Conference Agenda

This paper draws on an extensive thesis-based study and explores education for civic morality within Kamal Junblatt’s philosophical framework. Junblatt was a key Druze figure and a highly influential actor in Arab political and intellectual life. As a politician, philosopher, and visionary leader, he promoted Pan-Arabism and ethical principles that transcended sectarian boundaries. His beliefs and public actions were closely intertwined with his educational philosophy and his commitment to cultivating civic virtues in Lebanese society, as reflected in his books, speeches, and philosophical writings.

The study examines Junblatt’s educational philosophy, emphasizing his understanding of civic morality, spiritual development, and social responsibility as essential foundations for individual and societal advancement. Although Junblatt was not formally an educational theorist, he was a socialist political thinker whose writings reveal a coherent educational vision. Accordingly, the study adopts an interpretive and theoretical approach, extracting educational insights from his broader philosophical and political texts.

Through close textual and theoretical analysis of Junblatt’s major works, the study identifies the core elements of his educational philosophy. These include a holistic worldview integrating spirituality, ethics, and politics; a strong emphasis on civic virtues such as justice, responsibility, solidarity, and moral courage; an understanding of education as a transformative process aimed at personal freedom and ethical self-liberation; and a conception of the ideal citizen as an active, morally committed participant in social and political life. In Junblatt’s perspective, education extends beyond formal schooling and is intrinsically connected to civic action, community engagement, and moral struggle.

Educational philosophy provides a crucial framework for examining how such virtues are cultivated. It addresses key questions concerning the aims of education, the formation of citizenship, and the moral responsibilities of educational institutions. This study employs this framework to analyze Junblatt’s conception of education as a formative moral practice shaping civic identity and ethical judgment. A central analytical lens is the philosophical tension between “is” and “ought” - the gap between moral ideals and lived social realities. The study explores how Junblatt positions education as a mediating practice through which individuals and communities navigate this tension via ethical reflection and civic participation.

The study also highlights Junblatt’s engagement with the cultural and social values of the Druze community. His educational philosophy emphasizes civic identity, social cohesion, and ethical leadership while remaining grounded in spiritual and cultural traditions. Although rooted in the Druze context, his thought offers insights relevant to broader Arab societies and minority communities confronting contemporary political and social challenges.

Engaging with philosophical debates on civic virtue, moral education, and citizenship central to European educational discourse, this study positions Junblatt’s thought in dialogue with wider international traditions of civic and democratic education. It thus introduces a non-Western yet universally relevant perspective into debates that have been shaped mainly by Eurocentric frameworks.

The study addresses the following research questions:

1. What role do civic virtues play within Junblatt’s educational philosophy, and how are these virtues defined and mobilized in relation to his broader political objectives?
2. What are the core tenets of Junblatt’s educational philosophy, and how do they integrate with his overarching political and ideological commitments?
3. What implications can be drawn from Junblatt’s educational philosophy for civic education, particularly within the Druze community and comparable minority contexts?

Finally, the study calls for future research on how Junblatt’s educational ideas are interpreted and applied in contemporary academic settings, particularly within Druze communities in Arab countries and in Israel. By foregrounding Junblatt’s educational philosophy, the study offers a normative and comparative contribution that repositions education as a moral and civic project within international debates on citizenship, democratic renewal, and social responsibility in pluralistic societies.

The intricate interplay between reasoning, emotional experience, and behavior remains one of the central challenges in contemporary social and educational research. Decades of empirical evidence show that knowing what one considers morally right does not reliably translate into acting accordingly (Licon, 2025). This difficulty—commonly referred to as the knowledge–action gap and discussed through related conceptual labels (e.g. Darnell et al., 2019)—captures a shared challenge of translating moral insight into action. As such, it poses an urgent concern for moral, civic, and character education across Europe, with consequences for democratic coexistence and well-being (Brake & Nauta, 2022).
Despite this evidence, educational practice has traditionally privileged cognitive and performative outcomes, often assuming that moral reasoning will naturally guide behavior (Kohlberg, 1984). Such approaches underestimate the affective conditions shaping moral agency and rely on an overly intellectualized conception of it (Li, 2023). From an action-oriented perspective, character is not defined by what individuals know or endorse abstractly, but by what they are able to enact in concrete, emotionally charged, and relationally complex real-life contexts (Aristotle, 2014; Nguyen & Crossan, 2022).
While moral psychology has identified multiple correlates of moral action (Lake et al., 2025), far less attention has been paid to the mechanisms through which moral insight is implemented—or fails to be realised—under emotional and situational pressure. Many correlational accounts explain moral action, but do not sufficiently address how moral commitments are sustained or undermined in practice. Accordingly, this paper asks how ER can be theoretically understood as a moral capacity that supports value-consistent action under emotional and situational pressure.
Addressing this implementation gap, the present theoretical–analytic paper advances an integrative account of ER not merely as an influence on behaviour, but as a key mechanism through which the gap between knowing and acting can be addressed. Drawing on interdisciplinary research in moral psychology, affective science, and educational theory, the paper argues that ER is not simply a mechanism of psychological adjustment, but a a condition of coherent moral agency, character formation, and well-being. ER is thus conceptualised as a mediating process shaping whether moral commitments are sustained or eroded under affective and situational strain (Darnell et al., 2019; Kristjánsson & Fowers, 2024; Martínez-Priego & Romero-Iribas, 2024).
The analysis synthesises two influential psychological frameworks: Gross’s (1998, 2015) process model of emotion regulation (ER)—which specifies how emotions are regulated—, and Tamir’s (2016) motivational framework—which explains why particular emotional states are pursued. While both models provide robust descriptive accounts, they remain normatively indeterminate with respect to the moral orientation of regulation and its role in value-consistent action, reflecting the unavoidable philosophical assumptions embedded in emotion science itself (De Sousa, 2022).
To address this limitation, the paper introduces a neo-Aristotelian teleological framework—prominent in European moral education—which adopts a virtue-ethical understanding of moral agency grounded in practical wisdom (phronesis) and human flourishing (eudaimonia). Within this framework, ER forms part of the coordinated enactment of reason, emotion, and action (Aristotle, 2014; Darnell et al., 2019; Kristjánsson & Fowers, 2024; Martínez-Priego & Romero-Iribas, 2024).
By reconceptualising ER as a mechanism of moral implementation, this paper provides a conceptual bridge between psychological models of ER and normative educational aims. It situates its contribution in dialogue with key European reference frameworks, including those of the Council of Europe (2021) and the OECD (2021, 2025), while addressing conceptual gaps that remain under-theorised within these agendas. In doing so, it contributes to European educational dialogue on how education research and practice can move beyond performative skill acquisition toward a more integrated understanding of knowing, feeling, and acting in contexts marked by moral polarization, digital disinhibition, and emotional dysregulation.