Abstract:

The current social developments point to the need for a more effective strategy for building a cohesive and inclusive society in which citizens would participate more actively and responsibly in public processes. In several European countries, especially those with direct experience of the communist regime, one can observe the increase of initiatives calling for a change in governing the country towards undemocratic practices. It is an empirically confirmed fact that many citizens are disappointed with the political developments in their countries, and their disappointment creates fertile ground for various forms of extremism and polarization. One of the key factors, without which it is impossible to understand the current events, is the enormous technological development and availability of new technologies and platforms. However, this progress is not accompanied by an increase in knowledge and skills on how to use these correctly, evaluate the available information and create an image of the world in which we live together with others based on it.

We believe that in stabilising democratic processes, universities play a vital role, including their role of a space for discussing different viewpoints. Martha Nussbaum emphasizes a key role of humanities in the processes that strengthen democracy and social ties. We see extraordinary potential, particularly in philosophy and its tools (argumentation, Socratic dialogue or, the ability to think critically, being able to take different perspectives, etc.). If they are successfully implemented both in the pedagogical process and in the public dialogue, they can be an effective tool for building a cohesive and inclusive society, which will be fairer to everyone and would thus circumvent polarization and extremism.

In our paper, we focus on three areas. First, we analyze different types of cognitive distortions (politically motivated reasoning, cognitive penetration, the bandwagon effect, bias of one's own view, belief persistence etc.), so that we can subsequently point to the need to increase the digital skills of the population not just in terms of mathematical thinking, but in terms of a deeper understanding and personal awareness of how technology co-creates the world we share with others. Ignorance fundamentally contributes to the worsening of all the forms mentioned above of cognitive distortions, which have destructive consequences at the macro-social level. Subsequently, we will present the proposed solution in the form of an appeal for the effective incorporation of philosophical tools into the teaching process starting from secondary schools using holistic and experiential learning approaches. In the final part we will return to the role of the university as a social participant, which should, from the point of view of the transfer of knowledge and community cultivation, play a fundamental role in society. However, it is debatable how universities can systematically and responsibly fulfill this role if, in several countries, we see changes towards purely performance-based funding, drastically changing the perception of the quality of university education and scientific research. Our contribution is created as part of the Erasmus + PLATO´S EU project.

Keywords:

Cognitive distortions, digital skills, argumentation, Socratic dialogue, critical thinking skills, university as a social participant.