Tolstoy on the injustice of the philosophy of education.

This article examines Leo Tolstoy's critique of the philosophy of education, focusing on his concern with what is now termed epistemic injustice—the unfair treatment of certain knowledge forms and learners' experiences in educational contexts. Tolstoy rejected the imposition of abstract philosophical systems, particularly European philosophies, on Russian peasant education, arguing that such approaches disregarded the valuable indigenous knowledge and lived experiences of learners. His early argument from philosophical uncertainty held that no single philosophy could justifiably serve as a foundation for education due to the inconclusive nature of philosophical inquiry, while his later work emphasized the priority of knowledge about how to live ethically, drawing on diverse cultural and religious traditions. Tolstoy's educational experiments with peasant children anticipated progressive pedagogy by centering learners' voices and promoting freedom and practical judgment over rigid theory, though tensions remain in his work between respecting learner autonomy and advocating universal ethical principles. The article suggests Tolstoy's meta-philosophy offers a distinctive contribution to contemporary debates on epistemic justice and the role of philosophy in education.