EDUCAÇÃO LIBERTADORA E LIBERDADE EXISTENCIALISTA

um encontro entre Jean ‑Paul Sartre e Paulo Freire

Abstract

Paulo Freire’s liberating educational theory is an instrument of liberation from oppressive situations, raising an awareness that, in turn, is a prerequisite for praxis. Jean ‑Paul Sartre’s philosophical theory is an instrument for “disalienation” that implies man in his freedom, and, in this sense, is a theory of action. Freire has in Sartre one of his references, and both start from phenomenology and dialectical historical materialism. This paper intends to present some key concepts by Sartre to establish a dialogue with Freire, in order to reflect on the possibilities that these two theories together have to the work of professionals for the empowerment of individuals and groups. The concept of critical transitive consciousness by Freire is equivalent to the concept of critical reflective consciousness by Sartre, just as Freire’s awareness is equivalent to Sartre’s existential birth. Both theories are complementary in their potential for action, since they start from the possibilities of man and world, situated possibilities, but still possibilities, denying, therefore, any form of determinism, which paralyzes action. They enable the understanding of contextual determinations, our “epochal unity”, in its “historical time”, and allow us and to act on it, based on the endless human capacity for transformation in the world, based on freedom. Freedom to act on the construction of utopia, the viable unprecedented, overcoming alienation and bad faith.