This book addresses the topic of education of the emotions in the context of a rapidly transforming South African society. It attempts to reconfigure the conceptual landscape in terms of rationality, social transformation and education, and contests the intellectual and instrumental prejudice in the currently dominant ways of thinking about education. It reclaims a sense of how to think of education in terms of cultivating humanity, as a key to the profound transformation of the South African society. It argues that the emotions should be relocated in our conception of transformation and education, because without that, education will fail to help South African society to transform into a society where most people are able to live improved lives.

The book comprises three distinct parts. The first part consists of an account of a particular cognitive theory of the emotions, as developed by Martha Nussbaum in her book, Upheavals of Thought. The Intelligence of Emotions (2001). In Part 2, this theory is then applied to examine the complexities of social transformation in South Africa at a more profound, personal level. This investigation is presented as a narrative and comprises the perspectives of the author, a white Afrikaner female, who grew up in South Africa in the heyday of Apartheid. In the final part, the concept of ‘education for transformation’ is discussed. It is argued that for education to enhance the social transformation of South Africa, social transformation should be conceived according to a fundamental aspect of Rousseau's political philosophy, namely, that the ideal society comprises two reciprocally related spheres, the political and the personal sphere. Part 3 argues that ‘education for transformation’ should use a conception of transformation that acknowledges this double-layered texture. It further argues that ‘education for transformation’ should primarily be concerned with transformation at the personal level, since, according to Rousseau’s philosophy, this dimension is fundamental to ensuring the stability and legitimacy of the political order. However, building on the main insights of Part 2, this book also argues that personal transformation is only possible within a framework of rationality that acknowledges the emotions as constitutive elements of rationality itself.

Essentially, this book is about the conception of human existence, which should be esteemed as the most fundamental and crucial element of successful social transformation.