Banking education is necrophilic, loving death over life

Evidence

Because banking education begins with a false understanding of men and women as objects, it cannot promote the development of what Fromm calls “biophily,” but instead produces its opposite: “necrophily.” … Oppression—overwhelming control—is necrophilic; it is nourished by love of death, not life. The banking concept of education, which serves the interests of oppression, is also necrophilic. Based on a mechanistic, static, naturalistic, spatialized view of consciousness, it transforms students into receiving objects. It attempts to control thinking and action, leads women and men to adjust to the world, and inhibits their creative power. — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 222

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces Fromm’s biophily/necrophily distinction as the psychological ground for why deposit-making education is life-denying.
• XREF: Contrasts with the vitalist pedagogy of Deep Listening’s attentional practices.