Abstract

GUERRA, André  and  STENZEL, Lucia Marques. The weakening of critical thinking and the crisis of the Brazilian public university. Rev. NUFEN [online]. 2021, vol.13, n.2, pp. 133-146. ISSN 2175-2591.

ABSTRACT This theoretical study proposes a critical reflection on the current configuration of the Brazilian public university. Three lines of analysis were developed by means of theoretical contributions influenced by phenomenology: organizational entrepreneurship and mind management, revealing that the public university has focused on mere technical training, cognitive formatting and a praxis devoid of ethical-political foundation; the university as an illness manager, in which psychological suffering arises from performance and productivity demands; the weakening of critical thinking, showing how the university has been moving away from its main task, whose existential foundation is the radicality of critical thinking. Finally, it points to the risk of irreversible debilitation of the Brazilian public university due to its accelerated march towards a neoliberal project that, in addition to its external assaults, also has significant connivance from the academic community itself.

Keywords : Higher education institutions; Neoliberalism; Psychosocial factors; Technical rationality; Phenomenology.

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