Educational value of the problem of God in Seneca

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-788

Keywords:

Seneca, panentheism, presence, openness, education, desire, values, conscience

Abstract

Introduction: In a previous work on Seneca we have encountered the tension between identity (of God with nature) and presence (of God in man). Now we will delve into this tension, investigating the relationship between God and the world, seeking to clarify its meaning and show its educational possibilities. Methodology: Content analysis, with a deep reflection, trying to understand Seneca's thought and experience in the matter of God with nature, man and the world, focusing on the world, where everything converges. Results: The tension between identity and difference is resolved in presence. Thus, we understand the question of God in Seneca as the presence of God in the World, and we describe it as bread-in-theism, the liberating presence of the divine in man's consciousness. Discussions: We interpret God's presence in man in the world as a call in desire that opens the horizon of fulfilment, radically connected with the open structure of human personal reality, in the educative gerund of seeking within an overflowing fullness. Conclusions: We find ourselves in the transfiguring depths of the educability of human personal reality. This is our conclusion and our educational challenge.

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Author Biographies

Francisco Javier Jiménez Ríos, University of Granada

Director of the research group Emerging Values, Social Education and Educational Policies (HUM-580). Director of the Department of Pedagogy at the University of Granada. Graduate and PhD in Pedagogy, Philosophy (Salamanca, Malaga), Theology (Rome). Master's in Social Education and Sociocultural Animation, Master's in Sexology and Sexual Therapy. Line of research: the value of the human person built on the creative appropriation of values. Special attention is paid to situations in which the person shows weakness, as is the case of violence in young couples. Articles and book chapters addressing the subject of personal relationships in indexed journals and prestigious publishers. Member of the SITE network, the SEP, the AES and the SEIS.

Gracia González-Gijón, University of Granada

Professor of the Department of Pedagogy of the Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Granada, Spain. Secretary of the Department of Pedagogy. Director of the PESEVA Research Group, "Social Pedagogy and Education in Values" (HUM-1073) and member of the Institute of Peace and Conflicts (IPAZ) of the University of Granada. Coordinates and participates in the Ibero-American Network REDIFAC. Her lines of research are related to gender and violence studies, cultural diversity and values ​​in young people and she is Principal Investigator of several projects that develop these lines.

Esther Santaella-Rodríguez, University of Granada

PhD in Educational Sciences from the University of Granada. Currently, Assistant Professor of the Department of Pedagogy at the Faculty of Educational Sciences (University of Granada, Spain). Previously, she was a teacher and researcher at the Centro de Magisterio La Inmaculada, affiliated with the University of Granada (UGR). She has also been a postgraduate teacher at the International University of La Rioja and at the Camilo José Cela University. She belongs to the research group HUM-1073: Social Pedagogy and Education in Values ​​(PESEVA) at the University of Granada. Her main lines of research focus on critical pedagogy, Education for peace and Comprehensive Sexual Education with a gender perspective.

Nazaret Martínez-Heredia, University of Granada

PhD in Educational Sciences (University of Granada). Assistant Professor of the Department of Pedagogy of the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Granada (Spain). Member of the PESEVA Research Group, “Social Pedagogy and Education in Values” (HUM-1073) of the University of Granada. Previously FPU (University Teacher Training) and Postdoctoral Fellow in the same Department. Her lines of research are related to gender and violence studies, values, education for death and the elderly.

References

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Published

2024-09-18

How to Cite

Jiménez Ríos, F. J., González-Gijón, G., Santaella-Rodríguez, E., & Martínez-Heredia, N. (2024). Educational value of the problem of God in Seneca. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 10, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-788

Issue

Vol. 10 (2025)

Section

Humanism and Social Sciences

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Copyright (c) 2024 Francisco Javier Jiménez Ríos (Autor de Correspondencia); Gracia González-Gijón, Esther Santaella-Rodríguez, Nazaret Martínez-Heredia

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