SELF-CARE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE: an essay on the challenges of education

Abstract

This text critically analyzes the challenges of contemporary education through the philosophical perspectives of Michel Foucault and Viktor Frankl. Without aiming to directly compare their concepts, it utilizes their ideas to address current educational dilemmas. Foucault examines the disciplinary nature of schools and suggests the care of the self as an emancipatory alternative, while Frankl highlights freedom and responsibility as fundamental pillars of human existence, advocating for an education oriented toward the search for meaning. Both thinkers converge on the vision of a more dialogical and human-centered education, where the educator’s role is redefined, moving beyond the transmission of knowledge to facilitate students' discovery of meaning. Finally, it is proposed to rethink schools as spaces of collective creation and re-signification, overcoming conditions of subjugation.