The School Library: A Philosophical Confrontation Between the Consensual Discourse of Karl-Otto Apel and the Emancipatory Discourse of Jacques Rancière

Introduction: the article analyzes the school library as a space of political contestation from the perspective of Jacques Rancière’s philosophy. Additionally, it draws on elements of Karl-Otto Apel’s discourse ethics to contrast two different ways of understanding language, reading, and the school...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Taborda Colorado, Juan Diego, Solórzano Hernández, Gabriel Alexánder, Blandón Gómez, Hernando
Format:	Digital
Language:	Spanish / Castilian
Published:	UNIVERSIDAD ANTONIO NARIÑO 2026
Subjects:	School library consensus dissensus equality ethics politics Biblioteca escolar consenso disenso igualdad ética lectura política
Online Access:	https://revistas.uan.edu.co/index.php/papeles/article/view/2456
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Introduction: the article analyzes the school library as a space of political contestation from the perspective of Jacques Rancière’s philosophy. Additionally, it draws on elements of Karl-Otto Apel’s discourse ethics to contrast two different ways of understanding language, reading, and the school community. Methodology: a critical hermeneutic methodology is adopted, with data collection in context based on the analysis of official documents and works by Jacques Rancière and Karl-Otto Apel. This critical approach makes it possible to rethink the school library through both state regulations and the underlying realities that shape them. Results and discussion: the reduction of the library to a storage facility, the predominance of the textbook as an instrument of repetition, the programmed obsolescence of knowledge, and the progressive silencing of the reader configure a scenario that is not only legal but also pedagogical and philosophical. The article argues that a crisis of the school library could imply an institutional failure and a form of political control that makes intellectual emancipation impossible. Critical questions emerge regarding its symbolic emptying, its role in the contemporary school, and the rupture caused by speech and language as a way of rethinking this space. Conclusions: the analysis suggests that certain institutional forms of organizing the school library may limit the possibilities for intellectual emancipation and for the autonomous circulation of speech.