Education as Care and Accompaniment of the Metaphysical Opening of the Human Person in the Philosophy of Josep Maria Esquirol

Abstract

This work focuses on the last two works of philosopher Josep Maria Esquirol (1963). In Humano, más humano (2021), he revisited the concept of contingency, understanding it as the possibility of being otherwise and, ultimately, of growing. From this perspective, the human person appeared as a being endowed with an "infinite wound", also called a "metaphysical window", which opened them up to life, death, the "you", and the world. In La escuela del alma (2024), he proposes a specific way of caring for the infinite wound (metaphysical window), and that is education. An education that supports personal growth requires a type of school that constitutes an "altertopia", that is, as an "other place". School must be a different environment in which the persons are treated as themselves, and their capacity to pay attention to reality is fostered, so that they can lead a fruitful life.