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Journal of Educational Philosophy and Sociology 2026, Vol 7(1) 1-19

Tracing the Conceptual Transformation of Corporal Punishment in The Foundations of Modern Pedagogy

Mariana Arbeláez-Cataño
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Article Type
Research article
Publication Date
August 25, 2026
Pages
1-19
DOI
10.29329/jeps.2026.1436.11

Abstract

This article examines how corporal punishment was conceptualized, justified, and gradually displaced within the foundational texts of modern pedagogy. Designed as a theoretical genealogy, that is, a historically informed conceptual analysis that traces how ideas transform across a defined intellectual tradition, the study draws on the primary educational writings of five canonical figures (Comenius, Locke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, and Herbart) and on the secondary scholarship that has interpreted their work. Sources were selected based on thematic relevance, philosophical proximity to the concept of punishment, and historiographical significance. The analytical procedure combines close textual reading of primary sources with a relational synthesis that traces conceptual threads across authors. The interpretive strategy is explicitly non-linear: it does not offer a chronological survey or a narrative of progressive abolition but argues that the transformation of punishment in modern pedagogical thought is best understood as a relational shift that goes from punishment as an instrument of school discipline (with Comenius) toward punishment as a technology of school governance (with Herbart). Throughout this transition, conceptions of the body, childhood, and schooling changed in tandem with the logic of punishment, not eliminating it, but displacing its moral architecture. The analysis situates these authors within their historical and philosophical contexts, identifies persistent gaps in the existing scholarship, and argues that studying the historical roots of punitive practices enriches contemporary debates on discipline, education, and child rights.

Keywords: Corporal Punishment History of Education Modern Pedagogy Childhood Discipline Governance
Cite this article
Arbeláez-Cataño, M. (2026). Tracing the Conceptual Transformation of Corporal Punishment in The Foundations of Modern Pedagogy. Journal of Educational Philosophy and Sociology, 7(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.29329/jeps.2026.1436.11

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