The difficult pursuit of truth: a response to Kai Horsthemke

The question raised by Kai Horsthemke draws readers’ attention to a very specific aspect of the conference theme, Philosophy as Translation and the Understanding of Other Cultures: the contemporary culture of education with a special emphasis on the problematic character of learning by people with different kinds of impediments. From the outset, it is clear that the article is to reveal the complex character of learning: ‘What is involved, epistemologically, in inclusive, “barrier-free” education?’ (this volume, ##), In asking this Horsthemke suggests that he also reflects on the main obstacles that the learner meets on the way to understanding, obstacles of various types. It seems, then, that he interprets the idea of translation and crossing borders as possibilities to strengthen the students’ ability to overcome difficulties in the context of searching for knowledge and understanding.