Critical Awareness and Ethics in Paulo Freire: A Reflection on the Meaning of Religion in Times of Fundamentalism

Abstract

This article will deal with Paulo Freire from the perspective of education and critical awareness in the horizon of fundamentalism and the meaning of religion. He contributed as an educator to the emancipation of the subject in his real condition, by demystifying the oppressive layers present in consciousness. It can be extracted from it a relevant contribution regarding the phenomenon of current religious fundamentalism. This is characterized by a denial of critical capacity in his faith experience. Thus, this reflection proposes to gather from Freire's vision a possible contribution to a critical perspective on religious fundamentalism. The article, for this purpose, will follow the next path. First, the phenomenon of current religious fundamentalism with its challenges will be presented; then, it will cover the concepts of education and critical awareness in Paulo Freire; finally, the contribution of Freire's thinking will be highlighted in the face of the indicated phenomenon.