechanism in Kant’s text:

• Kant argues that to be a “good citizen,” one must become a cog in the machine (the Private sphere).

Can a mind truly be free if the body is forced to function as a machine?

Who writes “the refusal of the ultimatum” with rationality on page 42?

He says: “We must refuse the ‘blackmail’ of the Enlightenment… the simplistic choice that we must be either ‘for’ or ‘against’ rationality.”

Foucault (1984)

• Foucault rejects the binary choice offered by the institution.

• He separates the “light” (reason) from the “ultimatum” (obedience), refusing to accept that critique is synonymous with irrationality.

Who writes “the exit” on page 46?

He writes, “The critique of what we are is… an experiment with the possibility of going beyond [the limits].”

Foucault (1984)

• While Kant wanted to define the limits to keep us safe, Foucault wants us to find the limits so we can cross them.

• This constitutes the act of the “Exit” (Ausgang).

What are three sets of potential exam questions &/or questions to think about that the professor gave us for our week 1 study guide?

1. The Modern Guardian: Who are the Vormünder of 2026? If we no longer outsource our conscience to the Priest, to whom do we now outsource our political opinions and ethical decisions?

2. The Fracture: Have you personally experienced the split between the "Private" and "Public" self? Have you felt the pressure to "flatten" your personality in order to function within an institution, such as a school or a workplace?

3. The Cost: Foucault suggests that leaving the state of immaturity causes "messiness" or disorder. What do you risk losing if you stop performing the "Sanitized Persona"?

Who wrote the “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”?

Paulo Freire wrote the “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.”

Paulo Freire

• The Banking Model

“Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor.” (Freire, p. 72)

The traditional method of education where the teacher “deposits” facts into the passive minds of students." In this model, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing. It dehumanizes the student, turning them into an object to be managed rather than a subject who acts.

Paulo Freire

• Narration Sickness

“Education is suffering from narration sickness” (Freire, p. 71).

The pathological state of the traditional classroom where the teacher talks about reality as if it were static, motionless, and compartmentalized. The teacher narrates; the student records. This disconnects the student from the “Physical Register” of history, turning visceral human experience into “hollow, alienating verbosity.”

Paulo Freire

• The Deposit (Communiqué)

“Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat” (Freire, p. 72).

The “Sanitized File” or “Official Story” handed down by the teacher. Instead of communicating with students, the teacher issues “communiqués” to be memorized. This prevents the student from questioning the origin of the information or the power dynamics behind it.

Paulo Freire

• Necrophilia

“The banking concept… is motivated by a necrophilic passion: the love of death, not of life” (Freire, p. 77).

Literally “the love of death.” Freire uses this to describe the Banking Model’s desire to control life by stopping it. It loves things that are static, predictable, and unmoving (like a finished archive). It seeks to “fix” the student in a state of permanent immaturity to ensure they remain “adaptable” to the state.

• Banking Model’s desire to control life by stopping it

• static, predictable, and unmoving

• a finished archive

• permanent immaturity

• “adaptable” to the state

Paulo Freire

• The Teacher-Student Contradiction

“Education must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students” (Freire, p. 72).

The vertical hierarchy that maintains the “Safe Distance” in the classroom. It mirrors the relationship between the Colonizer and the Native:

1. The teacher teaches / Students are taught.

2. The teacher knows / Students know nothing.

3. The teacher acts / Students have the illusion of acting.

Paulo Freire

• Fear of Freedom

Context: The “bargain” discussed in Lecture Movement Ten.

(Friere, p. 36 / 47 - General Concept)

The psychological state where the oppressed (or the student) prefers the security of conformity over the risks of autonomy. The student trades their intellectual freedom for the “security” of the grade, the degree, or the approval of the authority figure.

Paulo Freire

• Problem-Posing Education

“Problem-posing education… involves a constant unveiling of reality… [It] strives for the emergence of consciousness and critical intervention in reality” (Freire, p. 81).

The antidote to the Banking Model. Instead of treating reality as a fixed “deposit,” the teacher and student present reality as a problem to be solved together. It “unveils” reality, showing that history is not natural or inevitable, but made by human beings—and therefore capable of being changed by them.

Paulo Freire

• Intentionality

“Problem-posing education, responding to the essence of consciousness — intentionality — rejects communiqués and embodies communication” (Freire, p. 79).

The defining characteristic of CONSCIOUSNESS. Freire argues that consciousness is never empty; it is always “consciousness is never empty; it is always “consciousness of something.” It is an act, an arrow shot at the world. In the lecture, this is linked to the “Limit-Attitude” — the refusal to be a passive container.

Paulo Freire

• Biophilia

Context: "Lecture Movement Thirteen & Fifteen. (Freire, p. 77 - Implied Contrast)

The “love of life.” The pedagogical opposite of Necrophilia. It is education that celebrates the “process of becoming” — the messy, unpredictable, and creative growth of the student. It reclaims the “Physical Register” and the static reality of the student against the deadening logic of the vault.

Paulo Freire

• Becoming (Unfinishedness)

“[It] affirms men and women as beings in the process of becoming — as unfinished, uncompleted beings in and with a likewise unfinished reality” (Freire, p. 84).

The recognition that human beings are “unfinished, uncompleted beings” in a “likewise unfinished reality.” This lack of closure is the foundation of ethical responsibility. Because the world is not finished, we must act to shape it. We refuse the “desire for ethical closure.”

Paulo Freire

• Praxis

“Reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it” (Freire, p. 51).

The radical interaction of Reflection and Action. Freire argues that thinking without action is “verbalism” (empty words), and action without thinking is “activism” (mindless movement). True transformation requires both simultaneously. In Global 110, this is the “Logic of the Word.”

Paulo Freire

• Active Witnessing

Lecture Movement Fourteen & Fifteen. (Lezra / Freire Synthesis)

Course Concept. The refusal to be a “Spectator.” The Active Witness uses intentionality to interrogate the “Safe Frame.” They do not just consume the image of violence; they diagnose the system that produced it.