Dalla cognizione sociale alla consapevolezza democratica. Un dialogo possibile tra neuroscienze, pedagogia e politica

This contrib ution aims to in vestigate the relation- ship between educational processes and political ac- tion, taking as its starting point some of the neuro- scientific discoveries that have contributed most to legitimizing the affirmation of empathy and emo- tion as true pedagogical categories . It also reflects on how such evidence, now the heritage of neuro- didactic research, can also trigger political reflection on the centrality assumed by emotions in the con- struction of a democratic coexistence among people and an ethos of active citizenship .