Pedagogical symmetry and the cultivation of humanity: Nussbaum, Seneca and symmetry in the teacher–pupil relationship

Martha Nussbaum argues that the aims of higher education ought to include the development in pupils of the capacity to contribute to the cultivation of humanity as intelligent, global citizens. For Nussbaum, ‘training’ in this capacity is distinctly ‘philosophical’ and she proposes that, to achieve this, teacher–pupil relationships ought to be ‘strongly symmetrical’ along the lines of the teaching model evinced in Seneca’s Epistles. In this paper, I examine Nussbaum’s proposal in relation to an intentional account of teaching and consider how it fits within the Stoic framework before examining how her argument for symmetry aligns with that evidenced in Seneca. I show that Nussbaum’s argument for pedagogical symmetry is sustained neither by evidence from Seneca nor by the account of teaching implied in her own proposal for education.