ABSTRACT
In light of the problems outlined in each of the paradigms, I begin the project of advancing an alternative paradigm of transformation in Chapter 4. The purpose of this chapter in particular is to work out the special characteristics of aspiration as a psychological event or process. I argue that aspirational psychology has four essential characteristics. Aspiration involves (1) an intimation of a new or previously misunderstood value that resides in an activity, idea or way of life, (2) a recognition of an ethical distance between one’s current state and a state that would embrace this value, (3) an acknowledgment of an ethical difference between these two states (i.e. the need for one to become different in acquiring the new value), and (4) a resolution to integrate the value into one’s life. In less technical terms, aspiration brings us into a special relationship to an activity, idea or way of life, in which we come to see a value within it that we had previously failed to appreciate or even notice. In making contact with this value, we recognize that its embrace requires a concerted personal effort that will transform us. And in spite of the challenges that the pursuit of this value introduces, we resolve to do so nonetheless. After outlining these characteristics by way of several examples, I then compare my account of aspiration to Agnes Callard’s conception of aspiration. While my account is indebted to Callard’s work, I argue that it expands on her conception in some important ways, particularly with respect to the kind of desire involved in aspirational pursuits as well as the supposed “negative side” of aspirational motivation (i.e. the valuational “defectiveness” to which Callard’s aspirant responds). In the final section, I suggest that aspiration is especially attractive as a guide for transformative education. Because aspiration constitutes a form of transformation that the individual sees as expanding her personal agency and as facilitating a deeper contact with a recognized value, I argue that aspiration avoids many of the risks to student agency that arose in the previous paradigms.
