Introduction: love and desire in education

The articles collected here bring together a range of philosophical discussions, drawing also on literary, historical, theological and psychological sources, of the ways that the erotic phenomenon presses upon modern educational theories and practices. The authors share a concern to rehabilitate love and desire to educational discourse, though with divergent ideas concerning how that could or should be achieved. Common themes include:whether it is appropriate to speak of love in educational practices and con-texts, and—if it is—of what kind of love it is suitable to speak; whether the tendency to focus on the education and development of reason has led us to overlook the formation of desire; whether the influence of desire is a tall possible and how such influences might be justified.