Learning from another

ABSTRACT

Learning is a capacity whereby an individual undergoes a distinctive kind of change: a change of what she is able to think or do, a change either in the scope or quality of her capacities. It is widely held that the capacity for learning takes a unique shape in humans and differs from how non-human animals learn. This view is popular among philosophers, psychologists, and anthropologists. In spite of the wide agreement about its uniqueness, it remains unclear what exactly it is about human learning that makes it special. In this article, we take an Aristotelian approach and argue that the uniqueness of human learning can only be understood against the background of the human form of life. This form of life is characterized by a self-conscious relation between the form of life and its bearers. Learning is the form of the development from immature to mature bearers of the human form of life and carries the following three characteristics: It is second-personal, its content is general, and the learner's relation to the knowledge or the capacities she acquires is reflective.

KEYWORDS:

• Social learning
• human form of life
• general knowledge
• second person

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant awarded to the first author by the Spencer Foundation [grant number 201700128].