Fiachra Long is retired Senior Lecturer in Education at University College Cork.

Part I: Approaches to proximity. 1. Socrates and the proximity of address. 2. Phenomenology and the proximity of learning. Part II: Phenomenological perspectives. 3. Husserl and the proximity of encounter. 4. Heidegger and the proximity of care. 5. Boredom and the proximity of risk. 6. Merleau-Ponty and the proximity of body. 7. Foucault and the proximity of words. Part III: Fundamental proximity. 8. Winnicott and the proximity of omnipotence. 9. Honneth and the proximity of recognition. Conclusion.

This book explores the phenomenology of learning with particular focus on the 'closeness' or 'proximity' of the knowledge that impacts on learners, young and old.