Parrhesia and the logic of expression: philosophical roots of critical thinking in contemporary education

Abstract

Modern education operates amid a profound crisis of trust and meaning. The proliferation of digital media, algorithmic control, and informational manipulation has transformed the very conditions under which truth can be spoken and heard. In this environment, critical thinking risks being reduced to a technical or instrumental skill, detached from ethical responsibility. Against such tendencies, the ancient notion of parrhesia – literally «free speech» or «frankness» (παρρησία) – offers a powerful framework for reimagining education as an ethical and logical practice of truth-telling [2, 4]. To engage in parrhesia means not simply to speak freely but to have the courage to speak truthfully in situations of risk. It is an act that unites logic, ethics, and responsibility, suggesting that to think critically is also to act courageously and to speak with integrity. As Biesta [1] notes, education inherently involves a «beautiful risk»: it is not a safe transmission of knowledge but a relational space of uncertainty and encounter.