Stefano Oliverio is associate professor of Educational Theory and Social Pedagogy at the Department of Political Sciences of the University of Naples Federico II (ITALY). He holds a degree in philosophy and a PhD in Education. He publishes and teaches in the areas of philosophy of education, educational theory, American pragmatism, Philosophy for Children, and education for citizenship. From 2013 to 2017, he was the vice-president of the International Council of Philosophical Inquiry with Children (ICPIC). Since 2018 he has been the co-editor (with Gert Biesta) of the book series “Theorizing Education” and a member of the board of co-convenors of Network 13 (Philosophy of Education) within the European Educational Research Association. 

In documents and reports on educational policy, the need for an education for critical thinking often (if not always) reappears. And yet, one cannot escape the impression that our societies   

have been increasingly turning into what some authors dub “unthinking societies.” The irruption of AI seems only to accelerate this trend and to complicate the scenarios. But what if educating for critical thinking is not sufficient? Or, more radically still: what if it turns out to be “the social malady for whose therapy it takes itself to be”? What if critical thinking is not the remedy for technological bêtise but rather its hidden kin? This does not imply denying the significance of education for thinking; rather, it calls for a reappraisal of what thinking itself means, and of the relationship between education and thinking. In this endeavour, one revives a tradition that, from Socrates to Dewey, locates at the very root of thinking not merely the attitude of critique but the attitude of care. Accordingly, it will be suggested that, as educators, we should pursue the project of an education for “thoughtfulness”, in which the note of care-fulness more clearly resounds.