ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an account of freedom that dismisses the notion of educational purpose as 'freedom from ignorance,' arguing that the freedom of educated student in a diverse democratic society is an achievement rather than the removal of a constraint by him- or herself, or others, i.e., ignorance. It suggests that these considerations present five primary challenges in teaching for freedom, thereby exploring the content in the education of the student with virtues that are indeed liberating. The chapter examines how the relations between developing freedom in the child and the teacher's contractual, moral and epistemological authority, with a focus on 'freedom from prejudice,' of crucial moral importance in a diverse society. In Berlin's socio-political contexts, the author witnesses whole populations, though highly constrained in the sense of negative liberty, experiencing this totalitarian positive freedom, as they seek to realize their ideal selves, as Nazis, as Party members or as in a modern idiom, followers of the Great Leader.
