Educazione degli adulti e formazione umanistica

Over the last few years there have been numerous appeals to defend the humanities. The most famous is probably the essay written by Martha Nussbaum entitled “Not for profit. Why Democracy Needs the Humanities”, in which the American philosopher expresses her concern for the fate of humanities in education systems. In many countries, the profit motive is conditioning education policy, and science and technology are considered more useful to face the challenges of globalization, economic growth and the labour market. So, humanities risk being sidelined and, with them, primary abilities crucial to the health of democracy. A similar appeal was launched in Italy by Ernesto Galli Della Loggia, Roberto Esposito and Alberto Asor Rosa. Now, the debate seems to be limited to scholastic and academic curricula, but nothing is said on adult and continuing education, probably because it is considered closer to the vocational field. Can adult education give up the humanities? Does the need for humanistic education involve only new generations or is it fundamental also for adults? Are contexts of adult learning and humanities really irreconciliable? This paper tries to answer these questions and invites the promotion of humanities in a longlife perspective, especially in a time marked by adults in crisis.