Philosophical Foundations of Education, 7th Edition by Ozmonr

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012
http://archive.org/details/philosophicalfouOOozmo_0
Philosophical
Foundations
of Education
Seventh Edition
HOWARD A. OZMON
SAMUEL M. CRAVER
Virginia Commonwealth University
Merrill
Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, \c\\ Jersey

Columbus, Ohio
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
( >zmon, Howard.
Philosophical foundations of education / Howard A. Ozmon, Samuel M. Graver. — 7th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-13-042399-8
1. Education — Philosophy—History. 2. Education —Aims and objectives. 3. Education —Study and teaching.
I. Craver,Samuel M. II. Title.
LB14.7 .096 2003

370'. 1—dc21 2002020181
Vice President and Publisher: Jeffery W. Johnston

Executive Editor: Debra A. Stollenwerk
Assistant Editor: Daniel J. Parker
Editorial Assistant: Mary Morrill
Production Editor: Mary Harlan
Production Coordination: Sharon Anderson, BookMasters, Inc.
Design Coordinator: Diane C. Lorenzo

Cover Design: Jason Moore
Cover Art: Artville/Bobbi Tull
Text Design and Illustrations: BookMasters, Inc.
Production Manager: Pamela D. Bennett

Director of Marketing: Ann Castel Davis
Marketing Manager: Krista Groshong
Marketing Coordinator: Tyra Cooper
This book was set in Times by BookMasters, Inc. It was printed and bound by R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company.
The cover was printed by Phoenix Color Corp.
Pearson Education Ltd.

Pearson Education Australia Pty. Limited
Pearson Education Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Pearson Education North Asia Ltd.
Pearson Education Canada, Ltd.
Pearson Education de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.
Pearson Education Japan —
Pearson Education Malaysia Pte. Ltd.
Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
Copyright © 2003, 1999, 1995, 1990, 1986, 1981, 1976 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey 07458. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright and
permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or
transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise For information 1
.
regarding permission(s), write to: Rights and Permissions Department.
Merrill
Prentice Hall
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN: 0-13-042399-8
Preface
The purpose of this volume is to show how philosophical ideas about education devel-
oped over time, with due regard to historical influences and settings, and with an em-
phasis on how these ideas continue to have relevance for education an< life. This hook 1
was conceived as an introductory text in the philosophy of education, but leads it
students from simple to complex philosophical ideas. Many variables needed to be con-
sidered in selecting ideas, philosophers, and an organizational format, and the guiding
rule for the book has been to select those influences that we believe have had the most
relevance for education. Each chapter examines a general philosophy, such as realism,
and shows its applications in aims, curriculum, methods, and teaching. An assessment
of each philosophy also is provided, including how other scholars have viewed it.
Some ideas included here are more than 2,000 years old, but they often appear
in the panoply of ideas that continue to influence people because old and new ideas
are useful tools for evaluating the world. Idealism, though not a particularly influen
t ial philosophy today, might be a useful counterpoint by which to compare and evalu-
ate today's materialist culture. Marxism and existentialism, though declining in
popularity, still might he useful paradigms for examining a person's individual life and
his or her relationship with other persons in the larger society.
The philosophies of education presented here are essentially arranged in
chronological order, which helps the student see how ideas evolved. We have tried to
avoid unnecessary philosophical and educational jargon, bu1 one needs to kno^ a ter-
minology to talk about ideas in a philosophical fashion. Technical expression is kepi
to a minimum, however. With regard to format, we realize thai not all philosophers
agree with a "systems" or "schools" approach and that this issue has serious pros and
cons. We do believe that for beginning students, often those who might be encoun
tering philosophy for the first time, the benefits of this organizational approach oul
weigh the disadvantages because pro\ ides a useful way of synthesizing ideas
it
Thestudj of philosophy of education should help sharpen students' ideas about

education and give idem ways to think about education in broad sense The stud)
.1
of philosophy not only assists students m developing necessarj analytical skills and
encourages critical perspectives but also provides useful perspectives on the
importance of education M is impossible to include m a volume of this size e\
iii
iv PREFACE
philosopher or every leading philosophical idea that has had some educational im-
portance, but we hope that the material presented will stimulate students to explore
further the philosophical foundations of education and to cultivate ideas about edu-
cation and life.
Organization of the Book

By presenting several philosophical positions and showing how philosophy devel-
oped an organized and orderly fashion, we hope the reader will be better able to
in
grasp the essential elements and basic principles of each philosophy and to see how
they have influenced educational theory and practice.
However, the organization of the book by schools of thought is not meant to fos-
ter slavish emulation of any one school, combination of schools, or even a school ap-
proach. The usefulness of this approach lies in showing the following:
• How past philosophy developed.

• How it has been organized.
• How it has been used to help devise educational policies and practices.
After all, the major role of philosophy in education is not to formulate some grand
scheme but to help develop the educator's thinking capacities.

The creative genius of individuals, combined with particular cultural develop-
ments, produced philosophies of education. Individual philosophers seldom set out
simply to construct a system, and many of them reject being identified with any
school of thought. The cutting edge of philosophy is not a system, but free and wide-
ranging thought grappling with human problems. Perhaps the test of any era of
human history is not whether it built a system to bind together irreconcilable con-
flicts but how it enabled the resolution of those conflicts. Each era, however, also
must write its own "philosophy" or consensus anew.
New Features of the Seventh Edition

• General editing and updating of each chapter
• Revisions in idealism, Eastern philosophy, pragmatism, and postmodernism
• Updating of selected readings and bibliographic material
• Online Research activities using the Companion Website
• Useful Web sites and Internet links
Chapter Organization
Each chapter provides a discussion of a specific philosophy and
• Its historical development.

• Its current status.
• Its influence on education.
PREFACE
• A critique of its loading ideas.

• Online Research activities.
• Readings by major philosophers and theorists (primary source materials).
Taken together, these chapters provide a chronological development of philosophy

of education. In addition, each chapter is followed by an annotated listing of selected
readings by philosophers who have been identified with that philosophy or who offer
important criticisms and insights about it. The selections have been chosen carefully
to illustrate leading themes in each chapter. They also haw been selected to furnish
students with additional primary source materials of sufficient length and depth to
provide some firsthand acquaintance with leading works in the field. These selections
are meant to give insight without overwhelming students and to whet their appetite
to do further reading in philosophy of education from the philosophers themselves.
INSTRUCTORS MANUAL
The manual for this textbook contains chapter overviews, projects, iden-
instructor's
tifications(words from each chapter that students are asked to identify), discussion
and essay questions, as well as multiple choice questions. This manual can be ob-
tained by contacting your Prentice Hall sales representative or by calling Prentice
Hall's Faculty Field Services at 800-526-0485.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to thank the many students and colleagues too numerous to name who. over
the years, have given invaluable advice and helpful criticism.
In addition, we appreciate the input from the following reviewers: Patricia
Elmore, Jacksonville State University; Richard Farber, The College of New Jersey;
Rebekah Kolleher, Wittenberg University; and Ann K. Nauman. Southeastern
Louisiana University.
We also thank all those who have reviewed past editions and whose suggest ions
have helped improve each edition.
Howard A Ozmon
Samuel M I
Discover the Companion Website
The Prentice Hall Companion Website: A Virtual Learning

Environment
Technology is a constantly growing and changing aspect of our field that is creating a need for con-
tent and resources. To address this emerging need, Prentice Hall has developed an online learning
—
environment for students and professors alike Companion Websites to support our textbooks. —
In creating a Companion Website, our goal is to build on and enhance what the textbook already
offers. For this reason, the content for each user-friendly website is organized by topic and provides
the professor and student with a variety of meaningful resources. Common features of a Companion
Website include:
For the Professor —

Every Companion Website integrates Syllabus Manager™, an online syllabus creation and manage-
ment utility.
• Syllabus Manager™ provides you, the instructor, with an easy, step-by-step process to
create and revise syllabi, with direct links into Companion Website and other online
content without having to learn HTML.
• Students may logon your syllabus during any study session. All they need to know is the
to
web address for the Companion Website and the password you've assigned to your syllabus.
• After you have created a syllabus using Syllabus Manager™, students may enter the
syllabus for their course section from any point in the Companion Website.
• Clicking on a date, the student is shown the list of activities for the assignment. The
each assignment are linked directly to actual content, saving time for students.
activities for
• Adding assignments consists of clicking on the desired due date, then filling in the details
of the assignment —
name of the assignment, instructions, and whether it is a one-time or
repeating assignment.
• In addition, links to other activities can be created easily. If the activity is online, a URL can
be entered in the space provided, and it will be linked automatically in the final syllabus.
• Your completed syllabus is hosted on our servers, allowing the convenient updates from
any computer on the Internet. Changes you make to your syllabus are immediately
available to your students at their next logon.
For the Student —

• —
Topic Overviews outline key concepts in topic areas.
• —
Web Links a wide range of websites provide useful and current information related to
each topic area.
• —
Readings suggested readings for further study of certain aspects of the topic areas.
• Resources —a list of links to more general resources within each topic area.
• —
Organizations lists of links to organizations pertinent to certain topic areas.
• —
Electronic Bluebook, Message Board, and Chat these features are available to
users, and the opening page of the website will elaborate on their use
To take advantage of these and other resources, please visit the Philosophical Foundations of
Education, Seventh Edition, Companion Website at
www.prenhall.com/ozmon
m 1
Contents
Introduction 1
The Need for Philosophy of Education 1
Branches of Philosophy 2
Theory and Practice in Education 6
The Quest in Philosophy in Education 10
Developing a Philosophical Perspective on Education 12
Selected Readings 13
Idealism and Education 14

Development of Idealism 14
Platonic Idealism 15 • Religious Idealism 18
Development of Modern Idealism 20
Idealism as a Philosophy of Education 27
Aims of Education 28 • Methods of Education 32
• Curriculum 35 • Role of the Teacher 36
( ritique of Idealism in Education 37
Plato: The Republic 41
Kant: Education 44
Realism and Education 48

Classical Traditions 48
Aristotelian Realism '/<S' Religious Realism 53
Development of Modem Realism •
>i;
(!ontemporary Realism 59
Realism as a Philosophy of Education 65
• Education
Aims "i Education 65 Methods <<\
• ( matin
ti 74 • lioli i>l tin T< in In i 75
\ 1
viii CONTENTS
Critique of Realism in Education 77

Aristotle:The Politics and Ethics of Aristotle 81
Locke: Some Thoughts Concerning Education 86
O Eastern Philosophy, Religion,

and Education 91
The Development of Eastern Thought 92
Far Eastern and Indian Thought 92
Indian Thought 93 • Chinese Thought 102
• Japanese Thought 106
Middle Eastern Thought 108
Eastern Thought and Philosophy of Education 1 13
Aims of Education 113 • Methods and

Curriculum 115 • Role of the Teacher 116
Critique of Eastern Philosophy in Education 116
Bhagavad-Gita 118
Suzuki: Zen Mind, Beginners Mind 122
4 Pragmatism and Education 127

Roots of the Pragmatist Worldview 127
Induction: A New Way of Thinking 128 • Centrality
of Experience 129 • Science and Society 132
American Pragmatists 134
Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Education 144
Aims of Education 145 • Methods of
Education 148 • Curriculum 150
• Role of the Teachers 151
Critique of Pragmatism in Education 154
James: Talks to 156
Teachers
Dewey: Democracy and Education 161
D Reconstructionism and Education 167

Background of Reconstructionism
Historical 167
Philosophy of Reconstructionism 171
Reconstructionism as a Philosophy of Education 180
Education and the Human Crisis 180 • Role of the
School 183 Aims of Education
• 185 •
Methods of Education 186 • Curriculum 187

• Role of the Teacher 189
CONTENTS ix
Critique of Reconstruct ionism in Education 190

Counts: Dare the Schools Build a New Social Order.' 193
Shane and Shane: Educating the Youngestfor Tomorrow 196
6 Behaviorism and Education 200

Philosophical Bases of Behaviorism 201
Realism 201 • Materialism 202 •
Early Behaviorists 20.) • Behaviorism and

Positivism 204
Philosophical Aspects of Behaviorism 206
Behaviorism as a Philosophy of Educat ion 212
Curriculum 215 • Role oj 'the Teacher 219
Critique of Behaviorism in Education 220
Hobbes: The Leviathan 224
Skinner: Beyond Freedom and Dignity 228
Existentialism, Phenomenology,
and Education 234
and Their Thought
Existentialist Philosophers 234
Existentialism in Modern 241
Life
Phenoinenologieal Philosophers and Their Thought 243
Heidegger and Phenomenology 244 •
Phenomenology and Hermeneuties 246

Existentialism and Phenomenology in Philosophy of Education 247
Education 252 • Curriculum 255 •
Role oj the Teacher 255

Phenomenology in Education
Critique of Existentialism and 258
Sartre: Existentialismand Humanism 2(>1
Greene: Landscapes of Learning 264

Selected [leadings 267
8 Analytic Philosophy and Education 269

Analytic Movement in Philosophy 2<>!)
•
Realism and the Early Analytic Movement 270
Logical Positivism and Analysis 274 • Linguistu
Analysis 277
Philosophical Analysis and Philosophy of Education 282
CONTENTS

Education 289 • Curriculum 291 •
Role of the Teacher 291

Critique of Analytic Philosophy in Education 292
Martin: On the Reduction of "Knowing That" to "Knowing How" 295
Barrow: Does the Question "What Is Education?" Make Sense? 298
9 Marxism and Education 304

Origins of Marxism 304
Materialism 304 • Socialism 306 •
Political Economy 306
The Philosophy of Karl Marx 307
Western Marxism and the Origins of "Critical Theory" 314
The Frankfurt School 315
Marxism as a Philosophy of Education 317
Critique of Marxism in Education 326
Marx: On Education 330
10 Philosophy, Education, and the Challenge

of Postmodernism 337
Postmodern Variety 337
Postmodernism and Philosophy 339
Postmodern Philosophy and Its European Backgrounds 340
• Criticisms of Postmodernism 345
Postmodern Philosophy and Education 346
Critique of Postmodernism in Education 355
Giroux: Border Pedagogy as Postmodern Resistance 358
Nuyen: Lyotard as Moral Educator 363
Useful Web Sites and Internet Links 370
Selected Bibliography 373
Index 384
!
Introduction
It could be said that, philosophy of education began when people first became con-
scious of education as a distinct human have the
activity. Preliterate societies did no1
long-range goals and complex social systems of modern times, and they did not have
the analytic tools of modern philosophers, but even preliterate education involved a
philosophical attitude about life. Humanity had a philosophy of education long befi in
the formal study of philosophy began and before people understood what that study
could mean in educational development.
In earlier times, education was primarily for survival. Children were taught the
skills necessary for living. Gradually, however, people came to use education flora va-
riety of purposes. Today, education still can be used for survival, but it is also for bet-
ter use of leisure time and refinements in social and cultural life. As the practice of
education has developed, so also have theories about education; however, has he it
come easy to overlook the connection between philosophical theory and educal inal i<
practice and to deal with practice apart from theory. Today's dilemma might be be
cause people seem to be more involved with the practical aspects of education than
with the development and analysis of educational theory and its connection with
practice. Better theory and better practical methods are needed, as well as a con
certed effort to join the two intelligently. Thinking about education without consid
ering the practical world means that philosophers of education become web spinners
of thought engaged in mere academic exercises. '(inversely, tinkering with educa
(
tional methods without serious thinking results in practices that have little substance
or meaning.
THE NEED FOR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

The philosophical study of education seems imperative today because this is a criti
cal era of transitionihange always has occurred, but seldom al the current acceler
'
ated rate that has created what \Kin Tbffler alls "future shock i
"
\i a time when
humans may be entering a new age, a post modern era, r people either to
i1
embrace more and more change with little thought of eventual consequent es or to
INTRODUCTION
resist change and keep old values despite the consequences. Educational philoso-
phers, regardless of their particular theory, suggest that solutions to problems can be
achieved best through critical and reflective thought about the relationship between
unsettling changes and enduring ideas.
It might be said that philosophy of education is merely the application of philo-
sophical ideas to educational problems; however, the practice of education can lead to a
refinement of philosophical ideas. This is not to say that philosophy of education is not a
discipline of its own, but that it draws heavily on the work of philosophers, old and new,
and also seeks to implement some of their ideas in the practice of education. Educational
philosophy is a not only of looking at ideas but also of learning how to use ideas in
way
better ways. No intelligent philosophy of education is involved when educators do things
simply because they were done in the past. A philosophy of education becomes signifi-
cant only when educators recognize the need to think clearly about what they are doing,
and to see what they are doing in the larger context of individual and social development.
Many major philosophers have written about education, probably because edu-
cation is such an integral part of life that it is difficult to think about not having it.
Humans are tool-making beings, but they are also education-making beings because
education always has been closely connected with the development of civilization.
Thinking about life in general often has been related to thinking about education in
particular, and education has been viewed as a way of improving life. This is as true
today as it ever has been.
The study of philosophy does not guarantee that people will be better thinkers
or educators, but it does provide valuable perspectives to help people think more
clearly. The word philosophy means "love of wisdom" a dedicated inquiry
literally —
into ideas, traditions, innovations, and ways of tMnking. Philosophers have been
acute observers of human events and have articulated their observations in ways that
might be instructive. Educators can be helped by a careful study of philosophical
ideas, and they can gain insight from philosophy to help them better understand edu-
cational problems. Educators can choose to disregard the philosophical approach to
problems, but in doing so they ignore a vital and important body of thought.
BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
In essence, philosophy of education is the application of the fundamental principles
of philosophy to the theory and practice of education, and the problems and issues
of education in turn help inform philosophical thought. Many great philosophers have
written about education, such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, Rousseau, Kant,
Herbart, Spencer, Nietzsche, Dewey, and Russell. Even those who did not write about
education directly, such as Sartre and Marx, still provided views about nature and so-
ciety that had great impact on education. Sartre's views about individuality, for ex-
ample, greatly influenced the educational views of the 1960s and 1970s, and they still
have influence today in many educational circles. Marx was one who, though not writ-
ing educational treatises per se, provided ideas that greatly shaped educational prac-
tices in the former Soviet Union and in many other places, as well.
INTRODUCTION
The traditional view of philosophy is that ii is composed of four major branches:

metaphysics, epistemology, logic, and axiology.
• Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy thai deals with ultimate reality. asks It
questions such as the following. "Whal is real?" "Whal is the meaning of

change?" "Does the universe have design and purpose?" "Are children born evil
or good?" "Do humans have free will?"
• Epistemology studies the methods, structure, and validity of knowledge.
"Where does knowledge come from?" "What is true?" "How much docs the
knower contribute to the knowing process?" "Is truth permanent or changing?"
• Logic deals with the rules and techniques of reasoning. considers the valid- It
ity of ideas. "Whal can people say without contradicting themselves?" "How do
people make their arguments clear.'" "How do people make their thoughts or-
derly and reasonable?"
• Axiology looks al judgments, tightness or wrongness, goodness, and principles
of conduct. "What should people do?" "What are desirable values?" also deals It
with aesthetics, which relates to the human concept ofbeauty. "How do people
make judgments about what they sec. touch, and hear'.'" "What is beautiful?"
These divisions of philosophy relate directly to education. For example, in

terms of metaphysics, education needs to be concerned with various views of reality
and their limitations. Educators need to realize that the curriculum is a statement of
prevailing views on reality and that what is emphasized in education reflects existing
notions about the nature and purpose of the universe. Students also should be en-
couraged to shape their own intelligent views of what is real, rather than uncritically
accept the views handed down to them.
Epistemology should be of concern to educators because deals with the ori it
gins of knowledgeand what is, how

is transmitted,
it it and how people learn it Views
about learning and what one should know directly relate branch of philoso- to this
phy. Logic as a philosophical discipline helps students communicate and think

clearly. Many philosophers, such as Aristotle, believe that logic is the foundation of
all philosophical thinking. The study of axiology deals with tightness and wrongr
and helps frame a consistent set of values to live by. It encourages people to exam-
ine what is beautiful, as well as to develop concern
environment.
a lor the
In this book, many problems and issues are considered >ne technique thai is (
used is to push problems back to their metaphysical, epistemological, logical, and a\

lological underpinnings. For example, one might ask the question "V\ hal should be in
the curriculum?" but in order to answer this quest ion. it is also important toi onsider
the nature of the learner. In considering the questions "V\ hat should one learn, and
what is the value of learning/" it is also important to consider how the i nrrii ulum
should be organized and on whai rationale based Thus, one en< ounters qu
it is
nous of a metaphysical, epistemological, axiological, and logical nature To answer

some of these questions, one could Ulli lor gilldai <• in philosophers w h- h.e
I i< ud • I
ied and written about these problems This does nol ignore that si ien< e als ghl
provide Clarit questions, bill o|le|| th'' qi|. Il-lr .1 I- I d do flOt
INTRODUCTION
lend themselves to scientific measurement; they require answers based more on rea-
soning than on scientific analysis or experiment. In some instances, the best answers
can be found in the writings of idealists, depending on time, place, and circumstance.
In other instances, one might believe that existentialists provide better answers. Re-
gardless of what direction one chooses, it is obvious that one should know and bring
to bear on educational problems the best ideas available, including the ideas of edu-
cational philosophers from any time or place.
One role of philosophy in any era has been to examine critically the intellectual
disputes of the day and to suggest alternative ways of thinking. Another role has been
to develop sensitivity to the logic and language used in constructing solutions to
problems, whether in education or in other endeavors. It is possible to trace the his-
tory of ideas by tracing the development of philosophical thought, and the history of
philosophy reflects some of humanity's best thinking, our collective human wisdom,
so to speak. To think philosophically is to reflect on who we are, what we are doing,
why we are doing it, and how we justify our efforts.
Education is involved with the world of ideas and the world of practical activ-
ity; good ideas can lead to good practices, and good practices can lead to good ideas.
To act intelligently in the educational process, the educator needs the things that phi-
—
losophy can provide an understanding of thinking processes and the nature of
ideas, the language people use, criticisms of cultural and social traditions, and per-
spectives on how these could have practical impact. For educators, philosophy
should be a professional tool and a way of improving the quality and enjoyment of life
as it helps one gain a wider and deeper perspective on human existence and the sur-
rounding world.
Despite the depth of thought it provides, philosophy does not appeal to every-
one, in part because it provides no clear-cut answers to every pressing problem. Phi-
losophy does provide some clear answers, but philosophers also disagree on many
issues, and it is often from disagreements that the search for new ideas is invigorated.
Some people would like to avoid disagreement and have clear-cut answers, but they
overlook an important understanding about the development of ideas: If no dis-
agreement had occurred about ideas, purposes, and ways of doing things, if no dis-
satisfaction were voiced with "the way things are," then human progress would have
been curtailed significantly. Disagreement often has brought about change for the
better, and it could continue to do so.
Many differences in educational viewpoints have arisen because of changes in
society that require changes in viewpoints and behaviors. It would be gratifying if so-
cialand educational change resulted from people reflectively examining issues and
clarifying alternatives. In the past, great social and cultural changes were thought to
be largely beyond human control. Those who tried to study the changes and make
recommendations to meet the challenges sometimes had limited influence over the
direction that events would take. Perhaps great historical changes could have been
managed better if sufficient thought and foresight had been applied, but in their ab-
sence, change ran its own capricious course. Gradually, some observers came to un-
derstand that education could help people better meet the challenges of change.
Important parts of Plato's philosophical work were devoted to this end in ancient
INTRODUCTION
Greece, and John Dewey attempted to use philosophy in similar ways in the twenti-
eth century in the United Slates
As people sought to develop more control over social forces through educa-
tion, however, they were faced with the problem of which controls were best and
what directions the controls should take. This dilemma led to questions of whether
social control through education did more harm than good. For example, today
people can be controlled through behavioral conditioning in education, but whether
such control is good is subject to much debate. Philosophy offers an avenue to ex-
amine such issues, the values involved, and the basic assumptions behind the con-
tending arguments that might have implications for human life, freedom, and
education.
Some people, however, come to philosophy looking for the answers to highly
debatable issues, and when they fail to find them, they reject philosophy, complain-
ing that it is ambivalent and difficult to understand. Some question the value of study
ing philosophy at all, saying thai it However, many
has no relevance for practical life.
problems that philosophers have pondered the relationship of individual freedom

to social responsibility, the nature of a good society, the purposes of education, and
—
the meanings of terms and concepts are as relevant today as ever.
Practically everything done in education reflects some point of view thai may
not be readily apparent to the student, the parent, or even the educator Perhaps a
viewpoint itself is unclear or is a loose collection of ideas all lumped together with
out much logic or coherence, or perhaps it might be kept purposefully vague for hid-
den reasons related to special interests, a power elite, or cultural dominance. Such
cases need to be clarified and sorted out, but because many educators lack the un
derstandings and skills thai promote such clarification, they conl inue to drift in a sea
of rhetorical slogans and patchwork panaceas. Attempts to solve educational prob
lems often result in a chaotic jumble of programs, superficial bickering among ideo-
logical camps, and sloganeering. "Practical" educators assume that philosophical
theory should be thrown out so people can get on with the "real" tasks at hand The
problem with this practical outlook is that its advocates approach educational prob
lems with the same old attitudes and remedies. They assume thai they can read the
face of the real world, an intelligible universe unencumbered by ivory-tower intel
lectual schemes, withoul realizing that such a view is itself based on metaphysical
assumptions.
It seems that educators, like everyone else, are caught up in their own human
ity. No certainty exists with regard to all facets of life in any known approach toedu
cation because the perfect approach has not yel been invented. People are lefl with
the necessity to think about what they do, and to attempt to reason out and justifj
their actions so that they are coherent, meaningful, and directed toward desirable
educational ends.
Some critics maintain that no logical connections can be made between philo
sophical thought and the practical world of education; thai is, philosophii .ii reflec
tion has no necessary logical connection with what oughl to be done in a prai ti< al
educational context. This might be true, logicallj speaking, hut has nol kepi it
philosophers and educators from attempting to make such connei tions No logical
6 INTRODUCTION
connection may exist between, for example, Plato's view of the good society and his
construction of educational means to achieve that view. However, many people have
made such connections between philosophy and education, whether logical or other-
wise, and educational programs have been developed and instituted, drawing heavily
on Plato and other philosophers in the process. This can be seen in recommendations
concerning the aims and purposes of education, curriculum content, teaching meth-
ods, and many other areas of educational endeavor. Although Plato lived more than
2,000 years ago, what he and his contemporaries said and thought about life and ed-
—
ucation still influences people even if they are unaware of it. Part of the task of the
student of education, then, is to become familiar with traditional philosophical ideas
about education and to understand the impact they have had and continue to have
on people's thinking, for better or for worse.
Certain ideas and recommendations about education have a great deal of influ-
ence today, particularly in shaping public attitudes about returning to the basics and
moral values. Philosophers often have recommended certain basics and values that
figure in educational recommendations, and philosophical traditions and recommen-
dations are part of the working ideas and traditions of contemporary society. Many
people assume these things to be true and obvious without questioning their origins.
Thus, they might accept blindly many educational recommendations without know-
ing whether they are justified in light of current conditions. The student who seeks
to become an educator needs to be informed about educational ideas and traditions
in order to sift through rhetoric and argument and to reach a more intelligent under-
standing of the contemporary world.
THEORY AND PRACTICE IN EDUCATION

Some philosophers of education make little distinction between philosophy of educa-
tion and educational theory. In 1942, John S. Brubacher wrote that "several theories
or philosophies" could be used as guides to solutions of educational problems. In this
view, philosophy of education is a discipline "peculiarly competent to tell what should
be done both now and later on." It has much to offer in the way of theory even though
philosophers might disagree about what theory or theories to carry out. In Brubacher's
view, the need for philosophy becomes most apparent when the educator, parent, or
learner confronts questions about the proper aims and means of education.
In trying to select content or choose a method then, one must decide what one's
goal is and what aims or objectives are actually being proposed in the process. The
development of educational aims is complicated, however, and gives rise to numer-
ous philosophical questions: Do true aims exist? Does the nature of life and the uni-
verse itself demand certain aims? Can people know what the proper aims of
education are? Do aims flow only from the practical life that human beings face in the
everyday world, from the highest universal values, or from a combination of the prac-
tical and the universal?
In deciding what the aims should be, one also is confronted with determining
what kinds of curricula and techniques will be most suitable for achieving those aims.
INTRODUCTION
Many new questions must be confronted then —

philosophical questions concerning
the nature of knowledge, learning, teaching, and soon. Brubacher believed thai few
educators could pursue such questions or give adequate responses about why
schools should be operated in particular ways. He maintained thai the study of phi-
losophy of education would help educators build more adequate theoretical bases
and hence more adequate education.
By 1955, Brubacher was attempting to get educators to focus their attention on
pressing problems and to use philosophical theory to deal with them. He identified
six widespread concerns about education that philosophy of education could ad-
dress: (1) anxiety that education is adrift; (2) concern that educational aims are
vague, conflicting, and not conducive to loyalty; C3) beliefs that standards have been
seriously relaxed; (4) uncertainty about the role of education in a democratic soci-
ety; (5) concern that schools give students too much freedom and do not foster re-
spect for authority and control; and ((>) fears that schools have become too secular
and neglect religion. These problems sound familiar because they are perhaps as sig-
nificant today as they were when Brubacher first wrote about them. His point that
philosophy of education could help solve them might not be accepted on a much
wider scale today than it was in 1955, but his insistence that such pressing issues
could not be treated satisfactorily without an understanding of one's philosophii :al
assumptions about education and culture still seems valid.
Brubacher, of course, did not originate the notion that philosophy and educa-
tional theory are connected. This connection has a long tradition, but perhaps Dewey
made the most thoroughgoing link between the two in Democracy and Education
in 1916. According to Dewey, the theory of education is a set of generalizations and
abstractions about education. Most people probably think that abstraction is useless
in practical matters, but Dewey maintained that it could serve a useful purpose as
"an indispensable trait in the reflective direction of activity." In this sense, theoreti
cal abstractions (or generalized meanings) have a connection with actual, practical
affairs. Tilings are generalized so that they have broader application, and a theory of
education contains generalizations thai are applicable to many situations. Theory be

comes abstract in the remote sense when ignores practical application; in the use
it
ful sense, however, abstraction broadens meanings to include any person or situation
circumstances.
in like
For example, Dewey observed thai people might know many things thai thej
cannot express. Such knowledge remains merely personal and ranuol be shared un
less is abstracted or, put another way. expressed in some public language; then,
it il
can be shared and critically analyzed for improvement. In other words, "i people to I
share thoughts and experiences, they must consider the experience of others and pul
their ideas m language that they can understand. Not only must experience be
shared, it also must be taken back into practice for testing, in this way, practice ex
pands theory and directs toward new possibility
it
Almost everyone has had at least some experience with this because everyone
has sharedsome kmd of experiences with others People mighl ask friends •'
quamtanees how they accomplished something, or the) could tell them how i
did and recommend their wa\ t<> them. Experiem ed teachers do this often Thej
ii
8 INTRODUCTION
exchange ideas and methods that they have found fruitful in achieving certain edu-
cational goals. In this sense, they are theorizing or building theory even though the
theory might not be sophisticated. One person tries another's approach and after-
ward discusses it. Experienced teachers find ways to redefine goals and to vary, ex-
pand, or redirect their approaches for future use; hence, practical approaches and
goals are generalized or abstracted. These approaches and goals are tested and found
successful, or they are altered, improved, or discarded.
In this way, theory and practice can build upon each other. Look, for example,
at Charles Darwin's theory of the origin of species. Others previously had enunciated
most of the central ideas of his theory. Even his investigations of flora and fauna
during the famous voyage of the Beagle, though contributing to biological discover-
ies, did not add much to the theory itself. Of major theoretical significance was how
Darwin connected many different observations into a coherent, comprehensive sys-

tem that explained natural phenomena in useful ways. Thus, the world gained a
renowned theory that has been influential in contemporary life.
In the sophisticated meaning of the term theory, the role of philosophy be-
comes crucial. In Dewey's view, philosophy deals with aims, ideas, and processes in
a certain totality, generality, or ultimateness. It involves an attempt to comprehend
varied details of life and the world and to organize them into an inclusive whole. It
also involves a philosophical attitude, indicated by endeavors to achieve unified, con-
sistent, and comprehensive outlooks on human experience. This is often what is
meant by "love of wisdom." Complete certainty of knowledge is always lacking, and
terms such as totality and ultimateness refer more to a consistency of attitude than
to any final certainty of knowledge. Philosophy, then, is connected with thinking
about and seeking what is possible, not arriving at complete knowledge. It does not
furnish solutions so much as it defines difficulties and suggests intellectual methods
for dealing with solutions or clarifying them.
The philosophical demand for a total attitude, Dewey held, arises from the need
to integrate activities among the conflicting interests of life. It is an effort to develop
a comprehensive point of view with which to resolve conflicts and to restore some
consistency in life. In this sense, philosophy aims at reconciliation. This is shown in
philosophers' efforts to attack the puzzles of life and to bring clarity to confused
situations. Such efforts also might include the struggles of individuals to bring clar-
ity to their own lives, but philosophy at its most comprehensive level seeks to deal
with discrepancies and puzzles that affect the larger community. For example,
Plato's search for enduring values was influenced by the political and social up-
heavals of his time. Rene Descartes's attempt to find indubitable truth was a result
of the widespread doubt caused by scientific thought. Francis Bacon's view that sci-
entific method provided useful knowledge was a direct challenge to traditional theo-
logical explanations of natural phenomena. Jean-Paul Sartre's analysis of human
consciousness was an effort to understand individual significance in a modern world
of indifference. Gilbert Ryle's concept of the mind challenged older views of the mind
as a "ghost in the machine."
The need to connect philosophy with societal issues becomes clearer when one
considers education because education is one of those human activities that con-
1
INTRODUCTION 9
cerns the whole community; To I >ewey, education offers a vantage point "from which
to penetrate to the human, as distinct from the technical, significance of philosophic
discussion." When philosophy is viewed from the standpoint of education, the life
situations that it studies are never far from view. As Dewey stated in Democracy and
Education, "If we are willing to conceive education as the process of forming fun-
damental dispositions, intellectual and emotional, toward nature and our fellow men,
philosophy may even be defined as the general theory of education."
In the basic points thus far discussed, certain elements stand out Fust is the .
assertion that philosophy can enable people to build more adequate educational
theory. This assertion is based on several points, one of which is philosophy's rule m
clarifying aims and methods and critically analyzing cultural assumptions aboul
education. Second and more ('(Mitral, however, is the role of philosophy in providing
overall perspective. This role is illustrated by the philosophical attitude of •thinking
about what is possible"; this effort is largely dominated by concern for integration
and continuity. In this sense, philosophy can be considered educational theory in

the most general sense.
Educational theory may also include more than philosophy, however, because
it uses relevant contributions from many fields. Theory serves as a guide to organize
thought about education and helps provide order and clarity to the process. Theorj
serves as a directive to educational practice by helping educators clarify and orga-
nize educational practice reflectively. Central to philosophical and theoretical dis-
course on education are ( 1 ) the necessity for reflection and (2) the organization of
ideas for eventual practical activity.
\ common assumption many people make is that good theory should be di-
rectly applicable to practical life —that it can be plugged into actual situations and
yield direct results. If the theory does not work, then it is bad theory. This assump-
tion might be the reason many people show disdain for theory and call it impractical,
for few any educational theories can be applied directly to practical conditions in
if
the sense that one applies aspirin to a headache. Those who attempt such applies
lions of theory seldom fail to be disappointed.
Why this is so relates to the characteristics of theory and practice. The point
has been made that theory and practice must be connected and that each can inform
and expand the other. To affirm a connection, however, is far from sa\ ing hat a di I
reel or one-to-one relationship exists between theorj and practice. W hen lewej '-aid I
that philosophy is the general theory of education, he also said. "It is an idea of what
is possible, not a record of accomplished fact. Hence, it is hypothetical, like all think
ing." In Contemporary Theories <>l Education, Richard Pratte characterized edu
cational theory as a directive for practice, hut he also noted that "a theorj is an
instrument, a guide to thought, not nece.ssarik ;i guide to direcl pra< 1
Vet, theory serves a practical function m man) ways, and ii the "plug in ap
proach usually is doomed to failure, n isoftei i
so much the faull ol anj given the
as it is its application One practical feature of theoi general nature II
contains ideas and propositions that .Hiow for omparison, contrast, readjustment, i
and criticism bom a variet) of sources because tl tated in a publi< sens< and
are not limited to the subjective thoughts ol private individual
10 INTRODUCTION
Theoretical discourse invites argument and counterargument; otherwise, it
ceases to be theoretical and passes into dogma or accepted fact. Theory also aids in
providing us with a more comprehensive perspective. It helps us evaluate or place in
perspective what we are doing or could be doing. It helps us locate ourselves in rela-
tion toan overall or larger perspective. In addition, theory invites an attitude of seek-
ing out possibilities, an attitude that constantly seeks a new or better way. Finally,
theory aids in defining difficulties, clarifying confusions in thought and language, and
sorting out and organizing plans for action. It provides a rationale and gives direction
to practical activity.
Practice, in contrast, provides raw materials and a testing ground for theory.
The value of a theory might well reside in what difference it makes in the practical
world. William James was fond of quoting the biblical passage "By their fruits shall ye
know them"; the character of consequences or outcomes helps determine the valid-
ity of any theory. For James, if a theory does not help one communicate better, criti-
cize assumptions and actions, gain perspective, seek out new possibilities, and order
and direct practice, then it had better be let go or revised in new directions because
it has lost its connection with practice, and fruitful interchange has ceased.
These, then, are some practical aspects of theory. A prescription of detailed

classroom activities, however, is seldom one of the practical applications of theory.
The reasons for this are obvious enough if one examines the characteristics of theory.
A major characteristic is that theory suggests possibilities; however, this does not
mean that any theory could foresee all the possible practical situations confronting
an educator in the fluid world of ongoing activity. Conditions change, people come
and go, and even individual persons change and develop, so it is virtually impossible
to establish preexisting rubrics that always will be applicable. The suggestion ofpos-
sibilities aids people in organizing their thinking about educational activity, but it
does not dictate the activity.
What does theory accomplish? It helps people organize specific practices or
practical activities with a sense of direction, purpose, and coherence. It gives order
and organization to administration, curriculum, and daily plans, and it aids us in con-
structing specific teaching and learning objectives and accompanying methods and
techniques. This is the practical connection of educational theory to educational
practice; in this sense, educational theory can be applied to educational practice.
THE QUEST IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

An era of transition from an old order to a new one seems to be occurring. Some ob-
servers say that people are suffering so much from the impact of rapid development
inmany fields that they are stumbling blindly from "future shock," unable to deal with
their problems. Others say that we are leaving the modern era and entering a post-
modern era, a time of experimentation when old values are being altered in various
aspects of life, including education. Perhaps every era faces similar difficulties of
transition. Currently, the level of confusionseems to be considerable; as far as we can
tell, no synthesis or coalescence has been achieved. It often seems that disillusion-
INTRODUCTION 11
inent is the rule, rather than the exception, and it has led some social theorists (such
as Robert Bellah) to call for a renewal of communal life.
The postmodern
attitude definitely has shaken philosophical complacency, hi
Europe, example, Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucaull have criticized estab-
tor
lished philosophical and cultural assumptions forcefully. Critical philosophers, such

as Jurgen Habermas, have soughl to go beyond modernist views and to understand
the bases of human community in new ways. In the United States. Richard Rort) has
criticized oldways of thinking and has attempted to develop a new perspective that
could be called postmodern neopragmatism. Such developments, which often start
on the unorthodox fringes, haw a way of dislodging what once seemed to he secure
philosophical modes of thought. Perhaps the only thing one can he sure about is that
changing times demand new ways of thinking.
Thus, uncertainty seems to he a fact of life, and old ideas are being challenged.
Perhaps the philosophical task, despite contemporary movements that challenge old
verities and promise new certainties, is still a search tor wisdom. This appears to be
an inclusive search requiring many voices. From Plate on, attempts have been made
to see humanity's development m some understandable, coherent, and orderly fash-
ion. I )escartes believed that he was heginning anew
to construct an orderly way of
thinking that would be incontestable. This same attitude of seeking certaintj in
thinking is found in Kant. Hegel. Marx, and some contemporary philosophers. More
recently, the feeling for such philosophical certainty either has vanished or been se-
riously modified. Dewey talked about facts and true propositions but couched them
in the rhetoric of "warranted assertions." Richard Rorty recommends a "conversation
of culture" that includes many philosophical voices that can he admired or critiqued.
Some observers say thai this is a postmodernist era when everything is subject to flux
and change and old absolutes are deposed by new uncertainties.
The current mood in philosophy of education is generally toward understand
ing issues in specific contexts, rather than a return to the idea that the individual, so
ciety. and education can be understood in an overriding system of thought Tin .
an acute reluctance to explain actions and events in terms of great and overriding
systems. Thus, philosophical thinking in education has moved into a new arena
However, if philosophers no longer seek to provide general explanations and de
script ions of the overriding scheme of things, a reasonable query is Who will? V
cording to Harry S. Broudy, many people will continue to identifj philosophy with the
search for wisdom and will look to philosophy of education for more than "logical pu
rit \ and wholesome skepticism." Tiny are not and do not want educators and edu
cational institutions to be neutral about their children's futun
This expectation for philosophical guidance m education might be unwar
ranted, as recent developments in philosophy of education seem to declare, bu
Broudj put it. "if the philosophy of education ignores <>r mereh makes tun ol this
need. || Will |,<- sail. lied b\ ||o| p|

| 1 1 losopl 1
1. ,1 1 solip es !'>|ol|d\ e| 1
1
1 i| I,'isl/i d I e||aill
things thai educators have a right to expeel from philosophy ol education, ini luding
attention to the problems of education in general and s< I ling in parti* ular, i larif]
cation of educational concepts and issues and rational di ind fr< i domof in
quiry. one direction that educational discoursi has be< n tal
12 INTRODUCTION
Stanley Aronowitz and Henry Giroux, who advocate a radical reappraisal and change
in today's approaches to education.
Despite the uncertainties in contemporary philosophy of education, it is still
evident that the philosophical task is one of constant probing and inquiry. Participa-
tion in the questioning and challenging attitude of philosophy is what this book's au-
thors hope to encourage. This inquisitive restlessness makes philosophy an enduring
—
human enterprise one that is never completed but is always in the making. The
search for wisdom might simply be an intensive search for better ways of thinking
about human predicaments, and this search involves education no less than other
human concerns. Philosophy, when undertaken in this vein, is not a separate and ex-
clusive search but part of human life and education.
DEVELOPING A PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE

ON EDUCATION
Educators need to see that philosophy of education can make a difference in their
outlook or activity. They should use philosophical ideas and thought patterns in ways
that can lead to more consciously directed activity. This does not mean an uncritical
acceptance of every philosophical idea or recommendation; rather, it means a re-
sponsible examination of existing societal and educational conditions in light of philo-
sophical analysis and criticism.
Some philosophers of education have suggested a responsible eclecticism in
building a personal philosophy of education. In suggesting this approach, they point
out that no two people are at the same level in their intellectual and psychological
development. Furthermore, perhaps no single educational philosophy is suitable
at any particular moment because philosophies have their ebb and flow and their
value depends on particular needs of the times. This might mean striking out in new
philosophical directions, but it may also include a critical examination of a variety
of philosophical viewpoints for the insights they provide. It also might mean going to
philosophy outside one's own cultural traditions. Eastern philosophy, for example,
provides contrasts to Western philosophical traditions and offels alternative van-
tage points from which to view education. Indeed, the current philosophical tem-
perament calls for the inclusion of different and divergent ways of thinking. The
danger of eclecticism is that it could result in an unexamined smorgasbord of ideas
filled with contradictions and conflicts.
Developing a philosophical perspective on education is not easy. It is necessary,

however, if a person wants to become a more effective professional educator. A sound
philosophical perspective helps one see the interaction among students, curriculum,
administration, and goals, and in this sense philosophy becomes practical. Of equal
importance is the educator's need for a philosophical perspective to give depth and
breadth to personal and professional endeavors.
The study of philosophy of education can be an exciting and challenging ven-
ture that allows people to encounter some of the great and enduring ideas of human
thought, It enables educators to understand what has gone on in the past in educa-
INTRODUCTION 13
lion and to develop the kinds of perspectives and intellectual tools that will help them
deal with the educational problems of today and the years ahead.
SELECTED READINGS
www.utm.edu/research/iep/ (accessed March ii(i. 2002). A useful and general encyclopedia
of philosophy. Students may access biographical backgrounds, analyses of leading philoso-
phers' works, and adaptations of philosophers' works from public domain sources.
1
Idealism and Education
Idealism is Western culture, dating back

perhaps the oldest systematic philosophy in
at least as early as Plato in ancient Greece. Of course, philosophy and philosophers
existed before Plato, but Plato developed one of the most historically influential
philosophies of education. From ancient times until the modern era, idealism was a
dominant philosophical influence. In terms of American philosophical thought, ide-
alism had a major impact on educational ideology in the nineteenth century, heavily
influenced by German idealism. Although idealism has waned as a philosophical
force, it is still alive in certain areas such as contemporary religious studies and cer-
tain aspects of moral philosophy.
Generally, idealists believe that ideas are the only true reality. It is not that all
idealists reject matter (the material world); rather, they hold that the material world
is characterized by change, instability, and uncertainty, whereas some ideas are en-
during. Thus, idea-ism might be a more correct descriptive term for this philosophy.
We must guard against oversimplification, however, and attempt to get at a fuller and
more wide-ranging understanding of this complex philosophy.
To achieve an adequate understanding of idealism, it is necessary to examine
the works of selected outstanding philosophers usually associated with this philoso-
phy. No two philosophers ever agree on every point, so to understand idealism or any
other school of thought properly, it is wise to examine the various approaches of in-
dividual philosophers. This will be accomplished by an exploration of three areas: Pla-
tonic idealism, religious idealism, and modern idealism and its characteristics.
DEVELOPMENT OF IDEALISM
One leading thinker of ancient Greece was Socrates (469-399 B.C.), who challenged
the material concerns of his contemporaries. Socrates went about Athens question-
ing its citizens, particularly the Sophists, about their "unexamined" way of life.
Socrates saw himself as a kind of gadfly who prodded people into thinking. He was
14
IDEALISM AND EDUCATION 15
later brought to trial in Athens and was executed for his beliefs. All hough Socrates'
ideas were only transmitted orally through a dialectical question-and-answer ap-
proach, Plato wrote them down and illustrated both the Socratic method and
Socrates' thinking.
It has boon debated often whether or not Plato added to these dialogues be-
cause he wrote about them many years alter they occurred. The general view is thai
Plato added a great deal and [mi die dialogues in a literary form thai has had endur-
ing value. Because the ideas of Socrates and Plato are considered almost indistin-
guishable today, scholars generally refer to these writings as Platonic philosophy.
Platonic Idealism
Plato (427-347 b.c.)
Plato was Creek philosopher who started as a disciple of Socrates and remained an
a
ardent admirer of him throughout his life. Plato is largely known for his writings in
which Socrates is the protagonist in a scries of dialogues dealing with almost everj
conceivable topic. Two of his most famous works arc Tin Republic and Laws After
Socrates' death, Plato opened his own school, he Academy, where students and pro-
t
fessors engaged in a dialectical approach to problems.

According to Plato, people should concern themselves primarily with the
search for truth. Because truth is perfect and eternal, cannot be found in the world
it
of matter, which is imperfect and constantly changing. Mathematics demonstrates

that eternal truths are possible. Such concepts as2 + 2 = 4or hat all points ol a per
I
feci circle are equidisl ant from the center always have been true (even before people
discovered them), are true, and always will be true. Mat hematics shows that univer
sal truths with which everyone can agree can be found, but mathematics constitutes
Only one field of knowledge. Plato believed that we must search for other universal
truths m such areas as politics, society, and education; hence, the search for absolute
truth should he the quest of the true philosopher.
The Republic, Plato wrote about the separation of the world of ideas from
In
the world of matter The world of ideas (or forms} has the Good as its highest point
the source of all true knowledge. The world of matter, the ever-changing world of sen-
is not to be trusted
data, People need, as much as possible, to free themselves
from concern with matter so thai they can advance toward the (i
a This can be I
done by transcending matter through the use oft he dialectic (or critical discussion I,
in which one moves from mere opinion to true knowled
The dialectic can be des< ribed as follows: All thinking begins with a thesis, or
point of view, such as "War is evil." This view can be supported b> pointing oul thai
war causes people tO be killed, disrupts families, destroys cities, and has advi
moral effects v, long as we encounter oruj people of similar persuasion, we are nol
likely to alterour point of view. When we encounter the antithesis (or opposite |
t
of view thai "War is good," however, we are fori ed to reexamine and defend our po
i
,ition. Arguments advanced to suppoii the notion thai wai b good might include the
belief thai war promol eliminate evil political system and produi es
man;, technical benefits through war research. Simply put, the dialectii looks at both
16 CHAPTER 1
sides of an issue. If our antagonists are philosophers who are seriously interested in
getting to the truth of the problem of whether war is good or evil, then they will en-
gage in a dialogue in which both advancement and retrenchment might occur.
Plato believed that given ample time to argue their positions, the two discus-
sants would come closer to agreement, or synthesis, and therefore closer to truth
(which might be that war has good and bad aspects). Those who simply argued to
win or who would not maintain a critical perspective could not accomplish this kind
of dialectic. For this reason, Plato thought that preparation in the dialectic should in-
volve a lengthy period of education beginning with studies in mathematics. He was
particularly critical of inexperienced people who used the dialectic, because he be-
lieved that students are not mature enough for training in the dialectic until age 30.
Plato saw the moving from a concern with the mater-
dialectic as a vehicle for
ialworld to a concern with the world of ideas. Supposedly, the dialectic crosses the
"divided line" between matter and idea. The process begins in the world of matter
with the use of the brain, the tongue, gestures, and so forth, but it ends in the world
of ideas with the discovery of truth. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato depicted pris-
oners chained in a world of darkness, seeing only shadows on a far cave wall that they
took for reality. Imagine one of these prisoners freed from his chains, advancing up a
steep slope and into the sunlight, eventually able to see the sun, realizing it as the
true source of heat and light. He would be happy in his true knowledge and wish to
contemplate it even more. Yet, when he remembers his friends in the cave and re-
turns to tell them of the real world outside, they will not listen to someone who can-
not now compete with them in their knowledge of shadows. If the fortunate one
insists on freeing the prisoners, they might even kill him.
The meaning of the allegory is this: We ourselves are living in a cave of shadows
and chained by our ignorance
illusions, and apathy. When we begin to loosen our-
selvesfrom our chains, it is the beginning of our education; the steep ascent repre-
sents the dialectic that will carry us from the world of matter to the world of
—
ideas even to a contemplation of the Good represented by the sun. Note Plato's ad-
monition that the man, now a philosopher who has advanced into the realm of true
knowledge, must return to the cave to bring enlightenment to the others. This points
to Plato's strong belief not only that philosophizing should be an intellectual affair,
but also that the philosopher has a duty to share his learning with others, doing this
even in the face of adversity or death.
Plato did not think that people create knowledge, but rather that they discover
it. another interesting myth, he conjectured that the human soul once had true
In
knowledge but lost it by being placed in a material body, which distorted and cor-
rupted that knowledge. Thus, people have the arduous task of trying to remember
of Reminiscence" is illustrated by Socrates, who
what they once knew. This "Doctrine
spoke of himself as a midwife who found humans pregnant with knowledge, but
knowledge that had not been born or realized. Through his discussions with people,
Socrates sought to aid them in giving birth to ideas that in some cases they never
knew they had. In the Meno, Plato described Socrates' meeting with a slave boy,
and through skillful questioning, Socrates shows that the boy knows the Pythagorean
theorem even though he does not know that he knows it.
In The Republic, Plato proposed the kind of education thai would help bring
about a world in which individuals and society arc moved as tar as they are capable
of moving toward the Good. He understood fully that most people do believe in
matter as an objective reality, individual differences exist, and injustice and in-
humanity are ways of life. He wished lo create a world in which outstanding people.
such as Socrates, could serve as models and would be rewarded instead of punished.
Plato suggested that the state must take an active role in educational concerns and
offer a curriculum that leads bright students from concrete data toward abstract
thinking.
It is interesting to note that Plato thought thai girls and boys should be given
an equal opportunity to develop themselves to the fullest, but those who showed lit-
tle ability for abstractions should go into pursuits that would assist in the practical
aspects of running a society. Those who demonstrated proficiency in the dialectic

would continue their education and become philosophers in positions of power in
lead the state toward the highest Good. Plato believed that until philosophers were
the rulers, states would never pursue the highest ideals of tint h and justice.
Plato's idea was that the philosopher-king must be not only a thinker but also a
doer. He must supervise the affairs of the state, and like the philosopher who made
his way out of the cave and vet returned to teach others, he must see that his wis-
dom pervades every aspeel i >l state life. Needless to say, such a ruler would have no
interest in materialism or even in ruling, but he would rule out of a sense of duty and
obligation because he is the most fit to rule. Such a ruler could be male or female, and
Plato seriously championed the notion women
should occupy equal positions in
thai
the state, including the military. Plato's philosopher-king would be not only a person
of wisdom but also a good person because he believed that evil stems more from ig-
norance than from anything else.
Even though his theories about society have never been

fully implemented,
Plato did attempt to establish societj under

suchthe patronage of Dionysius II of
;i
Syracuse but failed when the tyrant finally realized what Plato was doing. The value
of Plato's ideas is that they have stimulated (linking about the meaning and purpose
t
Ofhumanity, society, and education and have even entered into modern thought and
practice iii mam subtle ways. Who would not, for example, want the best person to
lead our.st ale. assuming we know what best means? Today, we provide an educational
system with great state involvemenl thai has much to say about what occupation
people eventuallj will pursue as a result of the education they receive We also n
nizethe tremendous influence of social class in education, as in Plato's Utopian society,
where he separated people into three classes: workers, military personnel, and rulei
It is widely believed thai philosophizing about the arts iii Western culture be
gan with Plato Plato discussed painting, sculpture, architecture, poetry, dan e, and
music Although he saw art as imitation (even imitation of imitation) and nol true
knowledge, Plato stronglj believed thai art (including literature) needed to ben
lated and even censored so thai portrayed things in a more virtuous light In this
i1
way, then, .hi could be. ome a useful pari of the educational proi i
Plato influenced almost all philosophers who came after him, whether they sup
ported or rejected his basic ideas Indeed, there is much merit in the ol n bj
18 CHAPTER 1
philosopher Alfred North Whitehead that modern philosophy is but a series of foot-
notes to Plato.
Religious Idealism
Idealism has exerted considerable influence on religion. For example, Judaism, a pre-
cursor of Christianity, included many beliefs that are compatible with idealism. In Ju-
daism and Christianity, the idea of one God as pure Spirit and the Universal Good can
be readily recognized as compatible with idealism. When Alexander the Great spread
Greek culture around the Mediterranean world, there was also a proliferation of
Greek schools; consequently, many writers of the New Testament had been at least
partially influenced by Greek culture and philosophy. Paul, who wrote a considerable
portion of the New Testament, was born Saul of Tarsus; Tarsus was a city heavily in-
fluenced by Greek (or Hellenistic) culture and thought. One can find a heavy tinge
of idealism in Paul's writings, stemming from both Jewish and Greek traditions. Like-
wise, Muhammad and Islamic thought reflect Greek ideas with idealistic implications.
Augustine (354-430 a.d.)
The founders of the Roman Catholic Church were heavily influenced by idealism. Au-
gustine was born into, and reared under, the influence of Hellenistic culture. In the
Confessions, he described his early paganism and the debauchery of his youth
life of
until his He became a priest in 391, and in 395 was
conversion to Christianity in 386.
appointed Bishop of Hippo. Augustine connected the philosophy of Platonists and
Neoplatonists with Christian beliefs. In The City of God, he described the City of
God and the City of Man as divisions of the universe parallel to Plato's schemata of
the World of Ideas and the World of Matter. Like Plato, Augustine believed that the
senses were unreliable and that belief in God rests ultimately on faith. "We must first-
believe," he wrote, "in order that we may know." In Plato's philosophy, the soul has
knowledge that is obscured by being imprisoned in the body. In Augustine's inter-
pretation, the soul was blackened by Adam's fall from grace, which resulted in human
doubt and uncertainty.
Augustine was much concerned with the concept of evil and believed that be-
cause man inherited the sin of Adam, he was engaged in a continuous struggle to re-
gain the kind of purity he had before the fall. This idea is akin to Plato's myth about
the star: Souls that lived near the Good were exiled to the world of matter to suffer
pain and death and must struggle to return to the spiritual existence they once had.
Augustine readily accepted Plato's notion of the "divided line" between ideas
and matter, but he referred to the two worlds as the World of God and the World of
Man. The World of God is the world of Spirit and the Good; the World of Man is the
material world of darkness, sin, ignorance, and suffering. Augustine believed that one
should, as much as possible, release oneself from the World of Man and enter into the
World of God. Although no one is able to do this in any final sense until after death,
he believed that a person could transcend this world by concentration on God
through meditation and faith.
Augustine, like Plato, believed thai people do nol create knowledge: God al-
ready has created it. and people can discover through trying to find God. Because it
the soul is the closesl tiling people have to divinity, Augustine believed, we should
look within our souls for the true knowledge thai exists there. He thus promoted an
intuitive approach to education and agreed with Plato thai concentration ort physi-
cal phenomena could lead us astray from the path of true knowledge. Like Plato, Au-
gustine was a strong supporter of the dialectical method of learning: Some written
dialogues between Augustine and his illegitimate son VdeodatUS use the dia Iodic to
facilitate discovering true ideas about God and humanity.
Augustine's ideas about the nature of the true Christian found more acceptance
among those who leaned toward a monastic conception of Christianity. Such monas-
tics believed thai the christian should out himself off from worldly concerns and
meditate. Augustine agreed with Plato in his He thought
reservations about the arts.
that too much of an interest in earthly things could endanger the soul. He even ques-
tioned the use of church music because it might defied duo from concentrating on
the real meaning of the Mass.
Augustine patterned his educational philosophy alter the Platonic tradition. He
believed that worldly knowledge gained through the senses was lull of error but that
reason could lead toward understanding, and he held that, ultimately, was neces- it
sary to transcend reason through faith. Only through faith, or intuition, can one en
tor the realm of true ideas.
Augustine believed that the kind of knowledge to be accepted mi faith would
be determined by the Church. The Jhurch would determine rtol only unquestioned
<
beliefs (such as the idea of the Trinity) but also the proper kind of education. \u
gust me did not believe thai the right kind of learning was easy. The child, an offspring
of Adam, is prone to sin. and his evil nature must be kept under control to develop
the good that is deep inside. Studies should concentrate on acceptance of the
Church's truths.
One question thai August me pondered in DeMagistro was "Can one man teach
another.'" He believed thai one cannot teach a nol her in the traditional sense but can
direct the learner with words or other symbols or "signs." Learning must come from
within, and all true knowledge ultimately conies from Cod \ugustine was the greal
est of the 'hristian Platonists, and his stress on the role of the learner's spontaneous
(
and God-directed intelligence had greal implications for christian education tor
mam centiii
It is idealism and religion have been closely intertwined

not surprising that
< promotes the idea of God as transcendent and pure Spiril
'hrisiiamiy. in particular,
or Idea. In addition to this is the christian concept that God created the world out of
Himself or out of Spun or Idea. This resembles the Platonic concepl that true reality
Mier all. basically Idea
It is not surprising thai religious idealism exerted tremendous influence on edu
.an., ii and si hooling Earls •
!hri itians were quick Jhristianitj would
to realize thai <
tale better ll some kllld Ol s\

Its adherents Ue|e La. hill'.'. \\ lle|| ||e\
l'|\ . tl .1 . 1 1 1 it I' I
tablished Wished them in patterns with which the) were ramiliaj

Thus. man\ Jewish and Greek ideas aboul the nature ol humanitj and God
20 CHAPTER 1
went into the Christian schools along with the distinctly Christian ideas. For cen-
turies, the Christian church was the creator and protector of schooling, and the gen-
erations educated in those schools were taught the idealist point of view.
The mutuality of idealism and Judeo-Christian religion was brought together in
a unity of European culture by the Middle Ages and afterward. This helps explain sev-
eral characteristics of modern thought. To Plato, ultimate reality is Idea and our
bridge to it is the mind. To the Judeo-Christian, ultimate reality is God and our bridge
to it is the soul. It seemed a logical step to connect Idea and God on the one hand,
and mind and soul on the other. Thus, humanity's contact with ultimate reality is by
means of mind and soul (or their congeners: self, consciousness, and subjectivity).
DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN IDEALISM

By the beginning of the modern period in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, ide-
alism had come to be largely identified with systematization and subjectivism. This
identification was encouraged by the writings of Rene Descartes, George Berkeley,
Immanuel Kant, Georg W. F. Hegel, and Josiah Royce.
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Born town of La Haze, France, Rene Descartes was educated by the Je-
in the small
suits, for whom
he retained admiration but with whom he developed dissatisfaction
because of their doctrinaire teachings. Although his philosophical thinking chal-
lenged Catholic doctrine on many points, it seems that he remained sincere in his
Catholicism.
It is difficult and misleading to classify such an original thinker as Descartes into
one philosophical school. Certainly, much of his philosophy can be characterized as

idealism, but he also contributed much to philosophical realism and other thought
systems. For current purposes, the significant works of Descartes to be considered
are his celebrated Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy.
Principally in Discourse, Descartes explored his "methodical doubt," whereby
he sought to doubt all things, including his own existence. He was searching for ideas
that are indubitable; he thought that if he could discover ideas that are "clear and dis-
tinct," then he would have a solid foundation upon which to build other true ideas.
—
He found that he could throw all things into doubt except one that he himself was
doubting or thinking. Although he could doubt that he was doubting, Descartes still
could not doubt that he was thinking. In this manner, he arrived at the famous Carte-
sian first principle: Cogito, ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am."
The Cartesian cogito has stimulated much philosophical thought since
Descartes's time. Traces of it can be found inmany modern philosophies. The cogito,
however, supports the tradition of idealism because it reaffirms the centrality of mind
in the relation of the human being to the world.
Descartes realized that even though the cogito was indubitable, he could not
move easily from that stage to other indubitables. Objects outside the cogito are
grasped by the senses, and the senses are notoriously subject to error. Furthermore,
any particular idea or thought depends on other ideas. One cannot think of a trian-
gle, forexample, without considering angles, degrees, lines, and so forth. Thus,
Descartes encountered the necessity of one idea referring to another. He wanted to
arriveat the idea at which further reference stopped. He found impossible to ar- it
rive at any idea —even the indubitable cogito— that did not refer to something other
than itself, except the idea of Perfect Being. Descartes thought that he had, b\ ar-
riving at Perfect Being, encountered God, the infinite and timeless Creator, the
source of all things.
Thus, Descartes arrived at the two principles on which he based his system: the
cogito and the Deity. He had the indubit ability of human thought in the cogito and
the foundation for all the objects of thought in the >eity. From these principles, he I
proceeded to build a philosophy thai has, in one way or another, influenced most all
philosophy since. That some of these principles are within the tradition of idealism
can be readily seen: Finite mind contemplates objects of thought founded in God in (
Platonic terms, human mind contemplates the ultimate reality of ideas). Ion-
Descartes, the way he arrived at his principles—the method of his analysis brought
new life into philosophy. The Cartesian method was extended into numerous fields
of inquiry, including the natural sciences.
George Berkeley (1685-1753)

George Berkeley was born and educated in Ireland and spent most of his professional
life as a minister in the Episcopal Church of Ireland. While still a young man, he
developed most of his innovative ideas, writing several treatises on philosophy, in-
cluding Principles oj Human Knou ledge. Berkeley coin ended that all existence de
pends on some mind to know it; if no minds exist, then for all intents and purposes
nothing exists unless is perceived by the mind of Cod. Berkeley was attacking
it
a central tenet of philosophical realism— that a material world exists independent

of mind.
According to Isaac Newton, the universe is composed of material bodies m0\
ing in space and controlled by mathematical laws, such as the law of gravity. Berke-
ley held that no one had experienced such matter firsthand and. further, that such a
theorj isconception of mind. Berkeley thought thai people made a common error
a
in assuming that such objects as trees, houses, and dogs exist where there is no mind
to perceive them. Instead, tosaj that a. thing exists means that it is perceived bj some
mind esse est percipi (to be is to be perceived). To the classic question "I •< ><
m
'
tree falling the middle of a foresl make a sound if no one is around to hear n
Berkeley would answer "no, if we rule oul the idea of being perceived bj God it
There is no existence without pen ''pi 1011, but things might exist in the sense that
they are perceived bj God

Berkeley's philosophical nditioned bj his religious views
He held thai immaterial sub itance (idea or spirit | has been profaned bj science and
thai science has brought on "the monstrou ol atheists "What exists oi has
bemg is not matter it is or God Berkelej
Spirit, Idea, an be viewed as a kind
oi last-ditch stai I the en< roachments i Jism that
holds to the materialists the
22 CHAPTER 1
Berkeley refuted matter by showing that matter cannot exist except as a form
of mind. We can know things only as we consciously conceive them, and when we
think of the universe existing before finite minds can conceive it, we are led to as-
sume the existence of an Omnipresent Mind lasting through all time and eternity.
Thus,we might say that although people may not be conscious of the trees falling
throughout eternity, God is. Berkeley was a champion of ideal realities and values
whose main purpose is to make evident the existence of God and to prove that God
is the true cause of all things.
The Scottish-born philosopher David Hume, however, proved to be the great-
est antagonist to the ideas of Berkeley. Hume was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, stud-
ied law, and later served in France as a member of the English embassy. His writings
were not widely received at their inception and, according to his own accounts, "fell
deadborn from the press." His major work, Treatise upon Human Nature, written
when he was only 26, is one of the strongest attacks on idealism ever written. Al-
though Hume began with an acceptance of the Berkeleian principle esse est percipi,
he concluded that all we can know are our own impressions and ideas, and we have
no genuine basis for asserting the reality of either material or spiritual substances.
Hume could find nothing to justify a necessary connection or causation. To connect
one occurrence with another, Hume pointed out, is merely the habit of expecting one
event to follow another on the basis of an indefinite series of such happenings. All we
can know is that we have ideas and impressions, one following another in a kind of
chaotic heap.
Whereas Berkeley believed that his philosophy had dealt adequately with athe-
ism, Hume believed that no more justification could be found for the existence of a
deity than for the existence of matter. Thus, just as Berkeley thought that he had de-
stroyed atheism and materialism, so Hume believed that he also had destroyed the
concept of mind and God. Hume recognized that his theories resulted in a kind of
skepticism that affected religion and science, but he was unable to reconcile the para-
dox of a seemingly sensible world with the logic of human thought.
Today, Berkeley's ideas might seem strange, but the concepts he developed
have influenced scholars in many fields. His notion of the centrality of the subjective
mind and of the existence of anything being dependent on a perceiving mind has
helped influence scholars to study further the nature of perception and the objects
of thought.
Immanuel Kant (1 724-1804)

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant was born in humble conditions, the son of
a saddler. Educated in schools of his hometown, Konigsberg, he eventually became
perhaps the most famous professor the University of Konigsberg ever had. Kant gen-
erally is recognized as one of the world's great philosophers.
Among other things, Kant's work was a critique of past systems in which he
sought to pull off a "Copernican revolution" in the field of philosophy. Two important
works that he accomplished in this effort were Critique ofPure Reason and Critique
of Practical Reason, in which he sought to bring order to the divergent and warring
philosophical camps of rationalism and empiricism.
Rationalists sought universal truths or ideas by which a coherent system and

structure of knowledge could be deduced. They distrusted sense perception because
its results are so individualized and errati< The empiricists, in contrast, held to the
.
immediate perceptions of experience because these are practical and connected with
everyday life. They rejected rationalism because is so abstract and disconnected
it
from the practical.

Kant saw that the skirmishes between these divergent philosophical views were
getting nowhere. Ho accepted the validity and reliability of modern science and be-
lieved that the constant bickering between the two positions was doing nothing to
further science through the development of a compatible philosophical view of
knowledge. Kant's idealism comes from his concentration on human thought
processes. The rationalist, he held, thinks analytically, whereas the empiricist thinks
synthetically. He worked out a system based ona posteriori (synthetic) and a pri
ori (analytic) logical judgments that he called synthetic a priori judgments.
He thought that he had arrived at a new system whereby we could have valid
knowledge of human experience established on the scientific laws of nature. In short.
we would have the best of rationalist and empiricist insights gathered together in a
unified system. This would give science the underpinnings needed, because Kant it
understood that science needed an empirical approach in order to discover univer-

sal laws of nature. He also recognized the importance of the human self or mind and
its thought processes as a prime organizing agent in accomplishing this system.
Kant had to face the problem of the thinking subject and the object of thought.
He rejected Berkeley's position that things are totally dependent on mind because
this notion would rejed the possibility of scientific law. He also was caught by the
problem of how subjective mind could know objective reality. He concluded that na
ture, or object ive reality, is a causal continuum a world connected in space and time
-
with its own internal order. Subjective mind cannot perceive this order in itself or m
totality because when subjective mind is conscious of something, is not the thing it
in-itself fdas Ding an sick). Mind is conscious of the experience (the phenomenon,
the aspect of the hing-in-it self ). The thing-in-itself is the noumenon Kadi experi
t
ence (phenomenon) of a tiling is one small, additional piece of knowledge about the
total thing (noumenon). Thus, all we know is the content of experience When we go
beyond this, we have entered into the rationalist argument and into speculation on
the ultimate or noumenal reality of things-in-themselves, or we have become engaged
m moral ami ethical considerations.
Kant explored the moral ami ethical realm primarilj in 'ritique oj Practical (
Reason. His effort was to arrive at universal postulations concerning what we might
call moral ideals, moral imperatives, or moral laws This aspect of Kant's thinking was
not tied to nature, so we might call this his spiritual side

Many were directed toward refuting the skepticis
of Kant's efforts t Hume
because Kant wanted to show that real knowledge is possible His efforts to do he I
were clouded b\ he tineas) wa\ he u

i apparentl) opposing themes, such as phe
1 1 r i - I
nomenon and noumenon. the practical and the pure, and BUbjei li\il\ and obje< tMtJ
The two 'ritiques illustrate this onflict because 01
< < '" 'he logii "i thought
and the other to its pra< tical applications In Cj >/></'/< "/ /''/" Reason, the result
—
24 CHAPTER 1
ends up close to Hume's skepticism because Kant found it impossible to make ab-
solutely universal and necessary judgments about human experience purely on ra-
tional and scientific grounds.
In his Critique of Practical Reason, he had to switch gears and go to the prac-
—
tical side —
the moral and ethical side where he thought universal judgments could
and should be made. Thus, his moral or practical philosophy consists of moral laws
that he held to be universally valid— laws that he called "categorical imperatives"
such as "Act always so that you can will the maxim or the determining principle of
your action to become a universal law."
This line of thinking permeates Kant's writings on education, a matter he con-
sidered of primary moral concern. He held that "the greatest and most difficult prob-
lem to which man can devote himself is the problem of education." One categorical
imperative that he established in his moral philosophy was to treat each person as an
end and never as a mere means. This imperative has greatly influenced subsequent
thought about the importance of character development in education. Most of his
educational statements are maxims derived from his categorical imperatives. He held
that humans are the only beings who need education and that discipline is a primary
ingredient of education that leads people to think and seek out "the good." Children
should be educated not simply for the present but also for the possibility of an im-
proved future condition, which Kant called the "idea of humanity and the whole des-
tiny of mankind." For the most part, he thought that education should consist of
discipline, culture, discretion, and moral training.
The essence of education should not be simply training; however, to Kant, the
important thing was enlightenment, or teaching a child to think according to princi-
ples as opposed to mere random behavior. This is associated closely to his notion of
will. The education of will means living according to the duties flowing from the cate-
gorical imperatives. In fact, Kant thought that an important part of a child's educa-
tion was the performance of duties toward oneself and others.
We can readily see Kant's idealism in his concentration on thought processes
and the nature of the relation between mind and its objects on the one hand and uni-
versal moral ideals on the other. Even though his attempts to bring about a "Coper-
nican revolution" in philosophy failed, his systematic thought has greatly influenced
all subsequent Western philosophy, idealistic and otherwise.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)

Georg Hegel isperhaps the capstone of idealistic philosophy in the modern era. He
was born in Stuttgart, Germany, and led a rather normal and uneventful life as a
youth, receiving his education until the age of 18 in his native city. He then went to
the University of Tubingen and majored in theology, graduating in 1793. He showed
no particular promise as a budding philosopher, according to his professors, and for
the next several years he worked as a tutor with little economic success. He con-
tinued to study, and after he received a small inheritance from his father, his efforts
became more successful. For a while, he was a lecturer at the University of Jena and
then rector of a secondary school until 1816. He was a professor at the I Iniversity of
a
Heidelberg for 2 years and in 1818 became a professor of philosophy al the Univer-
remaining there until his death.

sity of Berlin,
Although practically all of his major works wore written before he went to
Berlin, there he became a prominent and overriding Bgure in philosophy. One can
find elements of his thoughl in such disparate recenl philosophies as Marxism, exis-
tentialism, and American pragmatism. In examining Hegel, one must look at three
major aspects of his system: logic, nature, and spirit Three of his important books .
are Phenomenology of Mind, Logic, and Philosophy of Right

One striking characteristic of Hegel's philosophy is his logic. He thoughl he had
developed a perfect logical system that corrected he inadequacies of Aristotelian i
logic. The word dialectic best fits Hegel's logic, and often has been portrayed as a it
rather mechanical warring bet we< >n thesis and antithesis, with the result being a syn-
thesis. Yet, his logic was not quite that inflexible because it included many variations
and shadings of the triadic categories. Even more to the point. Hegel conceived of
thought as a continuum, not as a series of mechanical sj nthetic unions. It could bo
said that the continuum is characterized by a moving, constant "synthesizing" —
moving, growing, ever-changing thought process.
Hegel maintained thai his logical system, if applied rigorously and accurately,
would arriv< at Absolute Idea. This is similar to 1 'lat >'s n< ion of unchanging leas. The
i < >t i<
clifference is thatHegel was sensitive to change (even though some of his rit ics charge c
that his explanation of change 'hange, development, and movement are

is a failure). (
all central and necessary in Even Absolute Idea is the final stage onl\ as
Hegel's logic.
it concerns thought process because Absolute Ideas have an antithesis—Nature
To Hegel, Nature is the "otherness" of Idea its opposite. He did nol vievt Idea
and Nature as absolutely separate, a dualism at which Descartes arrived, because to
Hegel, dualisms are intolerable as any final stage: There must lie a final synthesis. In
holding this view, Hegel was not denying the ordinal} facts, stones, and sticks of
everyday life, rather, these are a lower order of realitj and not the final synthesis.
The final stage or synthesis of Idea and Nature is Spirit, and this is where the
final Absoluteencountered. Absolute Spirit is manifested by the historical devel
is
opment of a people and by the finest works of art. religion, and philosophy. Vet, these
manifestations are nol Absolute spirit; they are only its manifestations. Hegel did
not think that this final and perfect end had been reached, but he did think that
there was a final end toward which humans move, however slowly and tortuously, and
however many backslides we might make. In this view, Hegel's idealism is most
apparent the search for final Absolute spun
one major feature of the Hegelian system is movement toward richer, more
complex, and more complete Tb Hegel, historj showed tins movemenl

just as much as logical thought processes did It is as ii the entire universe, in Hegel's
view, is moving toward completion and wholeness. Thus, m Hegel's system, if we ex

amine am one thing, then we are always referred to somethii innected with
it. Such was the case with the development <>i civilization;
that is, historj moved in
dialectical, rational pi I
riOS€ who are familiar with the thought "I Kail Man.
will note similarities with Hegel be< ause Mai luch indebted i" him
26 CHAPTER 1
Hegel's thought no longer holds the preeminent position it once held. One rea-
son is that his system led to a glorification of the state at the expense of individuals.
It led some of his followers to believe in a mystical, foreordained destiny in the face
of which individuals are powerless. In this view, individuals are mere parts or aspects
of the greater, more complete, and unified whole —the state.
Hegel has had considerable influence on the philosophy and theory of educa-
tion. Ivan Soil has attempted to show some of Hegel's contributions to philosophy of
education — contributions that must be viewed against the grand manner in which
Hegel saw philosophical problems. Hegel seemed to think that to be truly educated,
an individual must pass through the various stages of the cultural evolution of human-
kind. This idea is not as preposterous as it might seem at first glance because he held
that individuals benefit from all that has gone before them. This idea can be illus-
trated by referring to the development of science and technology: To a person who

lived 300 years ago, was unknown except as a natural occurrence, such as
electricity
lightning. Today, practically everyone depends on electric power for everyday use
and has a working, practical knowledge of it entirely outside the experience of a per-
son from 300 years ago. A contemporary person can easily learn elementary facts
about electricity in a relatively short time; that is, he or she can "pass through" or
learn an extremely important phase of our cultural evolution.
Hegel thought that it was possible (if not always probable in every case) for at
least some individuals to know everything essential in the history of humanity's col-
lective consciousness. Today, because of the knowledge explosion and the increas-
ing complexity and extent of human knowledge, such an encompassing educational
ideal is naive. Yet, Hegel's position retains some credibility because the need to pass
on the cultural heritage and to develop an understanding of people's paths to the pre-
sent still exists. Even to Hegel, the attainment of such a universal and encyclopedic
knowledge was an ideal, possible only to elite scholars.
Josiah Royce (1855-1916)

One of the most influential American exponents of Hegelian idealism at the beginning
of the twentieth century was Josiah Royce. Royce maintained that the external mean-
ing of a thing depends entirely on its internal —
meaning that is, its "embodiment of
purpose." He argued that embodiment of purpose is the criterion of "mentality" and
that the internal essence of anything is mental. Royce, like most idealists, believed
his philosophical views corresponded closely with religious teachings (the Christian
religion in his case) and he spent much effort demonstrating their compatibility.
,
Royce believed that ideas are essentially purposes or plans of action and that
the fulfillment of ideasis found when they are put into action. Thus, purposes are in-
complete without an external world in which they are realized, and the external
world is meaningless unless it is the fulfillment of such purposes. Whose purposes are
fulfilled? Royce answered in Hegelian terms that it is the Absolute's purposes. He be-
lieved that one of the most important things for a person to develop is a sense of loy-
alty to moral principles and causes. This implies a spiritual overtone in which one
achieves the highest good by becoming a part of the universal design. The influence
of this kind of thinking is evident in the educational enterprise in terms of teaching
people not only about the purposes of life bill also about how they can become ac-
tive participants in such purposes.
Following Kant and Hegel, interest in idealism continued in several countries.
German idealism influenced an important
movemenl in England, seen in the writings
of Coleridge, Wordsworth, Carlyle, and Riiskin. The English school of idealism in-
cluded such philosophers as Thomas Hill Green (whose writings included sugges-
tions for ethical, political, and economic reforms) and Francis Herbert Bradley (who
argued strongly against empiricism, utilitarianism, and naturalism).
In tin 1
United States (in addition to the work of Royce), transcendentalism (in-
cluding the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson I reflected idealist philosophy. William
Torrev Harris was another American philosopher and educator involved with idealism;
he later became the director of the Concord School of Philosophy, where he was ac-
tive in an attempt to merge New England transcendentalism with Hegelian idealism.
IDEALISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

In general, idealists have shown a great concern for education, and many have writ-
ten extensively about it. Plate made education the core of his Utopian state, The Re
public Augustine gave extensive attention to the need for christians to become
aware of the importance of education. Kant and Hegel wrote about education or re
ferred to it a great deal in their writings, and bot made their living as teachers. More
1 1
recently, such idealists as V Bronson Alcott, William Torrev Harris, Herman Home,
William Hocking. Giovanni Gentile, and J. Donald Butler have tried systematical^ to
apply idealist principles to the theorj and practice of education.
Perhaps one of the most notable idealist educators in the nineteenth century
was Bronson Alcott. An American transcendentalisl whose ideas were a mixture of
the philosophies of Plato. Plotinus. Kant Hegel. 'arlylo. and Emerson, he frequently
,
(
contributed to the transcendentalisl periodical The Died. Alcott expounded a kind of

absolute idealism with the belief that OIUJ the spiritual is real and material things are
an illusion of the senses. He was interested in the education of the young and opened
a school at the Masonii Temple in Boston in 183 that became known as the Temple 1
School. Alcott was actively involved in the school, where his daughter Louisa \la>
Al.ott. who became a well known writer, was a student ruike manj of his con i
temporaries, he advocated feminism, denounced slavery, and believed in the innate

goodness Of people. He chose P.lblical selections espousing childhood innocence for
lessons and used a onversational method of teaching thai en< ouraged children to
i
discuss moral problems openly. He published his 'om ersations u ith 'hildren on ( <
the Gospels as a waj to introduce children to sacred literature. Ucott put greal
weight on the intuitive knowledge ol children and believed thai the mo important ;1
goal m education was i haracter building Later m life, he was appointed superinten
dent of s< hools in ( loncord, Ma tts
Hi .
assistant at the Temple School was Elizabeth P Peabody, wl pened in
ton in I860 one ol the first kindergartens America based strongh on the idi
in
of Alcott and Friedrich Froebel toother educat influenced bj Ucotl

28 CHAPTER 1
William Torrey Harris, who was U.S. Commissioner of Education from 1889 to 1906.
Harris credited Alcott with turning his philosophical beliefs toward idealistic channels.
Aims of Education
Idealists generally agree that education should not only stress development of the
mind but encourage students to focus on all things of lasting value. Along with
also
Plato, they believe that the aim of education should be directed toward the search
for true ideas. Another important idealist aim is character development because the
search for truth demands personal discipline and steadfast character. This aim is
prevalent in the writings of Kant, Harris, Home, Gentile, and others. What they want
in society is not just the literate, knowledgeable person, but the good person.
Search for Truth

One major emphasis of idealist philosophy is the search for truth. Plato thought that
truth cannot be found in the world of matter because such a world is impermanent
and ever changing. At the Academy, students were encouraged to reach out toward
the conceptual world of ideas, rather than the perceptual world of sense data. Ac-
cording to idealists, the material world is not a real world anyway but analogous to
the shadows and illusions with which the prisoners in the cave contented themselves.
Plato believed that one must break away from the chains of ignorance. Such a per-
son would then be on the road to enlightenment and might become a philosopher. In
Plato's view, philosophical wisdom, or the conception of true ideas, is the highest aim
of education and one toward which all people should strive.
Idealists always have stressed the importance of mind over matter. Some ide-
alists, such as Berkeley, reject the idea that matter exists by itself, whereas others,
like Augustine, take the position that matter might exist in a generally detrimental
way. Platonic idealists maintain that a proper education will include examining such
areas as art and science, which should lead the student to the more speculative and
abstract subjects of mathematics and philosophy. In any event, idealists place less
stress on the study of physical and concrete areas than on the nonphysical and the
abstract. The important thing for the idealist is to arrive at truth, and truth cannot
be ever shifting.
Some idealists, although not adhering strictly to the Platonic idea that truth is
eternal and perfect, do believe that truth is substantial and relatively permanent.
Thus, for such idealists there might be many truths, even conflicting ones, but they
are truths of a more lasting nature; consequently, many idealists favor studies in re-
ligion and the classics —two areas that contain enduring ideas.
Augustine, a Neoplatonist, agreed with Plato that the highest aimis a search
for the truth, but he believed even more strongly than Plato that truth has over-
whelming spiritual implications. According to Augustine, the search for truth is a
search for God, and a true education leads one to God. Because God is pure idea, God
can be reached only through contemplation of ideas; therefore, a true education is
concerned with ideas rather than matter.
IDEALISM AND ED IT CAT ION 29
Other idealists have maintained thai theremighl be levels of truth. Kant, for ex-
ample, maintained the truths of pure reason and practical reason. Hegel thoughl thai
truth is in development, moving from the simple to richer and more complex ideas.
Many religions claim thai their ideas are true even though the> are in conflicl with
each other. This is why many idealists believe is not truth perse that is important,
it
but the search for truth. Even Socrates seemed to imply this position by stating that
all ideas are open to challenge; a literal translation of the term philosopher is not
simply a discoverer of t rut 1 i but a lover of it bj implication, a seeker of truth.
Some modern educators who share mam things with idealist philosophy have
compiled lists of Great Books that contain points of vievi as disparate as the Bible,
Marx's Das Kapital, Augustine's (
'ortfessions, and Voltaire's ( '<u/<l/<l<\ The idea be-
hind using such books is not that any or all of them contain the final Irut h. but rather
that they contain some of the best and most lasting ideas conceived by humanity.
Even though the books are different, many of the selections complement each other.
Most noticeable, however (even with the books on science), is that they extol think-
ing and ideas rather than mere sense data, and concentrate on great concerns rather
than on mere particulars. One book often found on such lists is Herman Melville's
Moby Dick. Readers would go awry if they found the book to be only a sea storj or
believed that concentrated only on such things as the kinds of ships used or Hie
it
numbers of whales caught. Moby Pick is a work containing great ideas about justice,
evil, and courage —ideas that one needs to ponder. The aim is not to see this or anj
other book as a rendering of events but as something that provides insight into
literal
ourselves and the universe. The value of any major work in ait or science lies in its
carrying us to a higher pointin our thinking. We should use literature and art as ve
hides for moving us not only into the world of ideas but also into the realm of great
ideas — ideas that are of substanl lal value to us m understanding truth.
Idealists conceive of people as thinking beings who have minds capable of seek
ing truth through reasoning and of obtaining truth by revelation. They see people as
beings who breathe, eat. and sleep, but above all as thinking beings whose thoughts
ian range from the ridiculous to the sublime For example, Plato believed thai the
lowest kind of thinking should be called mere opinion. )n this level, people's < i
are not well thought out and are usually contradictory. People can aspire to wisdom,
meaning they can improve the way they think and the quality of their ideas Thej can
obtain ideas that are of substantial value and endurance, if not perfecl and eternal
People can come closer to this ideal bv using the thinking of others or with thi
The important p
sistance of others' writings. istodirecl our thinking toward more
t
universal concepts than those employed in the perhineioiv matters ol dav to dav liv
ing. Reading the daily new ipapei lor example, might be useful For learning whal is
happening in the world, but the newspaper does nol generally assisl lis in undei
standing////// something is happening, Tins understanding demands not oruj thought
on our part but also the abilitv to relate the thinking of other, to a l ritical under
the problem Some have contended that the Bible, \4oby Dick, and The
Republic do not speal to our urrenl concerns about pollution, weapons of ma
<
struction, and racial bigotrj The idealist would reph that alt! gh individuals n
n.,i find .per iii' parti< ular problem In such work-, thej an i find
30 CHAPTER 1
issues dealt with in a general way that is more conducive to an understanding of spe-
cificproblems and their solutions. The Bible, for example, deals with the problems of
war and bigotry, and Das Kapital speaks at length about many economic problems
that are still significant. Our failure to deal adequately with our current problems is
not from a lack of facts but from failure to use the facts in relations to great and en-
compassing ideas.
Self-Realization
The idealist emphasis on the mental and spiritual qualities of human beings has led
many idealist philosophers to concentrate on the concept of individuals and their
place in education. This flavor of idealism gives it a subjectivist orientation as op-
posed more objective aspects. The subjectivist side is held by many
to its to be one
of idealism's more redeeming features, especially in regard to education.
Donald Butler, a twentieth-century educator, held that the concern for the
J.
individual is one primary characteristic that makes idealism still viable for modern
people. His analysis of the problem, in Idealism in Education, indicates that self lies
at the center of idealist metaphysics and (we may conclude) at the center of idealist
education. Accordingly, he finds that the self is the prime reality of individual expe-
rience; that ultimate reality can be conceived as a self; and that it might be one self,
a community of selves, or a Universal Self; hence, education becomes primarily con-
cerned with self-realization. Butler quotes Gentile in saying that self-realization is the
ultimate aim of education.
Such a theme has its roots deeply embedded in the idealist tradition. Descartes
placed the thinking self at the base of his metaphysical schema and his methodologi-
cal search with his famous cogito: "I think, therefore I am." Some scholars date mod-
ern subjectivism from this development. Such thinkers as Berkeley further developed
the notion of subjective reality, which led to solipsism on the one hand and skepti-
cism on the other. Berkeley's notion that things do not even exist unless perceived
by the subjective individual mind, or the mind of God, gave impetus to the subjec-
tivist trend of idealist educational thought. Because thinking and knowing are cen-
tral in educational concerns, it is little wonder that idealism has exerted so much
influence on educational views about individual mind and self.
Even though subjectivism is a major wing of idealism, we must not forget another
—
equally powerful idealist notion the relationship of the part to the whole or the sym-
biotic relationship of the self to society. Plato could not even conceive of the individual
apart from a specific place and role in society. This same theme, though enunciated dif-
ferently, can be seen in Augustine's view of the connection of finite human to infinite
God. In the modern era, this theme was perhaps most fully developed by Hegel. He held
that the individual must be related to the whole because only in the setting of the total
relationship can the real significance of a single individual be found. This led Hegel to
assert that individuals find their true meaning in serving the state, a statement that is
close to Plato's idea. Hegel would even go so far as to say that one must relate oneself to
the totality of existence, the cosmos, in order to gain true understanding of oneself.
The impact of these ideas on education is readily apparent in the writings of
Home, Gentile, and Harris, all of whom have influenced modern education. Home,
an American idealist in the early twentieth century, maintained that education is an

account of people finding themselves as an integral pan of a universe of mind. The
learner is a finite personality growing into the likeness of an infinite ideal. Because of
the learner's immaturity, the teacher's role is to guide the learner along the correct
paths toward the infinite. This calls for the teacher to be a well-informed person and
one who has the knowledge and personal qualities necessary to accomplish this feat.
The education of willpower becomes central here because is easy for the learner in it
be lured away from the desired path by the siren calls of corrupt ion and untruth, a
problem often discussed by Augustine and other religious thinkers. For Home, edu-
cation should encourage the "will to perfection" for the student and is an activity
whereby one shapes oneself into the likeness of God a task that requires (Menial hie
for its fulfillment.
Gentile, an Italian idealist, thoughl thai the individual is not only a part of a
community of minds but
connected with the mind of God; hence, all education
also
is religions education. He maintained thai one primary function of education is to
open the soul to God. Harris, an American educator and idealist philosopher, pro-
posed that education should lead people to whai he called "a third level of enlight-
enment." This involves the individual becoming aware of the spiritual nature of all
tilings, including union with God and personal immortality. The influence of Hegel's
thoughl is prominent in Harris's educational philosophy, particularly where he rec

ommends taking the studenl up through insight into the personal nature of the Ab-
solute. For Harris, human development and education are a series of dialectical
experiences.
Many believe that the humanistic psychology of Abraham
II. Maslow reflects an
idealistic philosophical position because of

emphasis on self-realization. Maslow
its
was an American psychologist who. in the beginning, was influenced by Freudian and
behaviorist beliefs. He broke from these beliefs and emphasized freedom and hu-
manity's capacity for self-actualization. Maslow believed that human nature consists
of a hierarchy of needs that are genetic in origin. The most basic needs an- for air,
water, shelter, sleep, and sex. Next are safety and security. \s people become more
secure, they seek love and belollglllgness, self-esteem, and esteem from others
Above these needs is a need for truth, order, justice, and beauty Healthy individu
als. according to Maslow. seek to move up the ladder of needs to achieve their full
potential.
Although self-realization is a central aim of idealist education, this doe-, riot
mean that the self e. realized in isolation idealists believe that the individual sell is
only a part and can have meaning only in a larger context
( Tiaracter Development
Man) idealists .10 concerned with moral character as an outgrowth of thinking and
•
thoughtful actions The movemenl toward wisdom itself, the idealist would argue, n
suits from a moral conviction \11gusl1ne thoughl "I rod as the highest wisdom and
<
the movement toward wi idom (or God) as the highest moral principle Tins con< ept
probably is expressed best bj Hegel, who described the dialectic as a movemi i I
lnglrom the simple to the complex in terms ol Spun trying to understand itsell l i
32 CHAPTER 1
believed that the individual can know God, and he argued against theologians who
said that God is unknowable. Humans achieve their fullest stature when they under-
stand the movement toward wisdom and fully participate in it, according to Hegel.
One of the more prominent advocates of character development as a proper aim
of education was Kant. He made reason, not God, the source of moral law; conse-
quently, the only thing morally valuable is a good will. People who have a good will
know what their duty is and conscientiously seek to do that duty. Kant promoted
what he called a "categorical imperative;" that is, one should never act in any man-
ner other than how one would have all other people act. The proper function of
education, then, is to educate people to know and do their duty in ways that respect
the categorical imperative. This is character education, and idealists generally agree,
as Butler has pointed out, that any education worthy of the name is character edu-
cation. The education of character includes not only a sense of duty but also the de-
velopment of willpower and loyalty.
Home emphasized the education of the will. By this, he meant that students
should be educated to resist temptations and to apply themselves to useful tasks. The
education of the will involves effort because, Home believed, education is directly
proportional to the effort expended. Whereas some educators maintain that children
should follow only their interests, Home held that the development of willpower en-
ables a child to do things that might not be particularly interesting but are extremely
valuable. Even though a person might not be highly inteUigent, Home maintained, ef-
fort would enable the person to achieve far beyond the point to which mere interest
would have taken him or her.
Such idealists as Gentile, who supported the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini,
emphasized the development of loyalty as an important aspect of character educa-
tion. Along with Hegel, Gentile thought that the destiny of the individual is tied to the
destiny of the state and that, consequently, it is necessary for the individual to have
a strong sense of loyalty to the state. Proper character education would thus develop
the attribute of loyalty because an individual without loyalty would be incomplete.
When the teacher acts according to the interests of the state, the true interests of the
student are being met. By the same token, a student's proper role is to abide by the
authority of the teacher.
Methods of Education
Most idealists who look at our schools today are dismayed at what they find. They see
students regimented into studying facts, later becoming specialists of some kind, and
using those specialties with little humane concern for their fellow human beings.
Modern students seem like robots surveying bits and scraps of everything, thereby
obtaining an "education" with little depth, operating on the basis of rules rather than
on inner conviction.
Idealists lean toward studies that provide depth, and they would strongly sug-
gest a modification of the view that things should be studied simply because they are
new or meet material needs. Idealists find that much of the great literature of the past
has more pertinence to contemporary problems than what is considered new and
relevant. Almost any contemporary problem, idealists would argue, has its roots in
the past. Such problems as the relation of the individual to society have been debated
extensively by greal philosophers and thinkers. To ignore what greal minds have to
say in these areas is to ignore the most relevant writings aboul them.
do not favor specialized learning as much as Learning that is holistic.
Idealists
They ask us to see the whole rather than a disjointed collection of parts. The holistic
approach leads to a more liberal attitude toward learning. Although such subjects as
the natural sciences are useful, they are of maximum value only when they help us
see the whole picture.
Plato believed that the best method of learning was the dialectic. Through this
critical method of thinking, he believed, the individual could see things en toto. The
Republic, which is essentially the fruit of dialectical thinking, attempted to integrate
a wide range of learning into a meaningful whole. Plato believed thai we can develop
our ideas in ways that achieve syntheses and universal concepts. This method can be
learned, but it requires a critical attitude, a background
in mathematics, and ex-
tended study. The dialectic is a winnowing-oul process in which ideas are put into
battle against each other, with the more substantial ideas enduring the fray.
Although this method is not often used m schools today, the dialectic was
widely used as an educational technique throughout the Middle Ages. Ideas were to
be placed in the arena of battle: only if they emerged victorious would there be some
reason for believing in them. Churchmen, such as Peter Abelard, used the dialectic
in vindicating the truths of Jhristian doctrine. Abelard's famous Sic el Non was a way
(
of looking at both sides of the question and allowing the truth to emerge.
In addition to dialectical method, some idealists maintain that truth also is re-
ceived through intuition and revelation. Augustine practiced the dialectic but he also
put great stress on the intuitive approach to knowledge. His argument was that rod, I
the Inner Light of human beings, could speak to us if we made ourselves receptive
Augustine believed that we should reject materialistic concerns as much as possible
sothat we can at tune ourselves with God. One still finds this approach usedinmonas
teries or in contemplative religious ordi
Even outside strictly religious schools, most idealists advocate a conceptual
method thai includes both the dialectic and the intuitive approach to Learning. Plato
held that one docs not learn as much from nature as from dialogues with Other people
Augustine believed thai although one maj be blind and deaf, incapable of anj peT
ception through the senses, one still can learn all the important truths and reach God.
Many modern idealists champion the idea of Learning through the dialectic or
contemplation, but these methods are not as widelj applied ;is thej once were
Today, some idealists lean more toward the study of ideas through the use of cla
cal works or writings and art thai express greal ideas Idealists do believe, however,
that an\ stud) ol greal books should be undertaken with experienced leadership and
with an emphasis on the comprehension ol ideas rather than on the mere merrn i
t ion an; would insist on a seminar ty]

ation ol information Thej finstru<
Hon with opportunitj for ample dialogue between teacher and student Furthem
idealists attracted to sue h an approai h would emphasize those ideas that have p<
•
mai value thai thai have withstood the tesl "t timi
34 CHAPTER 1
Although one might easily see how this idealist approach can be applied to college-
level education, might not be so apparent how it could be used in elementary and
it
secondary schools. One must be clear on the purpose of learning. The idealist is not
concerned primarily with turning out graduates with specific technical skills but with
giving students a broad understanding of the world in which they live. The curricu-
lum revolves around broad concepts rather than specific skills. In elementary and
preschool education, students are encouraged to develop habits of understanding,
patience, tolerance, and hard work that will assist them later when they undertake
more substantial studies. This is not to say that students cannot learn some impor-
tant ideas at any age, but the earliest years of education prepare the student by de-
veloping the skills to undertake more in-depth work later.
The idealist emphasizes the importance of the teacher. The teacher should not
only understand the various stages of learning but also maintain constant concern
about the ultimate purposes of learning. Some idealists stress the importance of em-
ulation in learning because they believe that the teacher should be the kind of per-
son we want our children to become. Idealists have used Socrates as a prototype of
learning and as a model for emulation.
Butler maintains that modern idealist educators like to think of themselves as
creators of methods rather than as mere imitators. They prefer alternative ways of
approaching learning, but they still like to see at least an informal dialectic in opera-
tion. In questioning and discussion sessions during which the dialectic operates, the
teacher should help students see alternatives they might otherwise have missed. Al-
though the dialectical process can be informal, it should not become a mere pooling
of the ignorance of immature students; the teacher should participate to maintain the
integrity of the process.
The lecture method still has a place in the idealist's methodology, but lecture is
viewed more as a means of stimulating thought than as merely a conveyance of in-
formation. In fact, some idealist teachers discourage note taking so students will con-
centrate on the basic ideas. To the idealist, the chief purpose of a lecture is to help
students comprehend ideas. Idealists also use such methods as projects, supple-
mental activities, library research, and artwork. Such diverse activities however,
grow out of the topic of study at hand. This illustrates the idealists' desire to show
the unity of knowledge and their dislike for random and isolated activity.
One cardinal objective of idealism and idealistic education is the ancient
Greek directive to "know thyself." Self-realization is, as noted previously, an impor-
tant aim of education; hence, idealists stress the importance of self-directed activity
in education. In essence, they believe that a true education occurs only within the
individual Although teachers cannot get inside students' minds, they can pro-
self.
vide materials and activities that influence learning. The response of the learner to
these materials and activities constitutes education. The sources of this action are
personal and private because, to the idealist, all education is self-education. Teach-
ers must recognize that they cannot always be present when learning occurs and
should attempt to stimulate students so that learning continues even when the
teacher is not present. The project method is one concrete example of self-directed
IDEALISM AND ED IT CAT ON I 35
activity. The idealist insists only that the nature of any such activity be on a high
plane of thought.
Curriculum
Although not underemphasizing the development of a curriculum, idealists stress
that the most important factor in educational any level is to teach students to think.
The psychologist Jean Piagel and others have shown thai is reasonable to expeel it
students to demonstrate some critical regard tor the material they are exposed to at
various stages of development, even with nurserj tales thai are read to them
Idealists generally agree, however, thai mans educational materials used by
students are inadequate. Uthough the materials might help teach such skills as read
ing, idealists do not understand why such skills cannol he taughl in ways thai also de-
velop conceptual ability. ( )ne mighl argue thai i he McGuffey readers, widely used in
schools in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, taught thestudenl some
thing in addition to reading. They fostered ideas aboul parental relationships, God,
morality, and patriotism. A counterargument mighl be thai these are the wrong kinds
of concepts, hut are the more recenl sterile readers used in schools an improvement?
Although most idealists claim thai they are opposed to die use of reading ma-
terial for indoctrination, they do riol see why reading material cannot, while it is help-
ing a student learn to read, encourage thinking aboul ideas involving humaneness,
truth, and fair play. Although few hooks and materials for children express such
ideas, idealists still believe that the teacher should encourage a consideration of ideas
in the classroom \ teacher should help students explore curriculum materials for
ideas aboul the purposes of life, family, the nature of peer pressures, and the prob
lems of growing up.

With older students, our can use materials that are more appropriate to their
age. Treasure Island, The Adventures oj Tom Sawyer, and Peter Pan are well win
ten and lend themselves admirably to a discussion of ideas for high scl students, I
even more idea-engendering material is available: The Iliad] Hamlet; Twice Told
Tales; and Wind, Sand, and Stars. Because these materials are already used in some
classrooms, one mighl wonder what is so special aboul the waj idealists would use
them. Idealists charge thai teachers are not always equipped to use such materials tor
the ideas contained in them. Such hooks could become, in the eyes ol teachers and
students, another hurdle to gel over of kstobe read
another benchmark or lisl i
Idealists believe that ideas can change lives was once iue|e|\ an < 'hrisl iaml.\
idea, and so was Marxism, hut such ideas have transformed whole so. Miles [deali its
think thai humans can become more noble and rational bj developing the ability to
thmk Thej have encouraged the use ol the classics tor humanizing learning experi
ences. Whatever factors are involved in human Jutionarj past the idealist
holds thai the most importanl part of one's bein mind It is to be nourished
and developed ii can accumulate facts, bul il also can conceptualize and create
[dealisl ' this important con ideration ol mind Thej
add thai even when the i often are required to men
36 CHAPTER 1
dates and names without due attention to the creative aspects of the mind. Creativ-
ity willbe encouraged when students are immersed in the creative thinking of oth-
ers and when they are stimulated to think reflectively. This can come about only in
an environment that promotes the use of the mind.
Although some idealist educators stress classical studies, this does not mean
that such studies are all they emphasize. Indeed, some idealists recommend studies
that are distinctly modern. For example, Harris developed a curriculum centered
around five studies: mathematics and physics, biology, literature and art, grammar,
and history. Home suggested seven major studies: physics, biology, psychology,
mathematics, grammar, literature, and history. Harris and Home believed that these
areas are important enough to be considered on every curriculum level and broad
enough to contain even elective studies.
The sciences are represented heavily in both of these recommendations. This in-
dicates that such idealists as Harris and Home did not disregard the development of
new knowledge. Neither Harris nor Home saw any incompatibility between studies in
the liberal arts and the natural sciences. In fact, they maintained that a more complete
understanding of the universe necessitates studies in both the arts and the sciences.
Role of the Teacher

Idealists have given considerable attention not only to the search for truth but also
to the persons involved in it. The teacher whom idealists favor is philosophically ori-
ented, can assist students in choosing important material, and infuses them with a
desire to improve their thinking in the deepest possible way Perhaps the best way to
understand this is by looking at Socrates as a prototype of the teacher the idealists
would like to have. Socrates spent much time analyzing and discussing ideas with
others, and he was deeply committed to action based on reflection. The idealist-
oriented teacher would seek to have these Socratic characteristics and would encour-
age students to better their thinking and their lives on the basis of such thinking.
Idealists are, in general, greatly concerned with character development, which they
believe should be one of the foremost goals of a good education.
Idealist philosophy is also concerned with the student as one who has enormous
potential for moral and cognitive growth. The idealist tends to see the individual as
a person whose moral values need to be considered and developed by the school. Al-
though the idealist might not always be willing to give "evil" an objective existence,
it is present in the sense that students may choose things that are harmful. There-
fore, ideaUsts maintain, the school has an obligation to present students with ideal
models for development, and they would agree with Plato that religious ideas should
be presented in ways students can use for guidance.
From the idealist's perspective, the teacher is in a unique and important posi-
tion. The teacher's duty is to encourage students to ask questions and to provide a
suitable environment for learning. The teacher exercises judgment about the kinds of
materials that are most important and encourages diligent study of material that is of
more ultimate worth. In this view, teaching is a high moral calling, and teachers should
—
serve as exemplary models persons after whom students can pattern their lives.
The idealisl position has ramifications for the waj we look al the individual.
Rather than seeing people simply as biological organisms in nature, idealists see them
as the possessors of an "inner light," amind or soul. For religious idealists, the stu-
dent is important as a creation of God and carries within some of the godliness that
the school should sock to develop. Most idealists, whether religious or not, have a
deep feeling about the individual's inner powers (such as intuition), which must be
accounted for in any true education. Too much of what passes for education deals
with tilling a person with something rather than bringing out what is there the
truths that already exist. As discussed earlier. Plato spoke of the Doctrine of Remi-
niscence, whereby the soul regains the true knowledge lost by being placed in the it
"prison house" of the body. The dialectic is the tool for regaining this lost wisdom.
Augustine thought that truth is inherent in the soul of the individual. Education
isthe process of bringing these truths to the surface; because many of these truths
are directly related to God, education is the process of salvation. Education can he
conceived as consisting not only of the dialectic but also of the technique of medita
tion to bring out truths already possessed by the soul. This outlook on education was
characteristic of medieval monastic education, in which salvation was to he achieved
not by direct action hut by meditation. Even today, many religious institutions prac
t ice such an approach as a part of students' formal training. Some church schools still
set aside a portion of time for students to meditate on ultimate meanings.
CRITIQUE OF IDEALISM IN EDUCATION

Idealism often is considered a conservative philosophy of education because much of
its thrust is to preserve the cultural traditions. This is borne out by an examination
of idealists' concern lor perennial and ultimate truths and their notion that education
is matter of passing on the cultural heritage. Many adherents poinl
largely a to the
strengths of idealism, such as the following:
• The high cognitive level of education that ide;ilisls promote

• Their concern lor safeguarding and promoting cultural learning.
• Their great concern lor morality and character development.
• Their view of the teacher as a revered person central to the educational proi
• Their stress on the importance of self realization
• human and personal side of life
Their stress on the
• Their comprehensive, systematic, and holistic approach
Historically, the influence of idealism on education ha ong that even

todaj it is hard to find that do not in some waj reflect idealist prim iples \i
though idealism's influence ha >othei philosophy ha

affected education for so long Beginning with Plato in the fourth centurj
through scholastic ism in the Middli Kant and Hegel, and up i" the twi
i
idealism has been a dominant f<
ontributed to a weakening of idealisi contemporary

lam, Industrialization and te< hnologii al advances have taken their toll, developm
38 CHAPTER 1
in science have brought about fundamental challenges to idealistic principles, the re-
newed vigor of realism and naturalistic philosophies has put more emphasis on the ma-
terial as opposed to ideal aspects of life, and the contemporary emphasis on newness
as opposed to cultural heritage and lasting values has eroded the idealist position.
Many idealists counter that certain ideas contained in traditional writings, some
written more than 2,000 years ago, are as relevant today as ever. They maintain, with
Ecclesiastes, that "There is nothing new under the sun" because many problems that
we face today are problems that philosophers and others faced long ago. Plato, for
example, dealt extensively with the problems of government, society, individuality,
and language.
Opponents of idealism have long searched for ways to get around what to them
is the conservative nature of idealism. In effect, they object primarily to its funda-
mental premises. For example, the idealist notion of a finished and absolute universe
waiting to be discovered has hindered progress in science and the creation of new
ideas and processes. If one accepts the concept of absolute ideas, it is not possible to
go beyond those ideas without questioning or doubting their absoluteness. This was
one chief problem that modern science had in gaining acceptance, for science is
premised on tentativeness and hypotheses rather than on stability and axioms. In-
deed, modern science is characterized by physicist Werner Heisenberg's indetermi-
nacy principle, which holds that one cannot accurately measure simultaneously the
position and the momentum of a subatomic particle; that is, the act of measuring one
property will alter the other. In addition, Albert Einstein's theory of relativity has
been used to challenge the idealist assertion of a fixed universe.
Still another cause of the weakening of idealism is the historical decline of the
influence of traditional religion in contemporary affairs. Because idealism has been

linked intimately with traditional religion, the weakening of the one has led to the
weakening of the other. Indications are, however, that the decline in religion might
be changing. Although the influence of traditional organized religion has decreased,
interest has increased in mysticism, Eastern religious thought, and various forms of
meditation that take new directions from the more traditional religious views. In ad-
dition, a resurgence of evangelical Christianity in recent years has placed consider-
able emphasis on education of the young. These developments usually have idealistic
underpinnings, especially in their views on the proper aims and content of schooling.
From the standpoint of education, several issues need further scrutiny. The ide-
alist influence on education has been immense, but that influence might not always
have been beneficial. Although idealist education has emphasized the cognitive side
of humankind, it has tended toward intellectualism to the detriment of the affective
and physical sides. It also has often ignored the many people who find its cognitive
emphasis narrow and pedantic. This has led to the charge that idealism leans toward
intellectual elitism.
The problem of elitism goes deep into idealism's roots. Plato advocated an in-
tellectual elite of philosopher-kings. Augustine argued for the superiority of the

monastic life over the secular because of the higher quality of mind and intelligence
tobe found there: Monks were a select group set aside for special treatment. Idealists
have tended to view formal education not for the masses, but for a chosen few who
could understand and appreciate it properly; consequently, they have concentrated

on education upper classes of society, particularly for those going into leader-
for the
ship positions in government or the church. This factor often has led formal educa-
tion to be viewed as a luxury, available only to the privileged few To the extent that
idealist regimes have tried to extend at leas! some formal schooling to the public, the
view has been that vocational and technical studies are sufficient for the masses,
whereas liberal studies are suitable only for the elite. Although not all idealists have
thought this way, the tendency toward elitism generally has been recognized.
John Paul Strain stated that one has to go back several years in the journals on
education to find an article on idealism. One might think that this conspicuous ab-
sence indicates thai idealism is no longer a viable philosophy of education: yet, the
reverse is true, Strain stated. When people refer to idealism as a philosophy of edu
cation, they generallymean Hegelian idealism, which vvasdominanl in the nineteenth
century and influenced such thinkers as Dewey and Home. Although is difficult it
today to find philosophers of education who are true idealists, idealism docs exist in
the thought patterns of American edneat ion. It focuses on heritage and culture, read-
ing and writing, and intelligence and morality. We also might add to this list such
things as respect for parental authority, law and order, discipline, and patriotism.
Strain says that the thought pattern of idealism also encourages progress, strong in-
stitutions, self-control, discipline, and the importance of education.

Strain's views might relied why many philosophers of education have not
wished to be identified with idealism -with its religions character on the one hand
and its subservience to political authority on the other. Hegel believed that the best
form of government was a constitutional monarchy, and Strain favors a similar ap-
proach to government today. Strain is correct when he says that idealism still flour
ishesasa historical pattern ofthoughl that exerts a powerful, often subtle influence
on our thinking.
Hegel's influence also runs counter to political subservience and has lent itseli
to educational philosophies of liberation. According to Carlos Tories, Hegelian phi
losophy had a major impact on the thought of Paulo Freire, a Brazilian philosopher
of education in the lata twentieth century. Uthough phenomenology, existentialism,
christian personalism. and humanist Marxism heavily influenced Freire, Hegel's phi
losophy was a key element in Krone's political thought, especially as developed in his
best-known work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed Freire used Hegelian dialectics to an

alyze the relationships between self-consciousness and social consciousness, and
how such dialectical tensions figure m domination, tear, and cultural transformation
However, Freire wenl beyond Hegel's logical structures to a synthesis that is
political and transformative, for Freire, education involves the act of knowing, but it
is not merely transmitting facts and is not necessarih carried oul in classr
it s
Traditional concepts education should be secondary to the kind ol education thai

"i
is based on shared experience and critical reflection The crucial element ol edui a
tion is not wrapped up m the Hegelian dialectii as logii al argumentation, but in |
,nd the logical structures of reason t" actual pra< pro is in the experitii e (or > i
enced world. Thus. edui ation musl move beyond idealism to emancipation and lib
eration in the world of ai tual experien
40 CHAPTER 1
According to Torres, the foundation of Freire's philosophical and educational

methodology lies in heightened conscious awareness and socially transformative ac-
tion. Like Hegel, Freire believed education is an act of theoretical and practical reason,
but it also should have consequences leading to liberation from domination op-
political
pression of the masses, and oppressions related to class, race, and gender.
Despite its generalist approach to studies, idealism is sometimes susceptible to
the charge of shortsightedness with regard to the affective and physical aspects of
human nature. If we include in our definition of affective not only the aesthetic but
also the emotional and personal-social side of life, then such a charge gains credence.
An idealist curriculum can be overly bookish, and although attending to books is not
bad in itself, if we fail to recognize students' emotional and social needs, then we are
not attending to the complete person. Idealists claim to be holistic and universal, yet
when their cognitive and bookish approach becomes extreme, they seem to fail to
take their own advice about holism. For example, it is one thing to learn about human
nature from reading enduring scholarly treatises on the subject, but it is another to
engage purposefully in social relationships with fellow human beings in the everyday
world. Reading extensively about "goodness" does not make someone good. Conse-
quently, idealist knowledge is often only armchair knowledge rather than the insight
that comes from interaction with other people.
In recent years, the idealist curriculum has come increasingly under attack for
lacking relevance. Idealists have offered some compelling defenses, but an element
of truth in the charge will not go away. To the extent that some idealists concentrate
only on works of the past, the charge gains credibility. Certainly, the great writings of
the past might provide insights, and we should study them, but this does not mean
that we should ignore contemporary ideas and writings.
One claim made by idealists is that they give more attention to the development of
character than do advocates of other philosophies. This is probably true, but it also raises
serious questions as to why idealists are so concerned with character development and
what kind of character they want to develop. Often, what purports to be character devel-
opment in idealist philosophy is conformity and subservience on the part of the learner.
Harris, for example, said that the first rule to be taught to students is order; students
should be taught to conform to general standards and to repress everything that interferes
with the function of the school. More explicitly, students should have their lessons ready
on time, rise at the tap of the bell, and learn habits of silence and cleanliness. One might
well question whether this is character development or training for docility.
This kind of character training might assist in educational and social stability,
but it is often at the expense of creativity and self-direction. The kind of character
training that idealists promote also might —
make students gullible willing to accept
ready-made ideas without serious examination. Many of the so-called great ideas, for
example, rest on premises or assumptions that are questionable and, in the final
analysis, might be socially harmful. Gentile and Royce, for example, spent much time
dealing with the concept of loyalty as central to the development of character. Al-
though loyalty might be socially useful in some cases, it also may be harmful when it
encourages the learner to submerge all questioning and intellectual independence
with regard to concepts involving church, state, or school.
Some idealists, such as Butler, emphasize the self-realization aspect of charac-

ter education; yet, such self-realization often is seen as a derivative of a Universal
Self. Hence, even under a softer idealist approach, the Individual Self is subsumed
under a larger and more important concern—thai is. the Universal Self or God. This
line of reasoning can be traced back to Hegel, who saw the individual person achiev-
ing meaning by serving the stale.
Another aspect of idealist philosophy that deserves attention is the contention
that the primary function î' philosophy is to search for and disseminate truths. One
finds this view elaborated by Plat o, who believed that truth is perfect and eternal. Even
today, idealists point out that the search for wisdom is a search for truth an ongoing
pursuit that each new generation of students must undertake, although the final art
swers might always be the same. This viewpoint leads to a type of slaticism; the as-
sumption is that we have the truth already at hand. The danger in this belief is that it
discourages a search for new ideas and develops dogmatism and a false sense of secu-
rity. Although idealists maintain that modern individuals are too relative and tentative
in their tJiiiuong, the absoluteness of many idealists might be a more serious weakness.
Although this attitude characterizessome idealists, others have a more plural-
istic conception of truth, maintaining that there might be many truths rather than
one, not only for the sake of new knowledge but also for the intellectual stimulal ion
provided. Like all other philosophies, idealism has many shades and meanings, and it
would be grossly unfair to lump all Each thinker describes or re-

idealists together.
interprets ideas in light ol his or her experiences, and thus no two are the same. Ideal-
ists do, however, share certain views in such areas as character development and the
importance of education.
PLATO
THE REPUBLIC
The Republic one oj the greatest expressions oj idealist philosophy

often has been considered
and i'hih,\ most thorough statement on education Writing in thefourth century Plat .
Utopian ieu oj human society It was not unusual for him to depu t central ideas
,
i
inaU format In this rates attempting to explain how achu
higfu thought (thinking philosophically) is akin to prisoners est aping from theii
,i
piatt , ,
>,, painful difficulty of the ascent toward wis
""'
dam and its potentially dan
vnddeath
And •
ure how Ear hood, and hav< theii leg! and na lea chained so thai
our nature enlightened or unenlightened

is Behold! .hi nut move, and i an onh i them,
human beings living in an underground den, which prevenu d bj the chains from turning round
mouth open towards the light and reaching all their heads tt> hind them •> On
along the den; hi from their child
42 CHAPTER 1
I here is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a Far truer.
low wall built along the way, like the screen which And if he is compelled to look straight at the
marionette players have in front of them, over which light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will
they show the puppets. make him turn away to take refuge in the objects of
I see. vision which he can see, and which he will conceive
And do you see, I said, men passing along the to be in reality clearer than the things which are now
wall carrying all and statues and fig-
sorts of vessels, being shown to him?
ures of animals made of wood and stone and various True, he said.
materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly
are talking, others silent. dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast
You have shown me a strange image, and they until he is forced into the presence of the sun himself,
are strange prisoners. is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he
Like ourselves, and they see only their
I replied; approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he
own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which will not be able to see anything at all of what are now
the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave? called realities.
True, he said; how could they see anything but the Not all in a moment, he said.
shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads? He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of
And of the objects which are being carried in the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best,
like manner they would only see the shadows? next the reflections of men and other objects in the wa-
Yes, he said. ter,and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze
Aid if they were able to converse with one an- upon the light of the moon and the stars and the span-
other, would they not suppose that they were naming gled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by
what was actually before them? night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?
Very true. Certainly.
And suppose further that the prison had an echo Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not
which came from the other side, would they not be sure mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see
to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the him in his own proper place, and not in another; and
voice which they heard came from the passing shadow? he will contemplate him as he is.
No question, he replied. Certainly.
To them, I said, the truth would be literally He will then proceed to argue that this is he
nothing but the shadows of the images. who gives the season and the years, and is the
That is certain. guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a cer-
Aid now look again, and see what will naturally tain way the cause of all things which he and his fel-
follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of lows have been accustomed to behold?
their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and
compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck then reason about him.
round and walk and look towards the light, he will suf- And when he remembered his old habitation,
fer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners,
be unable to see the realities of which in his former do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on
state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive the change, and pity them?
some one saying to him, that what he saw before was Certainly, he would.
an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching And if they were in the habit of conferring hon-
nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real ors among themselves on those who were quickest to
existence, he has a clearer vision, —
what will be his re- observe the passing shadows and to remark which of
ply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is them went before, and which followed after, and
pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him which were together; and who were therefore best
to name them, —
will he not be perplexed? Will he not able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think
fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are that he would care for such honors and glories, or envy
truer than the objects which are now shown to him? the possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer,
IDEALISM AND ED IT CATION 43
"Better to be the poor servant of a poor master," Yes, verj natural

and toendure anything, rather than think as thej do \nd is there anything surprising in one who
and live alter their manner? passes loin divine contemplations to the
i evil state of
Yes, he said. think that he would rather suffer

I man, misbehaving himself in a ridiculous manner; if,
anything than entertain these false notions and live in while his eyes are blinking and before he has become
this miserable manner. accustomed to the surrounding darkness, he is com
Imagine once more, said, such a one coming sud-
1 pelled to Bghl in courts of law, orin other places.
denly ent of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; aboul the images or the shadows of images of justice,
would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness? and is endeavoring to meel the conceptions of those
To be sure, he said. w ho have never yel seen absolute justice?

And if there were a contest, and he had to com- Anything bul surprising, he replied.
pete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who \n\ one who has common sense will remember
had never rnovi doul "Id he den, while hissighl was si ill that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and
weak, and before his eyes had become steadj (and the arise from two causes, either from coming oul of the
time which would he needed to acquire this new hahit lighl or from going into the light, which is true of the
of sighl mighl he very considerable), would he net he mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he
ridiculous? Men would say of him thai up lie wont and who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision
down he came without his eyes; and that was better it is perplexed and weak, will not helooioad\ to laugh; he
not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to will first ask whether that soul of man has come oul of
loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only the brighter life, and is unable to see because unaccus
catch the offender, and they would put him to death. tomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to
No question, he said. the day is dazzled h.\ excess of light. And he will counl
This entire allegory, 1 you maj new ap-
said, the one happy in his condition and state of being, and he
pend, dear Glaucon, to the previous argument; the will pity the other; or. if he have a mind to laugh al the
prison-house is the world of sight, the lighl of die fire soul which conies from below into the light, there will be
is the sun. and you will not misapprehend me ifyou more reason in this than in the laugh which greets him
interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the who returns from above oul of the lighl into the don.
soul into the intellectual world according to m That, he said, is a verj just distinction.
belief, which, at have expressed

your desire. I Bul then, if I am right, certain professors ofed
whether rightlj or wrongly God knows But, whether ucation must be wrong when thej say thai thi
true or false, my opinion is that in the world of knowl- put a knowledge into the soul which was nol there be-
edge the idea ot good appears last "I all. and fore, like sighl into blind eyes
only with an effort; and. when seen, is also inferred to They undoubtedly say this, he replied.
he the universal author of all things beautiful and Whereas, our argument shows that the power
right, parent oflighl and of the lord of lighl in thisvis- and capacity of learning exists in the soul alreadj and .
ible world, and the immediate SOUTi «1 and thai just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness
truth in the intellectual; and thai tins is the power to light without thewhole body, so too the instrument
upon winch he who would acl rationally either in pub of knowledge an < movement of the whole
onlj by the
lie or private life must have his eye fixed

soul be turned from the world ol becoming into thai
m able to under- of being, and learn bj to endure the sighl ol
stand and ol the brightest and best ol being, oi in

Mop :
you must not wonder thai those other word
beatific vision are unwilling to di
to hurt nginto
theupi " todwell;whi( i
oftheii natural, if our alii Yorl Dolphii

.
44 CHAPTER 1
KANT
1DUCATION
Kant believed that education is "the greatest and most difficult problem to which man can de-
vote himself. "In the following selection, he shows how education can be used to shape human
character through maxims, or enduring principles for human activity. Although written in
the eighteenth century, this essay shows a decidedly contemporary concern for child develop-
ment and learning through activities. Kant stressed character development and a commitment
to duty. This concern is illustrated in his descriptions of various maxims and how they should
give certain results.
Moral culture must be based upon "maxims," later"maxims" of mankind. At first the child obeys
not upon discipline; the one prevents evil habits, the rules."Maxims" are also rules, but subjective rules.
other trains the mind to think. We must see, then, that They proceed from the understanding of man. No in-
the child should accustom himself to act in accor- fringement of school discipline must be allowed to go
dance with "maxims," and not from certain ever- unpunished, although the punishment must always
changing springs of action. Through discipline we fit the offence.
form certain habits, moreover, the force of which be- If we wish to form the characters of children,
comes lessened in the course of years. The child it is of the greatest importance to point out to them a
should learn to act according to "maxims," the rea- certain plan, and certain rules, in everything; and
sonableness of which he is able to see for himself. One these must be strictly adhered to. For instance, they
can easily see that there is some difficulty in carrying must have set times for sleep, for work, and for plea-
out this principle with young children, and that moral sure; and these times must be neither shortened nor
culture demands a great deal of insight on the part of lengthened. With indifferent matters children might
parents and teachers. be allowed to choose for themselves, but having once
Supposing a child tells a lie, for instance, he made a rule they must always follow it. We must, how-
ought not to be punished, but treated with contempt, ever, form in children the character of a child, and not
and he will not be believed in the future, and
told that the character of a citizen. . .
the you punish a child for being naughty, and

like. If Above all things, obedience is an essential fea-
reward him for being good, he will do right merely for ture in the character of a child, especially of a school
the sake of the reward; and when he goes out into the boy or girl. This obedience is twofold, including ab-
world and finds that goodness is not always re- solute obedience to his master's commands, and obe-
warded, nor wickedness always punished, he will dience to what he feels to be a good and reasonable
grow into a man who only thinks about how he may will. Obedience may be the result of compulsion; it is
get on in the world, and does right or wrong accord- then absolute: Or it may arise out of confidence; it is
ing as he finds either of advantage to himself. then obedience of the second kind. This voluntary
"Maxims" ought to originate in the human obedience is very important, but the former is also
being as such. In moral training we should seek early very necessary, for it prepares the child for the ful-
to infuse into children ideas as to what is right and fillment of laws that he will have to obey later, as a
wrong. If we wish to establish morality, we must abol- citizen, even though he may not like them.
ish punishment. Morality something so sacred and

is Children, then, must be subject to a certain law
sublime that we must it by placing it in
not degrade of necessity. This law, however, must be a general
the same rank as discipline. The first endeavour in —
one a rule which has to be kept constantly in view,
moral education is the formation of character. Char- especially in schools. The master must not show any
acter consists in readiness to act in accordance with predilection or preference for one child above others;
"maxims." At first they are school "maxims," and for thus the law would cease to be general. As soon as
;
a child sees thai the other children are nol all placed the punishment is artificial. Bj taking into considera-
under the same rules as himself, lu- will at once be- tion thecluMs desire In he loved and respected, such
come refractory. punishments maj be chosen as will have a lasting ef
One often hears it said that we should put feet upon its character. Physical punishments must
everything before children in such a way that thej mereh supplement the insufficiency of moral punish-
shall do it from inclination. In some cases, is true, it ment. If moral punishment have no effect at all. and
this is all very well, hut there is much besides which we have at last to resort to physical punishment, we
we must place before them as duty. Am 1 1 his u ill he of shall find after all that no good character is formed in
greal use to them throughout their life. For in the pay- this way. At the beginning, however, physical restraint
ing of rates and taxes, in the work of the office, and in may serve to take the place of reflection.
many other cases, we must be led, not by inclination, Punishments inflicted with signs ol ang*
hut by duty. Even though a child should not he able to useless, children then look upon the punishment sim-
see the reason of a duty, i' is nevertheless better that ply as the result of anger,and upon themselves mereb
certain things should he prescribed to him in this waj as the victims oi that anger; ami as a general rule pun
lor. after all. a child will always hi- able to see that he ishment must be inflicted on children with great can
has certain duties as a child, while it will he more dil tion. that thej maj understand that its one aim is their
ficult for him to see that he has certain duties as a improvement. It is foolish to cause children, when thej
human being. Were he able to understand this also are punished, to return thanks for the punishment by
which, however, will only he possible 1
in the course ol kissing hands, and only turns the child into a slave. If
years — his obedience would he still more perfect physical punishment is often repeated, n makes a child
Every transgression of a command m a child is Stubborn; and if parents punish their children for oh
a want of obedience, and this brings punishment stinacy, they often become all the more obstinate. Be-
with it. Also, should a command be disobeyed through sides, ii is not always the worst men who are obstinate,
inattention, punishment is still necessarj This pun- and they will often yield easily to kind remonstrance
ishment is either physical or moral It is moral when The obedience of the growing youth must he
we do something derogatory to the child's longing to distinguished from the obedience of the rhihi The
be honoured and loved (a longing which is an aid to former consists in submission to rules of duty. To do
moral training); for instance, when we humiliate the something for the sake of duty means obeying reason
child by treatinghim coldly and distantly. This longing Ii is in vain to sjieak to children of duty. Thej look
of children should, however, be cultivated as much as upon it m the end as something which if not fulfilled
possible. Hence this kind of punishmi nt is thi Will he followed hy the rod A child liia.\ he guided h\
since it is an aid to moral training - for instance if a mere instinct \s he grows up. however, the idea o|
child tells a contempt is punishment

lie. a look of duty must come in. Also the idea of shame should not
enough, and punishment ofa most appropriate kind. he made use oi with hildren, but onk with those who (
Physical punishment consists either m refus have left childhood for youth. For it cannot exist with
Ulg a child's requests or in the infliction of pain The them till the idea of honour has first taken root
first is moral punishment, and is ol a negative
akin to The second principal feature in the formation of
kind. The second form must he used with caution, lest a child's charai teris truthfulness This is the founds
an ind is should be the result It is of no use tion and verj essence of character \ man who tells
children rewards; this makes them selfish, and lies has no harai ter, and in- has am good in him
. ii it
to an indoles nun enai "> is mereh the result ol a ertain kind ol temperament 1
Further, obedience is either that of the child or Si children have an inclination towards lying, and
die youth Disobedient followed bj i
quentlj for no other reason than thai thej have
punishment This is either reallj natural punish- .1 a livelj imagination it is the fathei
which a man hnngs upon himsell bj I that ti 1 iken "I this habit, i"i mot!
iur foi from ! ally look upon it as a matter of little or no import

land oi punishment inding in it a flattei
since a man is subject toil throuj tnd not and ahilii\ oi then . hildren Tin is the time to make
hand. .1 the child in it
46 CHAPTER 1
understand it well. The blush of shame betrays us thispurpose best, and they will soon make their
when we lie, but it is not always a proof of it, for we of- minds bright and cheerful again. . . .
ten blush at the shamelessness of others who accuse Children should only be taught those things
us of guilt. On no condition must we punish children which are suited" to their age. Many parents are
to force the truth from them, unless their telling a lie pleased with the precocity of their offspring; but as a
immediately results in some mischief; then they may rule, nothing will come of such children. A child
be punished for that mischief. The withdrawal of re- should be clever, but only as a child. He should not
spect is the only fit punishment for lying. ape the manners of his elders. For a child to provide
Punishments may be divided into negative and himself with moral sentences proper to manhood is to
positive punishments. The first may be applied to go quite beyond his province and to become merely
laziness or viciousness; for instance, lying, disobedi- an imitator. He ought to have merely the understand-
ence. Positive punishment may be applied to acts of ing of a child, and not seek to display it too early. A
spitef ulness. But above all things we must take care precocious child will never become a man of insight
never to bear children a grudge. and clear understanding. It is just as much out of
A third feature in the child's character is socia- place for a child to follow all the fashions of the time,
bleness. He must form friendships with other chil- to curl his hair, wear ruffles, and even carry a snuff-
dren, and not be always by himself. Some teachers, it box. He will thus acquire affected manners not be-
is true, are opposed to these friendships in schools, coming to a child. Polite society is a burden to him,
but this is a great mistake. Children ought to prepare and he entirely lacks a man's heart. For that very rea-
themselves for the sweetest enjoyment of life. son we must set ourselves early to fight against all
If a teacher allows himself to prefer one child to signs of vanity in a child; or, rather, we must give him
another, it must be on account of its character, and no occasion to become vain. This easily happens by
not for the sake of any talents the child may possess; people prattling before children, telling them how
otherwise jealousy will arise, which is opposed to beautiful they are, and how well this or that dress be-
friendship. comes them, and promising them some finery or
Children ought to be open-hearted and cheer- other as a reward. Finery is not suitable for children.
ful in their looks as the sun.A joyful heart alone is able They must accept their neat and simple clothes as
to find its happiness in the good. A religion which necessaries merely.
makes people gloomy is a false religion; for we should At the same time the parents must not set great
serve God with a joyful heart, and not of constraint. store by their own clothes, nor admire themselves; for
Children should sometimes be released from here, as everywhere, example is all-powerful, and ei-
the narrow constraint of school, otherwise their natu- ther strengthens or destroys good precepts.
ral will soon be quenched. When the child
joyousness
is he soon recovers his natural elasticity.
set free
Source: Immanuel Kant, Education, translated by Annette
Those games in which children, enjoying perfect free- Charton. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1960,
dom, are ever trying to outdo one another, will serve pp. 83-94.
SELECTED READINGS
Butler, J. Donald. Idealism in Education. New York: Harper and Row, 1966. A compact and
insightful treatment of philosophical idealism in contemporary education. This book is a
good starting point for examining idealism in education.
Kant, Emmanuel. Education Translated bj Annette Charton. \nn ^rbor, MI: University of
Michigan Press. i960. A. historicalh influential work thai examines education as both a the-
oreticaland a practical endeavor. This book introduces the Kantian influence into many as-
pects of education from discipline to curriculum.
Plato. Tin' Republic. New York: Oxford University Press, 1945. One of the mosl famous trea
Uses on education ever written. This work has influenced countless people across thecen
turies. it is a highly speculative and Utopian approach to education as the basis of thi
society.
Strain, John Paul. Idealism: A Jlarification of an Educal ional Philosophy. Educational The
(
ory 25:263-271, 1975. A survey of the contributions of philosophical idealism to education

in the twentieth century, ^though the author recognizes the declining popularity ol the
idealisl approach to philosophy, he points oul thai manj people still hold an idealisl phi
losophy of education thai reveals itself in continuing traditions and practi
Torres, Carlos Alberto. "Education and the Archaeology ol Consciousness: Freire and
Kegel" Educational Theory 14:429 445, 1994
www.ed.uiuc.edu/EPS/educational-theory/Contents/44_4 Torres. html (accessed

April 5, 2002 An analysis of the continuing influence of the idealisl philosopher Georg
1.
Hegel. According to Torres, educational philosopher Paulo FYeire used Hegel's ideas of the
dialectic between individual consciousness and surrounding social conditions to help him
I letter understand individual morality in overcoming oppression, a kej ingredienl in Freire's
theory of critical pedagi
www.hegel.org/ (accessed April 5, 2002). Homepage of the Hegel Societj of America This
site has "Hegel links throughout the Internet," which students rrughl find informative, in
eluding Hegelian influences on philosophy of education.
nak8.acsd.edu/ (accessed April 5, 2002). Homepage of the North American Kant Society
Provides links to relevanl texts and electronic sources of Kant and Ins interpreters
ON I 1 M RESEARCH
Utilizing some of the Welt sites included in this hook, as well as Topics -. 3, and 1 of
the Prentice Hall Foundations Website found at www.prenhaU.com bzmon, answer
the olio w ing question with a si ion essaj \\ hat
I it is idealism and how has influenced
educational lheor\ and practice? You can write and submit \oiir essa\ response I"
your instructor by using the "Electronic Bluebook" section found in anj of the top
ics oi the Prentice Hall Foundations Web site.
Realism and Education
Like idealism, realism is one of the oldest philosophies in Western culture and dates
back at least as early as ancient Greece. Because of its respectable age, realism has
had a variety of proponents and interpretations, as diverse as classical and religious
realism and scientific, natural, and rational realism. Because of this confusing array
of variations, it seems most reasonable to approach this philosophy from common
threads interwoven throughout its long history.
Perhaps the most central thread of realism is what can be called the principle
or thesis of independence. This thesis holds that reality, knowledge, and value ex-
ist independently of the human mind. In other words, realism rejects the idealist no-
tion that only ideas are real. The realist asserts, as fact, that the actual sticks, stones,
and trees of the universe exist whether or not there is a human mind to perceive
them. In one sense, matter is real to the realist; however, this does not mean that all
realists are rampant materialists. What is important is that matter is an obvious ex-
ample of an independent reality. To understand this complex philosophy, one must
examine its development from classical times, how it was transformed by the scien-
tific revolution, and what it is today.
CLASSICAL TRADITIONS
Aristotelian Realism
Aristotle (384-322 b.c.)

Plato believed that matter had no lasting reality and that we should concern ourselves
with ideas. It was Plato's pupil Aristotle, however, who developed the view that al-
though ideas might be important in themselves, a proper study of matter could lead
to better and more distinct ideas. Aristotle studied and taught at Plato's Academy for
about 20 years and later opened his own school, the Lyceum. His differences with
48
REALISM AND EDUCATION 49
Plato were developed gradually, and in mam respects, he never gol oul from under
Plato's influence.
According to Aristotle, ideas (or tonus) such as the idea of God or the idea of
a treecan exist without matter, bul no matter can exist without form. Each piece of
matter has universal and particular properties. The particular properties of an acorn,
for example, are those things that are peculiar to it and that differentiate it from all
other acorns. These properties include its size, shape, weight, and color. No two
acorns are exactly alike, so, me can talk about some particular properties of anj acorn
as different from those of all other acorns. Each acorn, however, shares the univer
sal property that can be called "acornness" with all other acorns.
Perhaps the difference between particular and universal properties can he un-
derstood better by referring to hiimans at this point. People, too. differ in their par
ticular properties. They have different shapes and sizes, and no two are exactly alike.
Yet, all people do share in something universal, and this could be called their "hu-
manness." Both "humanness" and "acornness" are realities, ami they exist indepen
dent ly and regardless of anj one particular human or acorn. Thus, forms (universals,
ideas, or essences) are the nonmaterial aspects of each particular material objeel thai
relate to all other particular objects of that class.
Nonmaterial though form may be. at by examining material obji

is arrived it
that exist and

in of themselves, independent of us. Aristotle believed that people
should be much involved m studying and understanding the reality of all things In
deed, he agreed with Plato on this position Thej differed, however, m that Aristotle
thought one could get to form by studying particular material things, and Plato thoughl
form could be reached onh through some kind of reasoning, such as the dialectic.
Aristotle argued that the forms oft hings. the universal properties of object!
mam constant and never change bul that particular components do change. The shell
of an acorn may disintegrate and an acorn can be destroyed, but the form of all
acorns, or acornness. remains. In terms of people again, although indh idual persons
die. humanness remains Even if all human beings were to die. humanness would re
main, just as the concept of circularity would remain even if all existing material cir
cles were destroyed
In terms of the development of people, can be seen that as children, indiviit
duals have the particular characteristics of children \s thej grow, however, then
bodies change and they enter the phase of growth called adolescence; later, thej be
come adults However, humanness remains even though the developmental pro
,,i the individual chai i
ral times Thus, form remains constant although par
ticular matter changi itle and Plato agr I thai form is constant and mattei
always changing, bul Vristotle believed that form is within particular matter and
even the motivatin i that matter Bj the sain, token, the modern philoso
pner Henri B i
about an 4lan vital, or vital principle, that eai h obje< i
has and that dire< ts il in terms ol fulfilling its purpose Thisi an be seen in the actual
growth pro< essol an a< om fulfilling its purpose m be< omingan oak tree It musl
in the proper amount of sun and water, it musl set its roots just o deep, and it must
nourishment in the pi " h obj> i Aristotle thought, has a tinj
oul" that directs it in the righl w

50 CHAPTER 2
Aristotle was a scientist and a philosopher, and he believed that although sci-
ence and philosophy can be separated artificially, a relationship exists between them
in which the study of one aids in the study of the other. Studying the material aspects
of an acorn (its shell, its color, and so forth) should lead to a deeper contemplation
of what the acorn is —that is, its essence or form.
Of course, much depends on asking the right questions. There are scientific
questions and there are philosophical questions, and they can overlap. If one goes to
the seashore and picks up a shell, one could ask many scientific questions about that
shell: What is it composed of? How long has it been here? What lived in it? How much
does it weigh? Such questions abound, and answering them would tell quite a bit about
the shell, but the questions would be asking only about its particular physical aspects.
Other kinds of questions could be asked, too: What is its meaning? Who or what
created it? What is its purpose? These kinds of questions are basically philosophi-
cal although they can be brought out by scientific investigation. This would sup-
port Aristotle's claim that the deeper we go into matter, the more we are led to
philosophy.
The most important questions we can ask about things relate to their purposes.
Aristotle believed that each thing has a purpose or function. What is the purpose of
a fish? If we examine it carefully, we might say that its purpose is to swim. The pur-
pose of a bird is to fly. What, though, is humanity's purpose? Aristotle argued that be-
cause humans are the only creatures endowed with the ability to think, their purpose
is to use this ability. Thus, we achieve our true purpose when we think, and we go
against this end when we do not think or when we do not think intelligently.
According to Aristotle, design and order are present in the universe, for things
happen in an orderly way. An acorn becomes an oak tree and not a sycamore. A kit-
ten becomes a cat and not a dog. The universe can be understood by studying it in
terms of its purposes. Thus, whatever happens can be explained according to pur-
pose: The acorn follows its destiny, and the kitten follows its destiny. With regard to
humans, we already have seen that our purpose is to think, but we admit that we can
refuse to think or we can think poorly. We can avoid thinking by not paying attention,
by misdirecting our thinking, or by otherwise subverting thinking. Aristotle believed
that we can refuse to think and therefore go against the design of the universe and
the reason for our creation; hence, humans have free will. When humans go against
this purpose, however, they suffer the consequences of erroneous ideas, poor health,
and an unhappy life, among other things.
Aristotle believed that the person who follows a true purpose leads a rational
life of moderation, avoiding extremes. There are two Aristotelian extremes: the
extreme of too little and the extreme of too much. In terms of eating, if one eats
too much, one will suffer from obesity, lack of energy, poor health in general, or
— —
death. The moderate man or woman the thinking person avoids such excesses.
For Aristotle, the proper perspective is the Golden Mean, a path between extremes.
Aristotle's concept of the Golden Mean is illustrated by his notion of the soul as
an entity to be kept in balance. He spoke of the three aspects of the soul being vege-
tative, animative, and rational. When humans vegetate, they are following the ex-
treme of too little; when they are angry and hostile, they are following the extreme
of toomuch. When they use reason to keep vegetative and animal aspects in harmony,
they arc following the path for which thej were designed and arc fulfilling their pur-
pose. This idea can be related to Plato's concept of the ideal state, in which the good
state is one where all of its classes thai is. brass (vegetative), silver (animal), and
gold (rational) — arc in balance and harmony. Aristotle believed thai a good educa-
tion helps achieve the Golden Mean and thereby promotes the harmony and balance
of soul and body.
Balance is central to Aristotle's view. He saw the whole universe m some Pal
anced and orderly fashion. As far as humans are concerned, he did nol view bods ; " l( '
mind viewed bodj as the means by which data

in opposition as Plato did; rather, he
come to us through sense perception. The raw data of sense perception are organized
by the reasoning of mind. IniversaJ principles are derived by mind from an exami-
I
nation of the particulars by sense perception and from organizing the resulting ob
serrations into rational explanations. Thus, body and mind operate together m a
balanced whole with their own internal consistencies.

Aristotle did not separate a particular thing from its universal being. Matter and
form are not two different kinds of being, hut fundamental aspects of the same thing.
Form is in matter; formless matter is a false notion, not a reality. The important thing
to see is that all matter is in hereas Plato was primar-
some stage of actualization. W
ily interested in the realm of fen us or ideas. Aristotle tried to unite the world of mat
terwith the world of forms. An example of this is his view of actuality and potentiality.
Actuality is that which is complete and perfect the form. Potentiality refers to the
capability of being actualized or gaming perfection and form. It is the union of form
and matter that gives concrete reality to things. In other words, an individual acorn
contains form and matter that make up the •'real" acorn that we experience.
This relationship between form and matter is illustrated further bj Aristotle's
conception of the Four lauses: <
1. The Material 'ause the matter from which something is made

<
2. The Formal 'ause the design that shapes the material object.
<
The Efficient Cause the agent that produces the objeel

1 The Final Cause the direction toward winch the objeel is tending
In commonsense language, when talking aboul a house, the material ii Is made of (the
wood, bricks, and nails ) is Us Material Cause; the sketch Or blueprinl followed incon
structing i1 is us Formal < ause. the carpenter who builds n is its Efficienl < 'ause. and
Its Final Cause is that it is a place in which to live, a hOU
Matter is in process, moving to some end. In this respect, Aristotle's thoughl is
similar to the modern view ol evolution and the notion of an open ended univi
The difference between Aristotle's view and this lern Mew is that Aristotl<
this movement headed toward a final end, so tor him the universe is onh so open
ended The power thai holds all creation and pro< ther is the Unmoved M
which Aristotle in- ant the D01 to which mattei | ll
,n inmate Reality; hence, God is the I'm

I
the Final End, th<
moved Movi all matter and form In tin- respei

I
i Aristotle's philosophy
52 CHAPTER 2
esoteric as Plato's. Yet, for Aristotle, God is a logical explanation for the order of the
universe — its organizational and operational principle.
Indeed, organization is essential to Aristotle's philosophy. He believed that
everything can be organized into a hierarchy. For example, human beings are bio-
logically based and rooted in nature; however, they strive for something beyond
themselves. If they are characterized by body, they also are characterized by soul, or
a rational aspect, or the capacity to move from within. If body and soul are balanced,
they are also organized, and soul is of a higher order than body more characteris- —
tically human than anything else. For Aristotle, human beings are the rational ani-
mals, most completely fulfilling their purpose when they think, for thinking is their
highest characteristic. So it is, with Aristotle, that everything is capable of being or-
dered because reality, knowledge, and value exist independent of mind, with their
own internal consistency and balance capable of being comprehended by mind.
To search out the structure of independent reality, Aristotle worked on logical
processes. Plato used the dialectic to synthesize opposing notions about truth. Aris-
totlewas concerned with truth, too, and he sought access to it through attempting
The logical method he developed was the syllogism, which is
to refine the dialectic.
a method for testing the truth of statements. A famous but simplistic version of it goes
as follows:
All men are mortal.
Socrates is a man;
therefore, Socrates is mortal.
The syllogism is composed of a major premise, minor premise, and conclusion. Aristotle
used the syllogism to help people think more accurately by ordering statements about
reality in a logical, systematic form that corresponds to the facts of the situation
under study.
Aristotle's logical method is deductive; that is, it derives its truth from general-
izations, such as "All men are mortal." One problem with this method is that if either
of the premises is false, the conclusion might be false. A catch comes in determining
the truth of the premises: By what method do we test their accuracy? If we continue
to use the syllogism, then we also must continue to rely on unproven general
premises. Aristotle's logical method runs contrary to his insistence that we can bet-
ter understand form (general principle) by studying specific material objects.
In this latter instance, Aristotle's thrust is inductive; that is, truth is found by
way of specifics, or the process goes from specifics to the general. His syllogism, how-
ever, goes from generalizations (All men are mortal) to specific conclusions (Socrates
is As some critics pointed out, the syllogistic approach can lead to many false
mortal).
or untenable positions. Not until the sixteenth century did Francis Bacon devise a
different, more inductive approach.
The chief good for Aristotle is happiness; however, happiness depends on a vir-
tuous and well-ordered soul. This can come about only as we develop habits of virtue
that are shaped through the proper kind of education. Education necessitates the de-
velopmenl of reasoning capacity so thai we can make the right kinds of choices. As
already indicated, this means the path of moderation. An acceptance and following
of such a principle becomes the cere of Aristotle's educational proposals. Although
Aristotle did not go into specific detail aboul his educational ideas, he believed that
the proper character would be formed by following the Golden Mean. This would re-
sult in desirable social development and would assist the state in producing and nur-
turing good citizens. kiPolitics, Aristotle further developed his view thai a reciprocal
relationship exists between the properly educated person and the properly educated
citizen.
The Aristotelian influence has been immensely important and includes such
things as recognizing the need to study nature systematically, using logical processes
in examining the external world, deriving general truths through, a rigorous studj of
particulars, organizing things into hierarchies, and emphasizing the rational aspects
of human nature.
Religious Realism
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Thomas Aquinas was horn near Naples. Italy, in lll-i. His formal education began at
age five when he was sent to he Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino. hater, he
i
studied at the fniversity of Naples, and in 1244, he became a )ominican friar, dedi
I I
eating his life to obedience, poverty, and intellectualAquinas was sent

toil. In VI 15,
to the University of Paris, where he studied under Albeit us Magnus, a renowned
scholar of Aristotelian philosophy. He studied and taught at the Diversity of Paris I
until 1259, when the Dominicans sent

I him back to Italy to help organize the curricu-
lum for Dominican schools. He returned to Paris in 1268 and served the remainder
of his life as a professor of theology and as an educational leader for the Dominicans
He died on March 7. 1274
Aquinas first encountered the work of Aristotle while studying in Naples. This
began a lifelong passion of attempting to reconcile Aristotelian philosophj with
('hnstian concepts He accepted Aristotle's realistic view that humanity is a combi
nation of matter and mind, or body and soul. Aristotle taught that a human is a n.itu
ral being with ;i natural function bul that OUT highest good comes through thinking
Aquinas connected this with the idea ol Ihristian revelation and maintained thai be
<
cause we are children of God, our best thinking should agree with Christian tenets
He spent much of ins intellectual life showing that the word of God as represented
by revelation is consistent with the thinking of Aristotle
Aristotle's ideas had cjeat impact on Ihrisl lamt \
.1 < .
in many n hey have
tended to em ourage the se< ularization of the church monasti< ism edtothe
engendered by the writing, ^t Augustine Gradually, the ideas "i Aristotle were in
porated into Christianity and provided with a different philosophical b
il
Aquinas be. ame the leading authority on Aristotle in the \hd lie Ages and found
no
onflict between thi
,1 . " philosopher and the tian
lation H< ' is pure reason, the univei md

Uld know the truth ol thil
54 CHAPTER 2
Aquinas also emphasized using our senses to obtain knowledge about the world; his
proofs of God's existence, for example, depend heavily on sensory observation.
Aquinas believed that God created matter out of nothing and that God is, as
Aristotle stated, the Unmoved Mover who gives meaning and purpose to the universe.
In his monumental work Summa Theologica, Aquinas summed up the arguments
dealing with Christianity and used the rational approach suggested by Aristotle in
analyzing and dealing with various religious questions. As a matter of fact, many of
the supporting arguments in Christian religion are derived from the work of Aquinas
regardless of what branch of Christianity is considered. Roman Catholicism consid-
ers the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas (Thomism) to be its leading philosophy.
Aquinas was first of all a churchman. For him, all truths were eternally in God.
Truth was passed from God to humans by divine revelation, but God also had en-
dowed humans with the reasoning ability to seek out truth. Being the churchman that
he was, Aquinas would not subordinate revelation to reason, but he did want to give
reason a proper place. He viewed theology as the primary concern and philosophy as
the "handmaiden of theology." Thus, by recognizing the supremacy of theology, he
was able to explore more fully the philosophical development of religious thought.
Aquinas agreed with Aristotle that universals are determined by a study of par-
ticulars. He accepted the thesis of independence and "form" as the principal charac-
teristic of all being. He upheld the "principle of immanence" that is akin to Aristotle's
view of each existence moving toward perfection in form. Although he agreed that
soul is the form of body, he held that soul is not derived from humanity's biological
roots; rather, soul is a creation, immortal, and from God. Aquinas epitomized the
Scholasticism, of the Middle Ages, an approach that emphasized the human's eter-
nal soul and salvation. The Scholastics integrated Aristotle's philosophy with the
teachings of the church, and Aquinas fulfilled an important role in this task by work-
ing out the relationship between reason and faith.
The "Angelic Doctor," as Aquinas sometimes was called, was interested in edu-
cation, as his work with the Dominicans indicates. In addition to the educational ideas
in Summa Theologica, he also wrote De Magistro (On
the Teacher), which dealt
specifically with his philosophy of teaching.For example, he questioned whether one
human can teach another directly or whether the role of teaching is God's alone. His
view was that only God should be called Teacher in the ultimate sense: If a person
teaches, however, then teaching is accomplished (as Augustine pointed out at an ear-
lier time) only by and through symbols. One human mind cannot communicate di-
rectly with the mind of another, but it can communicate indirectly.

It often is said that a physician heals the body; in truth, it is nature that heals
from the inside, and all the physician can do is apply external treatments and
in-
ducements. So it is with teaching: Only God can touch the inside the soul —
directly. —
All the teacher can do is attempt to motivate and direct the learner through signs,
symbols, and the techniques of encouragement. In other words, a teacher can only
"point" the learner to knowledge and understanding with signs and symbols. Never-
theless, teaching is a way to serve humankind, and it is part of God's work in this
world. Leading the student from ignorance to enlightenment is one of the greatest
services one person can give to another.
Aquinas agreed with August ine I hat humans are born with original sin and that
life is a testing period, bul he disagreed with the idea thai we can know truth only
through faith. Aquinas believed thai God is pure reason and thai when Cod created
the world, He made it possible for us to acquire true knowledge by studying the world
through the use of observation and reason. God gave us reason so that we could knew
Him better and discern the true purpose and meaning of life. Aquinas believed thai
faith might be used for things humans cannot yet understand but that ultimately all
religious truths can be understood and reaffirmed through reason. He also believed
that most things already could be proved through reason, such as God's existence,
and that faith was necessary only when reason had reached its limits.
hxSumma Theologiea, Aquinas debated the primary questions thai faced ( !hris-
tian thought and used Aristotelian philosophy to provide insight into such questions:
Both Augustine and Aquinas helped fuse the Middle Eastern religious beliefs of Judaism
and Christianity with Western philosophical traditions derived from Plato and Aristotle.
Central to the thought of Aquinas was the Judeo-( Jhristian belief that each per-
son is born with an immortal soul. Continuing the thought of Platonic idealism as well
as Aristotelian realism, he maintained thai the soul possesses an inner knowledge
that can be brought out to illuminate one's life more completely. The major goal of
education, as Aquinas saw it. is the perfection of the human being and the ultimate
reunion of the soul with God. To accomplish this, we must develop the capacities to
reason and to exercise intelligence.
Here, Aquinas's realism came to the forefront because he held thai human real-
ity is not only spiritual or menial bul also physical and natural. From the standpoint
of the human teacher, the path to the soul lies through the physical senses; education
must use this path to accomplish learning. Proper instruction directs the learner to
knowledge that leads to true being by progressing from a lower to a higher form This
illustrates Aquinas's Aristotelian ism because his view includes a developmental cos
mology of progressing from the lower to the higher, or movemenl toward perfection.
Aquinas's views on education are consistent with his philosophical position.
Knowledge can be gained from sense data, and it can lead one to God, provided the
learner views n m the proper perspective In essence, he believed thai one should
proceed from the study of matter to the study of form. He disagreed with Vugustine
thai we could know God onlj through faith or some intuitive process; rather, Iquinas
maintained that humans could use their reason to reach God through a stud) of the
material world. Thus, he saw no inconsistency between the truths of revelation ac
cepted on faith and the truths arrived al through careful rational observation and
study. Aquinas believed thai a proper education is one thai fulls rei ognizes the spiri
tual and material nature of the individual Because he thought thai the spiritual side
was the higher and more important, Vquinas was stronglj in favoi ol primar) em
phasis on the education ol the soul
In the view of Aquinas, the primarj agencies ol education are thefamilj and the
church: th<- siat.- oi organized ", jetj run .a poor third The familj and the, hurt h
have an obligation to teach those things thai relate to the uni hanging prini ipl<
moral and divine law According to V|uma the mother is the child's first teacher, and
..
because the child is moldi is the mother's role to ;et the child's moral tone
il
56 CHAPTER 2
The church stands as the source of knowledge of the divine and should set the grounds
for understanding God's law. The state should formulate and enforce laws on educa-
tion, but it should not abridge the educational primacy of the home and church.
Aristotle and Aquinas held to a dualistic doctrine of reality. This can be seen in
Aristotle's view of matter and form and in Aquinas's view of the material and spiritual
sides of humankind. This dualism was carried on later in the great conflict between
scientific and religious views of reality.
DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN REALISM

One chief problem of classical realism was its failure to develop an adequate method
of inductive thinking. Although classicists had developed the thesis that reality, knowl-
edge, and value can be ascertained by studying particulars, they still were caught in
an essentially deductive style of thinking. They often had their truths in hand at the
start, never really doubting a First Cause or an Unmoved Mover. Modern realism de-
veloped out of attempts to correct such errors, and these corrective attempts were at
the heart of what today is called the scientific revolution that swept Western culture.
Of all the philosophers engaged in this effort, perhaps the two most outstanding real-
ist thinkers were Francis Bacon and John Locke. Both were involved in developing sys-
tematic methods of thinking and ways to increase human understanding.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Francis Bacon was not only a philosopher but also a politician in the courts of Eliza-
beth I and James I. He was not successful in his political efforts (he was removed from
office in disgrace), yet his record in philosophical development is much more im-
pressive. Bacon's philosophical task was ambitious, if not pretentious, in scope. He
claimed to take all knowledge as That he nearly accom-
his field of investigation.
plished this is testimony to his genius. Perhaps his most famous work is Novum Or-
ganum, inwhich he challenged Aristotelian logic.
Bacon attacked the Aristotelians for contributing to the lethargic development
of science by their adoption of theological methods of thought. The problem with the-
ology was that it started with dogmatisms and a priori assumptions and then de-
duced conclusions. Bacon charged that science could not proceed this way because
—
science must be concerned with inquiry pure and simple inquiry not burdened with
preconceived notions. Bacon held that science must begin in this fashion and must
develop reliable methods of inquiry. By developing a reliable method of inquiry, hu-
mans could be freed from dependence on the occurrence of infrequent geniuses and
could develop knowledge through the use of effective methods of inquiry. Bacon be-
lieved that "knowledge is power" and that through the acquisition of knowledge, we
could deal more effectively with the problems and forces that beset us on every side.
To accomplish these things, he devised what he called the "inductive method."
Bacon opposed Aristotelian logic primarily because he thought that it yielded
many errors, particularly concerning material phenomena. For example, religious
thinkers (such as Aquinas and the Scholastics) accepted certain axiomatic beliefs
about God —that He and so forth and then they deduced

exists, is just, is all powerful, —
all use of God's power, His intervention in human affairs, arid
sorts of things about the
so on. Bacon's inductive approach, which suggests beginning with observable instances
and then reasoning to general statements or laws, counteracts the Scholastic approach
because it demands verification of specific instances before ajudgmenl is made.
After observing instances of water freezing at 32 Fahrenheit, for example, a
general law migl it be stated thai water freezes at 32 Fahrenheit. This law is valid,
however, only so long as water continues to freeze at that temperature. If, because
of a change in atmospheric or terrestrial conditions, water no longer freezes at 32
Fahrenheit, then the law must he changed. People also car alter their beliefs through
deduction, but they are less likely to change then- beliefs when they begin with sup-
posedly absolute truths than when they begin with neutral data and h.\ potheses.
A historical example of this involved the dispute between Galileo and the
Catholic Church about the position of Earth in the solar system. The Church de-
fended the Ptolemaic theory that Earth is the center of the universe and the other
celestial bodies, including the sun. revolve around it. This position was supported by
several deductions. To begin with, because Cod created Earth, was reasonable to
it
assume that He would place it in the center. Also, because Cod chose to place hu-
mans on Earth. Earth must have had an important place in the plan of creation; this
gives added weight to the importance of Earth being centrally located. The si..r\ in
the Bible about Joshua righting a difficult battle and asking God to make the sun stand
still seemed to give own more support to this position.
Galilei i, however, argued for the < Jopernican theorj thai the sun and not Earth is
the center of the universe because Karl 1 1 rot ales on its axis am I revolves aboul the sun.
The position of Nicolaus < lopernicus (as set forth in The Revolutions oj theHeavenly
Bodies) was interpreted by the Church as belittling Earth and Cods plan, and was in
compatible with the veracity of revelation. Galileo's use of a telescope to give empiri-
cal proof to the Gopernican position increased the wrath of the church. Reportedly, a
pnest who had been invited into Galileo's studj to look through the telescope f"i proof
claimed that the devil was putting those things there for him 'hurch officials to see. <
required that Galileo refute his position, yet such scientists as Johann Kepler, Tycho
Brahe, and Isaac Newton Inter substantiated his work in whole or in part
Because the scientific or inductive approach uncovered many errors in prop"
sitions that were taken for granted originally, Bacon urged that people should re
examine all previously accepted knowledge At the leasl he believed, we should
attempt to rid their minds of various "idols" before which they bow down ami that
cloud their thinking. Bacori described four sin 1 1 id
1. IdoloJ the Den People believe things I of their own limited experii i
It. for example, a woman had several bad experiences with men with n
taches, she mighl conclude thai all mustai hed men are bad a i leai i
ase "i
fault;, generalization
2. Idol of th People tend to believe thii people believe
them Numei v that many people change their opinii itch
those "f the majoi

58 CHAPTER 2
3. Idol of the Marketplace: This idol deals with language because Bacon believed
that words often are used in ways that prevent understanding. For instance,
such words as liberal and conservative might have little meaning when applied
to people because a person could be liberal on one issue and conservative on
another.
4. Idol of the Theatre: This is the idol of our religions and philosophies, which
might prevent us from seeing the world objectively. Bacon called for a house-
keeping of the mind, in which we should break away from the dead ideas of the
past and begin again by using the method of induction.
Induction is the logic of arriving at generalizations on the basis of systematic

observations of particulars. The general
thrust of this view can be found in Aristotle,
but Aristotle never developed itcomplete system. According to Bacon, induc-
into a
tion involves the collection of data about particulars, but it is not merely a cata-
loging and enumeration of data. The data must be examined; where contradictions
are found, some ideas must be discarded. In addition, facts must be processed or in-
terpreted at the same time. Bacon maintained that if the inductive method were
well developed and rigorously applied, it would benefit us to the extent that it
would give humans more control over the external world by unlocking the secrets of
nature.
John Locke (1 632-1 704)

Following Bacon's lead, John Locke sought to explain how we develop knowledge. He
attempted a rather modest philosophical task: to "clear the ground of some of the
rubbish" that hindered people's gaining knowledge. In this respect, he was attempt-
ing to rid thought of what Bacon called idols.
Locke was born in England, the son of a country lawyer. He was educated at
Westminster School and at Christ Church College at Oxford, where he was later a fel-
low. His education was classical and scholastic. He later turned on this tradition, at-
tacking its Aristotelian roots and its Scholastic penchant for disputations, which he
thought were mere wrangling and ostentation.
Locke's contributions to realism were his investigations into the extent and cer-
tainty of human knowledge. He traced the origin of ideas to the object of thought, or
whatever the mind entertains. For Locke, there are no such things as innate ideas.
At birth, the mind is like a blank sheet of paper, a tabula rasa, on which ideas are
imprinted. Thus, all knowledge is acquired from sources independent of the mind or
as a result of reflection on data from independent sources. In other words, all ideas
are derived from experience by way of sensation and reflection.
Locke did not overly concern himself with the nature of mind itself but concen-
trated on how ideas or knowledge are gained by mind. External objects exist, he ar-
gued, and they are characterized by two kinds of qualities: primary qualities (for
example, solidity, size, and motion) and secondary qualities (for example, color, taste,
smell, sound, and other "sense" qualities). Primary qualities can be called objective
(adhering or directly connected with the object), and secondary qualities can be
called subjective (dependent on people experiencing them).
Locke was an empiricist. He respected the concrete and practical bul distrusted
abstract idealisms; consequently, what we know is what we experience. People ex-
perience the qualities of objects, whether these are material or ideational finalities.
The data with which the mind operates are experienced data, and although they
come from without, mind can combine and order experience and can become aware
of its operations. Thus, knowledge depends on sensation and reflection.
Concerning the nature of the external objective world, Locke had little to
say. He basically assumed its existence, and he explained this existence with the
doctrine of substanoe; that is, substance or external reality is a necessary support
for experience. Thus, he assumed an independent reality but did not try to prove it.
His major contribution to philosophy was the development of an acute awarene
experience. Rather than speculation aboul innate ideas or essences or an indepen-
dent material reality, his field of investigation was human experience and human
knowledge.
Locke's views on education, as expressed in Some Thoughts (
'oncerning Edu
cation, are not as theoretical as his speculations on epistemology. They are practical
ideas about conduct, laziness, rewards and punishments, and other genera lilies in the
educational process. Locke's ideas led to the kind of "gentlemanly" education lor which
English education is noted. One might argue that despite Locke's philosophical pen-
chant for democracy, his educational ideas lend themselves to an aristocratic elitism.
CONTEMPORARY REALISM
For the most part, contemporary realism has tended to develop most stronglj around
concerns with science and scientific problems of a philosophical nature. This move
lent occurred mostly in the twentieth century and has been associated with thede
1 1
srelopment of such ne^ schools of thought as logical positivism and linguistic analysis.
development the basic thesis of independence continued.
Vet. within this
Two outstandingfigures in twentieth century realism were Alfred North White
head and pert rand Russell. These men had much in common, including the facl that
both were English and thej ollaborated on mathematical writings Eventually, thej
<
both came to teach in seme outstanding universities in the nited States and were I
interested in and wrote about education. With all of this in common, thej went indif
ferent philosophical directionsWhitehead's direction was almost Platonic in Ins
search for universal patterns; Russell went inward mathematical quantification and
verification as the basis of philosophical generalization
In addition to the works "i Whitehead and Russell, the philosophy ol realism
mtinued to develop, and two exponents in the late twentieth and earlj twentj
first centuries are die American philosophers Kilarj Putnam and John R Searle I'm
nam. who has ;i ba< i ground in mathematics and philosophy, is a professor emeritus
.
60 CHAPTER 2
of philosophy at Harvard University. Searle is a professor of philosophy at the Uni-

versity of California at Berkeley.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)

One of the most fruitful things creative philosophers do is bring about reconcilia-
tion between contending systems of thought. Aquinas did this when he reconciled
Aristotelianism with Christianity. Kant did this in trying to reconcile science and
traditional values. Whitehead sought to do this by attempting to reconcile some as-
pects of idealism with realism, thereby reconstructing the philosophical bases of
modern science.
Alfred North Whitehead came to philosophy through mathematics. He coau-
thored with Russell a work entitled Principia Mathematica. He was past age 60
when he turned to philosophy on a full-time basis as a professor of philosophy at Har-
vard. One of his outstanding philosophical treatises is Science and the Modern
World, and some of his major statements on education can be found in The Aims of
Education and Other Essays.
Process is central to Whitehead's philosophy because he held that reality is
process. A person encounters in this process actual entities or occasions (the real
"things" or objects), prehensions (relational processes between the experiencing
person and experienced objects), and nexus (extended time sequences in which oc-
casions and prehensions fit together in ongoing existence)
In many respects, Whitehead sought to unite philosophical oppositions, such as
subjective perception and objective entities, and he believed that people must rec-
ognize both aspects. He rejected a bifurcated reality yet recognized the individuality
of a thing in itself and the relational or universal aspects of things. He objected to go-
ing too far in one direction to the detriment of the other direction. He rejected the
separation of the mental into a realm by itself because mental activity had to be
viewed in the context of experience. He preferred realism as a philosophy because
he thought it helped people correct the excesses of subjective thought.
It might appear that Whitehead rejected the thesis of independence. This is
true to the degree that he did not see objective reality and subjective mind as ab-
solutely separate. They are together in an organized unity or pattern. Yet, at the same
time, this organic unity itself can be seen as an active system, an ultimate reality so
to speak, that operates according to its own principles in process. Philosophy is sim-
ply a search for pattern in the universe. Humans can never grasp pattern in any com-
plete sense although they may get aspects of it. Ultimately, the universe does have
rationality to it and is not mere arbitrariness.
We might say that Whitehead was following solidly in the footsteps of Aristotle
because it is apparent that pattern in Whitehead's terms is similar to form. He also
followed Aristotle in going to particulars to discern pattern, yet he deviated because
he held that particulars are events that have to be viewed in terms of an open-ended
process. Thus, his events are not inert particulars but are organic to, and moving
with, process and according to pattern.
This brings us to a consideration of Whitehead's view of education. To him,
the important things to be learned are ideas. In this sense, one can say that he
was Platonic. He was adamantin urging that education be concerned with "living
ideas," but ideas connected with the experience of learners ideas that are use-
ful and capable of being articulated. He warned againsl learning inert ideas simply
because it was done in the past, This shows his organic orientation thai educa
tion should enable people to gel into ho How of existence and the process-patterns
i
of reality.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Bertrand Russell was horn in Wales in comfortable economic circumstances. He re
ceived his degree in philosophy and mat hematics at Cambridge University. One of
the first-rate minds of the twentieth century, Russell exerted considerable influence
as a writerand a teacher. Some of his hooks are Our Knowledge oj the External
World, Religion and Science, and the tan ions work he coauthored with W hitehead,
Principia Mathematica (1910-1913). In the field of education, he wrote Education
and the Social Order and Education and the Modern World, as well as other
books. He taught at Cambridge, the fniversitj of Chicago, and the fniversitj oft ah
I I
fornia in addition to other places.

Russell was a controversial figure During World War I. he was imprisoned for
his pacifist activities. His distaste for Victorian morality, especially his views on sex
and marriage, often led him into conflict with others. In the 1960s, he was at the
center of the "Ban the Bomb" movement and ant Vietnam War protests in England
i
and Europe. Russell was a maverick realist in some respects. Where Whitehead
concluded that the universe is characterized by pattern, so did Russell, hut Russell
believed that these patterns can he verified with precision and he analyzed mathe
matically. There is a need, he held, to merge the logical and mathematical so thai pal
tern can be discerned verbally (or semantically) and mathematically.
Russell held that the roleof philosophy is analytic and synthetic; that is. should it
be critical in its analytic phase by showing the logical fallacies and errors in past sys-
tems, and it should be constructive in its synthetic phase by offering hj potheses about
the nature of the universe that science has not yet determined. Russell believed, how
ever, that philosophy should he mainly analytic and that should base itself on si it i
.nee because only science has any genuine claim to knowledge, from the standpoint
of science, one can see Russell's adherence to realism and what has hern called the
thesis of independence. was Hot SO mUCh the results of science as the methods
It
that he accepted Bj using these methods, he hoped to arrive at valid philosophical

constructions not constructions of large generalization, but rather piecemeal, de
tailed, verifiable constructions
One could get t\\<» sorts of particular data on independent realitj hard data and
soft dataHaul data are the tacts of the situation facts that can withstand the
scrutiny ofreflei tion and remain intact Soft data are such th •
liefs that i an
he neither verified nor denied with am degree ol < en, in •
his philosophical i onstrui tions as mu< h the hard and veri

hahle side (the side .,i science), but h<
should make us more sensitive to.

arriving at false certaintii
62 CHAPTER 2
By using a cautious or more temperate approach to science, Russell hoped that

we could begin to solve such perplexing problems as poverty and ill health. He
thought of education as the key to a better world. If people would use existing knowl-
edge and apply tested methods, then through education they could eradicate such
problems as poverty and thus transform the world. Russell even speculated that if
this were done on a wide scale, the transformation could conceivably be accom-
plished in just one generation.
For a time, Russell tried to put some of his educational ideas to work at the
school he founded called Beacon Hill. However, his radicalism met resistance, and his
own driving inquisitiveness soon led him to other causes and reforms. Although his
efforts in education at Beacon Hill met with limited success, Russell continued to the
end of his life to try to bring about changes through education that he deemed bene-
ficial to humanity.
Hilary Putnam (192'6-)

Hilary Putnam has attempted to construct a variant form of realism he calls "internal
realism" in Reason, Truth, and History in 1981 He has refined it in such later works
.
as The Many Faces of Realism, Realism with a Human Face, and Words and Life.
Putnam embraces a view of philosophy along the following lines: In our attempts to
understand ourselves and the world, philosophy becomes the education of grown-
ups. He also has said that if a philosophy can be put into a nutshell, then it belongs
in one. With that admonition in mind, what follows is but a brief overview of some
central elements of Putnam's work.
As Putnam sees Realism with a Human Face, the tradition of realism in-
it in
fluenced by the physics of Newton in the seventeenth century saw the universe as a
giant machine, a view that gave people a "God's-eye view" of the whole universe. Hu-
mans were tiny subsystems in that machine but still capable of engaging the totality
in their thought processes, reminiscent of Descartes' cogito. Science has continued
to affect realism, and in the twentieth century, physicists in the field of quantum me-
chanics introduced a "cut" between the observer and the universe; that is, the uni-
verse is so complex that the human mind is incapable of comprehending the totality
in one big picture. We are forced to see the universe as observers dependent on the
theoretical apparatuses used to measure the universe in experimental situations;
hence, we get wave picture (as in electromagnetic wave theory), a particle picture
a
(as in atomic theory), and so forth. From this perspective, a God's-eye view of the
universe is simply not possible.
When Russell and Whitehead attempted to develop a totalistic symbolic lan-
guage (a God's-eye view of logic and language) in Principia Mathematica, they at-
tempted to generalize about particular languages from the standpoint of an ideal
language standing on the outside. It was as if they thought that armed with an ideal
language, they could bring order and logical clarity to a bewildering diversity. Despite
their brilliant efforts, their project met with failure. According to Putnam, what came
out of such failures in modern philosophy is the view that if people cannot take a
God's-eye view, then two important traditional branches of philosophical study are
dead: metaphysics (theory of ultimate reality) and epistemology (theory of knowl-
edge). Among the outgrowths of this perception arc a turn toward relativism and
deconstruction, and the developmenl of a new movemenl in philosophy called post-
modernism. Putnam thinks thai these arc "anti-realist" views and are neither cor-
rect nor the only alternative's.
Putnam himself
is critical of metaphysical realism, and he rejects the claims
that (the world consists of a fixed totality of objects independent of the human
1 )
mind, (2) there is only one true description of that independent world, and (•'!) truth
involves correspondence of what we say aboul thai world with the way the world re
ally is.Representation and Reality, Putnam summarizes what he calls "internal"
In
realism (or sometimes "pragmatic" realism). He accepts the commonsense view thai
stars exist and arc not created by Language (or mind) hut can be described by lan-
guage. Thus, an "objective" reality exists, hut musl be understood in the sense of
it
"conceptual relativity." For example, suppose you take a friend into a room furnished
with a chair and a table with a lamp, a notebook, and a pen. You ask her, "How mam
objects are in the room?" She replies, "Five. \ chair, a table, a lamp, a notebook, and
a pen." Von mighl add. "How aboul you and me; aren't we also objects in the room?"
Your friend would likely agree, hut if you took to other levels, such as askm.u how
it
many pages are in the notebook or how many molecules are in the lamp and are thej
also objects in the room, your friend would likely think that you were playing a joke
on her. In Putnam's view, people's notions of "object" depend on the circumstances
of the sit nation ami what we mean by the word, our "conceptual scheme" so to speak.
Thus, conceptual relativity is needed; that is. what is meant by object depends on is i
relative to) the conceptual scheme with which we approach the "objective" world.
According to Putnam, the error of metaphysical realism, particularly scientific real-
ism, has been to assume that a single system of organisms ami their physical envi
ronmenl as determined or dis< overed bj science contain all the objects to which
anyone could refer. For Putnam, people may invent creative new uses el words so
that what is meant h\ the term object is not fixed once ami for all as reality.
Iii The Many Feu es oj Realism, Putnam argues that by conceptual relativity,
he does not mean that 'anything goes," a vulgar relativism that sinks into solipsism
and absolute subjectivity. Putnam maintains that, indeed, some facts in the world are
not invented hy language or mental representations; rather, when talking about
"facts." pcpie need to understand the "conceptual scheme." meaning the language
people use to describe them
Putnam's philosophical journej has led him closer to pragmatism and the pleas
of William .lames and John tewey, although he still identifies primarily with realism
I
John R. Searie(1932 >
John Searle accepts the traditional realisl view that an external world exists inde
pendent of human indthat the truth of statements about that world
<
lependent on how well those statements corn pond to the external world Seal
Interests have drawn him to explain social realit3 "i how an obja live realit) ol mar
Mail parties and uni> In a
world made upentireh ol physii aJ particles and field! of force in Ttu i
oj Social Reality, hi the modern U to Interpret all realitj

64 CHAPTER 2
claims as nothing more than human creations in which there are no "brute facts" but
only constructions of the human mind. Indeed, social reality is created by the con-
scious and intentional acts of human organisms for their own convenience, but con-
sciousness has a biological and physical base in the nervous system or brain. Searle
believes that if people accept the fact of a biologically and physically based con-
sciousness, then they will see no separation between mind and body.
For Searle, can be approached from at least two angles: brute facts and
reality
social facts. It is brute fact that Mt. McKinley has ice and rock on its upper elevations,
but it is social fact that people can write poetry about the beauty of the mountain or
pass laws that protect the environment of the mountain. Social reality is anchored in
the natural or physical world, but it also has mental or conscious dimensions. For ex-
ample, money is a brute fact as a printed piece of paper, a coin stamped in metal, or
even an electronic blip in a computer memory bank, but it is also a conscious and in-
tentional symbolic representation invented for human convenience as a medium of

exchange to buy goods and As such, it is a social or "institutional" fact.
services.
Hence, Searle distinguishes between the features of the world that are facts of
physics and biology and those that are facts of society and culture. Brute facts are in-
dependent of social institutions, whereas socialfacts exist only within social institutions
or social relationships that are themselves factual. Social reality is anchored in the
brute factual reality of the physical universe because it is created by biological human
organisms that have the capacity to (1) assign functions to brute existences, (2) engage
in individualand collective conscious intentionality regarding the status and value of
those functions, and (3) develop constitutive rules regarding them. Intentionality
refers to the capacity of the human mind to represent (or symbolize) for itself the things
and conditions of the external world that are other than itself. This makes it possible to
have a conscious mental life. For example, humans can shape pieces of wood into func-
tional objects called (in English) "desks" and "chairs." As such, desks and chairs do not
exist only as lumps of wood (brute natural objects), but as functional objects intention-
ally created by humans to serve their needs. We can have thoughts and carry on con-
versations about their experiences of the world in symbolic form, and they can shape
parts of that external world to their own purposes, such as taking natural materials and
making them into cooking utensils, tools, computers, and life-saving medications.
As Searle sees it, social objects made from brute nature, such as chairs or paper
money, can wear out with use, but social facts, such as institutions, do not wear out
in the same sense. Social reality also must be seen as "institutional facts." Each time
people use an institution, the use seems to renew it rather than wear it out. For ex-
ample, people once used the barter system as a means of economic exchange, but
money proved to be a more convenient mode of economic life. Far beyond the physi-
cal bits ofpaper or metal that wear out, the social function of money became con-
sciously and intentionally institutionalized by users. The greater convenience of
using money renewed and even strengthened the economic institution of money. The
same can be said of schools because their significance lies not as physical objects (for
example, buildings, campuses), but as social institutions that have a high functional
value. The school institution is renewed with use when each use fulfills conscious in-
tentions, and this renews human commitment to the institution.
According to Searle, an essential ingredienl of social reality is language because

language is how we constitute reality through symboliza //<>>/ and rrj)ivsc)it(itio>/.
We can examine the biological world and see thai animals such as bees or ants have
social life, but human social life is much more complex because humans can use lan-
guage to represent or symbolize rtol only the things of the externa] world, but also
the things of internal conscious thought and feeling. Of course, humans can have
thoughts without language, but they arc rather primitive biological inclinations and
cognitions; through language, people constitute institutional facts that make up so
much of social reality. Institutional facts exisl only through linguistic devices thai
constitute them. A piece of paper, in and of itself, cannot be money unless people be
lieve that it is —
that is. unless people constitute as such through assigning func-
it
tion, status, and operative rules. Language makes this possible, but brings in no it
mysterious, otherworldly, "subjective" reality because language and institutions can

be studied as objective factual conditions themselves.
REALISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Realism is complex philosophy because of its many varieties: classical realism, re-
a
and others. This confusion dales back to Aristotle
ligious realism, scientific realism,
because although his prominence in philosophy was primarily derived from his dif-
ferences with Platonic philosophy, probably more similarities than differences exisl
overall between Plato and Aristotle. The primarj confusion over realism could be be
tween a religious realism and a secular or scientific realism. Religious realism would
show how similar Aristotle's philosophy is to that of Plato and Aquinas; secular real
ism would relate Aristotle's work more to the developmenl of scientific philosophj
through the works of Bacon, Locke, and Russell. Whitehead can be said to incorpo
rate aspects of each in his interpretation of realism.
Aims of Education
Plato, as an idealist, believed thai such abstractions as truth, goodness, and beautj
could be reached only through through the use of the di
a study of ideas, primarily
alectie. Aristotle, m contrast, believed thai ideas (forms) also are found by studying
the world of maiief Plato and Aristotle end up at the same place, bul their methods
of getting there are different. Plato believed thai one acquires knowledge of ideas
through contemplation of ideas; Aristotle believed thai one could acquire knowli
of ideas or forms through a study of matter Whereas Plato rejected matter as an ob
jeel of study or as a real entity, Vristotle used matter a an object of study to reach
something further
Forthe religious realist, matter is no1 important in itself unless il li >me
thing beyond il »lf Aristotle recognized thai one maj look al anj obje< i
simplj
scientific study, bul this would be dealing onlj with one aspei ol matter i
\ s< ientisl
findingarocl u ban* mas examine it descripttveh in ten

ight, and so en Sued < oni ems h"-' lead to philosophy
tions relating to the beginnings and purpose ol the re* \- Thi is illusti
66 CHAPTER 2
by contemporary scientific efforts to study the moon. Specimens brought back by the
astronauts are studied intensively. Many photographs and television compositions
have been made on the natural makeup of the moon, but these have not been made
simply to catalog its shape, size, and weight; rather, the purpose has been much
deeper. Scientists and thinkers of various disciplines are interested in discovering
knowledge about the very origins of our universe. This shows that scientific inquiry
can lead to the most profound and ultimate kinds of philosophical questions. Thus,
one can transcend nature and use it to venture into the realm of ideas.
For the religious realist, the prime reason for the study of nature is to tran-
scend matter. The argument might run thusly: God, who is pure spirit, created the
world. He created it out of nothing, but He put himself into the world, giving it or-
der, regularity, and design. By studying the world carefully and by discovering its
order and regularity, we can come to know more about God. Religious realists, such
as Aquinas, would say that this is our prime purpose: God created the world to pro-
vide a vehicle through which people could come to know Him. Thomists maintain
that the curriculum should include practical and speculative knowledge. For exam-
ple, education helps the individual become self-aware so that one can think about
one's actions. Through the practical study of ethics, one is led to the higher plain of
ultimate reality, or metaphysics. Thomists believe that true education is always in
process and never becomes complete; it is a process of the continuing development
of the human soul.
Many thinkers (not necessarily philosophical realists) have believed that nature
could provide us with something greater than itself. William Wordsworth, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau, all nineteenth-century romanticists, used
the theme that nature could be transcended by thought and that individuals could
venture into higher realms of thought. Religious realists believe that this kind of tran-
scending should be the principal aim of education.
Secular realists, in contrast, emphasize the sensory material world and its
processes and patterns, rather than the transcendent spiritual world to which sen-
sory data might lead. Their approach is basically scientific. The scientific movement
beginning with Bacon ushered in an era of thought that stressed not only an under-
standing of the material world but control of it as well. Aristotle pointed out the order
and regularity of the material world; by this same process, scientists came to talk
about the laws of nature.
Secular realism stresses an understanding of the material world through the de-
velopment of methods of rigorous inquiry. Bacon first suggested that people should
clear their minds of the idols of generalization, language, and philosophy. Deduction,
which was the prevailing method of thought prior to Bacon, was based primarily on
rational thought. Reason alone, however, had led to many errors in Aristotle's think-
ing and to the metaphysical extravagances of the Scholastics. It was reason, no mat-
ter how ill concealed, that produced such imaginings as mermaids, devils, centaurs,
—
and the like. For the secular realist, the way out of this dilemma that is, deciding
—
which ideas are true is to verify these ideas in the world of experience.
Locke gave great support to Bacon's empiricism by showing that no ideas are
innate but that through reflection or reason we can create ideas, such as the idea of
1
a purple cow, thai do not exisl m the world of experience. The empirical movemenl
thai Bacon and Locke encouraged requires thai ideas be subjecl to public verifica
tion. This means ideas thai cannol be proved through scientific experimenl must be
considered only as hypotheses.
Secular realists promote a study of science and the scientific method. They
believe that people need to know the world in order to use to ensure then- own it
survival. This idea of survival is an important one For example. Herbert Spencer, the
nineteenth-century British philosopher and social scientist, placed self-preservation
as a primary and fundamental aim of education. In other words, the things children
most need to know are those things thai maintain their existence as individuals, as lam
ily members, and as citizens. The secular realist sees human control over nature as a
vast improvement from our early beginnings when we were at the mercj of nature.
Human misunderstanding of nature such as the superstitious explanations for tj
phoons and floods, led to many false beliefs. Today, continued advancement depends
on an even greater understanding and control of nature. Technical skill gol humans into
the ecological mess, but the secular realisl would add thai u also can gel usoul ofit.
Secular realism maintains thai essential ideas and tact scan best be lean km onlj I
by a study of the material world. It places .ureal stress on the study of basic facts for
the purpose of survival and for the advancement of technology and science. One
could say that technical schools, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
are approach to education. The former Soviet Union seemed to prefer
realist in their
thisapproach to education for technical and political purposes. In the fnited Slates, I
support has been strong for a more technical and scientific education since the
launching of Sputnik in 1957 Mam education critics al the time, such as Admiral
Hyman Rickover, argued thai American education had become too "soft," dealing
with "fads and frills." and that education ne. Med to return to basic studies, like mat he
matics and science
Realism as an educational philosophy has long been with us in one ua> or an-
other, but tends to assert itself most in times of turmoil.
it is almosl as if people It
have other educational philosophies when they can afford them, but realism is a ne
cessity. The claim is that people always will have some need for basic factual data and
such subjects as reading, writing, and arithmetic

This desire to return to realism was particularly strong after the Soviets
launched their first satellite Mam people believed thai the S 's second place tech I
meal position m this respect was in large measure a resull of scl Is nol teaching
enough basic subjecl matter, particularlj in science and mathematics Rickover

pointed to the dearth of competenl scientists in this countrj as compared with the
Soviet Union. He also praised Swiss education for its adherence to basics and believed
thai the taiericai uld do likewise He laid much ofthe blame for our lai k
of technical know how and creativity al the doorof John 1
who were promoting an education thai Ri< kovei thoughl was nol onh, superficial but
also dangerous in terms ol our survival Vn even more austii critit was Ma* Rail
<
W l,, Suffei Little ( 'hild Lremeh popular and who believed thai ba
Eubjecl mattei and othei staples ol American education Buchasi irnfoi re
ligion, patriotism, and capitalism, were bein

68 CHAPTER 2
A group of educators who were greatly concerned with the decline of basic sub-
ject matter in American schools formed an organization called the Council for Basic
Education. This organization has fought strenuously to keep and add basic subject
—
matter in schools not only the three R's (reading, writing, and arithmetic) but also
such subjects as science and history. A leading spokesperson for this council at that
time, James Koerner, believed that part of the problem lay in the training of teach-
ers, who were given survey courses instead of more basic studies and who came to
the classroom intellectually impoverished.
A major problem, according to the realists, is a general cultural malaise caused
by a lack of commitment to fundamental values. This is shown in the breakdown of
discipline and disregard for basic traditions. Perhaps the best illustration of this is the
fact that schools have drifted away from a concentration on the essentials of reading,
writing, arithmetic, and character development.
The "open education" movement, which gained attention in the late 1960s and
early 1970s, is an example of this drift. Rather than have students study essential but
not always exciting subjects, a do-your-own-thing ethic was instituted in which stu-
dents were encouraged to explore and discover things that interested them person-
ally. This created a problem, many realists charge, because children seldom have
clearly identified interests with enough focus to direct their needed educational de-
velopment. In addition, they do not always know what is best for them or what they
need, and this is confirmed by adults who in later life claim that such educational ap-
proaches failed to prepare them for the real world. Perhaps the crowning evidence
of the failure of "discovery" and "open" approaches, realists argued, was the embar-
rassing number of high school graduates who were functionally illiterate.
The breakdown of commitment to basic cultural values is not limited to educa-
tion but is reflected in the larger society. In the 1960s and 1970s, the confusion sur-
rounding the Vietnam War and the U.S. role in it was but one example. Today,
democracy depends as much on public debate of issues as ever before, but many re-
alists think that the willingness of organized society to allow young adults to rebel
against authority when the country is engaged in international competition contin-
ues to reflect the extent of the breakdown and the failure of education to secure al-
legiance to basic knowledge and values.

Another illustration of the realist charge that schools have long ignored basic
values was the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s, in which government officials,
including the president, were involved in a cover-up of illegal and unethical political
activities. Continuing scandals at the highest levels of government and society show
that this problem is still with Americans. Critics point out that the people involved in
such scandals all went through American schools, yet the schools apparently failed
to instill those character traits and basic values necessary for ethical conduct and
leadership.
This failure can be seen not only at the local and national levels but also in in-
ternational affairs. Many critics point to the erosion of America's political, economic,
and military power. Americans have been held hostage at times by weak foreign gov-
ernments, and the United States has been virtually powerless to act. Probably most
frustrating of all are those occasions when American economic power, a much-
vaunted strength in the past, is al the mercy of small nations thai control energy re-
sources. Many weapon to achieve economic, po-
nations have viewed education as a
and military power, and cril ics \\ >nder why Americans do not use this resource
litical, i
now by showing a commitment to education through an expansion of tin ids and pro-
grams, rather than the budgetary resl taints that arc currently fashionable.
Some realists argue our must precious resource the
that the talent of intel-
lectually gifted — is being squandered. 'Watered down" courses and "fads and frills"
have limited the development of superior students by bringing them down to the level
of the common denominator. Text hooks reflect this in their simplified reading mate
rial and content geared to the mythical average student Instead of pulling students .
up academic capabilities, such practices only pull them down to an accepted

to their
average.
of a classical realist outlook have championed an approach
Modern exponents
called the Great Books of the Western World, an approach also embraced by some ide
alists. First articulated by such figures as Robert [utchins and Mortimer Viler, this I
approach stresses understanding knowledge that has been passed down through the
ages. Thus, the curriculum should be organized around those great works that, though
somemaybe centuries old. still present fundamental know ledge al tout individual and
social existence, human institutions, intellectual and moral endeavor, and the natural
order. St. John's College at Annapolis has such a program in operation and is a m ""' 1
example of the kind of education that advocates of classical realism would favor. At
St. John's, students read the classics, analyze them, and then applj them to better
understand current problems. Students also are encouraged to read such modern
writers as William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway and even recent contemporarj
writers as supplementary readings. The emphasis in classical and modern readings,
however, is on universal truths that are germane to people in all times and pla
Following this line of reason, one proposal for educational reform that has
elicited much interesl since L982 is The Paideia Proposal b) viler on behalf of
the members of the Paideia Group. In this proposal, the basic recommendations are
(1) that schooling he a one-track system and (2) thai it he general, nonspecialized,
and nonvoeational. Although Adler gave due consideration to skills (such as problem
solving) and to subjects (such as mathematics, history, geography, and social stud
ies), healso placed strong emphasis on ideas found in philosophy, literature, and
;>
art.This gives Adler's views an idealistic tint, hut he argued that this bod) of knowl
edge is an independent realitj that students need to know, for Adler. all students
should encounter these great ideas and the best waj ol teaching them is through the
Socratic (maieutic) method of questions and answers idler's approach to edi
t, (
,n harkens ba< kto< lassi< al I Sree< e and the philosoph) ol Aristotle
Vdler's proj eiving a greal deal ol attention from the

,„-, not resulted iii major edu< ational reform so fai Man) edu< ators main
tain that \dler promotes an elitist on< eption ol edu< ation whereb) onl) intelli
i
students are able to master the material with an) real depth Vnother i ritii isn
n thai this
.
just another form ol a back to th<
i
•
menl In I
thai
/, ./,., m and P ' luel to Ti
:
although thei imilarities to a bad to-the-l /ement, one differ

70 CHAPTER 2
is that the Paideia approach emphasizes a discussion approach that generally is not
used response to the charge of being elitist, Adler claimed

in teaching the basics. In
that his approach to learning was designed for all students, not just those who are
college bound.
Critics of "basic education" consider its advocates as alarmists crying wolf and
say that the basics approach to education looks back to the American schools of a by-
gone era. These critics assert that basic education is a conservative approach, a re-
alism more interested in facts than in multicultural understanding, creativity, and
human relationships. Many educators maintain that facts can be taught in a pleasant-
atmosphere without the rote-style education associated with realism. Realists re-
spond by saying that this argument is often a cover-up for schools neglecting the hard
tasks of education.
In the 1980s, a widely discussed government report, A Nation at Risk, was
written by the National Commission on Excellence in Education and was issued by
Terrel H. Bell, then U.S. Secretary of Education. This report made the following rec-
ommendations for all high school students: 4 years of English, 3 years of mathemat-
ics, 3 years of science, 3 years of social studies, and V2 year of computer science. For
those going to college, 2 years of a foreign language also were recommended. Gen-
erally, the report supported more rigorous and measurable standards in schools, a
more effective use of the existing school day, and a longer day or a lengthened school
year. In addition, the report also recommended higher teaching standards, an apti-
tude for teaching as well as demonstrated competence by teachers, and a leadership
role by principals and superintendents.
Critics pointed out that these proposals contained nothing new and that they
seemed to reinforce many of the reforms recommended by conservative or rightist
educational organizations. With regard to the report, perhaps the most significant
thing was the title of the report itself; that is, the National Commission on Excellence
believed that unless its reforms were implemented, Americans faced crucial national
risks. Many interpreted the central risk to be one of not matching other countries
economically and militarily.
This instigated a series of proposals for educational reforms issued by diverse
sources, such as the Twentieth Century Fund's Making the Grade and the Educa-
tion Commission of the States's Actionfor Excellence. Together, all of the varied calls
for reform led to changes in American education, primarily in the form of greater ac-
countability, higher graduation standards, and widespread testing. It did not, how-
ever, lead to appreciably higher levels of funding or, it should be added, appreciably
higher levels of student achievement. Today, the calls continue for similar kinds of edu-
cational reform, and every presidential candidate makes education a high priority.
All of this shows a common realist theme: Students should be equipped with
objective knowledge of the past and present and assisted in the advancement of
knowledge. Realists argue that this can be done only by providing students with basic
and essential knowledge, and with a no-nonsense, no-coddling-of-students type of
approach.
Although realists share many similar concerns, variations among them exist.
They agree that schools should promote the essentials, but they each define essential
from a different perspective. For Instance,

\\ hitehead was almost idealistic in his rec-
ommendation be concerned primarily with ideas, but he condemned

thai education
what he referred to as "scraps of information" and "'inert ideas" because ideas should
be learned in a practical and useful context. What makes his thoughl realistic is his
view that one learns most truly from the material world in which one actually lives. He
defended classical and specialized studies if these studies have important applications
now. Inertness, he held, is a central hazard in all education; consequently, Whitehead's
view of the essentials might be different from what someone else views as neeessarj
because he had a distinct notion of what education should include
Realists put. great emphasis on the practical side of education, and their eon
cept of practical includes education for moral and character development. John
Locke, Johann F. Herbart, and Herbert Spencer held that the chief aim of education
should be moral education. Whitehead was close to this position when he said that
"the essence of education is that be religious." Spencer (in his essaj "What Knowl-
it
edge Is of Most Worth?") held that science provides for moral and intellectual edu-
cation because the pursuit of science demands integrity; self-sacrifice, and courage.
For Locke, good character is superior to intellectual training; however. Locke's views
on character education seem to have been directed primarily at the English gentry
of his day who were supposed to set examples for the rest of society. Herbart thought
that moral education is founded on knowledge, and Spencer agreed with this theory.
Thus, we can see different approaches to a common thrust. Realists agree that
education should be based on essential and practical knowledge that exists inde
pendent of the knower, hut they van in their individual approaches to independent
reality.Another common thread is that the essentials and practicalities of education
lead to something he.\ond themselves, a view that is dislineiK Aristotelian; that is.it
proceeds from matter to form, from imperfection to perfection. Realists are \ris
totelian in Viewing education as the process of developing rational powers l<> their
fullest so that the good life can he achieved.
The secular realist maintains that a proper understanding of the world requires an
understanding of facts and ways ol ordering and classifying knowledge Th'' estab
lislmieni of scientific laws, for example, depends on verification ol up to date factual
data. Secular realists believe that schools should teach such fundamental factsabout
the universe, and a good school program will present material in interesting and en
joyable ways. Nol onlj facts but also the method ol arriving at facts musl be taught
The realisl places enormous emphasis on critical reason aided bj observation and
experimentation.
Secular realism has had more recent impact on the philosophy ol education
than has religious realism It i
cample, that criti< H)
man Rickover and Jai int Conant wei The kind of education
thej promote is primarily ta hni< aJ and lea !

> The id< i
ial
ization, whi< his so repugnant to the idealist at ut of the efforts to refine and
tablish definitive scientific knowledge Se, ulai reali e thai the general
72 CHAPTER 2
prone to wide which can be verified. It is important to es-

flights of fantasy, little of
tablish what humans know, and can be accomplished only by drawing together
this
the efforts of many people, each one working on a small component of knowledge.
Realists believe less in the personality of the teacher than in the effectiveness of the
teacher to impart useful knowledge about the world, whether through lectures, di-
dactic teaching, or the latest computer technology.
Realists support formal ways of teaching, and although they see such objectives
as self-realization as valuable, realists maintain that self-realization best occurs when
students are knowledgeable about the external world. Consequently, they must be
exposed to facts, and didactic and other direct techniques can be efficient, organized,
and orderly ways to accomplish this objective. However, realists insist that whatever
the method used, it should be characterized by the integrity that comes from sys-
tematic, organized, and dependable knowledge.
Reflect for a moment on our chaotic history and how people have suffered be-
cause of an ignorance of facts about such things as a balanced diet, diseases, and the
—
causes of natural disasters knowledge we take for granted today. Our grasp of
knowledge and the enjoyment of a better life have come as a result of a slow but
steady accumulation of facts. People could not exist for long without knowledge of
at least some basic facts. Realists think that the factual side of learning need not be
painful or boring. In fact, they hold that learning should be enjoyable as well as use-
ful.Locke thought that play is a distinct aid to learning (as did Friedrich Froebel, the
nineteenth-century founder of the kindergarten) Locke seems to have had a good
.
grasp of child psychology, and he advocated methods that seem modern today. In ad-
dition to asserting the usefulness of play, he urged that children should not be vexed
by boring lessons, that they should not be pushed beyond their level of readiness
(even if this means a year's delay in learning to read) that children should be given
,
positive rewards to encourage further learning, and that the teacher should never
force children to achieve beyond their natural inclinations. In many respects, Locke
stands as a forerunner of modern educational theory. His recognition that children
should not be pushed beyond their ability and readiness sounds current, and his sen-
sitivity to a child's "natural inclinations" has a strong resemblance to the major tenets
of modern theories of child growth and development.

Although some realists, such as Locke, developed organized theories about spe-
cific educational concerns, such as the nature of childhood or the impact of the en-
vironment, others (such as Whitehead) looked into more general patterns in human
activity. Whitehead spoke of the "rhythmic" flow of education that can be discerned
in three primary stages. First is the stage of romance (up to about age 14), in which
the child's educational activity should be characterized mainly by discovering broad
themes, shaping questions, and devising new experiences. The second stage (from
ages 14 to 18) is the stage ofprecision, characterized by the disciplined study of spe-
cific and particular knowledge. Stage three, the stage of generalization (from age 18
toaround 22) focuses on students becoming effective individuals capable of dealing

,
with immediate experiences whereby they apply the principles of knowledge to life.
Despite the attention given to the nature of the child and the flow of experience
by Locke and Whitehead, critics of realism point out that in prac-
realist thinkers like
tice, realism is rigid. They charge that, in fact, realisl theon results in such practices
as Herbart's five formal steps of learning: preparation, presentation, association, sys-

tematization-generalization, and application. Russell charges thai such an ap Hamm
proach leads mechanically to reviewing homework, presenting new material, having
a question-and-answer period, doing desk work, and receiving new homeworl
signments. Herbart, for example, also recommended thai children be kepi occupied
as much as possible and thai corporal punishmenl be used when necessary. His rec
ommendations refleel the precision and order. The desire foi oi
realisl affinity for
der and precision is found such practices as ringing bells, setting time periods for
in
study, departmentalization, arranging daily lesson plans, course scheduling, in< n

ing specialization in the curriculum, prepackaged curriculum materials, and line staff
forms of administrative organization.
Although realists promote the importance of knowledge aboul the physical uni
verse, the ends to which religious and secular realists put such knowledge are dif
ferent. The religious realist believes thai knowledge ultimately should lead to things
beyond such as God or Truth me fundamental obligation of the teacher is to

itself, (
help the student know about the world and see the use of this knowledge as a \\a\ of
reaching ultimate truths. In some parochial schools, for example, students study such
areas as geography, history, and science, but these subjects are presented in ways
that emphasize religious ideas or morality. The secular realist, however, tends U
knowledge about the physical world primarily in its use-value in impro\ ing techno!
ogy and advancing civilization. Although realists generallj teach the same tin
they mighl teach them for differenl purposes.
Many realists support competency, accountability, and performance based
teaching. They assume thai educational growth in terms of competency, perfor
mance, and knowledge of the tacts can be achieved and is measurable to a consider
able extent. Furthermore, although is difficult to measure a student's growth in
it
such areas as values, ethical considerations, and social relations, realists generallj
maintain that anything thai exists can be measured in some form The besl waj to
approach and deal with such problems as et hies is through knowledge about the la. I .
of ethics. Perhaps, for i xample, the best ethics show people how to put themselves
in tune with the laws of the universe.
<'on temporary realists also emphasize the importance of scientific research and
development. The scientific movemenl in education has occurred primarily since

1900 and has broughl about the advancement of knowledge m the psyi hologj and
physiology of education and developmental approai hes to education Tins movemenl
also has been largelj responsible for the exti ol l<,> ti i
achievement liagnostic tests, and competenc; Lrriculahavi reflected
the impact ol < i'ii' ' m the appeal tandard work lists, homogeneou group
Ing of studi Hi- "ii thi '
intelligen< e, and standardized and

textbool i
The movemenl spawned the application ol more precise and em
also has
pirieaii', ba '-'I administrative techniques ^morerecenl dev< lopmenl is th<
ni to computer Lechnolo
whi< h
velopments have met with resistance and count* m in
education also h,r, md with a •!
74 CHAPTER 2
Some contemporary critics of American education find the realist faith in sci-
entific technology as a regrettable tendency. Other critics, though they accept the
need for science and the usefulness of new technology, quarrel with the underlying
realist theory as contributing to the misuse of science and technology, largely be-
cause they think that accepting and uncritical of things labeled sci-
realists are too
entific or technological. Whatever position one takes on this issue, the existence of
such an issue is witness to the vitality that realist ideas still have.
Curriculum
Although realists have different views about what subjects should constitute the cur-
riculum, they agree that studies should be practical and useful. Locke approved of
such practical studies as reading, writing, drawing, geography, astronomy, arith-
metic, history, ethics, and law —
with supplementary studies in dancing, fencing, and
riding. Locke emphasized the educational value of physical activity, and he believed
that children should spend much time in the open air and should accustom them-
selves to "heat and cold, shine and rain." He focused his attention on the complete
person and included not only intellectual concerns but also diet, exercise, and recre-
ation. He believed that instruction in reading should begin as soon as a child is able
to talk and that writing should begin soon afterward. He promoted studies in lan-
guages, particularly French and Latin, and also favored gardening and carpentry, as
well as the idea of "a grand tour" of Europe with one's tutor, as useful educational
experiences.
one finds two types of curricula in his system: one
In perusing Locke's writings,
and one for the poor. Locke proposed that all children between ages 3
for the rich
and 14 whose parents were on relief should be sent to a work school for as long as
they resided with their parents. They should earn their way at this school so as not
to burden the local government financially. While there, they should have a "belly-full
of bread daily" and in cold weather "a little warm water gruel." They were to be taught
the manual of spinning, knitting, and "some other part of woolen manufactur-
skills
ing" and be given "some sense of religion."

A historical feature of the realist curriculum has been the great attention given
to the use of didactic and object studies in education. For example, John Amos Come-
nius, a theologian and educator in the sixteenth century, was the first to introduce an
extensive use of pictures in the educational process. He believed that it was possible
for an individual to obtain all knowledge if provided with the proper kind of education.
This proper kind of education should be based on a curriculum to perfect one's natu-
ral powers by training the senses. He stressed the importance of studying nature, and
his curriculum included such subjects as physics, optics, astronomy, geography, and
mechanics. In stressing this "pansophic" goal of achieving all knowledge, Comenius
believed that schools should be enjoyable places with sympathetic teachers.
This idea of developing the senses in education also was adopted by Jean Jacques
Rousseau, Johann Pestalozzi, and Friedrich Froebel, among others. Pestalozzi held
that "sense impression of Nature is the only true foundation of human instruction, be-
cause it is the only true foundation of human knowledge." All that follows, he believed,
is a result of this sense impression. Pestalozzi promoted such skills as spinning and
gardening, with such subjects as arithmetic to be correlated with nature by having

children apply numbers to objects. Froebel, who studied al the Pestalozzian Institute
of Frankfort, also believed primary educational methods fo-
in "objeel studies", his
cused on "gifts," songs, and games. Although Froebel's educational techniques began
in the material world with material objects, he saw all things unified in God, who ex
presses Himself in physical nature and in thehuman spirit.

Herbart was another realist educator who was strongly influenced by Pestalozzi.
Herbarl criticized what he characterized as the atomistic curriculum of his day. He
believed in a system of "correlation and concentration" whereby eachsubjeel would
bear on and be integrated with other related subjects, 'reaching, he believed, should be
multilateral.Geography, economics, and history should be taught so dial the student can
see relationships that provide the basis for nevt knowledge, Herbarl thought thai ideas
are kept alive through interesl and thai one function of education is to see thai ideas are
retained in the mind through hooks, lectures, and other teaching devices.
Another educator who promoted interesl and the use of objects in the educa
tional process was Maria Mont essori. The Montessori method provides all sorts of ex
periences with blocks, cylinders, and geometric patterns. These objects assisl nol
only in the cognitive developmenl of the child but in physical development, as well.
Although her approach originally was designed for children with menial di
abilities. Montesson later expanded to include all children. She believed thai adults
it
can know children by observing them, and she thought thai too mam educators in
terfere with children's "spontaneous activity." In The Secret "l 'hildhood, she main (
tained that children have a secrel world of their own thai educators can learn aboul
if they make the effort. Edu< ation means removing barriers from the path a child
takes to discover the world and therefore should consist of a prepared environmenl
with materials thai children can use and thai teach them how to learn. This method
is solidly in keeping with the realist educational advocacj of
sense perception and
object lessons.
When we look at an overview of what realisl educators propose for a curricu
lum, we see thai tends to be mental ami physical, emphasizes subjeel matter aboul
i1
an external objective reality, and is highly organized and systematic in its approach
Role of the Teacher

One purpose of education from the earliest times has be,!, to
teach students the
kinds of things thai members ol io< ietj need to know in ordei to ^\\\\\i- In ani ienl
how
Egypt, students were expected to know the religious and political demands and
to prepare for an afterlife in Greece and Rome, young
men were taught oratoi
was of improving their stations m life In the Middl<

foi i
the priesthood, and other, were taughl the ode ol chivalrj In the
earlj historj
i
ol
North America, for example. Native Vmerii ans had elaborate remonies thi 1
1
which toe.iu< ate the young in the ways ol the tribe

''•" hinge! lential thii
Education ato I
duable function The need foi knowii

this respe< i it i,
.
76 CHAPTER 2
is no less today, argues the realist. In fact, it is probably greater because there are
more things to learn than ever before. When people fail to teach a child how to read
and write, they doom that child to difficulty in finding a job, in understanding vital in-
formation, and in developing socially. It is possible that because of this limitation, the
child will become a liability rather than an asset to society. In the same way, when
people fail to teach a child the kinds of preparation and skills needed for technologi-
cal and scientific development, they are not using schools to their fullest capacity
Realists emphasize the role of the teacher in the educational process. The
teacher should present material in a systematic and organized way and should pro-
mote the idea that one can use clearly defined criteria in making judgments about
art, economics, politics, and science. For example, some realists would assert that a
work of art, such as a painting, can be evaluated in terms of objective criteria, such
as the kind of brush stroke used, the shading of colors, the balance and quality of the
subject matter, and the message conveyed. The same thing applies to the activity of
education; one can use certain objective criteria in judging whether particular activi-
ties are worthwhile —for example, the type of material presented, how it is organized,
whether it suits the psychological makeup of the child, whether the delivery system
is and whether it achieves the desired results.
suitable,
Although realists argue that education should develop technical skills and turn
out specialists and scientists, they are not opposed to education in the humanities.
They do find, however, that schools are not teaching the humanities in ways con-
ducive to cognitive development or respect for traditional knowledge and values.
This type of issue is hotly debated in education circles today, particularly those in
higher education, and it concerns the impact of what might be called postmodern
theories of education. Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind, Dinesh
D'Souza's Illiberal Education, and Roger Kimball'sTenured Radicals are but three
books that have gained attention by attacking what the authors believe is the nega-
tive impact of postmodern and multicultural educational theories. In essence, the
critics believe that postmodernism is eviscerating liberal education by promoting a
mindless relativism and turning schools away from teaching traditional knowledge or
the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge.
Some realist philosophers have been drawn into this debate. John Searle sees
the postmodernist challenge as striking at the very roots of the Western rationalist
tradition that was founded on realism. Searle identifies what he sees as six basic
propositions of the Western rationalist-realist tradition that are at stake:
1 Reality exists independently of the human mind.

2. Although our representations of external reality are made through the human
invention called language, this does not mean that what we describe is merely
subjective.
3. Truth is found in accurate representations of independent reality, and a state-
ment is true if and only if it corresponds to the facts (the correspondence the-
ory of truth).
4. Knowledge is objective and not dependent on subjective attitudes or feelings.
5. Logic and rationality provide the intellectual standards of what it means to be

reasonable.
6. These intellectual standards are not "up for grabs," but provide objective crite-
ria for intellectual excellence and achievement.
As Searle sees it. the Western rationalist position always has been subjecl to criti
oism, including self-criticism, bul what postmodernists are seeking is not criticism in
order to estahlish new standards of rationality, bul rather the abandonment of stan-
dards of objectivity, truth, and rationality in favor of social and political transforma-
tions they find appealing. The humanities are the part of the curriculum that have
been most vulnerable. In some such departments, seems that the emphasis is not
it
on teaching individuals to develop identities with a universal intellectual culture, but

rather to define themselves by their race, class, gender, or ethnicity. In place of ob
jective standards of truth, postmodernists embrace multicultural representativeness
as the standard for curriculum content and the composition of the faculty. Rather
than discussing great works of literature, the talk is about texts; rather than an aca
demic subject as a domain to be studied, multidisciplinary studies are featured;
rather than objective studies of various topics, topics become causes to be advanced
or condemned. Not everj philosopher sees the postmodern multicultural chal
realist
lenge as a threat, however. Hilary and Ruth Anna Putnam have found cultural pin
ralism to be a feature that educators can use to great advantage.
Realist educators such as Harry Broudy would like teachers to take a critical
look what they are doing.
at is hoped thai when they see the negative effects that
It
trends in contemporarj education may be having, they will return to more basic sub
ject matter. Realists complain that they have been equated with such caricatures as
Charles Dickens's Mr. Gradgrind and Washington Irving's Ichabod Crane They sa\
that they are not promoting only memorization and rote learning of facts, nor do thej
dismiss problem solving, projects, and enjoyable experiences in learning activities
They do, however, believe that such experiences should be fruitful in terms of pro
dining students who have needed knowledge and skills. Further, they would like t,,
see institutions of higher education turn out capable teaching specialists who would
serve as models tor the inn ire development of students
CRITIQUE OF REALISM IN EDUCATION

in American education To saj that this advance
Realism has steadily gained ground
began with Sputnik and the accompany mil; clamor in 1967 and 1958 would not be
true, although that evenl certainlj accelerated the movement Realism re< eived its
major thrust from the industrial and technological age that has • haracterized Vmeri
icietj from the late nineteenth centurj to th< I II is little wonder thai
schools m the i niied Stat.-, uou their major task the training and pn
tinn of professional i and te< hnii iaru in .1 bo< ietj when ind te< hni
cal skills are so highh prized Vet, manj 1 ril

78 CHAPTER 2
and dehumanizing, pandering primarily to material concerns. Although classical and

religious realists still recognize the higher ends of moral and spiritual values, critics
charge that scientific realists generally maintain a materialistic conception of human
nature that is biased toward social control and social order.
Although the problems of order and control often are laid at the door of secu-
lar and scientific realism, evidence suggests that the bias toward order and control
goes back to Aristotle and Aquinas. These thinkers tended to see the universe in
terms of an independent reality with its own internal and systematic order. Thus,
people must adapt and adjust to this reality, and dreams and desires have to be sub-
sumed under its demands. The contemporary outcome of this view is the pressure to
adjust to the needs of the corporate industrial state and the demands of an interna-
tional market economy. In some countries, a realist outlook has been used to support
totalitarian regimes, religious systems, and other worldviews that seem to seek over-
riding, controlling authority.
Dewey tried to counteract what he considered the negative aspects of both re-
alism and idealism by showing that what we know as real is neither totally in the mind
nor totally objective and external; rather, he argued that human reality consists of
individuality and environment. Instead of adjustment to environmental and social
conditions as a one-way movement, Dewey advocated the use of intelligence to trans-
form the world to be more in line with human values. Dewey's detractors have ac-
cused him of promoting the "life adjustment" movement in education, but this
movement is more characteristic of realism than of Dewey's philosophy.
Perhaps the most vocal critics of realism are those with an existentialist orien-
tation and many postmodernists. They attack realism because it has advocated the
idea of a fixed and intelligible universe capable of being perceived objectively by the
observing intellect. This view, they charge, has been promoted through the centuries,
through the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment, and into the contemporary scene
of the technological society. It has deified reason to the detriment of the total human
by ignoring passion, emotion, and irrationality. If we truly want to understand
feeling,
the human being in the world, then we must consider the totality or entirety of the in-
dividual, a totality that realism tends to ignore. Realists claim that they do view human
beings in their entirety and that their entirety is one of dependence on a universe much
larger than themselves. Critics reply that the realist view of the totality of the human
being in the world is conditioned by preconceived notions about the universe.
These preconceived notions often lead realists to conclusions about humanity
that create difficulties in the field of education. For instance, Whitehead disparages
"the dull average student," despite the fact that such average students constitute a
majority of the school-age population. Realists seem more concerned with the ne-
cessity of students measuring up to the standard curriculum than with seeing them
as individuals. Russell believed in the love of knowledge for its own sake despite all
of his talk about individuality, subjectivity, and humanistic concerns. He spoke of "ex-
cellencies" as the desirable things to achieve in education, a view that probably would
meet with little resistance, except the underlying assumption is that achievement of
these excellencies has to be measured against external criteria. The net result of
views expressed by Whitehead and Russell is that students come to be seen in terms
of subservience to a superior entity, such as the curriculum or standards of excel-

lence. This problem is central to the criticism of the purported dehumanizing effects
of realism.
This point of contention is illustrated Further bj the controversj over liberal
and vocational education. Although many realists support the need for both, thej
seem to view liberal education as intensive studies in the arts and sciences for supe
rior students and believe thai slower students should be giver a narrower technical-
vocational training. .lames ( lonant, tor example studied the social conditions of inner
cities and concluded that the conditions faced bj Hie urban poor, parlicularb the
black poor, are breeding grounds lor "social dynamite." Critics point out thai al
though Conant could have devised and humanitarian reform pro

uplifting, sensitive,
posals. he recommended that poor people be given vocational education. Such
outlooks all loo often result in one kind of education lor the "superior" people and
another kind of education everybody else. for
Despite the historical insistence of realists on holism, they have for good or bad
encouraged a movement m education toward specialization. This mighl be a corol
lary of the knowledge explosion everyone is facing, and realists, like others, arc
caught up problem. Their tendency to concentrate on specialized, piecemeal

in this
modules of knowledge does little to cure the problem. lomenius advocated a "pan <
sophist" approach in education to enable individuals to use reason to gain all know I
edge. Many realists have promoted tins idea historically, but their proclivity for the
piecemeal approach does not lend itself to holistic and unified conclusions.
Today, the realist ideal of the scientist and technician shows little recognition ol
the unity of knowledge because scientists often work on one small component of a
larger entity without understanding thai larger entity or appreciating its implications
for humanity. Thus, it work on a project that has antisocial
is possible for a scientist to
or antihuman implications without being aware of it. The highly trained technician
working on expensive space technology at lape Janaveral might ignore the fad that ( <
the expensive gadgetry takes up resources that ol herv* ise could be used to alleviate
human misery
Realism displays a bias in favor of a fact based approach to knowledge \l
though this has Us laudable aspects, is also susceptible to \arioiis errors V\ hat was it
once thought to be indisputable fact m so mam cases is now considered to be inter

esting myth and outright ignorance, su< hasthe Ptolemaii cosmologj once supported
by religious realism Even the "laws' of modern physics, which have tremendou
1
irch and experimentation behind them, could fall to nev* ideas in the future
Confusion also what is meant bj the term fact

i
be< ause then
1
••);,.
ison"and f empirical research.* Aristotle thought it self-evidenl
thai objects of different weights fall at different Nol until Galileo was this
•|;,, i ,,i reason" overturned bj empiri< al resean h; he reportedl) tested the pro|
ii,,,, and found it false li one keeps these problems in mind, il is understandable thai
a "factual approai
1
h could lead to closed mind< d I narrowness It one air

has the truth in hand (whether rel ntific) then one hardly is moth
to search further This point ol view is aniiplnlosophh.il to the extent that ii
n mind and he t 1 1 1
1
-
. 1 1 .
i
< kled m
80 CHAPTER 2
One controversy that has its is the problem of test-

roots in the realist tradition
ing. A realist assumption by E. L. Thorndike) that anything that exists,
(as expressed
exists in some quantity and can be measured, has led to a plethora of standardized
tests ranging from the IQ tests for young children to college board and national
teachers' examinations. The testing movement has been touted as scientific and fact
based, and it has gained an almost uncritical acceptance in some quarters.
The same kind of criticism can be directed toward statistical research studies,
such as opinion surveys and other kinds of data sampling. The assumption is that
what one finds by statistical research is scientific and factual; this, in turn, leads the
researcher to believe that these findings reveal some truth. What can happen is the
"pygmalion effect"; that is, the data could influence the way a teacher views the mem-
bers of the class. The dangers of such a faith in "factual data" have received wide-
spread attention in various professional journals, but it seems that testing is hardly
abating and might even be growing more common. It is almost as if educators are
caught in the clutches of a blind faith in anything labeled "scientific fact."
It often is claimed that the testing movement is one area where science has had
its greatest impact on education. This movement has accelerated in recent years in
conjunction with the clamor for accountability, cost-effectiveness, and meeting the
demands of international economic competition. Testing has been directed toward
finding some way to gauge teacher effectiveness and student performance more ef-
ficiently, and many states already require students to pass competency tests before
graduation.
Some school systems also make competency tests mandatory for prospective
teachers. The National Teachers Examination (Praxis) is another kind of test de-
signed to ensure that teachers have a grasp of the fundamentals of the profession be-
fore being licensed. Such a trend can provide valuable objective support to those
concerned with educational quality, but some critics argue that such tests are cul-
turally biased and are punitive against various social groups. Perhaps in light of the
controversies over testing, we should consider the other extreme, presented by the
Russian educator Makarenko, who said that whenever he received a file on a student,
he threw it into the fire lest it color his objective opinion of that person.
Finally, the realist advocacy of discipline and hard work can be criticized for
various internal difficulties. Some religious realists have supported the doctrine of
original sin, a view that has led to a belief that the human being is by nature corrupt,
lazy, and prone to wrongdoing. Although modern secular realists might reject this
view, remnants of it linger in education, for hard work and discipline are considered
good for us and the concept that students' heads should be filled with "factual truth"
so that they do not come to a bad end lives on.
The "hard work and discipline" syndrome and the emphasis on factual truth
have been attacked and disputed vigorously by thinkers from Rousseau to contem-
porary proponents of experiential learning. These advocates maintain that it makes
just as much sense to take an opposite view: People are basically good, energetic, and
naturally inquisitive. Education should not be forced on people; rather, it should be
made available in a palatable and enjoyable fashion. Both of these positions are ex-
treme and susceptible to the same basic error; that is, they are too sure that human
nature can be determined or thai is basically oriented toward good or bad behav-
it
ior.The point is that realism has been critu ized for the weakness of a narrow, re-
strictive view of human nature and that this vie* has had a debilitating effecl on
schooling and educational theory.
Despite its shortcomings, a realisl philosophy of education often finds strong
support from many educators, parents, business leaders, religious institutions, and
grassroots America. The realist approach appears to favor a no-nonsense education
that concentrates on things must people consider important \ large pi rcenfc
the public believes that lack of discipline is the number one problem found in schools
today, and the emphasis on discipline in realist philosophies of education appeals to
this sector of the public.
The emphasis on discipline includes nol only behavior but also a disciplined ap-
proach to subject matter, learning, and life activities. \\ hen one seriously examines
existing school practices here and abroad, one maj find that more schools are fol-
lowing realisl educational principles than those of any other single philosophy.
ARISTOTLE
THE POLITICS AND ETHICS OF ARISTOTLE
.1/ 'stotlethought In it ii primary aim

i on is to produce a virtuous person lie bel
thai education should not lir limited In thr SCflOOlrOOm OUt is n fuitetixii Oj the State, OS " ''//,
His approach wisdom "<i\ "practical," using the methods oj science as well as philosophy
to
A major concern was to shape understanding "ml "correctness oj thinking " Aristotle's edu
cational a ritings ha\ e had signify ant impact mi thedei elopment <>\ Western edut ation His
<i
thorn/lit has greatly influem ptions "I education m the immunities ami the
ami Ins a leas hm e found ia> <>> ith seculai ""'I religious thinkers m edut ation
>i
What constitution in the parent ismosl advan- nourishing diet The first ol if' i iptions the
tageous to tin' offspring is a subject which we will legislator will easito carrj intoeffei t bj requiring that
hereafter consider when we speak of the education of hall lake a walk daik In sonie temple, where
children, and we will only make a leu general remarks is who preside over birth
at present The temperament of an athlete is n<>t Their minds, however, unlike theii I-
suiied to tli<- lit'- "i a < ni/.'ii. or i" health, or '" the I., keep mi* >i Mi-- offspring derive their na
procreation of children, any more than the valetudi- tures from their mothers as plants do from the earth
narian or exhausted constitution, but one which is in uid rearing <>t i hildren let
a mean between them. A man's < onstitution should be there he a law that no deformed i hild shall live, but
inured to labor, but not to labor whii I

too mam i t"i Hi -ill State population
of one sort only, sui i
.mil ). whei hildren in •
should i.e capable "t all the actioi 'man teol feelinj
These remarks apph equalb to both pan
Women who are with child shoul il of gun; what t
themselves; thej should Lion

82 CHAPTER 2
And now, having determined at what ages men are termed, should be careful what tales or stories the
and women are to begin their union, let us also deter- children hear, for the sports of children are designed
mine how long they shall continue to beget and bear to prepare the way for the business of later life, and
offspring for the State; men who are too old, like men should be for the most part imitations of the occupa-
who are too young, produce children who are defec- tions which they will hereafter pursue in earnest.
tive inbody and mind; the children of very old men are Those are wrong who [like Plato] in the Laws attempt
weakly The limit, then, should be the age which is the to check the loud crying and screaming of children,
prime of their intelligence, and this in most persons, for these contribute towards their growth, and, in a
according to the notion of some poets who measure manner, exercise their bodies. Straining the voice has
life by periods of 7 years, is about 50; at 4 or 5 years an effect similar to that produced by the retention of
later, they should cease from having families; and the breath in violent exertions. Besides other duties,
from that time forwards only cohabit with one another the directors of education should have an eye to their
for the sake of health, or for some similar reason. bringing up, and should take care that they are left as
As to adultery, let it be held disgraceful for any little as possible with slaves. For until they are 7 years
man or woman to be unfaithful when they are mar- old theymust live at home; and therefore, even at this
ried, and called husband and wife. If during the time early age,all that is mean and low should be banished
of bearing children anything of the sort occurs, let the from their sight and hearing. Indeed, there is nothing
guilty person be punished with a loss of privileges in which the legislator should be more careful to drive
proportion to the offence. away than indecency of speech; for the light utter-
After the children have been born, the manner ance of shameful words is akin to shameful actions.
of rearing them may be supposed have a great ef-
to The young especially should never be allowed to re-
fect on their bodily strength. It would appear from the peat or hear anything of the sort. A freeman who is
example of animals, and of those nations who desire found saying or doing what is forbidden, if he be too
to create the military habit, that the food which has young as yet to have the privilege of a place at the
most milk in it is best suited to human beings; but the public tables, should be disgraced and beaten, and an
less wine the better, if they would escape diseases. elder person degraded as his slavish conduct de-
Also all the motions to which children can be sub- serves. And since we do not allow improper language,
jected at their early age are very useful. But in order clearly we should also banish pictures or tales which
to preserve their tender limbs from distortion, some are indecent. Let the rulers take care that there be no
nations have had recourse to mechanical appliances image or picture representing unseemly actions, ex-
which straighten their bodies. To accustom children cept in the temples of those gods at whose festivals
to the cold from their earliest years is also an excel- the law permits even ribaldry, and whom the law also
lent practice, which greatly conduces to health, and permits to be worshipped by persons of mature age
hardens them for military service. Hence many baron behalf of themselves, their children, and their
barians have a custom of plunging their children at wives. But the legislator should not allow youth to be
birth into a cold stream; others, like the Celts, clothe hearers of satirical Iambic verses or spectators of
them in a light wrapper For human nature
only. comedy until they are of an age to sit at the public ta-
should be early habituated to endure all which by bles and to drink strong wine; by that time education
habit it can be made to endure; but the process must will have armed them against the evil influences of
be gradual. And children, from their natural warmth, such representations.

may be easily trained to bear cold. Such care should We have made these remarks in a cursory
attend them in the first stage of life. —
manner they are enough for the present occasion;
The next period lasts to the age of 5; during this but hereafter we will return to the subject and after
no demand should be made upon the child for study a fuller discussion determine whether such liberty
or labor, lestits growth be impeded; and there should should or should not be granted, and in what way
be sufficient motion to prevent the limbs from being granted, if at all. Theodorus, the tragic actor, was quite
inactive. This can be secured, among other ways, by right in saying that he would not allow any other ac-
amusement, but the amusement should not be vulgar tor, not even if he were quite second-rate, to enter be-
or tiring or riotous. The directors of education, as they fore himself, because the spectators grew fond of the
voices which they first heard. Ami the same principle what should be the character of this public education,
of association applies universally to things as well as and how young persons should he educated, are ques-
persons, for we always like best whatever comes Brst. tions which remain to be considered. For mankind are
And therefore youth should be kepi strangers to all bj no moans agreed about the things to he ta
that is had. and especially to tilings which suggesl vice whether we look to virtue or the host life. Neither it is
or hate. When the 5 years have passed away, during clear whether education is more concerned with in
the.! following years they musl look on at the pursuits tellectual or with moral virtue. The existing practice
which they are hereafter to learn. There are two peri is perplexing; no one knows on what principle w
ods of life into which education has to be divided, from should proceed should the useful in life, or should
7 to the age of puberty, and onwards to the age ol l virtue, or should the higher knowledge, be the aim ol
and 20. [The poets] who divide ages bj sevens are not our raining;
i all three opinions have been entertained
always right: We should rather adhere to the*divisions Vgain, about the means there is no agreement . fordil
actually made by nature; f< >r the deficiencies of nature ferenl persons, starting with different ideas about the
an what
1
art and education seek to fill up. nature of virtue, rtaturallj disagree about the pra< tice
Let ns then first inquire if any regulations are to of There can he no doubt that children should ho
it.
he laid down ahont children, and secondly, whether taught those useful things which are reallj :essary,
the care of them should be the concern of the State or hut not all things; for occupations are divided into lib
of private individuals, which latter is in our own d;i\ oral and young children should !" im
illiberal; and to
the common custom, and in the third place, what parted oruj such kinds knowledge as will he useful ol
these regulations should be. to them withoui vulgarizing them \nd art) occupa
No one doubl that the legislator should di
will lion. ail. or science, which makes the bod) or soul or
reel his attention above all to the education of youth, mind of the freeman less in for the practice "r exer
or that the neglect of education does harm to States cise of virtue, is vulgar; wherefore we call those arts
The citizen should be moulded to suit the formol go^ vulgar which tend to deform the body, and likewise all
eminent under which he lives, for each governmenl paid employments, for the) absorb and degrade the
has a peculiar character which originalh formed and mind. There are also some liberal arts quite proper for
which continues in preserve it. 'fin- character of a freeman to acquire, hut onl) in a certain degree, and
democracy creates democracy, and the character of ii he ai lend to i hem i ilosel) m order to attain per-
oligarchy creates oligarchy; and always the better the fection in them, the same evil effects will follow The
character, the better the government. objeel also which a man sets before him ma
Now for the exercise of any facultj or art a pre difference; if lie does or learns anything for his own
vious training and habituation an- required; clearly sake or for the sake of his friends, or with a view to< \
therefore for the practice of virtue And since the cellence, the action will not appear illiberal; but ii
whole city has one end. it is manifest that edu( ation done the sake ol others, the ver) same action will
for
should he one and the same for all. and that it should he thought menial and servile The re< eived subjei is
he public, and not private not as .u present, when oi instruction, as I have alread) remarked, an- parti)
ne looks after Ins own childrei • and ol a liberal and parti) "i an illiberal hara i
gives them separate instruction of the sort which he Tin ,

ustomar) brani hes "I education are in
thinks best; the naming in things which an- <<\ com- number four; the) are Mi reading and writing,
mon interest should he tin- same for all Neither must mnastii exi to which is some
to him- Will
wesupposethal anyone of the citizen
I
tc.rthe pui
belong to the State, and
.:
self, for the) all
them a part of the Stan-, and the cai part ia <>\ life m a
irable from the care of the whole lnthisparti< u are thought to ;•
the Lacedaemonians [Spartai doubt ma) I in our own da) b1 men . ul

lar
about their children, nail) n was
for ihey take th<
and make education the husmess ol the i included in edu<

""l |e, not
Thai education should
onto if hut to
should be an
' '
ai:
—
84 CHAPTER 2
must repeat once and again, the first principle of all and afterwards he speaks of others whom he describes
action is leisure. Both are required, but leisure is as inviting
better than occupation; and therefore the question
must be asked good earnest, what ought we to do
in "The bard who would delight them all."
when at leisure? Clearly we ought not to be amusing

ourselves, for then amusement would be the end And in another place Odysseus says there is no
of life. But if this is inconceivable, and yet amid seri- better way of passing life than when "Men's hearts are
ous occupations amusement is needed more than merry and the banqueters in the hall, sitting in order,
at other times (for he who is hard at work has hear the voice of the minstrel." It is evident, then, that
need of relaxation, and amusement gives relaxation, there is a sort of education in which parents should
whereas occupation is always accompanied with train their sons, not as being useful or necessary, but
exertion and effort), at suitable times we should in- because it is liberal or noble. Whether is of one
this
troduce amusements, and they should be our medi- kind only, or of more than one, and what they
if so,
cines, for the emotion which they create in the soul are,and how they are to be imparted, must hereafter
is a relaxation, and from the pleasure we obtain rest. be determined. Thus much we are now in a position
Leisure of itself gives pleasure and happiness and to say that the ancients witness to us; for their opin-
enjoyment of life, which are experienced, not by the ion may be gathered from the fact that music is one
busy man, but by those who have leisure. For he who of the received and traditional branches of education.
is occupied has in view some end which he has not Further, it is clear that children should be instructed
attained; but happiness is an end which all men in some —for example, reading and
useful things in
deem to be accompanied with pleasure and not with writing —not only for their usefulness, but also be-
pain. This pleasure, however,
is regarded differently cause many other sorts of knowledge are required
by different persons, and varies according to the through them. With a like view they may be taught
habit of individuals; the pleasure of the best man is drawing, not to prevent their making mistakes in their
the best, and springs from the noblest sources. It is own purchases, or in order that they may not be im-
clear then that there are branches of learning and posed upon in the buying or selling of articles, but
education which we must study with a view to the rather because it makes them judges of the beauty of
enjoyment of and these are to be valued for
leisure, the human form. To be always seeking after the use-
their own sake; whereas those kinds of knowledge ful does not become free and exalted souls. Now it is
which are useful in business are to be deemed neces- clear that in education habit must go before reason,
sary, and exist for the sake of other things. And and the body before the mind; and therefore boys
therefore our fathers admitted music into education, should be handed over to the trainer, who creates in
not on the ground either of its necessity or utility, for them the proper habit of body, and to the wrestling-
it is not necessary, nor indeed useful in the same master, who teaches them their exercises.
manner as reading and writing, which are useful in The happy man will need external prosperity,
money-making, in the management of a household, so far forth as he is man; for human nature is not suf-
in the acquisition of knowledge and in political life, ficient of itself for contemplation; but the body must
nor like drawing, useful for a more correct judgment be in health, and it must have food and all other care
of the works of artists, nor again like gymnastic, and attendance. We must not however imagine that
which gives health and strength; for neither of these the person who is to be happy will want many and
is to be gained from music. There remains, then, the great goods, because we say that without external
use of music for intellectual enjoyment in leisure; good he can be blessed; for self-sufficiency does not
which appears to have been the reason of its intro- consist in excess, nor does action. But it is possible to
duction, this being one of the ways in which it is perform honourable things without being lord of
thought that a freeman should pass his leisure; as earth and sea; for a man may be able to act according
Homer says to virtue with moderate means. We may see this
plainly: for private individuals are thought to perform
"How good is it to invite men to the pleas- good acts no less than men in power, but even more
ant feast," so. And it is sufficient to have a competence, for the
REALISM AND ED IK' ATI ON 85
life of that man will be happy, who energizes accord but to force There must, therefore, previously exist
ing to virtue. Solon also perhaps gave a good descrip a character in some waj connected with virtue, lo\
tion of the happy man, when he said, thai in his ing what is honourable, and haling what is disgrace
opinion was he who was moderately supplied with
it lul. Bul to meet with right education in the path of
externa] goods, who had done the most honourable virtue from childhood is difficult, unless one is
deeds, and lived temperately; for is possible thai it light up under such laws; For to live tempera!. '1\
men who have moderate possessions should do v> hat and patienth is not pleasant to the majority, and es
they ought. Anaxagoras also seems to have conceived peciall) to the young Therefore, education and insti
the happy man to be neither rich nor powerful, when unions ought to be regulated bj law; for they will not
he said, that he should rtol be surprised if he was be painful when thej have become familiar
thought absurd by the multitude; for they judge bj Perhaps is not sufficient that we should meet
il
externals, having a perception of such things only. with good education and attention when young; but
The opinions of wise men. therefore, seem to since when we arrive al man-hood we ought also to
agree with what has been said; such statements, studs and practice what we have learned, we should
t herefore, carry with t hem some weight . But weju* lg< require laws also lor this purpose In short, we should
of truth, in practical matters, from facts and from life, want laws relating to the whole of life; for the masses
for on them the decisive poinl turns; and we oughl to are obedient to compulsion rather than to reason, and
try all that has been said by applying it to tacts and to to punishments rather than to the principle Of hon
life; and if our arguments agree with tacts, we raaj re our. Therefore, some think that legislators ought to
ceive them; bul if thej areal variance, we musl ci exhort to virtue, and to urge men on bj appealing to
sider them as mere words. He also who energizes the principle of honour, since those who are good in
according to intellect, and pays attention to that, and obey when they are led; bul to im
their practice will
has it in the host state, is likelj to be most beloved bj pose chastisements and punishments on those who
the gods; for if any regard is paid to human affairs by arc disobedient and naturalh indisposed to virtue,
the gods, as it is thought that thereis.it is reasonable and to banish altogether the incurable; because he
to suppose that they would take pleasure in what is who is good, and with regard to the principle "I
lives
the besl and nearest allied to themselves bul this honour, will obej reason; hut the had man desires
must be the would be kind in
intellect; and thai thej pleasure, and is corrected by pain, like a beast ol bur
return to those who love and honor this most, as to den Therefore, il is a common saying, thai the pains
persons who pay attention to then friends, and who ought io he such as are most opposedtothe plea
act rightly and honorably. But that all these qualities which are loved
especially belong to the wise man. is quite clear; it is Now. then, as has heeii said, he that is to I
probable, therefore, thai he is al the same nun- most good man must have been educated well, and have
dear to the gods, and most happy; so dial even in this been made to form good habits, and thus continue to
way the wise man must be the happiest man live under good institutions, and never practise what
[Ii| is thought that men become good, some i>>

is had. either involuntarily or voluntarily; and thi
living in obedience to some intelligenl

nature, others bj practice, others by teaching. Novi it
plam nature not in our principle, and s righl regulation, which has the
is that whatever belongs to is
own power, bul exists bj some divine causes in tl power oi enfon inj Bul the paternal au
who are truly fortunate Bul reasoning and tea hing, thorit) ha ngth, noi compulsorj fon e; nor, In
it, the authority ol anj one man. unle

it is to be feared, will not avail in i
kinn. or some one ol that sort; but the law

mind of the hearer must be previously
I
I lilt
habits to feel ;
the soil musl. which nourisl •

i For he who •
rtain pru i intellig<
not listen to men liate th«>s.- individuals wi ppose Lheii

lives in obedience I
ild i
appi lo it rightly; bul the It
Boning which turns him from it; i

"i'" 1
not understand it. And how is it possible I
ole Lai edae

the convu tions
i
ol su<
'
I <
n appeal ubmil lo reasoning,

86 CHAPTER 2
institutions; whilst in most states such matters have it should have power to enforce it: But if neglected as a
been neglected, and each lives as he pleases, like the public measure, it would seem to be the duty of every
Cyclops, individual to contribute to the virtue of his children and
friends, or at least to make this his deliberate purpose.
Administering the law for his children
and wife.
Source: Aristotle, The Politics, translated by B. Jowett.
New York: Colonial Press, 1899, pp. 192-199; Aristotle, The
It would therefore be best that the state should pay at- Nicomachean Ethics, translated by R. W. Browne. London:
tention to education, and on right principles, and that Henry G. Bohn, 1853, pp. 284-288.
LOCKE
SOME THOUGHTS CONCERNING EDUCATION
Locke's educational writings are classics of pedagogy that dominated the eighteenth century
and still influence people today. Basing his observations on experience, Locke aimed his ed-
ucational proposals at producing the well-mannered, well-informed English gentleman. In ad-
dition to being a philosopher, Locke was also a physician; and it is not surprising that he
included in his writings, in addition to intellectual concerns, the topics of health, exercise,
and physical growth and development. He presented a liberal and humane view of education,
especially as compared with what existed in his day. Although he advocated democracy, his
educational recommendations were aimed primarily at the children of the upper classes. He
emphasized individuality, self-discipline, the importance of reasoning with the child, and de-
velopment of character as well as intellect.
A sound mind in a sound body, is a short, but full ful or not, by their education. It is that which makes
happy state in this world; he that has
description of a the great difference in mankind. The little, or almost
these two, has little more to wish for; and he that insensible, impressions on our tender infancies, have
wants either of them, will be but little the better for very important and lasting consequences: and there it
any thing else. Men's happiness, or misery, is most part is, as in the fountains of some rivers, where a gentle
of their own making. He whose mind directs not application of the hand turns the flexible waters into
wisely, will never take the right way; and he whose channels, that make them take quite contrary
body is crazy and feeble, will never be able to advance courses; and by this little direction, given them at first,
in it. I confess, there are some men's constitutions of in the source, they receive different tendencies, and
body and mind so vigorous, and well framed by nature, arrive at last at very remote and distant places.
that they need not much assistance from others; but, I imagine the minds of children, as easily
by the strength of their natural genius, they are, from turned, this or that way, as water itself; and though
their cradles, carried towards what is excellent; and, thisbe the principal part, and our main care should be
by the privilege of their happy constitutions, are able about the inside, yet the clay cottage is not to be
to do wonders. But examples of this kind are but few; neglected. I shall therefore begin with the case, and
and I think I may say, that, of all the men we meet with, consider first the health of the body, as that which
nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil, use- perhaps you may rather expect, from that study I have
.
been thought more peculiarly to have applied mysoll I pi, ire virtue as the first and most necessary of
to; and that also which will be soonest dispatched, as those endowments thai belong to a man or a gentle-
lying. guess not amiss, in a wry little compass.
it"l man, as absolutely requisite to make him valued and
How necessary health is to our business and beloved by others, acceptable Or tolerable to himself.
happiness; and how requisite a strong constitution, V\ ithoul that. I think, he will be happy neither in this
able to endure hardships and fatigue, is. to one thai nor the other world. . . .
willmake any figure in the world; is too obvious to W hen he can talk, it is time he should begin to
need any proof. . . . learn to read But as to this, give me leave here to in-
This being laid down in general, as the course culcate again what is very apt to be forgotten, viz.
ought to be taken, it is fit we come now to consider that great (are is to be taken, that it be never made
the parts of the discipline to be used a lit t le more par- as a business to him. nor he look on it as a task. We
ticularly. have spoken so much of carrying a strict
1 naturally, as even from our cradles, love lib-
I said,
hand over children, that perhaps shall be suspected I erty, and have therefore an aversion to many things.
of not considering enough what is due to their tender lot no other reason, but because they are mjoined
age and constitutions. But thai opinion will vanish, us I have always had a fancy, that learning might be
when you have heard me a lit tie farther. For I am very made a play and recreation to children; and that
apt to think, that great severity of punisluiienl does they might be brought to desire to be taught, it it
but very little good; nay, great harm in education: And were proposed to them as a thing of honour, credit,
I believe it will be found, that, ceteris paribus, those delight, and recreation, or as a reward for doing some-
children who have been most chastised, seldom make thing else, and if they were never chid or corrected
the best men. All that I have hitherto contended for, lor I he neglect of it . . . .
is. whatsoever rigour is necessary, it is mure to

that Thus children may he cozened into a knowl
be used, the younger children are; and. having by a edge of the letters; be taught to read, without per
due application wrought its effect, it is to be relaxed. ceiving it to be any thing bul a sport, and plaj
and changed into a milder sort of government. . . . themselves into that which others are whipped for
Manners, as they call it. about which children Children should not have any thing like work, or sen
are so often perplexed, and have so many goodly ex ous. laid on them; neither their minds nor bodies will
hortations made them, by their wise maids and gov- bear injures their healths; and their being forced
it It
ernesses, think, are rather to be learned by example

I and tied down to their honks, in an age at enmity with
than rules; and then children, if kept out of ill com- all such restraint, has. doubt not, been the I |
pany, will take a pride to behave themselves prettily, why a great many have haled hook:, and learning all
after the fashion of others, perceiving themselvi their In es alter It is like a surfeit, that leaves an aver-
teemed and commended for it. But, if by a little neg- sion behind, not to be removed. . .
ligence in this part, the hoy should not put off his hat, The Lord's prayer, the creed, and ten com
nor make legs very gracefully, a dancing-master will mandments, is necessary he should learn perfectly
it
cure that defect, and wipe off all that plainness ol na- bj heart; hut. think, not bj reading them himself in
I
ture, which the a-la-mode people call clownishness his primer, but bj s toodyrs repeating them to him,
And since nothing appears to me to give children so ev< n before he can i>.i<\ I'm learning bj heart, and
much becoming confidence and behaviour, and 30 to learning to read, should not. I think be mixed, and •"
raise them to the conversation of those abov< then one mad'' to c lot the other But his learning
1
, I
age. as danemg; think they should be taught

I
to should be made as little trouble or business to him as
dance, as soon as thej are capable of learning il For, might ho
though this consist only in outward graceful] When he i an read English well, it will i
motion, yet, know not how. n gives children manly

I
sonable to enter him in writing And here the Rrsl
thoughts and carriage, more than am thing Bui hOUld b<- taught hliu. iS to In, Id hi
otherwise would nol have little children mu< h tor

I
and this Ik- should |.< lid be
merited about punctilios, or ni suffered to pul il nol only children, hut
trouble ibOUl those t.illlls III hal would ing well, should
r
them, which yo || upon loo mil' h ol it at I

.
88 CHAPTER 2
perfect, themselves in two parts of an action at the of any place before he was 6 years old. These things,
same time, they can possibly be separated.
if . . . that he will thus learn by sight,and have by rote in his
As soon as he can speak English, it is time for memory, are not all, I confess, that he is to learn upon
him to learn some other language: This nobody doubts the globes. But yet it is a good step and preparation
of, when French is proposed. And the reason is, be- to it, and will make the remainder much easier, when
cause people are accustomed to the right way of teach- his judgment is grown ripe enough for it: Besides that,
ing that language, which is by talking it into children in it gets so much time now, and by the pleasure of
constant conversation, and not by grammatical rules. knowing things, leads him on insensibly to the gain-
The Latin tongue would easily be taught the same way, ing of languages.
if his tutor, being constantly with him, would talk noth- When he has the natural parts of the globe well
ing else to him, and make him answer still in the same fixed in his memory, it may then be time to begin
language. But because French is a living language, and arithmetic. By the natural parts of the globe, I mean
to be used more in speaking, that should be first several positions of the parts of the earth and sea,
learned, that the yet pliant organs of speech might be under different names and distinctions of coun-
accustomed to a due formation of those sounds, and tries; not coming yet to those artificial and imaginary
he get the habit of pronouncing French well, which is lines, which have been invented, and are only sup-
the harder to be done, the longer it is delayed. posed, for the better improvement of that science.
When he can speak and read French well, Arithmetic is the easiest, and consequently the
which in this method is usually in a year or two, he first sort of abstract reasoning, which the mind com-
should proceed to Latin, which it is a wonder parents, monly bears, or accustoms itself to: and is of so gen-
when they have had the experiment in French, eral use in all parts of life and business, that scarce
should not think ought to be learned the same way, by any thing is to be done without it. This is certain, a man
talking and reading. Only care is to be taken, whilst cannot have too much of it, nor too perfectly. . . .
he is learning those foreign languages, by speaking As nothing teaches, so nothing delights, more
and reading nothing else with his tutor, that he do not than history. The first of these recommends it to the
forget to read English, which may be preserved by his study of grown men; the latter makes me think it the
mother, or some body else, hearing him read some fittest for a young lad, who, as soon as he is instructed
chosen parts of the scripture or other English book, in chronology, and acquainted with the several epochs
every day. . . . in use in this part of the world, and can reduce them
At the same time that he is learning French and to the Julian period, should then have some Latin his-
Latin, a child, as has been said, may
be entered
also tory put into his hand. The choice should be directed
in arithmetic, geography, chronology, history, and by the easiness of the style; for wherever he begins,
geometry too. For if these be taught him in French or chronology will keep it from confusion; and the pleas-
Latin, when he begins once to understand either of antness of the subject inviting him to read, the lan-
these tongues, he will get a knowledge in these sci- guage will insensibly be got, without that terrible
ences, and the language to-boot. vexation and uneasiness which children suffer where
Geography, I think, should be begun with; for they are put into books beyond their capacity, such as
the learning of the figure of the globe, the situation are the Roman orators and poets, only to learn the Ro-
and boundaries of the four parts of the world, and man language. When he has by reading mastered the
that of particular kingdoms and countries, being only easier, such perhaps as Justin, Eutropius, Quintus
an exercise of the eyes and memory, a child with plea- Curtius, & c. the next degree to these will give him no
sure will learn and retain them: And this is so certain, great trouble: And thus, by a gradual progress from
that I now live in the house with a child, whom his the plainest and easiest historians, he may at last come
mother has so well instructed this way in geography, to read the most and sublime of the Latin au-
difficult
that he knew the limits of the four parts of the world, thors, such as are Tully, Virgil,and Horace. . .
could readily point, being asked, to any country upon Though the systems of physics, that I have met
the globe, or any county in the map of England; knew with, afford little encouragement to look for certainty,
all the great rivers, promontories, straits, and bays in or science, in any treatise, which shall pretend to give
the world, and could find the longitude and latitude us a body of natural philosophy from the first prin-
>
ciples of bodies in general; yet the incomparable are io he found m children; and prescribe proper
Mr. Newton has shown, how far mathematics, applied remedies. The varietj is so great, that would re-
it
to some parts of nature, may, upon principles thai quire a volume; nor would that reach Each man's it.
matter of fact justify, carry us in the knowledge of mind has some peculiarity, as well as his lace, that
some, as I may so call them, particular provinces of distinguishes him lion all others; and there are possi-
i
the incomprehensible universe. And if others could N\ scarce two children, who can be conducted bj ex
give us so good and clear an account of other parts of actly the same method. Besides that. think a prince. I
nature, as he has of this our planetary world, and the a nobleman, and an ordinary gentleman's son. should
most considerable phenomena observable in it, in his have differenl ways of breeding. Hut having had here
admirable book Philosophies naturalis principia only some general views in reference to the main end
mathematica, we might in time hope to be furnished and aims in education, and those designed for a gen
with more true and certain knowledge in several parts tleman's son. who being then very little, 1 considered
of thisstupendous machine, than hitherto we could only as white paper, or wax. to be moulded and lash
have expected. And though there are very few that ioned as one pleases; I have touched little more
have mathematics enough to understand his demon than those heads, which [judged necessary for the
st rat ions: yet the mosl accurate mathematicians, who breeding of a young gentleman of his condition in
have examined them, allowing them to be such, his general;and have now published these my occasional
book will deserve to be read, and give no small light thoughts, with this hope, that, though this he far from
and pleasure to those, who. willing to understand the being a complete treatise on this subject, or such as
mot ions, properties, and operations of the great masses thai everj one may findwhal willjusl fit his child in it;
of matter in this our solar system, will bul carefully yel maj give some small light to those, whose con
il
mind his conclusions, which may be depended on as cem for their dear little ones makes them so irregu-
propositions well proved. . . .
larly hold, that they dare venture to consult their own
Though am now come toa conclusion

I of what reason, in the education of their children, rather than
obvious remarks have suggested to me concerning wholly tn rely upon old custom
education. would not have
1 thought, that look on it I
it as a just treatise on this subject. There are a thou-

John Locke, "Some Thoughts Concerning Edu
sand other things that may need consideration; es- cation," The Works oj John Locke vol X London
in
pecially if one should take in the various tempers, \\ OtridgeandSonetal 1812 .
different inclinations, and particular defaults, that I 17 1 is, L50, L52, 172 17:;, 17.". 176, 186 187,204
SELECTED READINGS
Broody, Harry s. Building a Phil ppei Saddle River, NJ Prentice
ll ,ll
; log] j
r
,
foi realism in modern education and an appeal foi more
fundamental and basic appro I
itudies u
the better statemi ilism in edu< ation
Putnam. Hilary, and Putnam. Ruth Anna.
in cultural
,,l m; n antidote to tl tlism of much i
1UI) rrughl help people better understand and articulate the

:
for multicultui
90 CHAPTER 2
Searle, John R. "Rationality and Realism: What Is at Stake?" Daedalus 122(4):55-83, Fall,
1993. A defense of leading principles of realism and the Western rationalist tradition in
higher education. The author critiques the anti-realism of postmodern educational theories
as they have influenced contemporary higher education.
Whitehead, Alfred N. The Aims of Education and Other Essays. New York: Free Press,
1957. A collection of wide-ranging essays on education. This volume shows Whitehead's ap-
proach to philosophical patterns of thought. It is particularly incisive in its critique of in-
ertness in education and attention to the creative process.
www.greatbooks.org/index.html (accessed April 5, 2002). Site for The Great Books Foun-
dation. Provides information on the Foundation, its programs, and publications.
www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/ndjmc.htm (accessed April 5, 2002). Web site of the
Jacques Maritain Center. Provides access to the works of Maritain and others on Thomistic
and realist philosophy and philosophy of education.
www.paideia.org/ (accessed April 5, 2002). Homesite of the National Paideia Center. This site
promotes the educational philosophy of Mortimer Adler. It provides brief explanatory ma-
terials but also links to other sites that might support its objectives.
www.c-b-e.org/ (accessed April 5, 2002). Homepage of the Council for Basic Education. The
site provides information about the council, its objectives and programs, and links to other
sites that could be helpful to users.
ONLINE RESEARCH
Utilizing some of the Web sites included in this book, as well as Topics 2 and 3 of
the Prentice Hall Foundations Web at www.prenhaM.com/ozmon, an-
site found
swer the following question with a short essay: What are some of the specific prac-
tices in American education that can be traced to a realistic approach to
education? You can write and submit your essay response to your instructor by
using the "Electronic Bluebook" section found in any of the topics of the Prentice
Hall Foundations Web site.
3
Eastern Philosophy,
Religion, and Education
From the beginning, religion has played a role in human endeavors. Evidence from
Stone Age paintings made in prehistoric limes shows thai religious ideas and rituals
were used to ensure success in hunting and agriculture. Before philosophy, religion
addressed such crucial issues as lit* creation of the world, the meaning of life, an
i
afterlife, ethical views, and happiness. Religion manifested itself in rituals, festivals,
and pilgrimages, as well as manuscripts, paintings, statues, temples, poetry, cathe-

drals, saints, and scholars. Even through Freud's time, in 'ivilization and Its Dis
(
contents and The Future o) an Illusion, was argued that religion has manj
it
negative aspects, yet it helped make civilization possible

Eastern ideas are among the oldest of religious beliefs, and these ideas have a
long and varied history. Their range nol only in terms of years bul also in ideas is enor
mons. and is a fascinating study in the historical development of human thinking
it
This fascination increases when one compares and contrasts these ideas with Wesl
em thinking.
Eastern philosophy will be considered in four major areas of thought Indian.
Chinese. Japanese, and Middle Eastern Although each culture has mam differenl
philosophical beliefs, common threads also exist. Ham one idea is paramount, is a it
concentration on the inner rather than the outer life Eastern philosophy, unlike the
West's more empirical philosophj intuition, inner pi >< i tranquility, attitu
dmal development, and mysticism Eastern beliefs, often because ol theii earh ori
thought, and the influem es
gins, have had a significant historical impact on Western
of Judaism and Christianity, both Middle Eastern in 01 an obvio
remains important rtii ularlj as an anti
point The appeal oi Eastern beliefs l
dote to Western philosophical complai en< j and a

com entration on the material as
perls Of life
<H
92 CHAPTER 3
THE DEVELOPMENT OF EASTERN THOUGHT

Most studies of Western philosophy begin with the Greeks. Greek philosophy, as a
systematic development of thought, began in the sixth century B.c.with Thales, who
was followed later by Pythagoras and Socrates. Yet some evidence supports the view
that Platonic philosophy owed much to Indian philosophy, with its emphasis on the
illusory quality of matter and other idealist tendencies. At the time when ancient
Greek thought began, philosophy already had reached a high stage of development
in India and China.
Perhaps Greek philosophy was unique in its emphasis on rationality rather than
mysticism and supernaturalism. Western philosophy tended to emphasize logic and
materialism; Eastern philosophy stressed the inner rather than the outer world, in-
tuition rather than sense, and mysticism rather than scientific discoveries. This dif-
fers from school to school, and Chinese philosophy is, as a whole, much less mystical
than Indian philosophy, but overall they begin with the inner world, which then
reaches out to the outer world of phenomena.
It is sometimes charged that most Indian and Chinese beliefs are not philoso-
phies but religions. Because of the early beginnings of these ideas, they showed a
strong bent toward the spiritual side of nature, and their stories were full of gods and
goddesses, much like Greek mythology. However, unlike the Greeks, who tried to
separate philosophy from religion, Indian and Chinese religions and philosophies
often are intertwined. Religious doctrines are merged with philosophical views about
the nature of the world and one's interaction with it.
Most Western philosophers still argue that philosophical and religious studies
should be separated, but think how difficult it would be to separate Thomas Aquinas
the theologian from Thomas Aquinas the philosopher. It is true that religious thought,
rather than philosophy, has tended to rely more on deduction, faith, intuition, and
mysticism, but many philosophies, even modern ones, also laud these approaches
today. The separation is difficult, particularly when looking so far back. One can
hardly expect early civilizations to have a sophisticated or scientific idea about the
nature of the universe and humanity's place in it. Perhaps we should not attempt such
a strict delineation, but rather ask how these ideas have contributed to a growing
—
understanding of the world and its people a world that to Eastern philosophers was
sometimes hostile but also benevolent and understandable.
FAR EASTERN AND INDIAN THOUGHT

The Far East or Eastern Asia, which includes China, Korea, Japan, and India, com-
prises an enormous land area with an immense population. Indigenous people have
lived in the same geographic area for a long time, and Eastern and Southern Asia are
noted for their relatively stable traditions. In these areas, traditions and taboos en-
courage an attitude skeptical of change that might undermine religious and social
mores, but great social diversity still exists between various cultures. In the past,
many cultures in the Far East often were better organized, more advanced techno-
logically, and richer than in the West.
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, AND EDUCATION 93
Eastern thought has always seemed somewhat mysterious and exotic to West-
erners: An abject sense of duty in some cases, an emphasis on a rigid class structure,
strong familial ties, and ancestor veneration generally are not found or promoted in
Western society. Eastern philosophers are equally repulsed by the West's excessive
concern for material goods, social advancement, and changing moral standards. The
differences between East and West often seem so great thai one may wonder
whether any bridge is possible between these viewpoints. Perhaps the great stum-
bling blocks are a lack of understanding between these two cultures, their enormous
historical diversity, and and motivations.
their differences in expectations
The West has great ly influenced the Easl political^ and economical^ ;the East,
in turn, has enriched the West philosophically and spiritually. Because of the ethno
centrism prevalent in both cultures, not as much serious dialogue has taken place as
should have. To understand the Eastern position, one musl set aside Western biases
and Western aims. When they do, Westerners find much to admire and learn from
Eastern philosophy.
Indian Thought
Indian philosophy has a long and complex history. Before Moses, Buddha, or Jhrist, (
sages in India were contemplating the meaning of life. In Indian thought almost everj
shade of belief can be found, ranging from idealism to materialism, monism to plu-
ralism, and asceticism to hedonism, (heal emphasis is placed on a search for wisdom
in Indian philosophy, but this need not mean a rejection of worldlj pleasures. \l
though emphasizes speculation, Indian philosophy has a practical character.
it
It
began as a way to solve the basic problems of life, as well as to improve life For ex
ample, early people faced mental and physical suffering and sought to understand
the reasons for this: speculation about the world helped provide answers aboul the
world around them. Indian philosophers seem to insist that knowledge should be
used to improve social and communal life and thai people should live according to
their ideals. Indian philosophy also has a prevailing sense of universal moral justi< e,
in which individuals are responsible for whal thej are and what thej become.
Hinduism
Philosophy and religion are closelj intertwined Hindu tradition Then- roots reach
in
back 2,500 years toa civilization thai flourished In the Indus Vallej from 2500 b.i to
1701) b.i The cardinal principles of Hinduism are the divinity of the soul, the unity ol
.
existence, the oneness ot dodhead. and a liai m< >n.\ ol religions Hinder m h.;
known founder, no prophets, and no definite set of doctrini a 11 dates bai k to pre
historic times, and earlj Hindus worshiped gods thai represented powers in na
Gradually, some came to believe thai although divinities are In leparate fon
forms are pari ol one ', called Brahman Manj divinities make up Brail
it
,,,;,,, The most important are Brahma, CTeatOT Ol the line. iiiui its i
i
andShiva,il Hinduisn parallels the growth of the people who
settled in India, and n is more a waj ol life than a dogma Hindu;

not encoura or a renun< iation ol the world
94 CHAPTER 3
discourage desire but believes that one should be able to control and regulate it. Ba-
sically, Hindus believe that humans should not devote their lives to the pursuit of
mere worldly success.
The beginnings of Hindu philosophy are found in three basic texts: the Vedas, the
Upanishads, and the Epics. These writings appeared from about 1200 b.c. to a.d. 200.
Vedas. Veda means "knowledge," and the Vedas existed for centuries before they
finally were written down. They are the oldest Hindu scriptures. The Vedas were a
group of hymns, chants, and treatises of a people who called themselves Aryans. Early
Vedic religion was a worship of nature with anthropomorphic overtones. To the Vedic
Indian, the universe consisted of three entities: earth, atmosphere, and heaven. A
flood meant that the rivers were angry; favorable weather meant that the gods were
pleased. This polytheistic view of the universe included numerous gods, such as Agni,
god of fire; Indra, god of thunder and rain; and Varuna, who controls and regulates the
seasons. The first section of the Vedas consists of mantras that praise and propitiate
the gods. The gods also are supplicated with sacrifices and oblations. There are good
spirits, such as the spirit of the dawn; and there are bad ones, such as the demons of
drought and darkness. The gods and demons fight continual battles, with the gods
generally overpowering the demons. Vedic literature involves a continuing attempt to
effect a harmony between people's material needs and their spiritual lives. To the
Vedic believer, the following were the fundamental spiritual truths of the Vedas:
1. An is all pervading and is the final cause of the universe.

Ultimate Reality
2. This Reality an uncreated, self-luminous, and eternal spirit.
is
3. Religion, or Dharma, consists of meditating on this Spirit and leading a life of

virtue and righteousness.
4. The human soul is divine, with the entire universe a manifestation of the
Supreme Spirit.
The Vedic seers believed that humans are spirit and not merely body or mind. As
spirit, human beings humans can realize
are divine in essence. Unlike other animals,
their divinity because God is within them. People cannot see this when lust, anger, or
greed motivates them; hence, these evils must be removed and the heart and mind
purified. This purification process might take several lifetimes of reincarnation.
Upanishads. Arthur Schopenhauer, a nineteenth-century German philosopher,

said that reading the Upanishads "has been the consolation of my life, and will be of
my death." The Upanishads, which means "secret teachings," were built on the
Vedas but carried Vedic thought to a new much
dimension. The Upanishads were
more lofty and intellectual than the Vedas, and the gods receded into the back-
ground. No matter how crude, they marked the beginning of real philosophical specu-
lation in India. In the Upanishads, sacrifices are looked down on, contemplation
rather than worship is extolled, and divine knowledge is the important thing. The
message is to merge self (Atman) with the supreme (Brahman), whereby Atman and
Brahman come together. Whereas women occupied an inferior role in Vedic litera-
ture, in the Upanishads they were elevated to equal status with men.
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY. RELIGION, AND EDUCATION 95
The Upanishads promote a monistic conception of the deity. The Brahman is
all powerful, all pervading, Infinite, eternal, impersonal, and an indescribable Ab-
solute. All creatures find thou- beginning and their end in Him. The Upanishads tell
of a life full of miseries continued by transmigration to new lives as a result of one's

actions (karma). The Upanishads support thequesl tor a true understanding of the
nature of Brahman. Brahman supremo reality, just as Cod is central in Jhrisl
is the I
ian thought. It is that on which all depends and is the source of all things: seas, moun-
tains, rivers, plants, and the essences of all things. Because Brahman is in everything
that exists, to deny Brahman is to deny (.no's own being.
Because Brahman is the only absolute reality, one must be absorbed into Brah-
man to achieve liberation. The host way to accomplish this task is to find a teacher,
a knower of Brahman. Instruction, however, is secrel and is to be imparted only to
qualified students. The student is advised to approach humbly a spiritual teacher
(guru) who is well versed in Vedic scriptures, as well as in knowledge of Brahman.
Such a teacher can then impart knowledge of the imperishable truth. In the Vedic lit-
erature, one sees the development of religious thoughl from polytheism to monothe-
ism. The idea of monotheism is even more pronounced in the / 'panishads, where
"Brahman is everywhere and Brahman alone."
Hinduism also teaches thai the soul never dies. When the body dies, the soul is
reborn. Tin' soul can be reborn in an animal or a human. The law oj karma states
that every action affects how the soul will be horn in the next reincarnation If a poi-
son lives a good life, the soul will be horn into a higher state; a person who leads an
evil life mighl return as a snake or a worm. Reincarnation continues until one reaches
spiritual perfection, and then the soul enters a new level of existence called moksha
from which never returns. According to the Hindu doctrine, animals also have
it
souls, and cows, in particular, are sacred animals.

Another aspect of Hinduism is the development of laws These laws exercised
great weighl in Hindu life and established codes that still influence Hindu social life
One ofthegreal lawgivers of Hindu thoughl was Manu, said to be one of the chief au
thors of Laws oj Righteous 'onduct, which probably was completed within the first
<
few centuries of the christian era. as Westerners dan history.

Manu placed the Brahmin class al the top of the social hierarchy. Brahmins are
people of learning, thinkers, priests, teachers, and seekers of Brahman and are ex
pected to lead lives of simplicity and austerity. Beneath the Brahmins are the Kshal
i
people of courage and energy bul without the intelligence ol Brahmins
,;s.
Beneath the Kshatriyas are the Vaisyas, merchants and professionals who tend to
seek wealth and power as ends in themselves. The Sudras are laborers and servants
Beneath the Sudras are the "untouchables" people, onsidered nol much above the
level of lower animals Uthough Mann did not believe thai c.i ..ink m
herited, a heredil tem did develop, and the i me .1 rigid
pari of Hindu society The Indian onstitution in 950 outlawed

1 1 th< tem and
gave the untouchables full citizenship, but much discrimination still remains an inte
pari ol Indian life
Manu established thi In a manls life In the 1
dent learns training plii 1 mind and body undei a guru 01 who
96 CHAPTER 3
requires no fee. No prescribed course of study or method is set, and learning is de-
termined by the capacity of the student. Learning is to be for its own sake and not
for gain. In the second stage (around 25 years of age), a man is expected to marry,
and family becomes an important consideration. At this stage, men realize their duty
to the sage, the gods, their ancestors, animals, and the poor. In the third stage
(around 50 years of age), a man gives up his household to his son and either retires
to a forest hermitage or assists the community as a wise counselor or advisor.
Manu also established three desired stages in a woman's life. A female is first sub-
ject to her father or brothers, then to her husband, and after her husband's death, to her
sons. She must never be independent and must constantly worship her husband as a god
even if he is "devoid of good qualities." She always must be cheerful and clever in the man-
agement of household affairs. Women may never perform a sacrifice, vow, or fast apart
from their husbands. Although Manu's plan has lost its vitality because of modern social
and economic changes, it still is considered by many to be the ideal life plan for Hindus.
Epics. In Indian philosophy, the two greatest epics are the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. The more significant of these is the Mahabharata, which contains
the Bhagavad-Gita, written between 200 b.c. and a.d. 200. The first section of the
Gita advocates the pursuit of various yogas, the second elaborates pantheistic doc-
trine, and the third expounds principles of Purusha and Prakriti and other tenets of
this philosophy. The Gita promotes the idea that the whole world of nature and the
universe of name and form are all illusion. The only reality is Spirit, and there should
be stern devotion to duty, as well as an emphasis on the functions allotted to each

caste at birth. In the Gita, God speaks to humans more intimately and in more detail,
thus achieving a more personal form.
The Bhagavad-Gita, a poem of some 700 verses in 18 chapters, describes a
greatwar that took place before 1000 b.c. between the Kauravas and the Pandavas,
who were cousins, for succession to the throne. One great warrior, Arjuna, ponders
the consequences of war and the meaning and nature of existence. The questions
posed by Arjuna are answered by Krishna (identified with the god Vishnu), who ex-
plains to Arjuna why he should fight. Arjuna is told that he must fulfill his dharma,
the obligations of his life, and that only in this way can salvation be achieved. The
deeper concerns of their discussion involve motivation, purpose, and the meaning of
any human action. The ideal individual accepts pain and pleasure with equal tran-
quility. With unshakable resolve, one should no longer be swayed by joy, envy, anxi-
ety, and fear, but become patient, steadfast, and forgiving.

The Bhagavad-Gita expresses divine compassion for humanity. Krishna does
not stress intellectual qualities as much as he does feelings of devotion and duty. In
"the Way," which is the path to wisdom, there is a simplicity in salvation, and God and
humanity are not enemies but companions. An important major theme of the Gita is
that salvation is open to all and that Brahman accepts all.
The notion of yoga is most clearly associated with the Bhagavad-Gita, which
discusses the sage who, through serenity, ascends into yoga. It is frequently inter-
preted as a "union with the Absolute," whereby one might "yoke" one's soul with the
world-soul. Historically, the most significant form of yoga has been the classical sys-
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY, REI.ICION, AND EDI CATION 97
tern of Patanjali, founded in the second century \.\>. and described in the Yoga Su
philosophy as much as a method of instruction on how
tras. Patanjali did not state a
to induce certain psychological states Yoga is a set of mental and physical exercises
designed to free the soul from reliance on the body so thai the soul can unite with
Brahman. The three external steps of yoga are righl posture, CD right breathing,
( 1
I
and {']) control of the senses. The body is to be so controlled that will offer no im- it
pediment to the serious practice of meditation. One learns to pay no attention to

sounds, sights, skin sensations, or any other distraction. Emotions also are controlled
so that concentration can be fixed toward reaching freedom and illumination.
Modern Hind u ism

A modern renaissance of Hinduism has been led by such men as Rabindranath
Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and Mahatma * iandlu. < iandlu was
born Porbandar, Northwest India, where Ins father was a provincial prime minis-
in
ter. In 1891, he received a degree in law from Fniversity College in London When he
I (
returned to India, he gave up his law practice in order to promote social reform. He
was prominent in civil disobedience and protests that resulted in independence for
India from Great Britain in 1947.

According to Gandhi, religion should be practical. God is not to be realized l>.\
meditating in some cave but by living in the world. God is truth, and the best way to
seek truth is by practicing nonviolence (ahimsa) in word, thought, and deed. People
should lead and service inward others, and religion should mold our so-
lives of love
cial, economic, educational, and political lives. Gandhi was opposed to the traditional
concepts of untouchability, enforced widowhood, and child marriage. He advocated

equal rights for women, promoted admission to temples and schools for all people, en
dorsed the kind attitude toward lower animals generally practiced by Hindus, and
strongly encouraged manual labor for everyone. He believed thai tod is not an ab <
straction, but rather a living presence, "an indefinable mysterious power thai per
vades everything." Gandhi believed thai one cannot know God completely in this life
and can. at best, achieve only a partial vision of the Truth, which should encourage in
people a tolerant attitude toward the view sol' others one should be willing, however,
to suffer for one's own convictions without making others suffer < iandlu realized thai
absolute nonviolence mighl nol be possible bu1 thai one should move in this direction
One of the biggest conti Mih Hinduism today is the SUDJe< t of ca
Although the concept of "untouchables" or dalits, which literalh means "broken
people," has been outlawed, and even though one of the presidents of lern India l
was himself from the daln caste, the tradition live! Some Indians saj the countrj
this role Nosubje< India
needs people to do the undesirable work, and dalits fulfill i
in
creates a greatei division of opinion as the subject of caste, which has been promoted
for centui ligion and philosophy
por Westerners, the losesl visible elemenl of the Hindu tradition probabh
i
is
the Hare Krishna movemenl when ople wit!
ing robes and beating drums This founded in the nited States 1 ii
i Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Meml

' ,
"'
from in.
'
98 CHAPTER 3
purpose of having children. Many do community work, recruit members, and work at
various jobs.A similar group is the Divine Light Mission. Both have centers in North
America and throughout the world.
Buddhism
Although Buddhism is identified primarily with China, it began in India. Siddhartha
Gotama (563 b.c. to 483 b.c.) was born within the current boundary of Nepal. These
dates are somewhat uncertain, as is information about the life and teachings of the
Buddha ("Enlightened One"), as he was called. The Buddha wrote nothing down,
and most writings about him arose a considerable time after his death.
According to tradition, when the Buddha was born, the trees of Lumbini Park
burst into bloom. He was born a prince named Gotama, the son of a rich Hindu raja,
and was destined for rulership. He was cared for by 32 nurses in three palaces, and
his father attempted to shield him from all unpleasantness during his youth. At 19,
Gotama was married to a princess, Yasodhara, who bore him a son named Rahula. It
would appear that Gotama had a perfect life, but when he was 29, he had several vi-
sions. First, he saw a wrinkled and toothless old man bent over a stick, then a diseased
man with fever, and after that a corpse wrapped in cloth being carried in procession
to the funeral pyre. These experiences caused Gotama to search for serenity in the
face of the evils of existence: old age, sickness, and death. In his fourth vision, he met
a wandering holy man who convinced him that he should leave his wife and son and
seek enlightenment. Such enlightenment would free him from life's sufferings.
Gotama studied under a succession of teachers and took up the role of an as-
cetic, living, it is said, on one grain of rice a day. One day, he wandered into a village
near Gaya and sat under a bo tree until he gained enlightenment, described as a state
of great clarity and understanding of the truth about the way things are. Gotama be-
lieved that people could find release from suffering in nirvana, a state of complete
happiness and peace. To achieve nirvana, people had to free themselves from desires
for worldly things. His first sermon was called the "Sermon on the Turning of the
Wheel of the Law," which dealt with the problem of suffering and how to overcome
it. He believed that personal gratification is the root and cause of suffering in the
world. In his sermon, he put forth the Four Noble Truths:
1. Life is suffering.
2. The cause of this suffering is desire.
3. Suffering can be eliminated when desire is extinguished.
4. Desire can be eliminated through the eightfold path, consisting of:
a. Right understanding — understanding things as they are and having knowl-

edge of where one is and where one wants to go.
b. —
Right speech not telling lies, backbiting, slandering, and engaging in fool-
ish gossip or harsh and abusive language. One must not speak carelessly. If
one can't say anything useful, one should keep "noble" silence.
c. —
Right conduct avoiding destruction to life and property. One should pro-
mote harmonious and peaceful living, adopt an honorable profession, and
have no dishonest dealings or illegitimate sexual intercourse.
d. Right vocation —desiring to follow the corred path and to pul knowledge
into practice.
e. Right effort —directing one's energies toward wholesome states of mind.
f. Right mindfulness -having a vigilant attitude toward desire, anger, hope,
and fear.
g. —
Right concentration disregarding passionate desires and evil thoughts
and developing spiritual awareness.
h. —
Right thought maintaining a soilless renunciation and detachment, with
thoughts of love and nonviolence.
Buddhism holds wit h Hinduism that the universe is samsara, a si roam without
end which the law of karma operates. People must overcome samsara. and the
in
only way to do this is to obtain freedom from the cycle of births and deaths l>\ realiz-
ing nirvana. As in Hinduism, the Buddha believed in reincarnation: Good deeds lead
to rebirth as a good and wise person; evil deeds lead to rebirth as a poor and sickh
person.
The Buddha rejected the notion of ritual and ceremonies, as well as the know]
edge and religious authority maintained by the Brahmins. He also objected to mys
tery, speculation,and the concept of a personal God. He eschewed worship and never
prayed although, ironically enough, he was to become a god worshiped through
prayer by millions of people. He spent much of his life teaching and directing hisdis
ciples to (1) use ordinary discourse and make points gradually, (2) observe a proper
sequence of use words of compassion, (4) avoid irrelevant mailers, and
ideas. (•'!)
(5) avoid caustic remarks against others. He did not believe thai one should explain
the tenets of Buddhism all at once bul should begin with thai which is elementarj
and related to the Student's condition. More difficult ideas should be pul forth m
stages followed by higher teachings.
Before beginning a discussion, the Buddha tried to form an idea of a person's
view by posing appropriate questions. He then used similes, parables, fables, and
verses, [n addition to meticulous attention to his own stj ie of teaching, the Buddha
gave studious attention to the conduct and training of his disciples, correcting their
weaknesses through patience and advice.
(
greal misgiving did the Buddha later receive women into discipleship
tally with
His early teachings encourage. his followers to shun women, even their gaze Female
I
disciples who became nuns were to keep a certain distance from the mastei and to
remain m a totalis submissive role For those men who were to bet omi Buddhisl
monks and live a life of povertj Buddha established an
meditation, and study, the
ler, the Sangha. This order lived under definite rules and regulations known as th<
Monks Rules, which constituted an important pari oJ Bud ripture Some
:^7 rules governed a monk's conduct, including four great prohibitions \i\ ordained
monk could not (l)r take u,u nas not n to him, ' I
deprive anj n attire of life, nol even a

>
worm oi an anl and boasl ol |
1
1
iperhuman perfection Monl nd examine them

ndard li a member thoughl that h( lion,
then h( I to mal e a publi< i onfession ol it

100 CHAPTER 3
Today, Buddhist monks, noticeable by their brightly colored saffron robes, con-
tinue the teachings of Gotama. They argue that suffering occurs when one is not in
harmony with the universe. Suffering is the result of a wrong attitude, and the crav-
ing for things results in unhappiness. When one follows the "middle path" of avoid-
ing extremes and renounces desire, happiness will ensue.
Although adherents to Hinduism are found mostly in India, Buddhists are found
in Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka, China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, Cambodia (Kampuchea),
and Laos, as well as in India. Buddhism, after flourishing in India for 1,500 years, lost
its foothold there and was driven away by Hinduism or was absorbed by it. It has per-
sisted for more than 2,500 years but has undergone profound changes during that
time. Many newer schools of thought have developed, some coexisting with older
ones, and many writings composed centuries after the Buddha's death have been as-
cribed to him. In its first phase, Buddhism stressed nonattachment; in its second
phase, it stressed concern for humanity and the desire to become Buddha-like; and
in the third, it emphasized a sense of harmony with the universe, in which one is un-
der no constraint to change forces within or without. With all its changes, however,
it has maintained a recognizable character and continuity.
The great leader of Tibetan Buddhists is the fourteenth Dalai Lama, whose name
is Tenzin Gyatso. He is believed to be a reincarnation of the Buddha. When the Chinese
army invaded Tibet in 1959, they destroyed monasteries and killed many monks. They
forced the Dalai Lama into exile. He went to India and received the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1989 for his nonviolent opposition to Chinese rule in Tibet. The Dalai Lama travels
widely and presents a message of hope and compassion to the people of the world.
Jainism
The Jain religion is in many ways Hinduism and Buddhism. Jains are fol-
similar to
lowers of the Jinas. The term Jina an appellation given to one who has attained
is
enlightenment. Jainism is similar to Buddhism in that both originated in the same

part of India, opposed prevailing orthodox views, rejected the caste system and a per-
sonal God, used many identical terms, and gave great importance to the concept of
noninjury. Both also rejected Vedic literature and extolled nirvana release from the —
birth-death cycle. Unlike Buddhism, however, Jainism is confined mostly to India.
Jains believe that every living thing consists of an eternal soul called the jiva
and a temporary physical body. The eternal jiva is imprisoned in the body as a result
of worldly activities. Each jiva is reincarnated in many bodies before it is finally
freed. After being free, it exists eternally in a state of perfect knowledge and bliss.
Jains do not believe in a God but worship 24 spiritual teachers called Tirthankaras
and use them for guides in their daily lives. Jain monks and nuns devote their lives to
meditation and studying the scriptures. The ideal or supreme purpose of Jainism is
the realization of the highest or the Absolute perfection of human nature, which in
its original purity is free of all kinds of pain or bondage.
Traditional belief is that the development of Jainism was connected primarily

with Vardhamana Mahavira. The scion of a princely family, Mahavira was born at Ksha-
triyakundagrama, a suburb of Vaisali (modern Basarh, Bihar state), near modern
Patna. The traditional date of his birth is 599 B.C., but scholars believe that this date
is40 or more years too early because Mahavira appears to have been a younger con
temporary of Gotama. When Mahavira was 30, certain gods appeared and urged liim
to renounce the world. According to Legend, he stood beneath a holy asoka tree and
renounced all possessions, removed all clothing, and pulled out his hair by hand, in-
dicating an end of concern for tin- body and a willingness to lace pain. He is consid-
ered lobe the last prophet, and the religion is older than his birth date would suggest.
Mahavira is considered to be the 24th and greatesl of the Tirthankaras Vfter
his death, his followers included Emperor Chandragupta, rounder of India's greal
empire.
is the oldesl religion in the world, even antedating Hin
Jains believe that theirs
duism. A prophet named
Parsvanatha lived 250 years before Mahavira, and a prede
cessorof Parsvanatha supposedly died 8 1,000 years before Mahavira's nirvana. Thus,
adherents believe that the religion is eternal. Vfter the death of his parents, Mahavira
became an ascetic for VI years and is said to have attained nirvana at Pava around
527 b.c. The oral teachings of Mahavira were later put into w ritten form and consist
of the following philosophical and ethical doctrines:
1. The human being is dual in nature, both spiritual and material.

2. One must control the material world bj one's spiritual nature.
3. One can separate one's soul from karmic matter by oik's nun efforts.
Before taking vows, each .lam must give up certain faults. A .lam must not
(1) entertain any doubts aboul the soundness of .lam theory, (2) adopt another faith,
V-\) question the reality of the fruits of karma, and (-1) associate with hypocrites The
vows that the Jain then takes are as follows:
1. To avoid injury to any form of life: not to hurt anyone by word or iked >ne <
should cover one's mouth to prevent injurj t<> the air. and one should avoid
stepping on any living thing. ( me should not scratch for fear of injuring a par
asite and should avoid agriculture that ma\ injure animals, such as worms in
the soil. <

me should also avoid the killing of all animals, including fish. Jains
have been active in providing hospitals for sick animals and for putting numer
ous bird feeders in the streets .lams also believe that people should avoid psj
etiological injury, and if people follow tins doctrine, thej might achieve pi
and fellowship
2. To speak no mil ruths: to utter no falsehoods, rash or harsh spee< h; and to
no ill of others or give had ad\:
To steal nothing and not become a victim ol greed -I envj
These vows are to • bj all Jains Those who are

i
,.
• ,,. i
.
j
.i
.
i
to be m the highest ord< i
(known as yatis) take two additional vc
I T,, practice chastity, either Bdelitj in man the renoum ii
colli. M i
I,, renouni e all attachments and neitru i

102 CHAPTER 3
Other vows, primarily for householders, include avoiding unnecessary travel, limit-
ing things in daily use, guarding against evils, keeping specific times for meditation,
maintaining special periods of self-denial, serving occasional days as monks, using
no alcohol or other drugs, and giving alms in support of yatis. The Jains put such
an emphasis on following these vows that despite their great concern for life, they
believe that Jains should commit suicide by starvation if they are incapable of fol-
lowing them.
Jains believe that the universe has existed for all eternity, undergoing an infi-
nite number of revolutions produced by the powers of nature without the interven-
tion of any external deity. The world is uncreated and indestructible. They believe
that trying to prove God's existence is a hopeless cause, yet they recognize a higher
deity (paramadevata) as the object of veneration —namely, the Jina, the teacher
of sacred law, who (being free from all passions and delusions and being omniscient)
has reached perfection after annihilating all his karma.
The Jains have a philosophy that rejects systems as absolutes and affirms them
only as partial truths. This is known as the doctrine of syaduada, or "maybe." No
judgment is absolutely true or absolutely false.
Jains promulgate seven propositions about reality:
1. Maybe, reality is.
2. Maybe, reality is not.

3. Maybe, reality is and is not.
4. Maybe, reality is indescribable.
5. Maybe, reality is and is indescribable.
6. Maybe, reality is not and is indescribable.
7. Maybe, reality is, is not, and is indescribable.
During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Jain community experienced great
Hindu opposition to their atheistic and anti-Vedic doctrines. Through the centuries,
Jainist views have suffered several schisms; the most serious involves the doctrine of
absolute nonviolence. Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who was a Christian but who also fol-
lowed some tenets of Jainism, declared that he killed germs only when they attacked
a higher organism (humans) and that he did not go around indiscriminately killing
,
germs. Other questions about killing are raised, such as "If a snake were about to kill
me, could I kill the snake?" Although the Jains have firmly entrenched views of tol-
erance and nonviolence, many have questioned whether these views can succeed in
a world where violence seems necessary under certain extreme conditions.
Chinese Thought
As in India, religion has been a powerful force in Chinese thought. Ancient Chinese
governments drew heavily on religious thought in framing their governmental de-
crees, and social and economic life was tied in with religious convictions. Religion,
philosophy, government, and social life were all intertwined in an attempt to help hu-
manity achieve harmony with the universe and with life.
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION. AND EDUCATION 103
Much of Western philosophy emphasizes conflict, such as the conflicts between

philosophy and religion, business and labor, and progress and the environment, as
well as individual rights and governmental authority. In Chinese philosophy, more
emphasis is placed on harmony, and correct thinking and good behavior can help one
achieve such harmony. This hanimm of government, business, and family could then
lead toward a higher synthesis.
Confucianism
Confucius (551 B.C. to 471) B.C.) was born in the stale of Lu of a poor and common
background. As a youth, he was given responsibility in the house of Baron Chi. He
later became
a magistrate in the model town of Chung-tu, then a Grand Secretarj <>r
Justice, and finally Chief Minister. During his lifetime, he traveled and taught people
about government and the ways of a gentleman. Alter his death, his disciples col
lected his conversations and sayings and put them together into a book known as the
Analects. For more than 2000 years. Confucianism was the most importanl force in
Chinese life. It affected education, government, and personal behavior. Confucius
was The Ultimate Sage-Teacher, and is remembered for his wise sayings.
At the peak of Confucius's career, approximately .'5000 students gathered around
him. He taught them philosophy and The
music, with a particular emphasis on ethics
word Confucius used to describe the moral order was h. Many talked of H, but few lived
it. The Confucian ideal of the superi< >r in< livit lual is one wh< liv< >s a life if right iss, virt
> < i i< 1 1< •.
and propriety. Confucius realized that his views were at variance with those of the nobil-
ity, who believed that one was a gentleman because of birth. lonfucius argued that be (
ing a gentleman was a quest ion of conduct and character. His students were the nobilitj
as well as the poor, and Confucius stated that he never refused instruction to anyone
Confucius believed thai humans
icings. They must interact with
are social I
ciety without necessarily surrendering to and the moral individual will attempt to
it,
change others to conform to the moral path. Confucius even exhorted Ins followers
to criticize a ruler if they found him to be unjust. He was interested in political au
thority and established Five lonstanl virtues that he thought a ruler should follow
<
in governing his people:
1. Benevolence: Always think first of what is good lor the people.

2. Righteousness Do not do to your subjects what you would not want them to
do if you were in their pla
'>.
Propriety Always behave with courtesy and respect toward your subjei
l Wisdom l'e guided by knowledge and understanding.
5 Sincerity l'e sincere and truthful in all you do
Confucius believed that people need standards oi rules for hie. and rules were de
veloped for a wide ran ial activities H< also believed that the sell should not
come before socii peopli h i iding obligations to parent
tors, and iociety as a whole Whatisneeded both personal and publii

rity in
conduct. < oiifui in .

taught thai one's own well being depends dire* th, on the well
being of Oth( '
:
104 CHAPTER 3
Confucius stressed the importance of education, but he believed that building

moral character was more important than merely teaching skills or imparting infor-
mation. This moral approach emphasized practicality, part of which dealt with rela-
tionships with one's parents. Sons should obey and defer to their parents and respect
the wisdom they gained in their journeys through life. If a man followed these and
other correct principles, he could become chun-tzu, the true gentleman, as a result
of his moral development. The chun-tzu was distinguished by faithfulness, diligence,
and modesty. He would not serve an evil prince or seek mere personal profit, and he
would lay down his life for the good.
Confucius believed that the superior individual develops Five Constant Virtues
(as opposed to the Five Constant Virtues for a ruler, listed previously)
1. Right Attitude.
2. Right Procedure.
3. Right Knowledge.
4. Right Moral Courage.
5. Right Persistence.
These virtues, if practiced, would lead to a new society based on the principles of jus-
tice and wisdom.
Confucius never intended to start a religion, nor did he emphasize religious
practices, God, a savior, sacrifice, or even salvation; instead, he emphasized the here
and now and service to humanity. His aim was to educate a person to be a good fa-
ther, mother, son, daughter, friend, and citizen. Confucius believed that every person
should strive for the continual development of self until excellence is achieved.
The first Europeans to encounter the religious traditions of China were Jesuit
missionaries. Some of these missionaries felt strongly that there could be a reconcil-
iation of Confucianism with Christianity and referred to Confucius as "The Chinese
Aristotle." However, Confucianism was so pervasive in China for so many centuries
that up until the twentieth century, prospective civil servants took examinations
based upon Confucian canons.
Taoism
Lao-tzu (circa fifth century b.c) served for some time in the imperial court and saw
its corruptive nature. He was aware of Confucian thought but criticized its "self-
sufficient air [and] overweening no use to your true person." Lao-

zeal; all that is of
tzu set down volume known as Tao Te Ching. It has had a
his teachings in a small
great influence in China and has provided guidance in troubled times. Whereas Con-
fucianism greatly emphasizes the fulfillment of external obligations and rules (e.g.,
If the mat was not straight, the master would not sit), Taoism emphasizes the devel-
opment of the inner life where one can meet any difficulty. The Taoist ideal is a per-
son who avoids conventional social obligations and leads a simple, spontaneous, and
meditative life close to nature. Rather than develop sophistication, one should pro-
mote a "return to infancy."
The central concepl of Taoism is Tho, which means "the Way or Path." is the It
way the universe moves— the way of perfection and harmony. is conformity with It
nature. Perhaps the most significant quality of the Tao is nonaction, letting things
alone, and not forcing one's personal desires into the natural course of events. It is a
noncompetitive approach to life. Taoists believe that the best leader is one who rules
by and using moderation, and that conflict and war represent a

letting things alone
basic failure in society because they bring ruin to states and disrespecl tor life.
In the Tho Te 'king, Lao-tzu says, "Man conforms to earth; Earth conforms to
(
Heaven; Heaven conforms to Tao; and Tao conforms to the way of Nature." When things
are aUowed to take their proper course, perfection and harmony exisl in the universe.
People were originally happy hut suffer now as a result of the changes brought bj
civilization. The best thing te do. therefore, is to live in tranquil communion with
nature. This applies even to death because it is part of the vast cosmic changes
whereby all things ebb and How. Taoism became a kind of mystical philosophy a na
ture mysticism — for nature possesses something greater than logic. People need to
share in nature's truth and to seek union with the Absolute, the Tao. something that
cannot be known or seen or even talked about. To be close to nature, early Taoists led
remote parts of China, whereas later sects achieved a sort of compro-
solitary lives in
mise between nature and societal life.
Lao-tzu believed that one should not rebel against the fundamental laws of the
universe. "Do nothing." wu wei, is the famous injunction of Taoists This does not
mean doing nothing at all hut doing nothing that is unnatural or not spontaneous.
Most important ly. people should not strain or strive after anything bul lei things come
naturally. Many are familiar with the Yin (male) and Yang (female) symbol, which
stresses the op] losing hut harmonious forces in nature Taoism stresses that one must
live in harmony with the external world
A strong sense ol relativism pervades Taoist philosophj Lao tzu tells that
beauty, the taste of foods, and the location of one's residence fit no absolute standards.
Deereal grass, snakes like centipedes, and owls enjoy mice. With moral problems, too,
Taoists believe there is a "thus" and a "not thus." and who is to say which Is cone,
'
Things should he allowed to run their course within the all emhracing univi I
Taoism also speaks to political practice. When there is no interfen nee with
freedom and no special privilege, then happiness and peace will ensue Taoisl
jected the idea of rulership by divinitj or birth, and often engaged m nonresistance
against power and militarism Thej believe that proper individuals would give up
then- lives to achieve social justice Taoists also believe thai people can govern them
selves, and Taoist writings convej a strong sense of anarch) Thej believe that
emmentS tend I" impose rules on the people that are m> onsiStenl with the natural
How of hie They oppose war and repn ivernmenl and argue 'hat the more
law, there are, the more thieves and handits multiply Nordoesa death penaltj v
i,„ ||people do not tear death The best ruler would he th<
|(
.
erns in the interests of the people as a whole and who is beyond g and evil and I
above emotion Me might d kill its inhabitants with impunit) if he
thought that tin die interest ol the totality

106 CHAPTER 3
Another major figure in the development of Taoism was Chuang-tzu (399 b.c.
to 295 b.c.)- In the book Chuang-tzu, he advocates transcending the world rather
than reforming it. To achieve such emancipation, one should engage in "free and easy
wandering," "fasting of the mind," and "forgetting." The Tao, as Chuang-tzu saw it,
means a detachment from the self and the world. Both life and death must be ac-
cepted as a part of nature. Thus, an individual should face life with great indifference
and with humor.
Japanese Thought
The major historical base for Japanese philosophy is to be found in Shinto. This early
religion of Japan lives on today but is not as influential as it once was. Shintoism en-
couraged nature worship, which meant the worshiping of trees, mountains, rocks,
and waves. Emperor worship and the use of rituals, sorcery, divination, and purifica-
tion rites also were practiced. By a.d.1000, Japan had 3000 shrines where Shintoists
worshiped 3000 deities. The center of Shinto worship is the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu,
who is the symbol of the things most sacred in Japanese life.
The Japanese perspective is one of acceptance and enjoyment of life and kin-
ship with nature. Intuition often is prized over intellectualization, and religious views
often are interwoven with ideas about nature and family. The feeling for loyalty, pu-
rity, and nature is strong. Today, the Japanese are a remarkable people who have used
Eastern and Western influences while maintaining much of their cultural and philo-
sophical heritage. They have been successful in fusing Confucian, Buddhist, and
Taoist beliefs and practices in ways that incorporate them with a distinctly Japanese
perspective. One example is the development of Buddhism, which began in India,
flourished in China, and was adapted and transformed to fit a Japanese perspective,
becoming Zen Buddhism.
Zen Buddhism
Buddhism probably entered Japan around a.d. 552. It was encouraged as a way of
promoting national and political unity. Prince Shotoku Taishi (a.d. 573 to 621 a.d.)
was deeply devoted to Buddhism and believed that it would assist in developing so-
cial harmony. He encouraged Buddhist priests to lecture in Japan and helped create
Buddhist temples. In time, however, the Japanese modified Buddhism considerably,

adapting it to Japanese culture and life. Zen Buddhism was founded in China around
the sixth century by an Indian monk named Bodhidharma, who was popularly known
as Daruma. It did not reach Japan until 1191, when several schools of Zen were es-
tablished, such as the Rinzai and Soto schools.
Zen has no saviors, paradise, faith, or god. It has no books or scriptures, nor does
it teach: It only points. It proposes to discipline the mind and to free it. Its advocates
emphasize that Zen is neither a philosophy nor a religion in the Western sense: It does
not preach a doctrine; it does not proselytize. It promotes the idea that one can ex-
plorenew paths without giving up one's own religious beliefs or philosophies.
Zen emphasizes dependence on oneself rather than on outside sources for an-
swers and wisdom. It depends more on intuition than on intellectual discovery and
holds that logical thinking and verbalization might prevent enlightenment. The in-
sight obtained from any experience cannot be taught or communicated, yel disci
plines and techniques can orient one toward enlightenment (safari). The important
thing is to develop a "third eye." This third eye helps people see things in addition to
what their two eyes show and should be attuned to the things around them.
Enlightenmenl is not obtained only in isolated meditation bul can be achieved
at any time —
while people work, walk in the fields, or converse with a friend. Even
ordinary things in people's daily lives can hide some deep meaning that the third eye
uncovers. Daisetz Suzuki said that the question 'What is Zen'.'" is at once easy and
difficult to answer. A person lifts a finger and there is Zen. >ne sits in silence and (
there is Zen. Everything one does or says is Zen. and everything one does not do or
say is Zen. Zen is in, with, and around everything. There is Zen in the garden, and
Zen in all people.
Zen emphasizes silent meditation, aiming to awaken the mind in ea< h poison.
Enlightenment comes through an immediate and intuitive understanding of realitj
that awakens one's Buddha nature. Zen Buddhists insist thai one cannol realize this
through intellect, reason, or logic: rather, one must transcend the framework of
rational thinking. Even in literature, such as haiku poetry (a poem usually consisting
of 17 Japanese syllables), one learns to transcend ordinary ways of thinking:
The still pond, ah 1
A frog jumps in
The waters sound.
The primary methods of Zen are zazen, koan, and sanzen. These methods arc
designed to help one reach salon. Z<w>/ is scald meditation in which one sits m a
Lotus position with hall open eyes looking straighl ahead in contemplation. \ koan is
a statemenl or riddle on which Zen students meditate, such as "What was the ap
pearance of your face before your ancestors were born?" The koan helps one acquire
a radically different perspective on life. Sanzen is meditation with consultation
The
student might meditate on a koan ami consult privatelj with a master The ma
helps correct the student's false conceptions and prejudi
Zen methods also can include some physical violence, such as sinking the stu
denl with a suck of bamboo to unlock the mind The master also might shout •'' stu
dents and make them do physical •

ethods are encouraged a tawaj
bj cuttingofl the reasonii re torational
to awaken the student
i/e the universe These awakening experiences are for the purpose ol making some
thing happen. When tl u —

rul thej triggei an< uperieni e of enlightenment
As Zen flourished and us followers in< reased, monasteries when Zen ideals
could he realized were instituted MonJ I the importan< eol woi
and a life devoted to a realization ol all then
,,1 iife without I-
here there is no real literarj education bul rathei li
definite timetabli >r be< oming a Zen master; one lifetime might m
imount i
ontemplatioi
108 CHAPTER 3
master. It is something that is the life of wholeness responding to wholeness—an un-

conditional union with all that is.
of Zen Buddhism has been felt widely in

The influence Japanese culture —
in its
drama, painting, archery, judo, swordsmanship, karate, and the tea cere-
literature,
mony. As they are often practiced, these arts emphasize concentration of the mind
and the harmony of people and nature.
MIDDLE EASTERN THOUGHT

The Middle Eastern nations include Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Israel, and the Arab coun-
tries. For many centuries, this area has been commercially significant, and the his-
tory of the Middle East has been one of great conflict and influence. Many
philosophies and religions owe their origins to thought that began in the Middle East,
and Middle Eastern thought still stands as a challenge to Western ideas and tradi-
tions. Many thinkers have seen the Middle East historically as a meeting ground be-
tween the civilizations of the East and the West. The predominant language of the
Middle East today is Arabic, and despite the variety of philosophies and religions, the
predominant religious view is Islamic.
Today, Judaism and Christianity are seen as important influences within West-
ern cultural traditions. Indeed, when someone speaks of Western religious traditions,
the term Judeo-Christian often is applied to it. Judaism and Christianity had their
origins in Middle Eastern cultural settings, and it can be argued that one cannot fully
understand the Old Testament or the New Testament unless one sees them in terms
of their Middle Eastern cultural and geographic roots. Judaism and Christianity be-
gan in the Middle East but have been subjected to Western influences that have al-
tered them in many ways.
Judaism
Judaism traces its beginnings from Hebraism, beginning with the call of Abraham
(circa 1750 B.C.), through Yahwehism and the giving of the Torah to Moses and the
people, through Biblical Judaism, and through the Mishnaic and the Talmudic period.
The classical age of Judaism began with Moses and extended until the completion of
the Talmud many centuries later.
Abraham traveled around the Fertile Crescent area of the Tigris and Euphrates
valleys.As a legendary hero, he was said to have come from Mesopotamia into Pales-
tine B.C. His mission was to find a new land and a new faith. He believed in
about 2000
one Supreme God who ruled the world and had a special interest in humanity. His
grandson, Jacob, who received the name Israel from an angel, took up residence in
Egypt with his numerous progeny known as Israelites. Here, they were put into slav-
ery by those who ruled Egypt between 1750 b.c and 1580 B.C. Under the leadership of
Moses, the Israelites escaped from Egypt into the desert, and 40 years later they
reached the edge of Canaan. After Moses's death, Joshua led the Hebrews into Canaan,
where they established a monarchy under the military leader Saul. Under Kings David
and Solomon, this area became the Israelite Empire. Judaism still has many roots in its
early development as a religion and philosophj of wandering tribes. antedates Chris- It
tianity and Islam and contributed greatly to the development of both.

Central to Judaism is the Hebrew Bible, known as the Old Testament, which
tells of the origins and development of the Jewish people. According to the Bible, God
(Yahirch) gave the Ton Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. Jewish scripture
also includes the To rah, the Prophets, and Writings. The Tordh. (Sacred Scriptures)
consists of five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, in ad
dition to the Sacred Scriptures is the Thlmud, a collection of customs and laws.
which is an extension of the Torah.
Philo of Alexandria, who was a Jewish philosopher, put the basic beliefs of Ju-
daism into five fundamental concepts:
1. Belief in God.
2. Belief that there is only one God.
3. Belief that God created the world I >ni the world is not eternal.
4. Belief that there is only one universe.

5. Belief that God cares for the world and all its creatures.
In earlier conceptions of Judaism, God was viewed anthropomorphically, with physi
cal attributes the same as humans' and with such similar reelings as halo, jealousy,
love, and vindictiveness. In later conceptions, God becomes more idealized, incorpo
real, and mystical. He is "I am who am." This God is nol onlj a spiritual entitj but also
omniscient, omnipotent, and eternal. God is a just God, who metes out justice to
people for the character of their lives. There also a

is belief in the coming of a
Redeemer— a Messiah who will establish Heaven on Earth and create the hob cits
of Zion,
terms of practices, Judaism makes observance of the Sabbath prominent. It
In
is a day ofgreal spiritual significance and rejoicing a day of bodily rest In addition
are ceremonial observances, such as the Day of Atonement, the Festival ol

Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, and Shavuoth (or Pentecost) Man) festivals
and holy days celebrate joj as well as suffering. Everj ritual is a reminder to the
jews of God's place in their lives A Jew is required to pray, and prayer at the syna
gogue encourages praying as a oirtmunit) Some Jews observe certain dietarj laws,
i
hut not all .lews follow them In Judaism, each congregation governs itsell Rabbis
nol priests but individuals who teach the people
and clarify the laws i
orthodox Judaism attempts to be faithful to the ancient traditions; Conservative

Judaism promotes a reinterpretation oi the Torah; and Reform Judaism attempl
adapt Judaism to iiiod'in life
Today, Juda lentified frequent!) with the nation ol Israel, which
founded m more Jewish people live outside Israel than

1948, but in it It is In Israel,
ient words come to life for man) beli<

Yah
however, where the an<
he raeltobehis people Ju
WehtobetheirGod,andYahweh< i I
I
110 CHAPTER 3
that strongly values learning, and many Jewish people have obtained great distinc-
tion in art, business, and science.
Christianity
Christianity is based primarily on the lifeand teachings of Jesus Christ. The domi-
nant Christian groups today are Roman and Eastern Ortho-
Catholics, Protestants,
dox. Christianity began as a Jewish sect, organized and centered in Jerusalem around
a small group of followers proclaiming Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. Jesus is re-
puted to have been born during the reign of King Herod around 6 b.c. (This date con-
flicts with the beginning of the Christian calendar, which is based on a miscalculation
of Herod's death by medieval monks.) The career of Jesus as a preacher and a teacher
began with his baptism by John the Baptist. Afterward, he gathered his own disciples
who accepted him as Christ, the chosen one, sent to fulfill God's promise. Jesus was
said to have performed miracles and forgiven sins.
According to the New Testament, Jesus was born in Bethlehem of a virgin
mother and was crucified by Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judea, in a.d. 30.
After suffering death, he arose from the dead on the third day and ascended into
heaven. The words and deeds of Jesus form the basis for the New Testament, which
is said to be the word of God. At the time of Jesus's death, he had no more than a few
hundred followers, and this new faith met such hostility in Jerusalem that its mem-
bers withdrew to Samaria, Damascus, and Antioch. The Christians showed enormous
zeal, and Saul of Tarsus (Saint Paul) spent more than 30 years establishing churches
in Asia Minor and Greece. Christianity appealed to the poor and the oppressed, and
by a.d. 150, many churches were established throughout Asia Minor. Christians con-
tinued to suffer persecution for three centuries, particularly in Rome under Nero,
Domitian, and Diocletian. After Constantine I came into power, he established Chris-
tianity as the quasi-official state religion of the Roman Empire in 324. Rome became
the center of Christianity under the Roman Catholic Church.
Christian philosophy dominated Europe after the decline and fall of the Roman
Empire, through the period known as the Dark Ages, and into the Middle Ages, perhaps
reaching its pinnacle of social control in the thirteenth century. According to Gibbon and
other historians, Christianity was one factor that caused the fall of the Roman Empire.
Although Christianity is based largely on the works and life of Christ as recorded
in the New Testament by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it was later given a more philo-
sophical background through various other writings. Christianity incorporated from Ju-
daism its beliefs of divine creation and providence but placed greater emphasis on the
fatherhood of God and in God's concern for humanity. Belief in Jesus as a divinity always
has been the crucial difference between Judaism and Christianity, and the New Testa-
ment represents a more loving and caring God than the Old Testament does.
distinctly
Thinkers like Augustine and Aquinas gave Christianity its Western philosophi-
cal bedrock. Drawing on philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, they provided a
core of beliefs that became central to Roman Catholic philosophy. As the Old and New
Testaments of Christianity became more plentiful in Europe because of the develop-
ment of printing, more people had access to them and new interpretations arose. This
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY. RELIGION. AND EDUCATION 111
sparked the Protestanl Reformation, which was spearheaded by Martin Luther( l 183
to L546).
Luther, a German Augustinian monk, was a professor of Biblical theology al
Wittenberg University. He was appalled at the laxity of the Roman Catholic Church,
and particularly with the selling of indulgences wherebj one could buy salvation and
escape the punishment of hell. He sel oul to rebuild the church in accordance with
his conception of tin- Gospel and translated the Bible into German to make easier it
for people to read. He believed thai people should o-td the Bible and interprel for it
themselves, what is called "the priesthood of all believes'." Luther strongly chain pi
oned education, and he sponsored an educational movemenl thai opened Lutheran
schools to he under the authority of the princes rather than the church. However,
Luther's belief in an individual interpretation of the Bible led to many independent
positions and schisms in Christianity under such leaders as John ( akin. John Knox,
and Huldreich Zwingli. [n the United States today, more than 300 different < Ihristian
sects use the teachings of Christ as their basic oriental ion.
After Luther's reformation, a counterreformation was spearheaded by Ignatius
Loyola. Loyola founded the Jesuit order known as The Society of Jesus in 153 This I
movement had widespread influence and devoted much attention to education. The
Jesuits believed that the right kind of education could provide leaders who would
help stem the influence of I 'rot est ant theology.
Judeo-Christian thought continues to be an important religious and philosoph-
ical force in the world today. Most ethical and social mores, as well as laws, found m
Western society today are based on Judeo-Christian principles.
Islam
Muhammad ("71 to 632) was born in Mecca. His parents died when he was young,
and he was brought up by a succession of relatives. He was employed bj a wealthy

widow to look after her camels while she was trading in (amascus. He first became
I
her steward and then her husband.

Muhammad entered into an ascetic phase during which he would spend mam
hours in a cave on Mount Una. a hill near Mecca. He would endure long lasts and vig
iK. praying and meditating. When Muhammad was in his fortieth year, Allah spoke to
him through Gabriel, the Angel of Revelation. The angel commanded thai Muham
mad call on all the people to worship Allah, the one tru< ibriel appeared to
Muhammad again and told him that his mission was to restore to the \rabs the pure
faith of then- father \braham and to tree them from bondage and idolatry Muham
mad told his people thai thej had to give up the worship of mai
and follow the will of Allah, the one true God
r» eived bj the k* e, and in
populai •
Muhammad's revelati nol well aJ
was fop ed to depart from Mecca

to avoid pei .ecui ion. he to Yathrib now known as Med
ma Muhammad amesui essful iii Me. iii la and ruled as. l'rin.
be. i
Prophet foi lOyi
i -
He acquired several wive and laimed divine origin

«
This movemenl ol the Muslin
Medina hassim 'been, ailed the Hegira, and Muslims date theii alendarsfromthit
i
In this new ommunity, Muhammad

i
authority and p
it
. .
112 CHAPTER 3
Eight years after he leftMuhammad returned and conquered the city

Mecca,
with his armies. He stripped from the Ka'aba, and Mecca became the holy
all idols
city of Islam. He then sought to unify the Arab tribes and bring them together in one
nation governed by the will of Allah. After the death of Muhammad, Abu-Bakr began
to collect the recitations he received from Allah into a book entitled the Koran
(Qur'an), which means "The Reading." To the Muslim, every word in the Koran is
the word of God as revealed by the angel Gabriel. It is written in classical Arabic, and
most Muslims believe that it should not be translated into other languages.
The growth of Islam can be attributed in part to the ideas of the Koran, which
speaks to the hopeless, the poor, and the outcast, regardless of race, color, or national-
ity. The Koran also did away with intermediaries between God and humans. Any person,
no matter how sinful, can bring a plea before God. One does not even have to go to a
mosque to speak with Allah. The Koran denounces usury, games of chance, and the con-
sumption of pork or alcohol. It also forbids lying, stealing, adultery, and murder. The
mosque is the Muslim place of worship, but this religion has no organized priesthood.
Muhammad taught that Allah is a purposeful God who created things to reach
certain desired goals. The Koran tells the Muslim that each person will be tried in the
Last Judgment, when Allah will judge all souls. Those who have followed the will of
Allah will be rewarded eternally in paradise, an oasis of flowing waters, pleasant

drinks, food, and sensual delights. Those who have not followed the will of Allah will
be condemned to eternal suffering in fire and heat.

The basic beliefs of the orthodox Islamic religion consist of the following:
1. One God.
2. Sacred ground (all the earth belongs to Allah, so wherever one prays is holy
ground)
3. Equality before God.
4. A life hereafter.
5. A prohibition on intoxicating drink.
6. Truthfulness.
7. The sinfulness of adultery.
8. Charity.
9. Duty to animals (treat animals with kindness and compassion).
10. Limited polygamy (a Muslim man is allowed to marry four wives, provided he
can take care of them)
The religious duties of Muslims are stated in the Five Pillars of Islam:
1. Belief:Muslims profess faith as "I bear witness that there is no God but Allah,
and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah."
2. Prayer: Muhammad required formal prayer five times a day sunrise, noon, —
midafternoon, sunset, and nightfall.
3. Almsgiving: One is encouraged to share goods and money with the poor and
to support Muslim schools and mosques.
.
4. Fasting: A fast during the month of Ramadan is required for all. During this
time,one cannot take food or drink between sunrise and sunset.
5. Pilgrimage: Muhammad urged his followers to travel each year to the sacred
city of Mecca. At the least, one should do this once during his lifetime.
Like other religions, Islam also has experienced great reform. Two major changes
have been the reform of Islamic higher education and putting Islamic doctrines into
acceptable terms tor the modern world. The seeming conflict between scientific and
religious authority has been minimized, and secular education has grown. II A. R.
Gibb said that the orthodox positions in Islam resemble eighteenth-century positions
in relation to Christian doctrine, and that during the past loo years, the extension
of secular education has exposed Muslims to the same global influences that revo
lutionized Western cultures: print media, movies, television, and computers.
EASTERN THOUGHT AND PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Much in Eastern philosophy speaks to a concern for education Ml i ften today, West
ern education is seen primarily as a way of acquiring a job or for social advancement
Many Westerners are so immersed in their material concerns thai tiny see little value in
lofty speculation, mysticism, or anything thai lakes much time. < lur educational institu
tions emphasize order, regularity, science, and the importance of Fai ts. Ii is true that
much of the secularism and neutrality of Western thought developed as a reaction i<>
speculative thought, particularly the religious speculations of the Middle ^ges, bul West
ern philosophy mighl have lost something of importance in its quest for objectivity.
Eastern thinking spawned mam of the ideas thai have found their way into
Western philosophy, and Eastern philosophy still serves as a useful antithesis to cm-
rent beliefs. The concepl of progress, for example, when looked at by Eastern and
Western thinkers, is quite different. Ion- the Western thinker, progress i an be mea
sured terms of better bridges and more practical and efficient social and political
in
systems. For the Eastern thinker, progress might mean nonattachment and the de
velopment of one's inner being.
>ne thing is dear, however Eastern thinkers always have concerned themselves
(
with education. Thej have seen education as a way of achieving wisdom, maintaining the
family structure, establishing the law, and providing for so< ial and economic com ems
Eastern philosophy extols education, especialh the role of the teacher, because mans "'
the great Eastern thinkers were teachers as well a theorist Thej saw the importance
of the teacher in acqt lamt ing people with new do. trines and iii providing instrui tion in
the things one must do to achieve the good life Eastern ph education
as , not oiih for i his life bul alsofoi a* hievinga good hie in the hereaftei
Aims of Education
m phiioj ,.ii oi education The aim "t the earliest
writ to provide information about the forces "i nature bo thai one could I
il with them
114 CHAPTER 3
the Vedic writings made the forces more understandable in their anthropomorphic
guise and thus acceptable to village people who believed that nature, like humankind,
was not to be trusted. These writings also suggested ways one could cope with or pro-
pitiate these forces to mitigate or assuage their fury.
Later writings of Indian and Chinese philosophers became more sophisticated,
and increasingly less attentionwas focused on gods and ceremonies than on ways to
live. A feeling developed that the way one lives is the important thing, and the way
one can change things. Eastern philosophers have paid much attention to the
lives
sufferings of life, and in humans' narrow framework of thinking today, people might
be like the Buddha, who did not see suffering in the beginning but sees it now.
Today, a terrible automobile accident is cleared away so quickly that few see the
blood and the pain. Old people are shunted out of sight to die, and asylums and pris-
ons incarcerate those who might be a nuisance or cause physical harm to others.
Thus, people are shielded from much of the suffering of humankind.
In Eastern philosophy, suffering is to be accepted as a way of life. Suffering has
its causes, and these causes can be external, internal, or both. Those who lived a dis-
solute existence in a previous life might now be paying for their misdeeds. Perhaps,
too, we need to see suffering as being beneficial to our development if it helps us gain
wisdom. Some philosophers think that we can mitigate suffering, but it might require
following a way, a path —
something that is difficult and long.
Eastern philosophy has not been as singular in its development as Western
philosophy. One has to take it system by system, culture by culture, and school by
school. Often, these schools, such as Confucianism, lasted long periods of time and
influenced large numbers of people, including emperors. Sometimes, these schools
vied with each other for influence, and some served as stepping stones to new and
different ideas. The fact that so many of them still exist and have such large fol-
lowings attests to their continued vitality. Unlike the Western approach, most East-
ern philosophies begin with sense experience and carry it backward to
consciousness. In the Western view, the belief is that one should steadily increase the
number of sensory experiences one has in order to amass a mountain of facts and
data. The Eastern approach often seeks to diminish sense experience, or at least to
downplay its role in the achievement of wisdom (or enlightenment) as distinct from
knowledge.
Eastern educational philosophy also tends to place a greater emphasis on the
teacher-student relationship and to see great change coming from this relationship.
The student changed as a result of contact with the guru, the master, the prophet,
is
or the spiritual leader. Change is important because most Eastern philosophies em-
phasize that one cannot live a good life without thought that brings change. Educa-
tion also might be necessary for salvation, and thus it takes on a spiritual quality. The
emphasis is on transformation because the individual must be transformed to be able
to face life or suffering with equanimity. Attitude shaping is also important, and East-
ern philosophers emphasize that the attitude one holds toward life is often the de-
ciding factor. If one has an attitude that encourages the accumulation of material
things, Buddhists point out that one never will achieve happiness.
The aim
of social change underlies mosl Eastern philosophies, bul this larger
socialchange often begins with individual change. The individual seeks and is
changed, and as inaiix individuals are changed, so too will society be changed. East-
ern philosophers believe thai people are weak, thai they seek pleasure and material
ity.bul they can be changed so thai they do nol seek these things. Failure occurs, bul
it is individual failure, and one can overcome this through meditation, giving, living
close to nature, fasting, and prayer.

One recurring educational aim of Eastern philosophy istopul humanitj in tune
with nature. Greal emphasis is placed on observing nature and learning through wan
derings and pilgrimages. The art old he Easl tends to reflecl a deep lunging am even I
spiritual consideration of nature.A study of nature should promote introspection and

emphasize the inner life. The importance of achie\ ing wisdom, satori, enlightenment,
or nirvana is supreme in Eastern philosophy Ml paths must lead to this, and from
wisdom springs virtue, right living, and correct social and political behavior.
Methods and Curriculum

Eastern philosophy uses mam educational methods as diverse as oral traditions and
todays modern methods of communication. In comparison with Western philosophy,
Eastern philosophy probably has provided a greater variety of approaches in educa
tion for the purpose of living well, alleviating suffering, achieving enlightenment, or
reaching nirvana. Hinduism, for example, emphasizes oral traditions and the reading
of sacred literature; the / panishads represent its spiritual and philosophical basis.
r
In Hinduism, beliefs grew through a succession of stages and as a resull of certain

leaders who gathered together the thoughts of the day in the form of Sutras, which
often required some commentary to make them intelligible \t each stage, one had
to develop one's views, challenge criticisms, and provide answers to nrw problems
When one thinks of a primary method connected with Indian philosophy (Mm
duism). it is yoga, although this one method In Patanjali yoga, the
is certainly only
mi id enters a trance in which
i
is emptied of all content, unaware of subjecl or ob
it
ject, and absorbed into the ultimate, where h becomes one with the >ne. Through (
yoga, the mind is liberated from the bodj and achieves an inner freedom thai tran
scends the material world of the hinese philosophj also emphasizes
(Buddhism), a-- well as attention to the teaching of rules of righl condui Jonfu i i
(
danism) and to attitude shapu m) h also emphasizes the here and now n
than the supernatural views found in Hindu philosophy.
The Chinese woe never so preoccupied with supernatural views <>r with
preparing for the nexl world, and ma; believe thai this is whj ommu i
nism, with its materialisl philo ble to make easy inroads into Ihinese life (
Chinese philosophj has been charai terized bj ol proportion, with people
suitablj arranging their attitud< tanda tioi with proper prioi
of these priorities traditional] n the familj and ones ani •
re to
be remembered and honored. In conna tion with this,
pi,,, ,,| on rules ol ordei and ru hi i ondu< i within the tamil

116 CHAPTER 3
Role of the Teacher

Although one can pursue the search for nirvana on one's own, many sects promote the
importance of a guru, or teacher, who already has obtained knowledge and can lead the
student along the true path. Some aspirants to the role of the guru might prepare them-
selves for several decades. The potential guru is to be selected carefully and, through a
variety of techniques, properly educated. The guru occupies a central place in the stu-
dent's life and is revered for the wisdom he provides. In some cases, the guru might en-
courage students to do things that seem meaningless and absurd to them but that lead
to enlightenment. Thus, students must be able to place much confidence in their teacher.
Japanese thought places even greater emphasis on being in harmony with na-
ture than does Chinese thought, but both claim a great reverence for the teacher. Zen
Buddhism, as one example, places the teacher in a position of great prominence.
There is, through the teacher, the possibility of sudden enlightenment by the use of
the koan, which consists of cryptic questions and sudden blows intended to shock
the student. Often, students wander about seeking the perfect Zen master from
whom they can obtain enlightenment. In addition to the koan, an emphasis is placed
on tranquility from meditation and the absence of thought. Zen also has influenced
such arts as archery. Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery shows that a study
of archery can lead to knowledge of self and the meaning of existence.
The role of the teacher in Christian thought is equally important. Although the
teacher may only point, as Augustine says, he is an important part of the learning
process. Aquinas believed that the right kind of teacher also might help the student
learn much about the physical world, but in a way that promotes spiritual knowledge,
as well. Most religions see education as a way of teaching fundamental beliefs and
converting others to their ideas.
Eastern philosophies tend to extol sacred literature, and Judaism, Islam, and
Christianity have their sacred books. In most cases, these writings demand expla-
all
nation or clarification, and a class of priests, rabbis, or prophetsis necessary to ex-
plain these writings to the people. Sacred rites, prayers, and sacrifices also can be
made at certain observed times and under rather specific conditions. As modern-day
beliefs, these religions are challenged often by changing social and political events in
a fast-paced world. Unlike Western philosophies, however, which seem to change
with every social upheaval, Eastern philosophies have remained more intact. The role
of the school in Western societies, for example, has often focused on learning facts,
rather than on exploring alternatives in a changing world. Eastern education has
tended to remain largely apart from Western educational traditions, which many
Easterners believe do not promote desirable philosophical and religious ideals.
CRITIQUE OF EASTERN PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION

One good reason to study Eastern philosophy is that it represents a vantage point
from which to examine contemporary views on Western education. It encourages hu-
mans to question seriously their most basic commitments to science, materialism, na-
ture, religious traditions, and education, as well as the meaning of progress and the
good life. This is not to say thai various Eastern philosophies do not deal with these
tilings, but they generally do not \ Lew them in the same ways.
Western beliefs also differ from Eastern beliefs in their emphasis on upward so
rial mobility. (Jetting to the top is the most important thing for many Westerners, and
they promote the view that anyone can do They are taught
it. that they should get to
the top even if this alienates or separates them from family, friends, or community
life. Priorities, rules of order, and decorum oft on are ignored or ridiculed if they block
achievement of the desired material end. In Eastern philosophy, order, regularity, and
patience an generally prized, and the order is proportional and in harmonj with the
1
law of nature.
Eastern philosophy has much
to be criticized, such as its emphasis on an un-
yielding supernaturalism as Hindu philosophy, and some Western philosophers see
in
the danger of dogmatism in the close relationship between Eastern religion and phi
losophy, as well as between religion and government nlike Western philosophies, . I
Eastern views often are characterized by a sense of vagueness, splits between vari
ous factions, and an individualistic toward salvation. In many cases, they also
at tit in le
seem to promote a callous disregard for human

life through such devices as the caste
system. Western philosophies have tended increasingly to extol freedom and a demo-
cratic approach to government, whereas many Eastern philosophies still promote a
loyalty to rulers and a belief in one's fixed and ordered place in the universe.
Another aspect of Eastern philosophy thai bothers Western philosophers, par
ticularly contemporary ones, is the great reliance placed on codes, rules, and pre
scriptive ways of life, such as Buddhism with its eightfold path, the Jams with linn
five vows, the "correct principles" of (
'onfucianism. and the commandments of .In
daism and Christianity. People may need help and direction in their lives, but these
lists of rules often strike thinkers as too contrived to be of any real use in modern life
The older philosophies indicate the need for a permanent structure, which might
have been importanl in an emerging civilization but docs nol hi today's world, with
its complex social and moral dilemmas me also faces difficulty m interpretation re
<
garding rules, such as whether to kill germs (.lam) or whether to kill an attacker
(Christian), ('odes that seem simple on the surface often are difficult toapph in real
situations. is not surprising,
It therefore, that many modem philosophies have pro
moled a situational or contextual approach to problems, rather than a reliance "ii
such seemingly strict and narrow rules
With regard to education, one finds a great respect and concern for through it
out Eastern cultures Teau hen have occupied an important and central role in the
development of thought, and the .meat religious and philosophical leadi wen i
above all else, teachers The emphasis in Kaslelli philOSOphj is On nOl OIll) klK-Wini 1
but also teaching this knowledge to others The Buddha wasa tea hei I
ton
fUCillS, JeSUS, and Muhammad.

Although Westerners are approai hes to learning thai are prirnarilj
critical of
theoretical. Eastern idea mtrast to the view thai education should b-

med primarilj with so< ial and vocational skills ndue em| ms to be i
placed, in the minds oi man) Western edu n the role ol the teai her m the
learning pn lents in learning on their own The empl
—
118 CHAPTER 3
on perfection also seems misplaced to many Western thinkers, who believe that the
important thing is not to achieve perfection but to improve one's current state in
terms of livelihood, material gain, or happiness.
Although many millions of people still abide by Eastern beliefs, it is unlikely that
those beliefs will change the course of Western development greatly. Indeed, it seems
likely to be the other way around as the West enlarges its spheres of influence, power,
and communications. Every indication is that this has been happening for some time
as Western philosophies challenge traditional views. Japan, in particular, and China
and India are fast becoming great industrial and banking centers, and this is chang-
ing the character of their beliefs, as well as the character of their socioeconomic
institutions.
For some Westerners, the appeal of Eastern philosophy is more romantic than
real. Many have turned to Eastern philosophy as an escape from a hectic, constantly
changing, and highly industrialized society. Jack Kerouac, for example, spoke of fast-
ing and solitary excursions in the mountains in his book Dharma Bums. Today, East-
ern philosophy already has found a place in religion, psychoanalysis, and rock music;
it often has provided us with a refreshing and original look at these fields. Despite the
criticisms leveled against it, Eastern philosophy remains a fascinating study that em-
phasizes a wide variety of views. an important study not only because of its his-
It is
torical significance and large following but also because it forces people to reexamine
in a new way the meaning and purpose of life.
BHAGAVAD-GITA
The Bhagavad-Gita, or Gita, was written sometime between the fourth and third centuries b.c,
and it is one of the best-known and loved of Indian writings. Its title means "Song of the Lord"
or "Song Celestial, " and it still is chanted in Hindu temples today. The Gita is basically a dia-
logue between Arjuna, the great warrior, and Krishna, the Lord, who is an embodiment of the
Supreme. Arjuna is asking Krishna about responsibility and mastery of oneself in the face of
life's challenges. The dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna shows some of the distinctive eth-
ical ideals to come out of Indian philosophy.
Sanjaya: Barring the path of virtue? Nay, Arjun!

Him, filled with such compassion and such grief, Forbid thyself to feebleness! it mars
With eyes tear-dimmed, despondent, in stern words Thy warrior- name! cast off the coward-fit!
The Driver, Madhusudan, thus addressed: Wake! Be thyself! Arise, Scourge of thy Foes!
Krishna: Arjuna:
How hath this weakness taken thee? Whence springs How can I, in the battle, shoot with shafts
The inglorious trouble, shameful to the brave, On Bhishma, or on Drona —O thou Chief!
— 1
Both worshipful, both honourable men? Substance from shadow Indestructible,

Bettor to live on beggar's bread Learn thou the Life is. spreading life through
1
all:
With those we love alive. It cannot anywhere, by any means.
Than taste their blood in rich feasts spread, Bo anywise diminished, sta\cd. or changed,
And guiltily survive! l'.ut for these Heeling frames which informs it
Ah! wore it worse — who knows'.' — to be With spirit deathless, endless, infinite,
Victor or vanquished bore. They perish Let them perish. Prince! and light
1
"
When those confront us angrily He who shall say, "Lo! have slain a man I
1
Whose death Leaves living drear? liewho shall think. "Lo am slain!" those both 1
In pity lost, by doubtings tossed, Know naught Lite cannot slay. Life is not slain!
1
My t —
bought s distracted turn — Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall (ease lo be
To Thro, the Guide I reverence most. never;
That may counsel learn:
I
I know not what would heal the grief Never was time was not; End ami Beginning it
Burned into soul and sense. are dreams'

If I were earth's unchallenged chief Bilthless and deathless and changeless re
—
A god and these gone thence! maineth the spirit tor ever;
I Lath hath not touched at all. dead though the it
Sanjaya: hOUSe of seems' it
So spake Arjuna to the Lord of Hearts, Who knoweth it exhaustless, self sustained,
And sighing. "I will not fight!" bold silence then. Immortal, indestructible, shall such
To whom, with tender smile, (0 Bharata' Say, "1 have man. or caused to
killed a kill""
VVTiile the Prince wept despairing twixl those hosts. Nay, but as when one layeth
Krishna made answer in divinest verse: His worn out robes away,
\inl. taking new ones, sayeth.
Krishna: "These will wear tO-day!"
I
Thou grievest where no grief should be' Thou So putteth by the spirit
speak'st Lightly its garb of flesh,

Words lacking wisdom! for the wise in heart And passeth to inherit
Mourn not for those that live, nor those that die. \ residence afresh
Nor I. nor thou, nor any one of these, I say to thee weapons reach not the Lite.
Flame burns not. waters cannot o'erwhelm,

Ever was not, nor ever will not be. it
For ever and for ever afterwards. Nordrj winds wither Impenetrable, it
doth live, lives always! To man's frame

All. that
Ineutered, uuassailed. unbar d. untouched,
As there come infancj and youth and age. Immortal, all arriving, stable, sure.
Invisible, ineffable, bj word
So come (here raisings-up and layings-down
Of oilier and of other life-abodes. \nd thought uncompassed, ever all itself,
Which the wise know, and fear not This thai irks Tim ul declared! How wilt thou, then.
Thy sense-life, thrilling to the elements- Knowing it SO, grieve whin thou shouldst not
Bringing thee beat and cold, sorrows and joj
li,,v. thou hearesl that the man new dead
Tis brief and mutable' Bear with h. Prini e! if
not m0V( ke the man imw DOITl slill living man

As the wise bear The soul which is
n tent Spirit will then wi

The soul that with a strong and constant calm
( > ,
The .nd of birth is death the end ol death

sorrow and takes jo) indifferently,
ami mournest thou,
Lives in the life undying! That which is
Chiel "i the stalwart arm' foi what befalls
Can i
to be. that which i
this truth of both win- h ould not "it 'all The birth
Will not exist To see < '
Is theirs who part • nt, 01 living it

—— —— —— — —— ——
120 CHAPTER 3
Comes unperceived; between them, beings —

One steadfast rule while shifting souls have laws
perceive: Many and hard. Specious, but wrongful deem
What is there sorrowful herein, dear Prince? The speech of those ill-taught ones who extol
Wonderful, wistful, to contemplate! The letter of their Vedas, saying, "This
Difficult, doubtful, to speak upon! Is all we have, or need;" being weak at heart
Strange and great for tongue to relate, With wants, seekers of Heaven: which comes
Mystical hearing for every one! they say
Nor wotteth man this, what a marvel it is, As "fruit of good deeds done;" promising men
When seeing, and saying, and hearing are done! Much profit in new births for works of faith;
This Life within all living things, my Prince! In various rites abounding; following whereon
Hides beyond harm; scorn thou to suffer, then, Large merit shall accrue towards wealth and
For that which cannot suffer. Do thy part! power;
Be mindful of thy name, and tremble not! Albeit, who wealth and power do most desire
Nought better can betide a martial soul Least fixity of soul have such, least hold
Than lawful war; happy the warrior On heavenly meditation. Much these teach,
To whom comes joy of battle —comes, as now, From Veds, concerning the "three qualities;"
Glorious and fair, unsought; opening for him But thou, be free of the "three qualities,"
A gateway unto Heav'n. But, if thou shunn'st Free of the "pairs of opposites," and free
This honourable field —a Kshattriya From that sad righteousness which calculates;
knowing thy duty and thy task, thou
If, bidd'st Self-ruled, Arjuna! simple, satisfied!
—
Duty and task go by that shall be sin! Look! like as when a tank pours water forth
And those to come shall speak thee infamy To do these Brahmans draw
suit all needs, so
From age to age; but infamy is worse Texts for wants from tank of Holy Writ.
all
For men of noble blood to bear than death! But thou, want not! ask not! Find full reward
The chiefs upon their battle-chariots Of doing right in right! Let right deeds be
Will deem 'twas fear that drove thee from the fray Thy motive, not the fruit which comes from them.
Of those who held thee mighty-souled the scorn And live in action! Labour! Make thine acts
Thou must abide, while all thine enemies Thy piety, casting all self aside,
Will scatter bitter speech of thee, to mock Contemning gain and merit; equable
The valour which thou hadst; what fate could fall In good or evil: equability
More grievously than this? Either being killed — Is Yog, is piety!
Thou wilt win Swarga's safety, or alive —
—
And victor thou wilt reign an earthly king. Yet, the right act
Therefore, arise, thou Son of Kunti! brace Is less, far less, than the right-thinking mind.
Thine arm for conflict, nerve thy heart to meet Seek refuge in thy soul; have there thy heaven!
—
As things alike to thee pleasure or pain, Scorn them that follow virtue for her gifts!
Profit or ruin, victory or defeat: The mind of pure devotion even here —
So minded, gird thee to the fight, for so Casts equally aside good deeds and bad,
Thou shalt not sin! Passing above them. Unto pure devotion
Devote thyself: with perfect meditation
Thus far I speak to thee Comes perfect act, and the right-hearted rise
—
As from the "Sankhya" unspiritually More certainly because they seek no gain
Hear now the deeper teaching of the Yog, Forth from the bands of body, step by step,
Which holding, understanding, thou shalt burst To highest seats of bliss. When thy firm soul
Thy Karmabandh, the bondage of wrought deeds. Hath shaken off those tangled oracles
Here shall no end be hindered, no hope marred, Which ignorantly guide, then shall it soar
No —
be feared: faith yea, a little faith
loss To high neglect of what's denied or said,
Shall save thee from the anguish of thy dread. This way or that way, in doctrinal writ.
Here, Glory of the Kurus! shines one rule Troubled no longer by the priestly lore,
— — —
Sale shall it live, and sure; steadfastly bent Not loving and nol hating, making them
On meditation. This is Yog —
and Peace! Serve his free soul, which rests serenerj lord.
Lo!such a man comes to tranquillity;
Arjuna: And nut of thai tranquillity shall rise
What is his mark who hath that steadfast heart, The end and healing of his earthly pains.
Confirmed in holy meditation? How Since ! he will governed sets the soul at peace
Know we his speech. Kesava'.' Sits he. moves he The soul of the
ungoverned is not Ins.
Like other men? Nor hath he knowledge of himself; which lacked,
How grows serenity? and. wanting that.
Krishna: Whence shall he hope For happiness?
When one, Pritha's Son!
The mind
Abandoning desires which shake the mind Thai gives itself to Follow shows of sense
comfort Seeth helm of wisdom rent away,

lis
Finds in his soul full For his soul.
He hath attained the Yog — that man is such!

And, like a ship in waves of whirlwind, drives
To wreck and death. OlUJ with him. greal I'm ice 1
In sorrows nol dejected, and in joys

Not overjoyed; dwelling outside the stress es are nol swayed bj things of
ise
Of passion, fear, and anger; fixed in calms
who
Of lofty contemplation; such an one — i
mi\ with him
Shows wisdom
holds his mastery,
perfect. What is midnight gloom
Is Muni, is the Sage, the true Recluse!
To unenlightened souls shines wakeful daj
He who to none and nowhere overbound
clear gaze; what seems as wakeful daj
By ties of flesh, takes evil things and good
Is known for night, thick night of ignorance,
Neither desponding nor exulting, such
To his true-seeing eyes. Such is the Saint!
Rears wisdom's plainest mark' He w ho shall draw
As the wise tortoise draws its Four Feel sale
And like the ocean, daj bj day receiving
I'nder its shield, his five frail senses back
floods from all lands, which never overflows;
1 Fnder the spirit's buckler from the world
lisboundary-line not leaping, and not leaving,
Which else assails them, such an one, my Prince!
sense
Fed bj the rivers, bul unswelled by those;
Hath wisdom's mark Things 1
thai solicit
So is the perfeel to Ins souls ocean•'
Hold off from the self-governed; nay, comes, it
The world of sense pours streams ot witchery;

The appetites of him who lives beyond
Thej leave him as they without commotion
Depart, —aroused no more. Yet may it chance,
Taking their tribute, bul remaining
find,
o Son of Kunti! that a governed mind

Shall some time feel the sense storms sweep,
Yea! whoso, shaking oft the yoke >! flesh
and wrest
Lives lord, nol servant, of las lusts, sel Fi
Strong self-control by the roots. Lei him regain
From pride, from passion, from the sin "i >•
His kingdom! let him conquer this, and sit
Toucheth tranquillity! < I Pritha's Son!
On Me intent. That man alone is v.
That is the Btate ol Brahml There rests no dread
Who keeps the mastery of himself! If one
When that last w hed! Live where he will,
Ponders on objects of the sense. th< •
Die when he may, such passeth From all plan

Attraction; from attraction grows di
To blesl Nirvana, with U
Desire flames to fierce passion, passion l>n
Recklessness; then the memory all betl
Lets noble I
>iii :
I
'• mind.
Till purpose, mind, and man are ;ill undoi
I'm, if one deals with obje< tsof thi
122 CHAPTER 3
SUZUKI
ZEN MIND, BEGINNER'S MIND
In the 1920s, Daisetz Suzuki popularized Zen for Western audiences. Now, another Suzuki,
Shunryu Suzuki, continues this tradition. Suzuki was a Zen master in Japan and came to
America in 1959, when he was 55 years of age. He decided to stay in America and founded
several Zen centers in the United States. The term "beginner's mind" was often used by Suzuki
because he believed that we need to look at life in a straightforward, simple way, as if we were
a beginner. Suzuki discusses the role of the teacher in the educational process, whereby both
the teacher's mind and the student's mind become Buddha minds. There is also a great em-
phasis placed upon zazen as a true and tranquil form of meditation, which unifies mind and
body, and helps us to transcend thinking.
My master died when I was thirty-one. Al- Just continue in your calm, ordinary practice
though I wanted to devote myself just to Zen practice and your character will be built up. If your mind is al-
at Eiheiji monastery, I had to succeed my master at ways busy, there will be no time to build, and you will
his temple. I became and being so young I
quite busy, not be successful, particularly if you work too hard on
had many These difficulties gave me
difficulties. it. Building character is like making bread you have —
some experience, but it meant nothing compared to mix it little by little, step by step, and moderate
with the true, calm, serene way of life. temperature is needed. You know yourself quite well,
It is necessary for us to keep the constant way. and you know how much temperature you need. But
Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration if you get too excited, you will forget how much tem-
on our usual everyday routine. If you become too busy perature is good for you, and you will lose your way.
and too excited, your mind becomes rough and ragged. This is very dangerous.
This is not good. If possible, try to be always calm and Buddha said the same thing about the good ox
joyful and keep yourself from excitement. Usually, we driver. The driver knows how much load the ox can
become busier and busier, day by day, year by year, es- carry, and he keeps the ox from being overloaded. You
pecially in our modern world. If we revisit old, familiar know your way and your state of mind. Do not carry
places after a long time, we are astonished by the too much! Buddha also said that building character is
changes. It cannot be helped. But if we become inter- like building a dam. You should be very careful in
ested in some excitement, or in our own change, we making the bank. If you try to do it all at once, water
will become completely involved in our busy life, and will leak from it. Make the bank carefully and you will
we will be lost. But if your mind is calm and constant, end up with a fine dam for the reservoir.
you can keep yourself away from the noisy world even Our unexciting way of practice may appear to
though you are in the midst of it. In the midst of noise be very negative. This is not so. It is a wise and effec-
and change, your mind will be quiet and stable. tive way to work on ourselves. It is just very plain. I
Zen is not something to get excited about- find this point very difficult for people, especially
Some people start to practice Zen just out of curiosity, young people, to understand. On the other hand it
and they only make themselves busier. If your prac- may seem as if I am speaking about gradual attain-
tice makes you worse, it is ridiculous. I think that if ment This
. is not so either. In the sudden
fact, this is
you try to do zazen once a week, that will make you way, because when your practice calm and ordi-
is
busy enough. Do not be too interested in Zen. When nary, everyday life itself is enlightenment . . .
young people get excited about Zen they often give The most important point in our practice is to
up schooling and go to some mountain or forest in or- have right or perfect effort. Right effort directed in
der to sit,. That kind of interest is not true interest. the right direction is necessary. If your effort is
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY. RELIGION, AND K I) l" (' AT O N I 123
headed in the wrong direction, especially you are it We say, "To hear the sound of one hand clap-
not aware of this, is deluded effort. Our effort in our
it ping." the sound of clapping is made with
I SUallj
practice should be directed from achievement to two hands, and we think that clapping with one hand
non-achievement. makes no sound al all. Hut actually, one hand IS sound
Usually when you do something, you wanl to Even though you do not hear it. there is sound hut if
achieve something, you attach to sonic result. From sound did not alreadj exist before you clapped, you
achievement to non-achievemenl means to be rid of could not make the sound. Before you make n there
the unnecessary and had results of effort. you do II' is sound. Because there is sound, you can make it.
something in the spirit of non-achievement, there is a and you can hear it. Sound is everywhere II you just
good quality in it. So just to do something wit Ik nit any practice n. there is sound. Do not try to listen to il If
particular effort enough. When you make some spe-

is you do not listen to it, the sound is all over Because
cial effort to achieve something, some excessive qual- you trj t" hear it. sometimes there is sound, and
ity, some extra element is involved in it. You should sometimes there is no sound Do you understand'
gel rid of excessive things. If your practice is good, Even though you do nol do anything, you have die
without being aware of it you will become proud of qualitj dways Bui ifyou trj to find n. you it
your practice. That pride is extra. This poinl is very, trj on have no quality.
to see the quality, j
very important, hut usually we are not subtle enough You are living in this world as one individual,
to realize and we go in the wrong direction.
it. hut before you take the form ol a human being, you
Because all of us are doing the same thing, are alreadj there, always there We are always here
making the same mistake, we do nol realize it. So I to you understand? You think before you were born
without realizing it. we are making many mistakes you were not here Put how is possible for you to it
And we create problems among us. This kind of bad ippear in this world, when there is no you? Be ause
effort is called being "Dharma-ridden," or "practice- yon are already there, you can appear in the world
ridden." You are involved in some idea of practice or \lso. is not possible for something to vanish which
it
attainment, and you cannot get out of it When you does not exist Because something is there, some
are involved in some dualistic idea, it mean thing can vanish. You maj think thai when you die
practice is not pure. By purity we do nol mean to pol- you disappear, you no longer exist. Mm even though
ish something, trying to make some impure things you vanish, something which is existent cannot he
pure. By purity we just mean things as they are When nun existent Thai is the magic We ourselves cannol
something is impure When something

added, thai is put any magic spells on this world The world is its
becomes dualistic. thai is nol pure [fyou think you own magic If we are looking a1 something, can van it
will get something from practicing maren, already you ish from our sight, but if we do not try to see it, that
are involved in impure practice. It is all righl something cannol vanish Because you are watching
there is practice, enlightenment, but we
and there is it. it can disappear, hut ifi ie is watching, how is n
should not be caught by the statement You should ble i"f anything someone is to disappear' It
not be tainted by n When you practice zazen, just watching you, you cam escape from him, but if no one
practice zcuen. If enlightenmenl comes, just it is watching, you i am from youi
The So imething in particular trj
comes. We should not attach to the attainment. i ix ii"'
i" achieve anytl Vou alreadj have

true qualitj of zazen is always there even il you are not >l
not aware of it. so forget all aboul what you thinli you thing m your own pure qualitj n you under
The .land this ultimate lad.
maj have named from it. .lust do it. quality of tl
elf; then you will have it ie diifi< ulty, "i i ourse, but thi
means people have difficulty without being Lhedif

People ask what it to prai
what kind ol effort ficulty, that is true d

with ii' lea.
for that kind ol ;

confident, tl
nd of something extra from our prai ti< e I: in the righl direction, but without knowing il
extra i
remain in pure ;
them I'm
hi the
winch Olir
.
124 CHAPTER 3
wrong direction, if you are aware of that, you will not you have learned with a teacher for you yourself. The
be deluded. There is nothing to lose. There is only the study you make with your teacher is a part of your
constant pure quality of right practice. . . everyday life, a part of your incessant activity. In this
The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to sense there is no difference between the practice and
study Buddhism, but to study ourselves. It is impos- the activity you have in everyday life. So to find the
sible to study ourselves without some teaching. If you meaning of your life in the zendo is to find the mean-
want to know what water is you need science, and the ing of your everyday activity. To be aware of the
scientist needs a laboratory. In the laboratory there meaning of your life, you practice zazen.
are various ways in which to study what water is. When I was at Eliheiji monastery in Japan,
Thus it is possible to know what kind of elements everyone was just doing what he should do. That is
water has, the various forms it takes, and its nature. all. It is the same as waking up in the morning; we
But it is impossible thereby to know water in itself. It have to get up. At Eiheiji monastery, when we had to
is the same thing with us. We need some teaching, but- sit, we sat; when we had to bow to Buddha, we bowed
just by studying the teaching alone, it is impossible to to Buddha. That is all. And when we were practicing,
know what "I" in myself am. Through the teaching we we did not feel anything special. We did not even feel
may understand our human nature. But the teaching that we were leading a monastic life. For us, the monas-
is not we ourselves; it is some explanation of our- tic life was the usual life, and the people who came
selves. So if you are attached to the teaching, or to the from the city were unusual people. When we saw
teacher, that is a big mistake. The moment you meet them we felt, "Oh, some unusual people have come!"
a teacher, you should leave the teacher, and you But once I had left Eiheiji and had been away
should be independent. You need a teacher so that for some time, coming back was different. I heard the
you can become independent. If you are not attached —
various sounds of practice the bells and the monks
to him, the teacher will show you the way to yourself. reciting the sutra —
and I had a deep feeling. There
You have a teacher for yourself, not for the teacher. were tears flowing out of my eyes, nose, and mouth!
Rinzai, an early Chinese Zen master, analyzed It is the people who are outside of the monastery who
how to teach his disciples in four ways. Sometimes feel its atmosphere. Those who are practicing actu-
he talked about the disciple himself; sometimes he ally do not feel anything. I think this is true for every-
talked about the teaching itself; sometimes he gave an thing. When we hear the sound of the pine trees on a
interpretation of the disciple or the teaching; and fi- windy day, perhaps the wind is just blowing, and the
nally, sometimes he did not give any instruction at all pine tree is just standing in the wind. That is all that
to his disciples. He knew that even without being given they are doing. But the people who listen to the wind
any instruction, a student is a student. Strictly speak- in the tree will write a poem, or will feel something
ing, there is no need to teach the student, because the unusual. That is, I way everything is.
think, the
student himself is Buddha, even though he may not be So to feel something about Buddhism is not the
aware of it. And even though he is aware of his true na- main point. Whether that feeling is good or bad is out
ture, if he is attached to this awareness, that is already of the question. We do not mind, whatever it is. Bud-
wrong. When he is not aware of it, he has everything, dhism is not good or bad. We are doing what we
but when he becomes aware of it he thinks that what should do. That Buddhism. Of course some en-
is
he aware of is himself, which is a big mistake.

is couragement is necessary, but that encouragement is
When you do not hear anything from the just encouragement. It is not the true purpose of
teacher, but just sit, this is called teaching without practice. It is just medicine. When we become dis-
teaching. But sometimes this is not sufficient, so we couraged we want some medicine. When we are in
listen to lectures and have discussions. But we should good spirits we do not need any medicine. You should
remember that the purpose of practice in a particular not take medicine for food. Sometimes medicine is
place is to study ourselves. To be independent, we necessary, but it should not become our food.
study. Like the scientist, we have to have some means So, of Rinzai 's four ways of practice, the perfect
by which to study. We need a teacher because it is im- one is not to give a student any interpretation of him-
possible to study ourselves by ourselves. But you self, nor to give him any encouragement. If we think
should not make a mistake. You should not take what of ourselves as our bodies, the teaching then may be
our clothing. Sometimes we talk about our clothing; ously, as it they existed substaiit iall\ or permanently,
sometimes we talk about our body. But neither bodj you are called a heretic Most people maj lie heretics
nor clothing is actually we ourselves. We ourselves We saj true existence comes from emptiness
are the big activity. We are just expressing the small and goes hack again into emptiness. What appears
est particle of the big activity, that So from emptiness is true existenci
is all. it is all
We have to go
right to talk about ourselves, but actually there is no through the nate of emptiness. This idea of existence
need to do so. Before we open our mouths, we are al- is \ei\ difficult to explain. Many people these days
ready expressing the big existence, including our- have begun to feel, at least intellectually, the empti
selves. So the purpose of talking about ourselves is to ness of the modern world, or the self contradiction ol
correct the misunderstanding we have when we are their culture. In the past, lor instance, the Ja]
attached to any particular temporal form or color of people had a linn confidence in the permanent exis
the big activity. It is necessary to talk about what our i' in. oftheu culture and their traditional waj "I hie.
body is and what our activity is so that we may nol but since thej losl the war. thej have become verj
make any mistake about them. So to talk about our- skeptical Some people think this skeptical attitude is
selves is actually to forget about ourselves. awful, but actiialb it is better than the old attitude
Dogen-zenji said, "To study Buddhism is to \s long as we have some definite id. 'a about or
study ourselves." When you become attached to i some hope III the future. We eallllol real|\ be serious
temporal expression of your true nature n is neces with the moment that exists right now You ma
sary to talk about Buddhism, or else you will think the "I can do n tomorrow, or next year," believing that
temporal expression is it. But this particular expres- something that exists today will exist tomorrow Even
sion of it is not it. And yet at the same time it is it! For though you are nol trying so hard, you expect that
awhile this is it; for the smallest particle of time, this some promising thing will come, as long as you follow
is it. But it is not always so: the very next instant it is a certain way. But there is no certain wa.\ thai
not so, thus this is not it. So that you will realize this permanentlj There is no way set up for us Moment
fact.it is necessary to study Buddhism. Mut the pu] afti r moment we have to find our own waj Some idea
pose of studying Buddhism is to study ourselves and of perfection, or some perfect way winch is set up by
to forget ourselves. When we forget ourselves someone else. Is Hot tile true wa\ for IIS.
tually are the true activity of the big existence, or re- Each one of us must make his own true way,
ality itself. When we realize this tad. there is no and when we do. that way will express the universal
problem whatsoever in this world, and we can enjoy way This is the mysterj When you understand one
our life without feeling any difficulties The purpose thing through and through, you understand i
of our practice be aware of this fact ....

is to tiling When you trj to understand everything
If you want to understand Buddhism is nee it will not understand anything The best waj istoun-
essary for you to forget all about your preconceived nd yourself, and then you will understand
ideas. To begin with, you must give up the idea of sub hing. So when you trj hard to make your own
stantiality or existence. The usual view of life is firmly ou will help others, and you will be hel]
rooted in the idea of existence For most people i

our own waj you cai i
thing exists; they think whatever they see and what help anyone, and i ne can help you Tb be inde
ever they hear i \ists, of course the bird pendent in this we have to foi
:
hear exists It <'\isls, but what I mean by that thing which we have in our mind and di
maj not be exactly what you mean Th-- Buddhist something quite new and different momei
understanding of life includes both ej d non- menl This is how we live in this world
existence.The bird both exists and does not •
me lime v. i n of life b
istence alone is heretical If you take thii i in
126 CHAPTER 3
SELECTED READINGS
Bah m, Archie J. Comparative Philosophy: Western, Indian, and Chinese Philosophies
Compared. Revised edition. Albuquerque, NM: World Book, 1995. An examination of stan-
dards for comparing Eastern and Western philosophies and a comparative treatment of
Western, Indian, and Chinese philosophies.
Gotz, Ignacio L. "Education and the Self: Cross-Cultural Perspectives," Educational The-
ory, 45(4), 1995. ww7v.ed.uluc.edu/EPS/Educational-Theory/Contents/45_4_Gotz.html
(accessed April 5, 2002). Explores the differences in the concept of self between Western
and Eastern cultures by examining the identity crisis Arjuna faces in the Bhagavad-Gita
and what lessons can be learned from it for multicultural education.
Hoff, Benjamin. The Tao of Pooh. New York: Penguin Books, 1982. An interesting and in-
sightful approach that analyzes the relationship between the Pooh stories by A. A. Milne
and the concept of the Tao.
Rosen, Jonathan. The Talmud and the Internet. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.
Compares and analyzes connections between the Talmud and the Internet, showing un-
foreseen similarities and resemblances.
Schumacher, Stephen, and Woerner, Gert, eds. The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philoso-
phy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Zen. Translated by Michael H.
Kohn, Karen Ready, and Werner Wunsche. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1994. A
comprehensive treatment of four leading Eastern philosophies and religions and of persons,
and concepts related to each.
places,
WAvw.easternreligions.com/ (accessed April 5, 2002). Provides historical background and

selected textual material on Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Zen, includ-
ing philosophical and religious views. Links to other sites also are provided.
ONLINE RESEARCH
Utilizing some of the Web sites included in this book, as well as Topics 2 and 3 of the
Companion
Prentice Hall Foundations Web site found at wivw.prenhall.com/ozmon, answer the
Website following question with a short essay: What are some of the major methods of in-
been utilized in eastern philosophies of education? You can write
struction that have
and submit your essay response to your instructor by using the "Electronic Blue-
book" section found in any of the topics of the Prentice Hall Foundations Web site.
W
4
Pragmatism
and Education
The root of the word pragmatism is a Greek word meaning "work." Pragmatism is a
philosophy thai encourages ustoseekoul the processes and do the things thai work
besl to help us achieve desirable ends. Because this idea is so sensible, one mighl
wonder why people insist on doing things and using processes thai do not work This
is true for any number of reasons: the weighl of custom and tradition, as well as fear
and apathy. Some habitual ways of thinking and doing mighl have worked well in the
past but have lost value for todays world. Pragmatism examines traditional ways of
thinking and doing and, where possible, seeks to incorporate them into everydaj life,
but it also supports creating new ideas to deal with the changing world in which
people live.
Although pragmatism is viewed primarily as a contemporary American phili
phy, its roots can be traced back to British, European, and ancient Greek philosophi
cal traditions.>ne importanl elemenl of this tradition is the developing worldview
(
brought about by the scientific revolution. The questioning attitudes fostered by the
Enlightenment and the developmenl ofa more naturalistic humanism also hav<
outgrowths of this movemenl The background of pragmatism can be found in the
works of such figures as Francis Bacon, John Locke, Jean Jai ques Rousseau, and
Charles Darwin. However, the philosophical elements thai give pragmatism a onsis i
tency and system as a philosophy in its own right are primarily the contributii
Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, .aid .lot i! i I

i.
w<
ROOTS OF THE PRAGMATIST WORUA 1 1 :
The antecedents of the philosopl tnd varied, but some ba

sic elements are vitall) importanl Thei e are induction, the important eol nun
perience and the relationship tx > i ulture
Ml
128 CHAPTER 4
Induction: A New Way of Thinking

Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Francis Bacon's ideas put a premium on human experience and within the world
of
of everyday life. His influence on pragmatism has been significant. The inductive
method he suggested has served as the basis for the scientific method, which in turn
has been of fundamental importance to pragmatism. Whereas Bacon thought that sci-
ence should be concerned primarily with material things, pragmatists extended its
range to include problems in economics, politics, psychology, art, education, and
even ethics. For instance, in How We Think, John Dewey set forth the process of sci-
entific thinking as central to the method of education. Indeed, according to Dewey,
when people think in an orderly and coherent fashion, they are thinking along the
lines of scientific method although they may not be conscious of it as such. However,
when Dewey used the term Science, he did not mean test tubes and statistics; rather,
he meant orderly thinking and an experimental approach to the problems of life de-
signed to bring about a better life for all. If the nature of the thinking process were
— —
made conscious if we all were educated in it then human thinking more likely
would be characterized by orderliness, coherence, and desirable consequences.
The general thrust of pragmatism is toward a heightened sensitivity to conse-
quences as the final test for thought, but it is by no means insensitive to principles.
Hence, pragmatist results might not always be practical in the ordinary sense. First,
pragmatists hold that means and ends cannot be artificially separated; that is, the
means used always dictate to some degree the actual ends achieved. In this case, sen-
sitivity to consequences calls for an increased vigilance over the means used. Sec-
ond, the consequences of thinking are not always practical in the ordinary sense
because the consequences can be aesthetic, or moral and ethical. Pragmatists, al-
though enthusiastic advocates of scientific ways of thinking, are no recluses in ster-
ile laboratories; rather, they wish to apply their version of scientific method to the
problems of humanity to secure a more democratic and humane way of life.

The inductive approach that is so characteristic of pragmatism is illustrated by
the thought of George Herbert Mead. Mead applied induction to social and psycho-
logical behavior in a more thoroughgoing manner than had been accomplished pre-
viously His view of the self as a social self particularly influenced Dewey and other
pragmatist thinkers in education. Mead thought that if the viewed inductively,
child is
then it will be seen that children do not learn to be social; rather, they have to be so-
cial in order to learn. In other words, for Mead, the self is by nature social and not
some mental inner thing hidden from view.

William James applied inductive method to moral and religious questions. For
him, the consequences that follow the application of a moral belief determine the
truth or falsity, the Tightness or wrongness, of that belief. This view shows James ex-
tending the inductive method far beyond previous attempts because to him, the in-
ductive method was capable of extension to human experiences not included in
ordinary empiricism. James was inductive to the extent that he rejected old as-
sumptions about the nature of things and built his ideas on the basis of experience.
In matters of religion, he held that religious beliefs had value if they provided suit-
PRAGMATISM AND EDUCATION 129
able consequences. Belief in God, for example, mighl nol be rejected If thai belief
provided personal meaning and value.
Thus, some pragmatists did nol narrowly construe the meaning of induction so
as to restrict it to only physical
and material studies. Mead applied to social and it
psychological areas; James used it in explaining religious and moral beliefs; and
Dewey, learning from his predecessors, applied to education and democratic soci-
it
ety in broad terms.
Centrality of Experience
Human experience is an importanl ingredient ofpragmatisl philosophy. Tins ingre-
dient and the central emphasis it receives have helped give pragmatism a decidedly
environmental orientation. The emphasis on experience, however, had its precedent
in British and European philosophical traditions.
John Locke (1632-1 704)

John Locke investigated the ways human beings experience and come to know
things, and his examination led him to the view that the individual's mind at birth is
blank, a tabula rasa. Ideas arc nol innate, as Plato maintained; rather, the) come
from experience — that is. sensation and re licet ion. As people arc exposed to experi
ences, these experiences arc impressed on their minds; thus, a bab) soon under
stands the idea of milk acquired through the sense of taste, perfume through the
sense of smell, velvet through the sense of touch, and green through the sense ol
sight. These experiences are all imprinted on the mind through one or more of the
five senses. Once in the mind, they ran he related in various ways through reflection
Therefore, one can create the idea of green milk or perfumed velvet.
Locke believed that as people have more experiences, they have more ideas im
printed on the mind and more with which to relate. He argued, however, that one
could have false ideas as well as true ones. A person can have a true idea of an apple
or of a horse, hut one also can create the idea of a mermaid bj erroneousl) relating
the ideas of a woman and a fish, both obtained from the sensor) world The onl) waj
people can he sure their ideas are correct is bj verifying them in the world of expe
rience. Physical proof can be found for a horse or an apple hut not for a mermaid
One might think of the human mind as a kind of computer ntil somethin I
programmed in. one can gel nothing out Consequently, Locke emphasized the idea
of placing children m the most desirable environment for their education, and he
pointed to the importance making people what the) are In his
ol environment in
hook Some Thoughts 'amcerning Education, Locke des< ribes the ideal education
<
of a gentleman, who is to be exposed to manj varied ex] including exten

sive travel among people of different cultun ightened sensitivity to the
importance of experience and its relation to thought >i d< vel
oprnenl stimulated man) thinkers after him who came

Locke's notion ol experiem e, however, ontained internal flaw i I
lit
Acuities Hisin istence that mind is a tabula tablished mind mal

leable in trument buffeti onflii i ol im|
130 CHAPTER 4
the senses. When carried to its logical conclusion, Locke's notion leads to the sepa-
ration of mind from body, with the one can know only ideas. This lay at
result that
the base of George Berkeley's conclusion that "to be is to be perceived" (the exis-
tence of anything is dependent on mind) David Hume took Locke's view and devel-
.
oped it to the point of skepticism regarding the existence and meaning of ideas and
material objects. Thus, one arrives at the philosophical problems generated by the
notion of a passive mind and uncertainty regarding the nature of reality.
According to John Dewey, Charles Sanders Peirce opened the road leading out
of the impasse generated by Locke. Ideas are to be perceived not only as isolated im-
pressions on a blank tablet but also as interrelated parts of experience. Dewey took
this to mean that ideas have to be defined functionally in reference to a particular
problem, rather than as mere mental constructs. Locke's view of mind was too passive
for Dewey because it meant that one's ideas are formed primarily by external sources.
Dewey, like Kant, pointed to the importance of mind as an active agent in the
formulation of ideas, as well as an instrument to effect changes in the environment
that in turn might affect anyone. Dewey constantly stressed the transactional nature
of the relations between the organism and the environment. Empirically, people ex-
perience things as beautiful, ugly, and so forth, but they do not experience such
things as projections of a subjective mind on objective reality; rather, the ways we ex-
perience things result from the connection and continuity of experience and nature.
Dewey rejected not only Lockean epistemology but also Locke's social theories,
which contributed to the philosophy of classic liberalism. Locke's notion of freedom
was the power to act in accordance with choice. This view of freedom, combined with
his concern for economic factors, led to a laissez-faire theory of property, industry,
and trade that encouraged limited government and police functions, but it gave a free
hand to economic exploiters. As Dewey saw it, Locke's laissez-faire views helped gen-
erate so-called popular philosophies of self-expression in which the self-expression of
a few impeded the self-expression of the many. Classic Lockean liberals believed that
individuals were endowed with ready-made capacities that, if unobstructed, would
lead to freedom. Dewey maintained, however, that such a liberalism assisted the eman-
cipation of those having a privileged antecedent status, but it provided no general lib-
eration for the majority of people.
Dewey alsochallenged the notion (advanced by Baruch Spinoza) that real free-
dom can be achieved only when each individual gains power by acting in accord with
the whole, "being reinforced by its structure and momentum." This idea of the indi-
vidual acting in accordance with the whole leads to a kind of Hegelian subservience
of individuals to the state or other such external agencies. Dewey argued, however,
that we should act intelligently in terms of the practical world in which we find our-
selves because we cannot act in isolation from other people, from nature, or from
human institutions.
Because of Dewey's cognizance of such social forces, many interpreters believe
that this gives support to a social-adjustment or "life-adjustment" view of education
(that one should be taught to adjust to the way things are). Dewey did promote an
awareness of contemporary conditions as well as interaction with them, but this did
not preclude people from working constantly to improve existing institutions or to
abolishthem and establish new ones. Indeed, rather than advocating the kindof con-
servatism identified with Spinoza. Locke, and classical liberals, Dewey's views reflecl
an underlying reformisl activism with regard to the individual and social action.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( 1 712-1778)

Another figure whose philosophical views influenced pragmatism was Jean Jacques
Rousseau. Along with Locke, Rousseau wrote extensively about the relationship of
education and politics. His On the Social 'ontract and Eniri<\ both of which ap <
peared in L762, antagonized so many of those in power thai Rousseau had to leave
Paris and seek refuge in Bern. Switzerland
Although he was born m Geneva, Switzerland. Rousseau lived most of his life in
France. His first philosophical work was a prize-winning essay on a subject proposed
by the Academy of Dijon in 17h»: Has the Restorati f the Sciences and the Vrts
Contributed to Purity Morals.' Rousseau's answer was an emphatic "No" because he
followed Locke's insistence on the importance of en\ lroimient in shaping human ex
perience and thought. He maintained that civilization in its presenl form (thai is, arl
and science) was harmful because had led us away from nature. it
Rousseau thoughl thai individuals are basically good but have been corrupted
by civilization. He did not believe thai people should give up all of their artistic and
technological developments, but he did think thai these should be controlled, par-
ticularly where they prevented people from being natural. Simply put, Rousseau ar-
gued for only those aspects of civilization that are no1 corrupting to a natural life He
chose Daniel Defoe's storj Robinson Crusoe to represent the kind of "Noble s,i\
ol
age" he envisioned, and he used as the basis for his most important
ji k on edu- l
cation, lilmile. In tefoe's story, Robinson Jrusoe is shipwrecked on a deserted island,

I <
and he visits his shipwrecked vessel many times to remove civilized implements thai
he needs for survival. Yet, these things do not interfere with his natural life: He builds
his own house, grows his own food, and devises his own means of transportation.
( )ther similar Noble Savage tj pes from literature include the Swiss l'annl\ Robinson,
Natty Bumppo in the -lames Fenimore < looper stories, and Thoreau al Walden Pond
Similarly, in taken oul of civilization and
^mile, Rousseau describes a i hild
brought up in the country. 'nee in the country, fimile has a private tutor who sees to
<
it that he lives naturally and the tutor tries to arrange things so thai fimile li
from nature Rousseau did not think highly of books, which he thought onh rein
forced the nature of civilization, \r\ltmile,
artificial hedoei nol suggi ' book learn
ing until fimile reaches age 12 GeneraUj speakij little attention to
the education of girls, bul the book does have portions concerned with Sophy, who
is Smile's counterpart Soph) is to be Girdle's helpmate and she should have the kind
of education thai will complement fimili
Ro ntribution to pragmati
manticism bul the educational connection he made between nature andex]
Certainly, his connection of nature and experience influenced man) edu< ational the
orists, iff ludingJohann H Pestalozzi Fried™ h I i
ll ,n;;iII( j onjl | l »i on the plat e ol naturalisn ition
;i p,., i, ,| n,, t the i hild < Jhildren m

—
132 CHAPTER 4
as miniature adults but as natural organisms going through various stages of devel-
opment. This conception of the child as a developing person particularly influenced
such psychologists as Hall, who was a pioneer in child psychology. Rousseau's views
helped educators pose questions concerning what is natural for children. In other
words, it is unnatural for children to sit still for long periods of time, to concentrate
on abstractions, to remain quiet, or to exhibit refined muscle control. Rousseau
helped educators become more sensitive to the physiological, psychological, and so-
cial stages of child development. His attention to the physiological aspects of learn-
ing directly influenced the theories of such people as Maria Montessori.
Rousseau's attention to the nature of child development and his belief in the in-
herent goodness of people set the stage for child-centered education. Although this
theme is found in the educational theory and practice of some pragmatists, others
object to the sentimental romanticism that has grown up around Rousseau's works
a romanticism that often has been identified as uninhibited permissiveness. Although
this sentiment has been attributed to Rousseau, not even Rousseau believed in the
kind of license that some present-day permissiveness suggests. One hears the charge
of license leveled against the educational theories of pragmatists, but the charge is
unfounded when one carefully examines the writings of leading thinkers.

One hallmark of Rousseau's philosophy is that the child's interests should guide
education. An interest is not the same thing as a whim, however, for by interest
Rousseau meant children's native tendencies to find out about the world in which they
live. He believed in the child's autonomy but regarded it as a natural autonomy in
which children have to suffer the natural consequences of their behavior. Rousseau's
impact on pragmatism is his sensitivity to the part of nature in education and the natu-
ral developmental process involved in one's learning experiences.
Science and Society

Modern science has changed people's views of human destiny dramatically. That a
scientific revolution has occurred is undeniable, for old metaphysical views, religious
views, and social and political philosophies have been challenged. The advance of sci-
ence has affected not only theoretical views of society but also the practical area of
social structures and social relations, as well. The social problems resulting from this
scientific advance have been of central concern to pragmatism. In this regard, such
persons as Bacon, Locke, and Descartes have influenced pragmatism. Although sci-
ence and technology have contributed to many contemporary social problems such
as air disasters and environmental pollution, pragmatists believe that science also can
help alleviate these problems.
Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

One of the most intensive philosophical efforts to apply science to society was by
Auguste Comte. Although not a pragmatist, Comte, like Bacon, influenced the early
development of pragmatism by helping thinkers become sensitive to the possibilities
of using science to help solve social problems. For example, Dewey told how he was
attracted to Comte's notion that Western civilization is disorganized because of a ram-
in which only a lew are irul\ individuals while the many are sub-
pant individualism
merged. From Gomte, he drew the idea thai science can be a regulative method in
social life.
Comte's dream was to reform society bj the application of science. Today, one
might say that Comte was overly optimistic, lor people haw discovered that scien-
tific and positivistic thought often produces results thai threaten to destroj society.
Comte did help establish the application of science more directly t<> society rather
than only to physical matter Indeed, i
lomte was one of the founders of modern so
ciology. His willingness to view social structures and relationships as capable of sys
tematic study and control helped usher in elements of social theorj thai influenced
pragmatism.
Charles Danr in (1809-1882)

Perhaps the most important influence on pragmatism from the standpoint of science
was the work of Charles Darwin. larwin first studied medicine at the fniversitj "t
I I
Edinhurgh and then studied divinity at Cambridge. Afterward, he was given the op
portunity to go on a scientific expedition to the Southern Hemisphere He spenl
5 years aboard the Beanie and returned home in 1838. Thereafter, he devoted his life
to developing his scientific theories, which were based largely on the data he col
lected during the voyage

His major work. On the Origin oj Species by Means oj Natural Selection
simply The Origin oj Species, 1859), rocked the intellectual and religious com
munitios of the Western world. Religionists attacked Darwin's theorj because it
challenged Biblical creation Intellectuals were stunned because challenged old it
cosmological beliefs. Tin underlying cosmology thai Darwin used was thai nature op
erates by a process of developmenl without predetermined directions or ends Pre
decessors such as Aristotle had expressed elements of Darwin's theory, bul was it
Darwin who gathered quantities of evidence and who painstakingly put it together in
a most revealing way. Although his research was highly scientific, he wrote his find
ings in such a way that practicallj anj literate person could understand them lie ar
gued that species arise naturally through what he called a universal struggle for
existence. This -descent with modification" occurs man interplay between organism
and environment. Food supply, geographic conditions, and presence or absence of
predators set the stage for natural sell < Hon to occur Favorable chara< teristii s per
sist. and unfavorable characteristics die oul Through this process somi
arise and then disappear as conditions i hange; this selection pnx ess operates over
a considerable nine span
Darwin's theorj caught the popular imagination he enunciated some
thing every livestock farmer who practii es sele< tive breeding know, it is nol a high
blown, philosophical Utopia bu1 something connected with ordinal
These conditions helped foster an examination ol m ol intelle< tual inquiry,
and the cosmology of development lbs Darwin me more

wideh applied in fields than even Darwin evi ned •
I,, |,| M |, velopmenl dii I thi Platonii no
tionol i and univ< ipported philo '

the unl
a
134 CHAPTER 4
the process of development: Reality is not to be found in Being, but in Be-

itself is in
coming. Gradually, such ideas led to the rejection of a "block" universe, fixed and
eternal, capable of being entirely comprehended by intellect alone. For pragmatists,
Darwin's views on natural selection and an evolving universe meant that reality is
open ended in process, with no fixed end. These views of an open-ended process fur-
ther encouraged the view in pragmatism that a person's education is tied directly to
biological and social development. From this standpoint, pragmatists attempted to
understand human experience as occurring within the natural order of things —
natural order that is itself subject to change and, perhaps to some small degree, to
human control if it is approached intelligently.
AMERICAN PRAGMATISTS
Ithas been said that the philosophy of pragmatism is basically American, but prag-
matism had its roots in European philosophical traditions. In addition, F C. S. Schiller
developed a British version of pragmatism. By and large, however, pragmatism re-
ceived its fullest treatment from three Americans: Charles Sanders Peirce, William
James, and John Dewey.
According to Louis Menand, the pragmatists were connected by one central
thing: "an idea about ideas" — that ideas are not out there to be discovered as Plato
claimed, but are tools, like hammers and microchips, that people devise to cope with
the world. Furthermore, ideas are not solely individual creations but are generated
by social groups. In other words, ideas are entirely dependent upon human beings
and the environment.
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914)

In many respects, Charles Sanders Peirce was never given the recognition in his own
day that he deserved. Although he was a friend of such leading American intellectu-
als as William James, he never received a permanent post at any university, and his
major ideas never won public acclaim. For most of his life, he was a lonely and reclu-
sive man, and he died in straitened economic circumstances. It is interesting to note
that Peirce's works have gained new attention in recent years.
His influence on later figures was Peirce's primary philosophical achievement.
His works eventually were published posthumously, but probably his most influential
work was in an article titled "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" (Popular Science
Monthly, January 1878), in which he analyzed the dualism of mind and matter, or the
subjective and the objective. He accepted the proposition that mind is different from
material reality, but he also maintained that what is known about objective reality re-
sides in the idea one has of any given object. The important thing, consequently, is
to make sure that ideas are as clear and precise as possible. He argued that people
always should remain extremely sensitive to the consequences of how they conceive
of ideas. Peirce maintained that the concept of practical effects makes up the whole
of our concept of an object. One might say that a mental grasp of any object is noth-
ing more than the meaning we apply to that object in terms of consequences. As
1
Peirce put it, "Our idea of anything is our idea of its sensible effects." Thus, ideas or
concepts cannot be separated from human conduct, for to have an idea is to be aware
of its effects and consequences (or then- probability) in the arena of human affairs.
Peirce concluded that true knowledge of anything depends on testing one's
ideas in actual experience because, in and of themselves, ideas arc little more than
hypotheses upon the anvil of experience. Although Peirce's complete
until tried
thought system was complex—even going into speculations aboul the nature of God,
immortality, and the self— his work on the nature of ideas and the necessity for tesl
ing them in experience profoundly influenced pragmatism.
^ William James (1842-1910)

The philosopher who broughl the philosophy of pragmatism in a wider public audi-
ence was William .lames. The son of a prominent family, .lames rather leisurely tried
his hand at several vocations, including medicine, bul he made his mark in psychol
ogy and philosophy. His contribution to power of his ideas.
philosophy lay in the
James took seriously Peirce's admonition aboul the practical consequences of
ideas, an important pari of James's theory of truth. For James, truth is nol absolute
and immutable, but is made in actual, real-life events. Truth does nol belong to an
idea as some property adhering in ii . fur n is found mooting on ideas m the cons
equences of ideas. As .lames liked to say, "the proof is in the pudding", that is, before
one can tell if the pudding (an idea) is any good (true), one has to taste (test ) it.
Moreover, truth is not always objective, verifiable, or universal (Truth ). it also

is found in unique (truth), for. lames, there is
concrete individual experience that is
the "inexpugnable reality" of individual existence. In the life of an individual, expert

ences occur that have meaning and truth to that individual hut that cannot m
sarily be verified objectively to someone else This mow of truth "workability" and
inexpugnable reality— is what .lames called "radical empiricism." In effect, he held
that truth is inseparable from experience; to get at truth, one must studj experience
itself, some immutable, otherworldly Absolute, extraneous I

not n< e
for James, the primary datum is human experience He concentrated

Thus,
on what he called the "stream" of experience the sequential, serial curse <>i
events. Experience, he cautioned, is a "double barreled" word because there is
experiencing the actual lived, undergoing aspect and there is the experienced
the things of experience or the experience itself Thus, experience is the primary
datum and is capable of being studied cross sectionallj (the experiencing) and Ion
gitudinally (the experienced) James, ailed on thinkers to concentrate on experience

in lieu of essences, abstractions, and liniversals I .. his slud\ A <\\ K i ien< e
revealed to him, the universe is open ended, pluralistii . and in pro< i
John Dewey (1859 X95i

.lames popularized pragmatism and John D< I " and i arried its
leading idea to Eai elopmenl I

>•
born in 1869, th<
I(i;i , 1
md l >arwiri ; thought
an important part in I ewey'a philosophy t> velopmenl was
136 CHAPTER 4
central to his beliefs. Like James, Dewey believed that no immutable absolutes or uni-
versals exist, and primary datum was experience; like Peirce, he sought to clarify
his
ideas in terms of their consequences in human experience. Although his ideas cer-
tainly had power and impact, as did James's, Dewey had the additional virtue of be-
ing able to pursue the most intricate problems doggedly and to search out their
practical implications.
Dewey owed a great deal to Peirce and James, but he began his philosophical
journey mainly in the Hegelian tradition. For Dewey, Hegel's primary influence was his
study of historical development and his search for an emerging unity from contend-
ing historical forces —not that he arrived
at Absolute Spirit. Dewey once remarked
that "acquaintance with Hegel has left apermanent deposit in my thinking." If Dewey
was taken with anything, it was the growing, developing, dynamic nature of life, not
its speculative ultimates. He accepted James's notion of experience as a stream, and
from this basis, Dewey was launched on a wide-ranging philosophical career that
spanned from horse-and-buggy days through World War II and into the atomic age.
Nature and Experience. For Dewey, experience is not just an isolated happen-
stance; it has depth and reaches into nature. Experience and nature are not two dif-
ferent things separated from each other; rather, experience itself is of nature.
Experience could, in the reflective sense, be divided into the experiencing being and
the experienced things, but in the primary sense of the word, experience is of nature.
People do not experience "experience" but the world in which they live —a world of
and aspirations, all rooted in nature. What misled previ-
things, ideas, hopes, fears,
ous philosophy, Dewey believed, was the confusion over experience itself and our
thoughts about it. Too many thinkers had concentrated on the reflective products of
experience and had held these to be ultimate reality. Unfortunately, such philoso-
phers settled on abstractions and not genuine experience.
The and the extent to which Dewey used it are re-
centrality of experience
vealed by the titles Essays in Experimental Logic, Exp-
of some of his major books:
erience and Nature, Art as Experience, and Experience and Education. In these
works, Dewey's investigations into experience are not just speculative adventures,
because he directs his efforts primarily toward real-life problems. Dewey takes Peirce
to heart and looks at the practical consequences of ideas. He holds that genuine
thought begins with a "problematic situation," a block or hitch in the ongoing stream
of experience. In encountering these blocks, consciousness is brought to focus
and one is made more acutely aware of the situation. In dealing with these real-life
problems, Dewey argued, creative intelligence is capable of development. Where tra-
ditional philosophies take "problematic situations" and attempt to fit them to a pre-
existing set of abstractions, Dewey urged that each situation be viewed as unique and
dealt with experimentally by investigating the probable consequences of acting in
particular ways. This approach shows Dewey's position that the world experience —
—
and nature cannot be understood in a monolithic way. The consequences are that
people must be sensitive to novelty and variation and they must seek to be creative
in dealing with their problems. Dewey headed in the direction of developing an ex-
perimental methodology where method takes precedence over metaphysical claims.
According to Dewey, experience is ofandin nature. Nature consists of si ones,

plants, diseases, social conditions, enjoyments, and one cannol
sufferings. In short,
separate experience and nature. Nature is whal one experiences, and one musl v iew
this experience terms of its natural connections. In this respect, nature is both pre
in
carious and stable, problematic and determinate; thai is. some things change rapidlj
and make life precarious, whereas other things change slowly and provide a sense of
stability. Some experiences are stable, whereas others are in fluctuating confusion
For example, natural changes in plant and annual species lake place over long
stretches of time, and often takes centuries for the physical contours oflandmasses
it
to change. However, some forms of life, such as certain kinds of bacteria, arc capa
ble of fairly rapid evolution, and Landmasses can be altered rapidly b> volcanic action.
Nature, therefore, has certain characteristics that are fairly stable and others that
fluctuate, and the same can be said for human affairs, which tewey considered to be I
a part of nature.
Some types of human behavior relating to family lite seem in endure across the
ages, whereas others change rapidly. < >ne can speak of the so-called sexual revolu
human needs relating to child rearing and
tion as an indication of change, but certain
family life seem By the same token, broad social and polil ical upheavals,
to endure.
such as the Marxist Revolution in Russia in 1918, appear to be cataclysmic. However,
closer examination reveals thai the causes of such events often go back over time.
Thus. Dewey believed that some things are fairh stable and some are subjeel to rapid
change, whether we are speaking of biology, social institutions, or politics
Deweyfollowed Rousseau's lead in seeing the importance of nature in educa
tion although he rejected Rousseau's romanticism. Rousseau established three
sources of education: nature, the spontaneous development of organs and ca
(
1
)
pacities; (2) human beings, the social uses to which people put this development;
and (•!) things, the acquisition of personal experience from surrounding obji
Dewey thought thai Rousseau regarded these three factors as separate operation;
independent •>! the use to which thej were put. Dewey's naturalism differs from
Rousseau's in that he believed the three factors have to be viewed in terms of their
interrelationships. Whereas Rousseau thought thai a childshould be removed and
educated -naturally" in the formal I
tewej maintained thai the hild should i
not be removed from a social enviroi ml conducive to proper edui atior Thu
Dewey, nature includes not just physical entities but social relationships, as well
Dewey argued thai if om the hypotheses ol the open ended univi
and a pluralistic reality, bei omes less important to develop abstrai

il
explanations I
and more importanl to examine natural human pro m< e of the open '
ended nature of things does nol necessarUj lead to an overlj optimisth view of life
i„, lead to humai md tome lead to human ills People

own affairs, bul nol in an absolute •' a wild
can control their
.-toil,.
doptimi
maintained thai withinoui powi i to t
human affairs, bu1 hi tl> il
,Ml
m
'
toward a
have a i h.n
:, ' ;
" mi*nl help allevi
humankind & ientifii method and experimi

.
138 CHAPTER 4
thinking can,if used properly, help us achieve such desirable ends. In fact, thinking
processes are of utmost importance because, Dewey believed, many if not most hu-
man difficulties result from faulty thinking. He was concerned mostly with connect-
ing thinking processes with social processes; this is shown in his emphasis on social
action and education.
Experimentalism and Instrumentalism. Dewey's attention to social action

and education gave his philosophy a decidedly practical orientation. Instead of deal-
ing only with unchanging theoretical constructs, he urged that philosophy should
concern itself with human problems in a changing and uncertain world. He believed
that most thinkers embarked on a "quest for certainty" in which they sought true and
eternal ideas, when what is needed are practical solutions to practical problems. For
Dewey, ideas are not immutable but are accepted on the basis of how well they solve
a perplexing problem.
Dewey them be more "ex-
believed that people should use philosophy to help
perimental" in their approach to social problems by testing ideas and proposals re-
flectively before acting on them, and by critical appraisal and reflective assessment
of results after trying out the ideas and proposals in practice. In this sense, ideas are
instruments in the solution of human problems, and those solutions should be tried
on an experimental basis so that we can learn from our efforts and redirect them to
better effect. Thus, he sometimes preferred the terms experimentalism and in-
strumentalism over pragmatism, but Dewey's philosophy is not a type of scientism,
and he made no fetish of science. He was a philosopher first and foremost.
In How We Think (1910), Dewey showed how ideas could be used as instru-
ments in the solution of real-life problems. He described his view in five stages:
1 A felt difficulty that occurs because of a conflict in one's experience or a hitch

or block to ongoing experience.
2. Its location and definition, establishing the limits or characteristics of the
problem in precise terms.
3. Suggestions of possible solutions, formulating a wide range of hypotheses.
4. Development by reasoning of the bearings of the suggestions, reflecting on
—
the possible outcomes of acting on these suggestions in short, mulling things
over.
5. Further observation and experiment leading to its acceptance or rejec-
tion, testing hypotheses to see whether they yield the desired results.
In this regard, Dewey viewed method, rather than abstract answers, as a cen-
tral concern. If the universe is open ended, if existence is precarious and uncertain,
then people cannot expect to locate enduring solutions; instead, we have to take each
human problem as it arises. This is not to say that answers are unimportant, but it
does recognize that they must be couched in terms of real-life situations, no two of
which are exactly alike. Consequently, one must view the place of ideas in an experi-
mental and instrumental sense. Like Peirce, people understand something as true or
—
PRAGMATISM AND ED CAT ION IT 139
liaise on the basis of whal ii does and whal effects il has in human activity. Dewey's
work at the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago demonstrated nol onh,
his concern for education but also his belief thai ideas should be tested in the cru-
cible of real-life experience.
The Individual and the Social. < Ine area of 1 >ewey's philosophy around which
controversy has swelled is histreatmenl of individuality in the social world. Tins con
troversy is somewhat surprising and lends credence to the observation thai I >ewej
is much "cussed" and discussed but little read. ( )n the one hand are those who claim
that he exalted individuality
at the expense of organized society. >n the other hand, <
some charge that he submerged the individual under a stifling objectivitj rep
critics
resented by scientific consciousness and centralized social institutions. The contro-
versy is surprising because if one gives 1 tewey a fair reading, il is diffii nil to find thai
he maintains either position.
Rather than accepting the extremes "I subjectivity or objectivity, tewej tried I
to show that experience is first and primarily macroscopic and that distinctions "f
and objectivity (or the social and physical environmenl
subjectivity Cor individuality I l
come out of experience. one is not necessarily more real than the other lie
In short,
cause Dewey viewed subject and object or the individual and society in a prei annus
balance a transactional relationship tf course, individuality can lie submerged or (
lost by rigid institutional restrictions, and sociality can be denied h\ a rampant nidi
vidualisni (such as the economic laissez (aire variety ). Whal tewey actually said is I
that individuality and sociality are interrelated: Both an- possibilities and not guaran
lees. In other words, people have to work to see that 1 tetter, more desirable kinds ol
individual and social life become actualities, not just theoretical propositions
thought that modern industrial society had submerged individuality and
Dewey
sociality. Because of the confusion of modern society he argued, the school should
be an institution where the individual and the social capabilities of children can be
nurtured. The way to achieve this is through demo< ratic living. Individuality is im
portant because it is the source of novelty and change m human affairs I >ewe\ de
fined individuality as the interplay of personal choice and freedom with objective
conditions.To the extent thai persona] hoice is intelligently made, then individuals
<
can exenise greater control over their personal destinies and the objective world sui
rounding them; that is. they have more freedom
Sodality refers toa milieu or medium conducive to individual developmenl In
Dewey's mind, genuine indi\idualit\ could not exisl without humane, demoi rati*
and educative social conditii equently, th< ial Is the
inclusive philosophic idea because il is the means b\ which the distim th hum
achieved. Therefore, individually and so< ialitj < annol be divorced in I tewi
tern; thej are interdependenl and interrelated

I,, ,(, ;
better understand I
••
il foi th< wd his
rejection of those philosophies thai pn U ition of individuals from institu
i,,,,, n,, chool, through democratii education mustenhancc the interplay of in

iality, the one supporting and enlai
'her
dividualil
140 CHAPTER 4
Religious Experience. Pragmatist philosophy is attacked sometimes by the reli-
gious right for being a leading exponent of the so-called "secular humanist" influence
in public education. However, the pragmatist philosophers themselves, such as
James and Dewey, had an abiding concern for religious experience. One of James's
leading works is The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), which has been in-
fluential in philosophical and theological thought. Dewey's A Common Faith (1934)
has not been as influential, but it is a concise statement of a position that underlies
much of his thought on education and democratic theory. Neither James nor Dewey
embraced supernaturalism or organized religion. Certainly, both were humanists in
the long tradition of the Western humanities, as were many past thinkers on religion,
such as Desiderius Erasmus.
Dewey's views on religious experience can be found succinctly stated in^4 Com-
mon Faith, published in 1934. He held that being "religious" did not require the ac-
ceptance of supernaturalism and thought that most organized religions have a
negative effect because they tend to separate and classify people, which is an un-
tenable practice in a democratic society. However, he rejected militant atheism and
promoted instead a consideration of the human being in the realm of nature. He be-
lieved that religious ideas are rooted in humanity's natural needs. When human be-
ings understand the connecting links between themselves and their social context
and when they act to promote the desirable elements of this connection, they achieve
a religious character. An unreligious attitude is that which attributes human purpose
and achievement to the solitary individual in isolation from the physical and social
environment.
Moral Development. In Human Nature and Conduct, Dewey proposed a "broad

sweep" of morals as these relate to all the social disciplines connected with the study
of humankind. He thought that not only analyzing morals but also looking at them
constructively was in the tradition of Hume's skepticism. Moral rules should be con-
sidered in light of particular situations and in terms of their consequences; hence,
each action can be judged good or bad in terms of its moral outcomes. Essentially,
this is an educative process because an understanding of consequences is to be ar-
rived at only through careful and reflective thinking. Dewey rejected moral theory
based on a priori reasoning or divine precept. Basically, he thought that moral traits
are to be acquired by individual participation in the social context and its cultural
heritage or by learning about morality through living and reflective inquiry.
A recent development that has stimulated much critical comment is the work
of Lawrence Kohlberg, who claimed that his theory, at least in part, is an elaboration
of Dewey's views on moral education. Kohlberg maintained that the key to under-
standing a person's moral character lies in understanding that person's moral philos-
ophy. Every person is a moral philosopher, Kohlberg believed, and although
variations occur from one individual to another, universal forms of moral thinking
can be described as "cognitive developmental stages." Stage development occurs in
an invariant sequence although the rate of development might vary and be hindered
in some children at any stage. Stages consist of "structured wholes," or total ways of
thinking, rather than mere attitudes toward particular situations.
Kohlberg's work has

its critics. me point of contention has been how he inter-
<
preted Dewey's theory. Dewey though! thai development occurs sequentially, or in

stages. His view thai the aim of education \sgrowth is indicative of this sequential
development, but he did not see development in terms of discreet, invariant stages
along Kohlberg's lines. In schools, growth could he developed purposefully with the
proper organization of curriculum, methods, and social life. In the final analysis,
Kohlberg's approach to moral education owes more to Immanuel Kant than toJohn
Dewey. Where Kohlberg's stage theory points toward a kind of fixed, ultimate end
Qustice), the closest thing to it in Dewey's philosophy is the concept of growth.
From Dewey's perspective, moral education should help students acquire vital
ideas that become "motive forces in the guidance of conduct" or result in a "widen
ing and deepening of conscious lite." In Democracy ami Education 1916), tewey ( I
holds that "All education which develops power to share effectavelj in social life is
moral"; in Moral Principles in Education L909), he asserts thai participation | in
social life is the school's chief moral end for ideas to become motive forces in con
duct, they must affect how an individual relates ethically with others. As 1 >ewej put
it, "Ultimate moral motives and forces are nothing more or less than social intelli
gence." For growth in social intelligence to occur, the school must he organized and
arranged so that the education it provides relates to the personal experience of the
students, enters into their personal lives, and helps shape their judgment or what
Dewey calls "social power" and "force "l character." Individuals achieve this only to
the extent that they are "continually exercised m forming and testing judgments." In
short, the aim of education is growth m personal judgment and social intelligence
Aesthetic Development. According to I tewey, art is a 111.1rn.1ge between form and

matter; that is. artists attempt to incorporate their ideas into the objeel heme
ated. Thus, they engage m their work until they achieve the desired end The artist
is not only the creator hut also i he perceiver I >ewej did nol believe, however, that
art and aesthetic experiences are to be left only to the realm of the professional artisl
He thought that everyone can achieve and enjoj aesthetic experiences, provided
ative intelligence is developed through education Therefore, arl need nol be the pos
session of the few but can be available to everyone and can be applied to the ordinary
activities of life A truly aesthetii exp riem e i^ on.' that is so engaging and fulfilling
thatno conscious distinction of self and object is made; the two are so full) integrated
that such distinctions are noi needed In short, an aesthetic experieni e pi"
unity and completion; il is human experience al itshighesl point Like the Gn
Dewey thought thai people should project art into all human a. Hull- the
art of education For I fewey, education is an arl rather than a science Goodeduca
t H.n helps unify the mind and body, or thinking and doing, and when the is a hii
education be< ohm-, i

me art form the art "i edu< ation
Neopragmatism
Philosophical pragmatisn diedoul with the ;
but it suffered a decline, particular! lemic philosophj M ntb how<

ii i ienced a
142 CHAPTER 4
to William Caspary, the revival of interest in Dewey's philosophy, in particular, is

largely a reaction against the analytic turn in philosophy, particularly among femi-
nists, neoHegelians, and postmodernist thinkers. It been stimulated consid-
also has
erably by the works of American philosophers Richard Bernstein, Richard Rorty, and
Cornel West. In Rorty's view, American and European philosophers who dismiss prag-
matism are acting prematurely, for he maintains that James and Dewey wait at the
ends of the dialectic roads being traveled by both analytic and postmodern philoso-
phies. Caspary, reflecting some of Rorty's belief, finds Dewey's writings particularly
pertinent today when so much conflict and clash of ideas occurs. Dewey's hope-
ful philosophy might help resolve some conflicts, but he also cautions that Dewey's
answers are often fragmentary, and, like other great thinkers, he was not always
consistent.
Richard Bernstein recognizes that Marxism, existentialism, pragmatism, and
analytic philosophy all hold that philosophy should promote the ideal of free human
activity. However, he concludes that pragmatism best promotes open and mutual
criticism, rather than dogma, and it avoids the subjectivism and nihilism often found
in some of the other philosophies. Bernstein also examines critical theory and post-
modernism, both of which have questioned unity and elevated differences. Critical
analysis must go on, but it also must include criticism for reconciliation as well, for
however much people are committed to their own views, they should uphold the
ideal of a community of inquirers. In Bernstein's view, pragmatism reflects a
needed ethical sense of optimism and recognition of important common bonds of
democracy.
Perhaps the most significant figure in the resurgence is Richard Rorty Trained
in the analytic mode of philosophy, Rorty found it restrictive and sought to break out
of the mold. According to Rorty, people need an intellectual effort that is therapeu-
tic and that attempts to "break the crust of tradition" so that people do not become
stuck on singular vocabularies or particular philosophical modes of thought. Rorty

criticizes the Cartesian and Kantian traditions and their impact on philosophy, which
tends to see the mind as a great mirror, knowledge as accurate representations of ob-
jective reality, and philosophy as the tool to make the mirror get more accurate
representations. His heroes are Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, and John
—
Dewey whom Rorty calls the "great edifying, peripheral thinkers" who taught that
when people think they have true beliefs about something, they might in fact have
no more than "conformity to the norms of the day." They also taught that words and
vocabularies acquire their meanings in human usage, rather than "their representa-
tive character" and "their transparency to the real."
As Rorty sees it, a healthy departure for philosophy is to cease trying to be the
foundation of knowledge and to take up the view of philosophical activity as part of
a "conversation of culture" in which knowing is not an essence described by scien-
tists or philosophers, but a right to believe based on the best current standards. As
Rorty maintains, people should understand knowledge as "alternative standards of

justification," and changes in those standards are what makes up intellectual history.
Rorty urges us to extend the best of our traditions, such as using democratic means
to prevent the rich from cheating the poor, but also to recognize that humans are fal-
lible and will make mistakes. These thrusts are clearly along lines followed by I tewey,
who warned againsl the "quesl for certainty."
Rorty argues thai the philosophical search for objective knowledge has so per
meated philosophical traditions thai has become normal discourse What isneeded,
it
he believes, is "abnormal" discourse, meaning a criticism of comfortable assumptions

to shake people loose and to develop new and more creative approaches to thought.
Furthermore. Rorty's criticisms impacl philosophj of education, because is part of it
the Western philosophical tradition, as well.

From another angle, lornel West proposes what he calls prophetic pragma
(
tisrn. hi The American Evasion oj Philosophy, West sees pragmatism's origins

in Ralph Waldo Emerson and its fullesl developments in Peirce, .lames, and Dewej
and more recently Bernstein and Rorty, but he also gives places to \K E3 B >u B I
Reinhold Niebuhr, C. Wright Mills, and Lionel Trilling. Wesl connects the African
American tradition of < Ihristianity and liberation theologj with pragmatism in ways
thai promise some new directions He believes pragmatism offers hopeful ways of
analyzing social and political life that avoid the traditional problems of philosophy.
Pragmatists insist that social change should come through peaceful means, especially
through education, public dialogue, and an experimental approach to social and po
litieal problems, which is what tewey called the method of intelligence. This shows
I
pragmatism's humane optimism, for rather than armed struggle and violence, prag
matists call for people to reason together, try things out, and evaluate them to gain
new ends and a better, happier life for all. This does not mean that life has no ti
side; rather, a proper philosophical approach seeks to avoid the paralysis of despair
that comes from being overwhelmed by the tragic.
Perhaps one can sec the need for Bernstein's call for democratic optimism,
Rorty's call for critical discourse, and West's hopeful "prophetic" approach. Today, the
science of education uses a vocabulary of self-confidenl claims of the physical and
behavioral sciences. Roast saie made aboul research based education and hew much
people know about the educational process, but compelling evidence is lacking that
much mere is known about education now than in the past or that scientific analysis
is a significant improvement over philosophical criticism Perhaps some serious but
helpful criticism is overdu
Too many times in the past, the held ..i education has been awash with sweeping
reform claims that could net be sustained, and would !»• reformers were lefl high and
dry. In the 1960s and 1970 ample, calls were made for radical reform and n
lution in education. Manj practitioners in elementary and se< ondarj
nored would-be reformers and wenl on about the more mundam "i traditional
schooling. Still, talk aboul revolution and radicalism in educational theorj helped make
schools the recipients ol angrj publii mi' isms pearheaded i bj righl wing political m
terests. a loss ..i laith in educational institutions, and the recent imposition "t re
actionarj reforms and accountability edui ators wanl to undertake

It new rm- ism ., <
akin to what Rortj oi Wesl suggest people must understand oui edw ational tradil
l,. ;ini th, which "i ut i lu< ational the
ory can be informative), and pnx eedwithaphilosophi that «

hail'
trenched ways "i thinl ing aboul edui ation m thoughtful and helpful wa
144 CHAPTER 4
Certainly, education must involve traditional knowledge because this includes

not only the contemporary vocabulary of knowledge but also the intellectual tradi-
tions that helped establish such a vocabulary and that lie at the heart of the traditional
curriculum. If pragmatism taken seriously, those traditional and newer subjects in
is
the curriculum — history, language, science, math, and cultural differences should—
be explored with students in terms of current circumstances, and students should be
prepared in ways that develop critical and creative intelligence to help them change
the status quo and move toward a more humane, democratic society
PRAGMATISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

The impact of pragmatism on American education has been considerable. Many
schools have implemented elements of pragmatist ideas in one way or another, but
this influence is not always connected consciously with the philosophy. One reason
is that pragmatism in its most influential period often was identified with radical so-
cial reform, particularly progressive education. Many educators thought that this
identificationwas a detriment to getting pragmatist ideas accepted into basically con-
servative and traditional schools; therefore, they were more interested in the practi-
caluse of pragmatist ideas than having those ideas identified with the philosophy of
pragmatism or with progressivism. In a sense, therefore, elements of pragmatism
came in through the back doors of schools, and this factor helps explain why prag-
matist ideas and methods often are used (and misused) but are not always identified
with the philosophy.
Although pragmatic philosophy greatly influenced progressivism, it would be a
mistake to link progressivism too closely with pragmatism. Many progressives
claimed to agree with the philosophy of John Dewey, but Dewey often was critical of
the excesses of progressivism. His book Experience and Education (1938) was di-
rected as much at progressive "child-centered" excesses as it was at tradition-bound,
old-style American education. Dewey's name often was invoked but his works seldom
studied, and many progressive zealots took his ideas out of context.
Progressive education as a movement began because many liberal thinkers in
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries believed that American education
did not reflect the ideas of justice and freedom found in democratic theory. Progres-
sivism had its "hard" and "soft" wings. The soft wing identified with a romanticized
view of the goodness of the child, and it sought a child-centered education that put
few restraints on behavior or eschewed rigorous levels of academic performance.
This led to charges of "permissiveness" being leveled against progressive theory and
against Deweyan pragmatism too, because many progressives claimed Dewey as their
philosophical leader. The hard wing of the movement believed that education should
reflect advances made in the physical sciences, the social sciences, and technology.
Some of these hard progressives, however, thought that scientific procedures should
be used to measure, categorize, and separate children by ability and intelligence level
to meet demands in the economy. This view led to grouping practices that aggravated
social differences in school and society and resulted in Deweyan pragmatism being
criticized as crassly materialistic and wedded to industrial capitalism, of which

Dewey himself was critical.
Not all progressive ideas can be linked with pragmatism, however. Locke's view
that no ideas are innate and thai experience is the primarj shaper of human i
tence found ready acceptance m the progressive movement. Some advocates came
to believe that schooling was primarily a matter of encouraging children to experi-
encea variety of things. Pragmatism, however, stresses the Importance of seeing the
child in relation to the variety of experiences encountered in the environment, not
just school experiences. Pragmatists believe that children must be understood in
terms of mental, physical, and emotional development and also in light of all other
social and cultural factors that influence and shape their lives.
Rousseau influenced progressive thinking with his emphasis on nature and
some progressives took this to mean that 'natural" education should be free from all
societal restraints. Pragmatists maintain that education should be natural

and related
to the development of the human as a complex kind of animal Tiny have long cham-
pioned schools where children can move about and wheiv ,111 open and stimulating
environment brings the natural element into education. This is a far cry from
Rousseau's romantic naturalism, however, which encouraged many soft progressives
to develop educational theories that sentimentalized the natural goodness of the
child and severely limited adult guidance and direction. Dewey did not champion ei-
ther of the extremes on the soft or hard wings of progressivism, and so the k lent ill
cation of progressivism with tewej and pragmatism should be made carefully.
1
Aims of Education
Itewey and the pragmatists believed that education is a necessity of life renews it
people so that they can face the problems encountered through their interaction with
the environment. Cultures survive a< ross tune. tewey pointed out. because edu< a- I
tion is the process by which a culture is transmitted across generations b\ the com-
munication of habits, activities, thoughts, and feelings from adults to the young.
Without this, social life cannot survive; therefor* . education should not be viewed
merelj as schooling m academic subje* t matter, but as a part of life itself
I tewey thought that the school should provide just this kind of environment The
school .should be a place where the otto environments thai the child encounfc
r
family, work, andothi rdinated in meaningful ways for the child to stud)
In the pragmatist view, education should not be mere preparation for life, bul an im
port am part of life that children themselves live Children's li> int to
them as the lives ol adult- are I" 'he adults Thus, educators should tx ! the
,,,,. i motivations ol i
environment from win. h thej
hildren, as well as the
come In \l\ !'• t forth the belief that education has two
fundamental sidi ll1 ""' "' SUDOr '

1 ,
dinai to the other i he child's own instin ts

• and powers provide the m
,;,! and point of all edu< ation and the i
conditii •
' the child's :
what tl '
" 1,u "''
146 CHAPTER 4
equivalents for students and projected into the future lives of students for insight into
the consequences.
In sum, Dewey believed that individuals should be educated as social beings,
capable of participating in and directing their own social affairs. This means a freer
interaction among social groups, as well as attention given to developing all the po-
tentialities an individual has for future growth. He looked on education as a way to
free the individual to engage in continuous growth directed toward appropriate indi-
vidual and social aims.
Whatever the specific aims of schooling and learning, pragmatists stress
the importance of the way humans According to Dewey, aims
arrive at those aims.
(1) should grow out of existing conditions; (2) should be tentative, at least in the
beginning, and maintain flexibility; and perhaps most importantly of all, (3) must al-
ways be directed toward a freeing of activities, an "end in view." This last suggestion
is central to Dewey's idea of education. Properly speaking, Dewey thought that peo-
ple (parents, students, and citizens) are the ones who have educational aims, not
the process of education. Still, there is a sense of meaningfulness about the aims of
education.
As stated Dewey's Democracy and Education, the aim of education is
in
growth: "Since growth is the characteristic of life, education is all one with growing;
it has no end beyond itself." In this regard, Dewey was speaking of growth as an en-
largement of the capacity to learn from experience and to direct future experience
in a meaningful way. Here rests the importance of the third point, that education
should free human activities and make people more capable of directing individual
and social life because only in this way can proper growth in democratic living occur.
Sidney Hook, in Education for Modern Man (1963), maintained that educa-
tion for growth goes together with education for a democratic society. In fact, the
ideals of democracy establish the direction in which growth should occur, and the re-
sulting growth should lead to a more democratic society. Intelligence is significant
because it enables us to break the bonds of habit and makes it possible to devise al-
ternatives that are more satisfying and desirable. Hook pointed out that growth,
democracy, and intelligence are the inclusive and related aims of education.
According to Alven Neiman, premodern philosophers lived in a relatively stable
world where views of the eternal prevailed and where all living things (like Aristotle's
acorn) would become what they inherently were supposed to become. This was a
philosophical Garden of Eden where God brought order out of chaos through crea-
tion and where true reality existed prior to human action. Modernism brought a fall
from this garden because it rejected the view that nature unfolded according to some
transcendent design; instead, nature worked only by natural selection, contingency,
and brute force. Pragmatic philosophers looked on the new possibilities with cheer-
ful hope, even though they were acutely aware of the chaotic aspects of the modern
world. Dewey, for example, argued that because the old stability was gone, humans
—
must now see themselves as the meaning-makers the ones to bring order and mean-
ing to the world.Humans might be no more than biological organisms, but they are
organisms that must understand their own individual and collective experience, cope
with the contingencies of and solve the problems of society. tewej saw growth
life, I
as the centra] educational aim because if humanity is left to its own devices, then ii
should gro^ to meel the challenge. Vs Rortj points out, however, is nol denial ii
Meaning but meaning contingent on an actual human context. In other words, hu-
mans need to go beyond a quesl for the meaning of life and seek meaning in their pre
sent-day, actual-life circumstances.
However, Neiman argues, neopragmatists such as Rorty miss an importanl ele
menl of >ewey, and this is his faith in democracy and in the social intelligence thai
1
is unleashed when people learn to work together democratically. For tewey, growth I
means not only understanding the natural world bul also aesthetic appreciation of
wholeness, harmony, and peace, which are outcomes thai Dewey thoughl a demo
cratic way of life promised.
William Heard Kilpattick was an influential educator and one of teweys stu 1
dents and colleagues. He maintained that the overriding concern of each individual
should he that all people have "the fullest and finest life possible." w hat has been ac
complished and the possibility of future accomplishments are always uncertain;
therefore, continued progress demands intelligenleffort. Education becomes in
volved in teaching children how to live. The function of education, then, is to help
people direct, control, and guide personal and social experience for a more demo
cratic way of life.
Pragmatists argue thai people need to be aware of the consequences of their

actions so that they can guide their actions more intelligently, whether this action is
at the personal or social way, individuals learn to direct and control their
level. In this
own actions and require less external support and direction. Thej learn to have a
greater effect in the larger social context, even to the poinl of social change and re
form. Educated people grow in this manner, and their growth depends on a good en
vironmenl shared with others as well as the natural flexibility inherenl in the
individual. Schools should foster habits of thought, invention, and initiative thai will
assist people in growing in the right direction thai is, toward democratic living.
According to pragmatists. education should be an experimental enterprii i
well as something that assists in social renewal. It should promote a humane spirit m
people and the d'-siro to hud now answers to currenl economic, politii al, and social
problems. Education should promote individual and social interests, which will di
iiunish reliance on custom and encourage more reliance on intelligence and de
. Tins does not mean that valuable traditions are to be disrespected or disi arded
rather, ii means thai we must learn to solve pr i iblems intelligently, rathei
than to relj mindlessly on traditioi
Dewej pointed oul that a philosophy ol education is nol the application "i
reaclj made ideas to ever) problem, hut rather the formation ol right mental and
moral attitudes to use in at) ontempoi blems When fundamental
, tl
,. ,i then thinking and their edu
cationalpro meet these challenges Thus.human hav< apragmath
function Learning helps people adapt to environmental and affe< >••
theii
charai U In thi way, 'din ation has a moral influ< n< e and should plaj •• vital
148 CHAPTER 4
part in helping us become the kind of moral persons who are interested in promot-
ing growth, for others and for ourselves.
Pragmatists prefer flexible education methods that can be used in various ways. They
also prefer functional schools, with such things as movable, child-sized desks, large
print in books for small children, and so forth, all of which came out of Dewey's ex-
perimental work at the Laboratory School in Chicago. Various methods are needed,
because there is no single way to educate. In consequence, educators should be
aware of many approaches, including the use of sources in the wider community.
Some pragmatists urge teachers and students to see that all knowledge is re-
lated. Reading, writing, and spelling can be combined as language arts. History, ge-
ography, government, economics, and multicultural studies can be put under social
studies because of the relationships among these areas. Furthermore, relationships
can be found between social studies and language arts and among other areas of the
curriculum. This can be done by developing a cross-disciplinary approach to the cur-
riculum so that students can understand how things are related. Then, students can
select an area of concentration for a unit of study, such as "exploration," and all the
subject areas would revolve around this. Language arts, for example, would deal with
the literature of exploration, including the biographies of famous explorers past and
present, historical accounts of the impact of exploration on people, science fiction
about exploration themes, and student writings and research projects in which they
explore personal inquiry into the theme of exploration.
In addition, they could integrate the study of mathematics in the theme of ex-
ploration, such as the practical mathematics needed in circumnavigating the globe and
stories about mathematical explorations of the kind done from the time of Pythagoras
to Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. One could hardly study exploration without
becoming involved with scientific exploration. Students could inquire into the history
and drama of scientific discoveries and their impacts on people. Indeed, the possibili-
ties are numerous for integrating studies of various kinds on a single theme such as
exploration, including art, drama, and music, all of which involve various kinds of ex-
ploratory aspects. These kinds of things do need to be done in ways that respect the
developmental, experiential, and educational levels of the participating students. If
approached in educationally sound ways, students would be involved with the funda-
mentals of knowledge in practical and applied ways so that the usefulness of knowl-
edge would be more apparent. This approach demonstrates the relation of the various
disciplines and shows students the interrelationships of knowledge.
Pragmatists are adherents of action-oriented education; therefore, they would
suggest an activity-oriented approach so students would learn not only that they can
relate various kinds of knowledge and use them to attack a problem but also that they
can act on them. To understand exploration more fully, students might visit histori-
cal sites of exploration or contemporary sites, such as the Kennedy Space Center. At
school, they could reconstruct past events and life situations to appreciate the diffi-
culties involved in actual events and examine positive and negative effects that ex-
1
ploration has had. For example, the arrival of Europeans in the Americas had a pro-
found impact on the Europeans and the Native Americans, with positive and nega-
tive outcomes thai continue to have effects today. Reconstructing this pari of human
experience (questioning and studying this phase of human historj would help stu- )
dents gain a understanding nol only of the pasl bul also of their
better
world today. These reconstructions could involve readings, lectures or presehtal ions.
field trips, videos, and Internet connections; they also could take the form of student-
constructed dramatizations, role playing, and model building.

Because pragmatists are concerned with teaching children how to solve prob-
lems, they believe thai real-life situations encourage problem-solving ability in a prai
tical setting.For example, the conservation and wise use of energy is a leading
problem today. Suppose that in a particular science class, the students want to under
stand energy conservation. Someone suggests thai they should plan an energy allo-
cation system. This becomes the specific problem, and the students will need to look
at the history of energy, how various sources of energy have been used for human
needs, how the competition for energy aggravates world problems, what the science
of energy offers for understanding, and what resources and plans are available.
The materials gathered must be appropriate forthe age of the students, and the
teacher must provide direction to keep the activities within reasonable limits. The
motivation is in the students' interest, and the teacher serves as a resource person
concerned with helping students get the- maximum educational advantages oul of the
situation. Students do the work themselves, and they might encounter various prob
lems about what kinds of allocation schemes to use. how to construct an equitable al
location basis, what social and economic issues must be considered, what possible
alternative energy sources can be tapped, or how society could conserve energj bel
ter. In tackling such problems and trying to provide solutions, students come to ap
predate actual hurdles to be overcome and to gain important understanding that will
help them belter control their own destinies.
I'ragmatist educators advoc.it e meeting the needs and interests of the child. This
sometimes has been interpreted to mean letting children do anything they want, but
"needs and interests" do not necessaril) mean the dictates of whim Suppose a child
wants to build model airplanes. Pragmatists would point -mi that this child'- into
could be used as a motivational basis b) which basic areas of the curriculum could 1
lated. For example, one could be taughl mathematics and physics bj

examining the pun
oplesofthe airfoil. One could do this bj studying people's dreams to flj and the eventual
realization of Sight. Meeting the needs and interests ol students does nol always mean
waiting for students to suj ften the) are unaware of their m
and interests \ proper]) prepared and motivated teacher will mat tions and
Indeed, the role the
arouse student interests to help launch new learning proje< ts "i
teacher is to help students grow, and thi em into m if know!

|ge to help make their understandings, skills, and abilities be< ome deeper, more com
and more sophistii ated In teweyfe Laborator) s< I I at < Ihicago, the print iple
plex, I
hildreninsomeai that) thai was of dire i interest to them and Ll

t ,,i ;
,„,., encountered prai ti< al problems in the ai trvity, to involve them it
knowledge spa ific to the activit) thai in turn, would lead torn J knowied
150 CHAPTER 4
Pragmatists tend toward a broad education rather than a specialized one. They
maintain that when one breaks knowledge down into discrete elements and does not put
it back together, one faces the danger of losing perspective. With today's knowledge ex-
plosion, it is impossible for a person to know everything, but one can understand the gen-
eral operating principles of nature and social conditions. Pragmatists do not oppose
breaking knowledge down into its constituent elements, nor do they oppose specialization
at the higher and professional levels of education, but they do encourage returning the ele-
ments of knowledge back into a reconstructed whole that gives new direction and insight.
The concept of experimentation is basic to pragmatism. The fact that Dewey
called his school at Chicago the "Laboratory School" illustrates his view that educa-
tion (and philosophy) should be experimental. Even though numerous guides, pre-
cepts, and maxims are related to education, pragmatists hold that in the final analysis,
education is a process of experimentation because there are always new things to
learn and different things to experience. Dewey gave the example of 7-year-old stu-
dents who were cooking eggs and comparing them with vegetables and meats. If sim-
ply cooking eggs were the final goal, the students could have used a cookbook for
directions. They even raised this point, but in cooking the eggs, asking questions, and
seeking answers, they discovered that albumen is a characteristic feature of animal
foods that corresponds to starches in vegetables. Thus, they learned an important les-
son in nutrition. The teacher could have given them this information beforehand, but
the lively manner of discovery clarified the knowledge in a much more profound way
than mere telling ever could have accomplished. This type of learning is of twofold
value: (1) An important piece of knowledge is learned, and (2) the skills of inquiry
and self-sufficiency are developed, which will benefit individuals for years to come.
Another approach suggested by Kilpatrick is the "project approach" to learn-
ing. Projects should be chosen by students as much as possible through individual
and group discussion, with the teacher as moderator and with student cooperation
in pursuing the goals of the project. In some cases, the teacher has no definite idea
what the outcome will be. Kilpatrick carefully pointed out that teachers can and
should veto projects that are too ambitious or for which resources are lacking. He ad-
vocated that all of the elementary school years should be devoted to the project
method and that it be extended into the secondary school but in diminishing amounts
to make room for some specialization.
Although some variations can be found among pragmatists regarding methods,
they all agree that the proper method of education is experiential, flexible, open
ended, and oriented toward growth of the individual's capacity to think and to par-
ticipate intelligently in social life.
Curriculum
Pragmatists reject separating knowledge from experience and fragmenting or compart-
mentalizing knowledge. When this happens, facts are torn away from experience. Com-
partmentalization focuses attention on subjects rather than the child's experiences with
learning. For example, in specialized learning, students might be able to quote passages
from Shakespeare, but without understanding how these can inform them about the world
and their own

By the same token, those who ignore subjecl matter and make chil-
lives.
dren the only starting point risk losing sighl of the importance of organized knowledge.
According to Dewey, such cases have two major concerns: the logical and the psy-
chological. The first em] thasizi ;s lis< ipline; the second, into t< isl TTu an >r is
i si < a ga] 1 1 t < > i
between a child's areas of interest and importanl subject matter because appropriate
subject matter is not something fixed and ready-made outside a child's areas of interest.
The difficulty resides in how subject matter is organized and presented to students. For
example, history traditionally is taught as something students should study simpls be
cause it is good for them, vet mighl be remote and alien to their everydaj experiences.
it
The study of history should enable children to conned their own experiences, customs,
and institutions with those of the past. It should liberate and enrich personal life by fur-
nishing it with context, background, andoutlook. 1 >ewe\ tin night that the [tract ice of di-
vorcing history from the present is a grievous error because it robs historical stud) of
the capacity to provide intelligent insight into the present. A divorced history loses its
value for ethical instruction. It does not give understanding of the fabric of current life
and may produce callous indifference to whj things have become what they are.
When one views what a child learns as lived and ready made, attention is di-
rected too much on outcome and too little on process. I'ragmatists want to locus at
least some attention on process because ends should not be divorced from means.
They assert that the means used to accomplish something dictate whal the outcomes
(or ends) are. For example, to saj that the American school should produce demo
cratic citizens and then establish the school in such a way that the students have .il
most no choice, judgment, or decision-making opportunity is, in actuality, to produce

virtually anything but democratic citizens. The older generation then sits back ami
winders why the young do not participate more in social and political activities V
cording to pragmatists. there is little doubt why such conditions exist.
in a diversified curriculum This has resulted in an extension of

Pragmatists believe
American education into many areas nol previouslj considered its domain for example.
pragmatists have advocated studies in occupations and hygiene and in such topics as the
family and the economy. Consequently, manj pragmatists advocate ••problem (entered
learning'' as theproper approach to curriculum organization Essentially, starts with a it
central question or problem, and students are to attack the problem in diverse waj
iordingto their interests and needs Some might work independently, others 111 groups,
and still others m various combinations and contexts Information and ideas are drawn
torn books, periodicals, videos, travel, field trips, guest experts, and othei n Ma
terials are studied and evaluated, and st udents draw i conclusions and constTUi i suitable
neralizations concerning the problem Learning and growth are evaluated andthi
the stage for the study. Traditional disciplines are nol ignored but are used forknowli
background toaccompam the problem and to aid student learnii wth
Role of the Teacher
por |
)( rung and lean ntial foi the < ontinuation ol human om i
nuinits and '1 tinuitj ol transmitting the things that n
,,,1 iif e |,
lal and . ommunal
152 CHAPTER 4
one. A community exists because of what people hold in common (values, beliefs,
language, etc.). Because these things are not transmitted biologically, they can be
passed on to the younger generation only through social and educational processes.
Otherwise, each succeeding generation would have to reinvent, not merely reinter-
pret,what previous generations knew and understood.
Because all social life is potentially educative, people learn most of what they
know through informal processes instead of formal education; however, informal
processes are not always accomplished with purpose and care. What makes formal
education significant is that it is handled in a deliberate way to ensure that an orderly
continuation of social life and community is possible. The danger is that formal edu-
cation can become abstract and remote from students' actual life experiences, so
constant attention must be given to appropriate linkages to life experience. This is
where the teacher's role becomes crucial.

Education can be studied scientifically, but its effective practice is basically
an art. Teachers express the highest concept of this art when they keep education
from becoming routinized and lethargic. All living educates, but social living helps
people extract the net meaning from their education. Dewey, like Plato, believed
that societyis a necessary part of people's learning experiences and that we must
guard against schools treating subject matter as if it were a thing apart from social
life itself.
Training is not the same thing as education. Children can be trained through
behavioral conditioning to like or avoid things without understanding why they
should do so. Most habits of animals are the result of training, but humans, unlike
horses, have a wider range of understanding and can act on that understanding.
Therefore, the educative process when understanding and intelligent
is fulfilled only
actions are promoted. Helping the child to think and act intelligently is education as
opposed to training. Learning activities are used to convey ideas and help students
develop understanding and skill, and educational settings are provided where stu-
dents can act on and test their understandings and skills. This approach to education
must be framed in an environment that has been regulated deliberately in order to
achieve maximum educational effect.
Children are motivated to learn naturally, and the teacher should capture
and use the motivation that already exists. Teachers must understand that all chil-
dren are not at the same point, however, and cannot be educated in the same
way. Although projects might motivate some students for group work, individual
projects might have to be provided for others. Pragmatists believe that teachers
should serve as knowledgeable guides and resources for students, not as taskmas-
ters who just drill students in subject matter. Drill and recitation have occasional
uses but are not the central function of teaching. In Democracy and Education,
Dewey holds that the teacher's major role is to establish a proper learning environ-
ment and emotional growth among students. A sig-
to stimulate desired intellectual
nificant part of that environment is the subject matter to be studied, and the
teacher must be knowledgeable of that subject matter in order to break it down into
elements that students are able to connect with their own experience. This involves
using students' present interests and life situations as starting points to show how
knowledge has bearing on their lives. Teaching becomes a process of helping stu-
dents identify problems and study organized know ledge in order to understand how
social life developed from the past, what needs to be maintained, and what needs to
be changed.
Dewey did not advocate ahistoricaJ presentism; rather, he believed thai learn
ers are best motivated to study organized knowledge when they can see how re it
For example, Dewey had his students at the Laboratorj School

lates to the present.
weave simple things on small hand looms an activity they all enjoyed to help
launch them into studying the impact of textiles on human history. They learned to
connect a current interest with a more remote hut vital human interest. Using the
hand looms helped make a point about how people m early cultures solved problems
of survival. A variation of this approach can bo applied to the mere complex and ab
stract interests of mature students. For example, consider how virtuallj all high
school students are interested in the adult world of responsibility in their futures
Continuing with the textile example, consider how textile manufacturing is a major
economy and how that dispute might affect the lives
point of dispute in today's global
of high school students when thej assume economic responsibilities in the adult
world. This prospect involves not only job opportunities and providing lor them
selves and the families they might establish, but also their roles as responsible citi
zens and members of the larger community. sing their interest as a starting point,I
students will find that textiles are an enduring feature of human history. Making gar-
ments out of natural fibers was a major advance lor prehistoric cultures; the silk
trade was a point of contact and conflicl between the Greco-Roman world and an
cient China: wool and linen competition was an important stimulus m Europe's in-
dustrial revolution: cotton was central to the issue of slavery in the American Civil
War: and natural and synthetic textile production are important to today's gloh.il
economy. Such studies help students put their own lives in perspective historically
and currently. A chief role of the teacher is to help learners identify problems, name
questions, and locate appropriate bodies of knowledge to better understand pn
issues and their histories.
Pragmatists put a premium on teaching that promotes an active role for stu-
dents. Rather than teachers merelj impart 111.14 knowledge and students passivt I
eeiving it. pragmatists want active teachers and students The teacher's action
involves arranging the learning environment, guiding student learning acti\ ities, and
helping students locate knowledge and integrate into their own experien< es; theit
students' act ion involves questioning, seeking information and knowledge ol the con
ditions that affecl them, and growing in understanding and ability to manage their
lives and to parti) ipate fruitfullj in

The pragmatists' model of thf t. Is foi -a. exceptionally competent
person one who po readth ami depth ol knowledge, understands urrenl i
conditions that affia i the lives ol student knowi how

i,
,| ( .,,i n elopmenl and learning th<

provides > lupportive environment in which students can l<
154 CHAPTER 4
refined understanding of school and community resources that are available for
teaching and learning.
CRITIQUE OF PRAGMATISM IN EDUCATION

After the mid-twentieth century, few philosophers identified themselves as pragma-
tists; rather, analytic philosophy, existentialism, hermeneutics, and postmodernism
became philosophically fashionable. Yet, a resurgence of pragmatism is occurring
today, one reason being that because Dewey wrote so consistently and forcibly on the
connection of democracy and education, his ideas continue to have an influence and
following not only in education, but in other fields as well. Disagreement arises, how-
ever, on what Dewey meant. One camp accuses him of using education to shape a plu-
ralistic society without due regard for unique cultural differences. Another sees him
as downgrading individualism in his advocacy of cultural pluralism. Part of the diffi-
culty resides in the fact that Dewey was an active philosopher for a long period of time,
and the volume of his writings is extensive. Another problem is that Dewey did not al-
ways write in a way that ensured clarity. Yet, Dewey took positions on many impor-
tant areas of thought, and his writings seem relevant to many contemporary issues.
Another measure of the continuing influence of Dewey and philosophical prag-
matism is the work being accomplished at the Center for Dewey Studies at Southern
Illinois University at Carbondale. The center houses Dewey's papers, correspondence,
and other documents, as well as his publications. It has produced a widely acclaimed
edition of his collected works, amounting to about 40 volumes of material. This ma-
terial is contributing to a better, more systematic understanding of Dewey's philoso-
phy, and it has helped raise the level of scholarship on Dewey's impact on education.
Debate continues, however, over what usefulness pragmatism has had or might
continue to have on American education. Some critics lump progressivism and prag-
matism together, overlooking the fact that the progressive movement was not a single
thing, but rather a loosely joined movement encompassing several philosophic per-
suasions. Another criticism is that the pragmatist philosophy of education deprecates
the acquisition of knowledge and waters down the curriculum by taking a piece
of this and a bit of that discipline without ever fully exploring either in depth, cater-
ing to students' interests and slighting the basic disciplines they need. Some of this
criticism has merit because past reforms were sometimes implemented too hastily
and without adequate preparation of teaching staffs. In addition, some reformers did
not completely grasp the essential ideas. The same kind of problem exists with re-
gard to Dewey's views. Some educators have interpreted Dewey to mean that the in-
tellectual and cognitive sides of education are unimportant. The fact is that Dewey
placed intelligence and thinking in a central position in his philosophy. He thought
that intelligence is developed in purposeful activity dealing with problems and arriv-
ing at solutions. He did not ignore books, subject matter, and the need for periodic
drill. He simply rejected the assertion that these are the most important things in
education. Dewey believed that every purposeful human activity has potential for in-
tellectual, emotional, aesthetic, and moral growth.
Indeed, a wide gap exists between whal Dewey urged and what often has tran-
spired in his and other pragmatic philosophers' names. A case in poinl is the life
adjustment movement. In the 1950s, some critics argued that pragmatists, and par
ticularly Dewey, promoted an ethic of adjusting persona] desires and interests to ex
isting social and economic conditions. Thej said thai such an outlook promoted
monopolistic economics, status quo social divisions, and a general deadening effect.
In fact, one former educational movemenl was called life adjustment, bul there i
evidence that Dewey or any other leading pragmatisl ever supported it. >ewej used I
the word adjustment, but he used n with regard to people adjusting objective con
ditions to themselves as much as the other waj around. He pointed out thai in order
to reconstruct and reorienl society, people first have to interacl with existing condi
tions. In this sense, they
have to adjust like any other organism, bul thej do for the it
purpose of strengthening some conditions and changing others not simplj to on i
form to status quo authority and power relations.

Some critics attack pragmatism for its relative and situational approach to life
problems. They maintain thai pragmatism rejects traditional values in favor of values
that are uncertain, changeable, and impermanent. Uthough these charges contain
an element of truth, pari of the criticism mighl relate to pragmatism's efforts to ad-
dress social cultural, and educational contexts rather than the metaphysical topics
of traditional philosophy. Moreover, despite the critics' charges aboul relativism,
pragmatists (such as 1 tewey) didnol believe thai traditional ideas and values should
be rejected out-of-hand bul should be important considerations. Thej do believe,
however, that one cannot afford to relj only on hand-me-down values and should be
seeking new ideas and values in everj area of human activity. Tins problem is pai
ticularly apparent in the pragmatists approach to education. supports the idea thai It
schools should maintain an experimental approach to learning. However, what such

critics fail to realize, seems,
it is thai this does not mean that workable approaches,
no matter how ancienl in origin, are to be scrapped automatical^ is simplj thai for It
pragmatists. new ideas and approaches should be developed and implemented when
they help solve perplexing human problems
Several factors accounl for seme of the difficult} found in the application of
pragmatism to education: In addition to misinterpretation, an occasional lack ol
specificity pragmatism makes

in difficult to apply. In addition, zealous follow
it
have attempted to applj broad idi ifi< educational problems and. hem e, i i
have oversimplified pragmatic positions Sometimes a la f ol energetii attention has

been paid by educators to pragmatic philosophy itself in favoi of se< ondhand inter
pretations. Some fault pragmatism foi its short* omings, bul othei lajoi
source of ideas.
William Paringer, in John I >• 1 1
y and the Para
takes a Marxisl perspective thai N I nol radical enough; h< mchored
in Enlightenmenl con< epts and too lacking in ideologi< al and politic al aj
while Dewej examined power relations in i lassrooms he failed to
tendon to powei relations in tl that maintain)
lence, and •
In contrast, Sanford Reitn
Messiah < 'ompL 1992) that Amen- an pi
156 CHAPTER 4
who borrowed from Dewey were too radical. They came to view the school as an in-
strument of salvation from all the social ills that plague society and lost sight of Dewey's
view that all social contexts have educational potential and that the educational task is
to ensure that desirable educational results flow from those contexts. More recently,
historian Dianne Ravitch claims, in Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reform
(2000) that Dewey's progressive followers from child-centered progressives to social
,
reconstructionists are the primary reason why schools seem to have lost sight of their
appropriate academic mission today. The wonder how all
dispassionate reader might
of these criticisms can be true, and caring discernment is needed to avoid lumping too
many historic influences and contemporary developments together. As for Dewey, he
was definitely aware of class conflict and the need for remedies, but he opted for more
gradual and less confrontational means than many leftist critics seem to prefer. Dewey
also was concerned about the ways some of his followers interpreted his ideas, but he
opted for polite criticism and persuasion rather than wholesale dismissal as some crit-
ics on the right seem to want. Finally, concerning the alleged failure of contemporary
schools, one might wonder if it is so directly connected to Dewey, pragmatism, or even

to the excesses of progressivism asmany critics frequently maintain.
One made of Dewey's educational views is that the type
criticism that could be
of person needed to teach his way had to be exceptional, that is, extremely capable
and highly educated in several disciplines. It is doubtful that a sufficient number of
such persons could be prepared and retained today, particularly considering the level
of financial outlay society seems willing to provide. It also does not to take into ac-
count the bureaucratic and politicized nature of American education, which often
serves to stifle the more thoughtful and helpful kinds of reform.
The criticisms tend to show, however, that pragmatism and particularly Dewey's
version of it continues to engage educational theorists. In some respects though,
Dewey's philosophy of education has not had a truly systematic criticism because most
critics have taken on only piecemeal aspects, have made polemical attacks rather than
critical analyses, or have used particular aspects of pragmatism to support their own
partisan views. Nevertheless, the philosophy of pragmatism has made important con-
tributions to educational theory and practice and will continue to do so.
JAMES
:S TO TEACl
William James wrote little on education, but what he did produce reflected many of his central
ideas. The following selection illustrates some of those ideas, notably the "stream of conscious-
ness" and the child as a "behaving organism. " Consciousness is complex and cannot be divided
neatly into the intellectual and the practical, nor can it be divorced from the formation of habit-
ual patterns of behavior. According to James, the process of education is the acquisition of im-
portant habits of behavior and the acquisition of ideas in ever higher and richer combinations.
The Stream of Consciousness The Child as a Behaving Organism

. The most general elements and workings of the
. . 1 wish now to continue the description of the peculiar-
mind are all that the teacher absolutely needs to be ities Of the si ream of consciousness h\ asking whet her
acquainted with for his purposes. we can in any intelligible way assign itsjunetions
Nowthe immediate fact which psychology, the ll has two functions that are obvious: It lead
science of mind, has to study is also the most general knowledge, and it leads to action
fact. It is the fact that in each of US, when awake (and Can we say which of these functions is the
often when asleep), some kind of consciousness is more essential"
always going on. There is a stream, a succession of \n old historic divergence of opinion comes in
states, or waves, or fields (or whatever you please to here. Popular belief has always tended to estimate
call them), of knowledge, of Feeling, of desire, ol irth of a man's mental proi esses bj their effects
liberation, etc., that constantly pass and repass, and upon his practical life But philosophers have usualh
- '
that constitute our inner life. The existence of this cherished a different vie* "Man's supreme glory,
stream is the primal fact, the nature and origin of it they have said, "is to be a rational being, to know ab
form the essential problem, of our science. . . . solute and eternal and universal ruth The uses, if Ins
I
We hurr thus fields oj consciousness, thai intellecl for practical affairs are therefore subordi
is the first general fact; and the second general fad is nale matters 'The theoretic life' is Ins souls genuine
"
that the concrete fields are always complex Thej concern Nothing can be more differenl in its results
contain sensations of our bodies and of the objects for our personal attitude than to lake sides with one
around us. memories of past experiences and or the other of these \ lews, and emphasize theprai li
thoughts of distant things, feelings of satisfaction and cal or the theoretical ideal In the latter case, ahslrac
dissatisfaction, desires and aversions, and other emu tion from the emotions and passions and withdrawal
tional conditions, together with determinations of the from the strife of human affairs would be not onlj par
even- variety of permutation and combination. donable, bul praiseworthy; and all that mat
•
will, in
In most of our concrete states of consciousness quiel and contemplation should he regarded a
all these different classes of ingredients are found to the highesl human perfection. In the for
simultaneously present to some degree, though tin- mer, the man of contemplation would be treated as
relative proportion they hear to one another is vi only half a human being, passion and practical re
shifting. One state will seem to be composed of hardly would become once
anything hut sensations, another of hardly anything ;n oncretevii ten. over this earth's outward powi
darkness would appear an equivalenl tor anj amount
hut memories, etc. Bui around the sensation, il
considers carefully, there will always he some fringe piritual culture, and conducl would remain
of thought or will, and around the memory some mar ducation worthj of the na
gin or penumbra of emotion or sensation. . . .

It is impossible to disguise the facl that in the
In the successive mutations of our fields ot i

.,1 OUT own daj the emphasis is trans
from the mm . rational fun< tion,
sciousness, the process by which one dissuKes into
:
another is often very gradual, and all sorts of inner when Plato and Vristotle, and what one maj i all the
of contents occur. Sometimes the whole <

lassie tradition in philosophy had placed it. to
rearrangements
changed, while the margin lected prai ti< al side The th<
focus remains hut little al
ters rapidly Sometimesthe and the mar

I
evolution is mac
n evolved from infra
gin stays. Sometimes focus and margin change plai
Sometimes, again, abrupl alterations ol die whole human am whom pui h.udK ex
eldom be tion and Who

Beldoccur.Tl I
All we know is that, for the mosl pari, eai h field am turn tion, would appear to I
for adapting tl the impn

>,rt of practical unitj it', ;
from this practical point of . field
with other fields similat i ailing it
emotion, of per]
thought, of volition, and the like

.
158 CHAPTER 4
prompted to useful conduct, and inexplicable apart fluence our earthly action. You must remember that,
from that consideration. when I talk of action here, mean action in the widest
I
Deep in our own nature the biological founda- sense. I mean speech, I mean writing, mean yeses I
tions of our consciousness persist, undisguised and and noes, and tendencies 'from' things and tenden-
undiminished. Our sensations are here to attract us cies 'toward' things, and emotional determinations;
or to deter us, our memories to warn or encourage us, and I mean them in the future as well as in the imme-
our feelings to impel, and our thoughts to restrain our diate present. . .
behavior, so that on the whole we may prosper and You should regard your professional task as if it
our days be long in the land. . . . consisted chiefly and essentially in training the
No one believes more strongly than I do that pupil to behavior; taking behavior, not in the narrow
what our senses know as 'this world' is only one por- sense of his manners, but in the very widest possible
tion of our mind's total environment and object. Yet, sense, as including every possible sort of fit reaction
because it is it is the sine qua non
the primal portion, on the circumstances into which he may find himself
of all the rest. If you grasp the facts about it firmly, brought by the vicissitudes of life.
you may proceed to higher regions undisturbed. As
our time must be so short together, I prefer being
elementary and fundamental to being complete, so Education and Behavior
I propose to you to hold fast to the ultra-simple point . . . [Education] consists in the organizing of resources
of view. in the human being, of powers of conduct which shall
The reasons why I call it so fundamental can be fit him and physical world. An 'un-
to his social
easily told. educated' person one who is nonplussed by all but
is
First, human and animal psychology thereby the most habitual situations. On the contrary, one who
become less discontinuous. I know that to some of is educated is able practically to extricate himself,
you this will hardly seem an attractive reason, but by means of the examples with which his memory is
there are others whom it will affect- stored and of the abstract conceptions which he
Second, mental action is conditioned by brain has acquired, from circumstances in which he never
action, and runs paraDel therewith. But the brain, so was placed before. Education, in short, cannot be
far as we understand it, is given us for practical be- better described than by calling it the organization
havior. Every current that runs into it from skin or of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to
eye or ear runs out again into muscles, glands, or vis- behavior. . .
cera, and helps to adapt the animal to the environ- So it is with the impressions you will make
...
ment from which the current came. It therefore ... on your pupil. You should get into the habit of re-
generalizes and simplifies our view to treat the brain garding them all as leading to the acquisition by him
life and the mental life as having one fundamental of capacities for behavior, — emotional, social, bodily,
kind of purpose. vocal, technical, or what not. Aid, this being the case,
Third, those very functions of the mind that do you ought to feel willing, in a general way, and with-
not refer directly to this world's environment, the out hair-splitting or further ado, to take up for the
ethical Utopias, aesthetic visions, insights into eternal purposes of these lectures with the biological con-
truth, and fanciful logical combinations, could never ception of the mind, as of something given us for
be carried on at all by a human individual, unless the practical use. That conception will certainly cover the
mind that produced them in him were also able to greater part of your own educational work.
produce more practically useful products. The latter
are thus the more essential, or at least the more pri-
mordial results. The Laws of Habit

Fourth, the inessential 'unpractical' activities It is very important that teachers should realize the
are themselves far more connected with our behavior importance of habit, and psychology helps us greatly
and our adaptation to the environment than at first at this point. We speak, it. is true, of good habits and
sight might appear. No truth, however abstract, is of bad habits; but when people use the word habit, in
ever perceived, that will not probably at some time in- the majority of instances it is a bad habit which they
.
have in mind. They talk of the smoking-habil and the consciousness there be such daily duties not
at all. If
swearing-habit and the drinking-habit, bin not ol yet ingrained in any one of my hearers, let him begin
the abstention-habil or the moderation-habit or the this verj hour to sot the matter right.
courage-habit. But the fad is thai our virtues are . . . Two great maxims emerge. The first is
habits as much as our vices. All our life, so far as has it that in lb.- acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving
definite form, is but amass of habits, practical, emo- off of an old one. we must take care to launch our
tional, and intellectual, systematically organized for selves u iiii '/s strong and decided an initiative as
our weal or woe, and bearing us irresistibly toward possible Vccumulate all the possible circumstances
our destiny, whatever the latter may be. . . which shall reinforce the right motives; put yourself
[believe thai wearesubjecl to the law ofhabil assiduouslj in conditions thai encourage the new
in consequence of the fact that we have bodies The way; make engagements incompatible with the old.
plasticity of the living matter of our nervous system, lake a public pledge, if die case allows; m short, en
in short, is the reason why we do a thing with diffi- velope your resolution With every aid you know This
culty the first time, but soon do it more and more will give your new beginning such a momentum thai
easily, and finally, with sufficienl practice, do it semi- tin- temptation to break down will not occur as s
mechanically, or with hardly any consciousness at all. as it otherwise might; and everj daj during whicha
Our nervous systems have grown . . .
to the waj in [own is postponed adds to the chances of its
which they have been exercised, just as a sheel of not occurring at all. . .
paper or a coat, once creased or folded, lends to Tail The second maxim i ruffer an excep
forever afterward into the same identical folds. tn,, to occur till the neu habit
i is securely n
Habit is thus a second nature. . . . in your life Each lapse is like the letting fall ol a
So tar as we are thus mere bundles of habit, we ball of string which one is carefullj winding up: A
are stereotyped creatures, imitators and copiers of single slip undoes more than a great maii.\ turns will
our past selves. And since this, under any circum- wind again. 'ontiniiily of training < is the great means
stances, is what we always tend to become, follows it of making the nervous system acl infallibly right
first of all that the teacher's prime concern should be We all intend when young to be all that may be
to ingrain into the pupil that assortment of habits that nunc a man. before the destroyer cuts us down We
shall be most useful to him throughout lit''. Education wish and expect toenjoj poetrj always, to grow mure
is for behavior, and habits are the stuff of which be- and more intelligent aboul pictures and music, to
havior consists. keep in touch with spiritual and religious idea--., and
The greal thing in all education is to m
. . .
evennol to lei the greater philosophy thoughts ol oui
our urn ous system our ally insteadofow time develop quite beyond our view We moan all his i
It is to hind and capitalize our acquisitions, and Uveal

in youth, saj andyel in how many middle aged men
I .
ease upon the interest of the fund For this n e must and women is such an honest and sanguine expects
make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, Hon fulfilled? Surely, in comparativeh few; and the
as uiiiii,! useful actions as //< can, and as carefully i| habil show us whj Seme interesl in eai h ol
rybodj al the pror*
guard against the growing into ways thai arelikelj to
not persistentlj fed with the appropriate mal
be disadvantageous. The more of the details ol our but, if
nr. instead ol growing into a powerful and nei

daily life we can hand over to the effortless custodj ol
mind will habit, atrophii iked bj the rival inter
automatism, the more our highei |
it
which the daU) food el thai

be set own proper work Thi
free for their i
more miserable human being than one in whom noth musl be p

whom the tpone,
ingis habitual but mde. ision. and for I..
those sun!' lead

ingofeverj cigar, the drinking of everj cup, the time until
thebeginnirig liking "in

of rising and going I
;
/olitional
•
habit, "t making old hal

oi everj btl ofworl
thai the ai quii
deliberation Full hall the in
the deciding or regretting of matters whii h oughl to anything lit
o ingrained in I
.
160 CHAPTER 4
would condemn the latter; for sudden con-

suffice to fore. In our 'flights of fancy,' this is frequently the
versions, however infrequent they may be, unques- case. . .
tionably do occur. But there is no incompatibility . . . [As] teachers, it is thefact of association that
between the general laws I have laid down and the practically concerns you, let its grounds be spiritual or
most startling sudden alterations in the way of char- cerebral, or what they may, and let its laws be re-
acter. New habits can be launched, I have expressly ducible, or non-reducible, to one. Your pupils, what-
said, on condition of there being new stimuli and new ever else they are, are at any rate little pieces of
excitements. Now life abounds in these, and some- associating machinery. Their education consists in the
times they are such critical and revolutionary experi- organizing within them of determinate tendencies to
ences that they change a man's whole scale of values associate one thing with another, —impressions with
and system of ideas. In such cases, the old order of his consequences, these with reactions, those with re-
habits will be ruptured; and, if the new motives are sults,and so on indefinitely. The more copious the as-
lasting, new habits will be formed, and build up in him sociative systems, the more complete the individual 's
a new or regenerate 'nature.' . . . adaptations to the world.
The teacher can formulate his function to him-
self therefore interms of 'association' as well as in
The Association of Ideas terms of 'native and acquired reaction.' It is mainly
You remember that consciousness is an everflowing that of building up useful systems of association
stream of objects, feelings, and impulsive tendencies. in the pupil's mind. This description sounds wider
We saw already that its phases or pulses are like so than the one I began by giving. But,when one thinks
many fields or waves, each field or wave having usu- that our trains of association, whatever they may be,
ally its central point of liveliest attention, in the shape normally issue in acquired reactions or behavior, one
of the most prominent object in our thought, while all sees that in a general way the same mass of facts is
around this lies a margin of other objects more dimly covered by both formulas.
realized, together with the margin of emotional and It is astonishing how many mental operations
active tendencies which the whole entails. Describing we can explain when we have once grasped the prin-
the mind thus in fluid terms, we cling as close as pos- ciples of association. . . .
sible to nature. At might seem as if, in the

first sight, it To grasp these factors
clearly gives one a solid
fluidity of these successive waves, everything is inde- and simple understanding of the psychological ma-
terminate. But inspection shows that each wave has chinery. The 'nature,' the 'character,' of an individual
a constitution which can be to some degree explained means really nothing but the habitual form of his as-
by the constitution of the waves just passed away. sociations. To break up bad associations or wrong
Aid this relation of the wave to its predecessors is ex- ones, to build others in, to guide the associative ten-
pressed by the two fundamental 'laws of association,' dencies into the most fruitful channels, is the educa-
so-called, of which the first is named the Law of Con- tor's principal task. But here, as with all other simple
tiguity, the second that of Similarity. principles, the difficulty lies in the application. Psy-
The Law of Contiguity tells us that objects chology can state the laws: concrete tact and talent
thought of in the coming wave are such as in some pre- alone can work them to useful results. . . .
vious experience were next to the objects represented

in the wave that is passing away. The vanishing objects
were once formerly their neighbors in the mind. When The Acquisition of Ideas
you recite the alphabet or your prayers, or when the The images of our past experiences, of whatever na-
sight of an object reminds you of its name, or the name ture they may and dim,
be, visual or verbal, blurred
reminds you of the object, it is through the law of con- vivid and need not be
distinct, abstract or concrete,
tiguity that the terms are suggested to the mind. memory images, in the strict sense of the word. That
The Law of Similarity says that, when conti- is, they need not rise before the mind in a margi-
guity fails to describe what happens, the coming ob- nal fringe or context of concomitant circumstances,
resemble the going objects, even
jects will prove to which mean for us their date. They may be mere con-
though the two were never experienced together be- ceptions, floating pictures of an object, or of its type
or class. In this undated condition, we call them prod- mind, are treated as conceptions of a higher and more
1
ucts of Imagination' or -conception. Imagination is abstract order, aswhen we speak ofa 'syllogistic rela-
tht term commonly used where the objecl repre-
1
tion
1
between propositions, or of four quantities mak-

sented is thought of as an individual thing. 'oncep- ( ing a 'proportion, or of the Inconsistency of two
1 1
Hon is the term where we think of as a type or class. it

conceptions, or the 'implication' of one in the other
For our present purpose the distinction is nol impor- So you sec that the process of education, taken
tant; and I will permit myself to use either the word m a large way, maj be described as nothing but the
conception, or the still vaguer word idea, to desig process of acquiring ideas or conceptions, the best
nate the inner objects ofcontemplation, whether these educated mind being the mind which has the largest
be individual things, like 'the sun' or '.lull us ( Jaesar/oi sieck ol them, read> to meet the largest possible ya
classes of things, like 'animal kingdom,' or, finally, en- the emergencies of life The lack ofedui ation
!
1
tirely abstract attributes, like 'rationality' or 'rectitude. means only the failure to have acquired them, and the
The result of our education is to fill the mind lit- consequent liability to be
1
floored and tattled

1
in the
tle by little, as experiences accrete, with a stock of vicissitudes of experience
such ideas. The sciences of grammar and
. . , of logic
are little more than attempts methodically to classify
\\ llli.iin .1
u
all such acquired ideas and to trace certain laws of re-
'.
York Henrj
lationship among them. The f< inns i >f relat ion I >< >1 w ecu llnli and Co., 1916, pp 15 19, 22 31,64-69 76 M
them, becoming themselves in turn noticed by the l I t I i<;
DEWEY
DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION
Perhaps the most important u ork thai I y < n '• m diu atv m u as lemocracj and Educa >< << I
tion, published in 1916 His understanding oj education was detailed m and he

sti uggled toe ideas in a language that ordina ould understand, hem
he was not alu ay U becaust
foUou ing selection is a lucid but i
s In it, he reflects on tl
ciai nature oj education and hou it lit iduals

to become ducated < < 'ommunu ation is i entrai to U
texts be< ause communu ation enlarg
curs in formaland informal settings, andphU
betv een the I
1. Renewal of Life by Transmission mallerbil ttempl
The most notable distinction between living and man . mainl. in
imate beings is that the former maintain then I the blow, mm I
by renewal \ stone whei Lributing factor to I
tance is greater than the tone of the bio While the living thinfl
remains outwardly unchai In turn tl

162 CHAPTER 4
which act upon it into means of its own further exis- renewal applies. With the renewal of physical exis-
tence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split into tence goes, in the case of human beings, the re-cre-
smaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), ation of beliefs, ideals, hopes, happiness, misery, and
but loses its identity as a living thing. practices. The continuity of any experience, through
As long as it endures, it struggles to use sur- renewing of the social group, is a literal fact. "Educa-
rounding energies in its own behalf. It uses light, air, tion, in its broadest sense, is the means of this social
moisture, and the material of soil. To say that it uses continuity of life." Every one of the constituent ele-
them is to say that it turns them into means of its ments of a social group, in a modern city as in a sav-
own conservation.As long as it is growing, the en- age tribe, is born immature, helpless, without language,
ergy expends in thus turning the environment to
it beliefs, ideas, or social standards. Each individual,
account is more than compensated for by the return each unit who is the carrier of the life-experience of
it gets: It grows. Understanding the word control in his group, in time passes away. Yet the life of the group
this sense, it may be said that a living being is one goes on.
that subjugates and controls for its own continued The primary ineluctable facts of the birth and
activity the energies that would otherwise use it up. death of each one of the constituent members in a so-
Life is a self-renewing process through action upon cialgroup determine the necessity of education. On
the environment. one hand, there is the contrast between the immatu-
In all the higher forms this process cannot be rity of the newborn members of the group — future its
kept up indefinitely. After a while they succumb; they sole representatives —and the maturity of the adult
die. The creature is not equal to the task of indefinite members who possess the knowledge and customs of
self-renewal. But continuity of the life process is not the group. On the other hand, there is the necessity
dependent upon the prolongation of the existence of that these immature members be not merely physi-
any one individual. Reproduction of other forms of cally preserved in adequate numbers, but that they
life goes on in continuous sequence. And though, as be initiated into the interests, purposes, information,
the geological record shows, not merely individuals skill, and practices of the mature members: Other-
but also species die out, the life process continues in wise the group will cease its characteristic life. Even
increasingly complex forms. As some species die out, in a savage tribe, the achievements of adults are far
forms better adapted to utilize the obstacles against beyond what the immature members would be capa-
which they struggled in vain come into being. Conti- ble of if left to themselves. With the growth of civi-
nuity of life means continual readaptation of the en- lization,the gap between the original capacities of the
vironment to the needs of living organisms. immature and the standards and customs of the el-
We have been speaking of life in its lowest ders increases. Mere physical growing up, mere mas-
—
terms as a physical thing. But we use the word life tery of the bare necessities of subsistence will not
to denote the whole range of experience, individual suffice to reproduce the life of the group. Deliberate
and racial. When we see a book called the Life of Lin- effortand the taking of thoughtful pains are required.
coln we do not expect to find within its covers a trea- Beings who are born not only unaware of, but quite
tise on physiology. We look for an account of social indifferent to, the aims and habits of the social group
antecedents; a description of early surroundings, of have to be rendered cognizant of them and actively
the conditions and occupation of the family; of the interested. Education, and education alone, spans
chief episodes in the development of character; of the gap.
signal struggles and achievements; of the individual's Society exists through a process of transmis-
hopes, tastes, joys and sufferings. In precisely similar sion quite as much as biological life. This transmission
fashion we speak of the life of a savage tribe, of the occurs by means of communication of habits of doing,
Athenian people, of the American nation. "Life" cov- thinking, and feeling from the older to the younger.
ers customs, institutions, beliefs, victories and de- Without communication of ideals, hopes, expec-
this
feats, recreations and occupations. tations, standards, opinions, from those members of
We employ the word experience in the same society who are passing out of the group life to those
pregnant sense. And to it, as well as to life in the bare who are coming into it, social life could not survive. If
physiological sense, the principle of continuity through the members who compose a society lived on continu-
ously, they might educate the new-born members, common in order to form a communitj or societj
but would be a task directed by personal Lnteresl
it are aims, beliefs, aspirations, knowledge a common
rather than social need. Now it is a work of necessity. understanding like inindedness as the sociologists
If a plague carried off the members of a societj say. Such things cannot be passed physically from one
all at once,
obvious thai the group would be per
it is to another, like bricks; they cannot be shared as per
manently done for. Vet the death of each of its con sons would share a pie by dividing it into physical
stituent members is as certain as if an epidemic took The communication which insures participa
them all at once. Rut the graded difference in age, the I ion in a common understanding is one which set ures
fact that some arc bom as sonic die. makes possible similar emotional and intellectual dispositions like
through transmission of ideas and practices the con responding to expectations and requirements
il
stanl reweaving of the social fabric. Yel this renewal Persons do in become a soi ietj b\ living in
'i
is not automatic. Unless pains are taken to see thai physical proximity, anj more than a man ceases to be
genuine and thorough transmission takes place, the socially influenced bj being so man) Feel or miles re
most civilized group will relapse into barbarism and moved from others \ book or a letter may institute a
then into savagery. In fact, the human young are so more intimate association between human beings
immature that if they were left to themselves without separated thousands of miles from each Other than
the guidance and succor of others, they could not exists between dwellers under the same root Indi-
even acquire the rudimentary abilities ne< essary for viduals do not even compose a social group because
physical existence. The young of human beings com- thej all work for a common end The pails of a ma
pare so poorly in original efficiency with the young of i
nine work with a maximum of cboperativenes
many of the lower animals, that even the powers common result, but the) do not form a communitj If.
needed for physical sustenance have to be acquired however, the) were all cognizanl of the common end
under tuition. How much more. then, is this the case and all interested in so that the) regulated their
it
with respect to all the technological, artistic, scien- specific activit) in mow of it. then they would form a
tific, and moral achievements of humanitj !
community I'm this would involve c munication
Each would have to know what the other was about
and would have to have some waj of keeping the
2. Education and Communication other informed as to his own purpose and pri
So obvious, indeed, is the ne< essitj of teaching and (Jonsensus demands communication
learning for the continued existence of a societj thai We are thus compelled to recognize that within
we may seem to be dwelling undulj on a truism Bui even the most social group there are many relations
justification is found in the fad that such emphasis is which are n< 0( ial \ large number of human
a means of getting us away from an unduly scl relationships m an) social group are still upon the
and formal notion of education. Scl Is are, indeed, machine like plane. Individual anothei so
one important method ol the transmission which ults. uiihoiii reference to the
forms the dispositions of the immature; bul it is onlj emotional and intellectual disposition and c
onsenl ol
one moans, and. compared with other agencii

atively superficial means. Oruj as we ha superiority of position, "Till, technical abilil
the necessity ol more fundamental and pet command of tools, me< hani< al i
modes of tuition can wo make sure ol placing the relatiot nl and • hild, tea< her and pupil, em
and empli ned, remain
scholastic methods in their true i oi
upon his up, no
Society not onh contii i |i
matter hovt U)U< h

sion./,// communication, bul it n
ist /// transmission. '// I omnium- ation Tl

haring
than a verbal tie between the
munity, and commv immu- of pui •
ommuni
mt\ m virtue.,! the things which incommon; ial life identical with i ommu-
and communication is the waj in which tl
n common Whal tl i
—
164 CHAPTER 4
communication is to have an enlarged and changed said, without exaggeration, that the measure of the
experience. One shares in what another has thought worth of any social institution, economic, domestic,
and felt and meagerly or amply, has his own
in so far, political, legal, religious, is its effect in enlarging and
attitude modified. Nor is the one who communicates improving experience; yet this effect is not a part of
left unaffected. Try the experiment of communicat- its original motive, which is limited and more imme-
ing, with fullness and accuracy, some experience to diately practical. Religious associations began, for
another, especially be somewhat complicated,
if it example, in the desire to secure the favor of overrul-
and you will find your own attitude toward your ex- ing powers and to ward off evil influences; family life
perience changing; otherwise you resort to expletives in the desire to gratify appetites and secure family
and ejaculations. The experience has to be formu- perpetuity; systematic labor, for the most part, be-
lated in order to be communicated. To formulate re- cause of enslavement to others, etc. Only gradually
quires getting outside of it, seeing it as another would was the by-product of the institution, its effect upon
see it, considering what points of contact it has with the quality and extent of conscious life, noted, and
the life of another so that it may be got into such form only more gradually still was this effect considered
that he can appreciate its meaning. Except in dealing as a directive factor in the conduct of the institution.
with commonplaces and catch phrases one has to as- Even today, in our industrial life, apart from certain
similate, imaginatively, something of another's expe- values of industriousness and thrift, the intellectual
rience in order to tell him intelligently of one's own and emotional reaction of the forms of human asso-
experience. All communication is like art. It may ciation under which the world's work is carried on
fairly be said, therefore, that any social arrangement receives little attention as compared with physical
that remains vitally social, or vitally shared, is educa- output.
tive to those who participate in it. Only when it be- But in dealing with the young, the fact of asso-
comes cast in a mold and runs in a routine way does ciation itself as an immediate human fact, gains in im-
it lose its educative power. portance. While it is easy to ignore in our contact with
In final account, then, not only does social life them the effect of our acts upon their disposition, or
demand teaching and learning for its own permanence, to subordinate that educative effect to some external
but the very process of living together educates. It en- and tangible result, it is not so easy as in dealing with
larges and enlightens experience; it stimulates and adults. The need of training is too evident; the pres-
enriches imagination; it creates responsibility for ac- sure to accomplish a change in their attitude and
curacy and vividness of statement and thought. A man habits is too urgent to leave these consequences
really living alone (alone mentally as well as physi- wholly out of account. Since our chief business with
cally) would have little upon
or no occasion to reflect them is to enable them to share in a common life we
his past experience to extract its net meaning. The in- cannot help considering whether or not we are form-
equality of achievement between the mature and the ing the powers which will secure this ability. If hu-
immature not only necessitates teaching the young, manity has made some headway in realizing that the
but the necessity of this teaching gives an immense ultimate value of every institution is its distinctively
stimulus to reducing experience to that order and —
human effect its effect upon conscious experience
form which will render it most easily communicable we may well believe that this lesson has been learned
and hence most usable. largely through dealings with the young.
We are thus led to distinguish, within the
broad educational process which we have been so
3. The Place of Formal Education far considering, a more formal kind of education
There is, accordingly, a marked difference between that of direct tuition or schooling. In undeveloped
the education which every one gets from living with social groups, we find very little formal teaching and
others, as long as he really lives instead of just con- training. Savage groups mainly rely for instilling
tinuing to subsist, and the deliberate educating of needed dispositions into the young upon the same
the young. In the former case the education is inci- sort of association which keeps adults loyal to their
dental; it is natural and important, but it is not the group. They have no special devices, material, or in-
express reason of the association. While it may be stitutions for teaching save in connection with initia-
—
tionceremonies by which the youth are inducted hut in an advanced culture much which has to
into social membership. For the most pari, thej
hill he learned is stored in symhols. It is far from transla
depend upon children learning the customs of the lion into familiar acts and objects. Such material is
adults, acquiring their emotional set and stock of relattveh technical and superficial. Taking the ordi
ideas, by sharing in what the elders arc doing. In nan standard of realitx as a measure, is artificial for
it
part, this sharing is direct, taking part in the occupa this incisure is ( onnection with practil ,il r ems
tions of adults and thus serving an apprenticeship; in Such material exists in a world itself, unassimilated l>.\
part, it is indirect, through the dramatic plays in to ordinary customs of thought and expression There
which children reproduce the actions of grown-ups is the standing danger that the material of formal in
and thus learn to know what they are like To sav- struction will b( merelj thesubjeel matter of schools,
ages would seem preposterous to seek out a plai e
it isolated from tin- subjeel maitei ot life-experience.
where nothing hut learning was going on m order The permanent social interests are [jOkel) to he lust
that one might learn. from view. Those winch have not been carried over
But as civilization advances, the gap betw< into the structure of social life, hut which remain
the capacities of the young and the concerns of adults largel) matters of te< lain al information expressed in
widens. Learning by direct sharing in the pursuits of Symbols, are made conspicuous in s. I Is Thus we
grown-ups becomes increasingly difficult except in reach the ordinary notion of education the notion
the case of the less advanced occupations Much of which ignores its social necessity and its identity with
what adults do is so remote in space and in meaning all human association that affe< is const ions life, and
that playful imitation is less and less adequate to re winch identifies il with imparling information aboul
produce its spirit Ability i" share effectively in adult
. remote matters and the conveying of learning tin
activities thus depends upon a prior training given verbal signs the acquisition of literal j
with this end in view. Intentional agencies schools Hence one ppihlems with
of the weightiest
and explicit material — studies-are devised. The which the philosophy of education has to cope is the
of teaching certain things is delegated to a special method ot keeping proper balance between the in
.1
group of persons. formal and the formal, the incidental and the in
Without such formal education, is not possi it icniional. modes ol education When the acquiring
hle to transmit all the resources and achievements of ot information and of technical intellectual skill do
a complex society. It also opens a way to a kind ol not influence the formation of a social disposition
perience which would not be accessible to the young, ordinal") vital experience tails to gain in meaning,
they were left to pick up their training in informal while schooling, in so fai only "sh.u;
if
association with others, since hooks and the symbols learning that is, egoistic specialists Tbavoid
of knowledge an' mastered .
n what men < onsciousl) know because the)
But there an- conspicuous dangers attendant are aware of having learned il b) a spe< ili'
upon the transit ion from indirecl to Formal education learning, and what the) unconsi ioush know p.
Sharing in actual pursuit, whether direct!) bed it m the formatii I
personal and vital Thi .

with oi' ues an in
ously in play, is at least
some measure, for the nar reasingl) delii lopmenl ol

qualitiescompensate, in
,
rowness of available opportunities. Formal instruction,

on the contrary, easil) becomes remote ami dead
abstract and bookish, to use the ordinal
preciation. What accumulated knowli
pp I 9, in /
low grade societies |v .,1 |e;isl put llllo pi.c '
transmuted into character; il

Uni
meaning that attaches to its coming within urgent
daih inter
166 CHAPTER 4
SELECTED READINGS
Dewey, John. Experience and Education. New York: Macmillan, 1938. Dewey's views on
some excesses of the progressive movement and misinterpretations of his ideas in his larger
work, Democracy and Education. He attacks either/or thinking as debilitating to educa-
tional theory and reiterates the view that a philosophy of experience must be central.
Garrison, James W., ed. The New Scholarship on Dewey. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 1995.
A volume of 16 essays by authors from a cross section of disciplines and points of view. The
essays explore ways thenew scholarship on Dewey and neopragmatism have or could have
an impact on philosophy of education and educational theory and practice.
Menand, Louis. The Metaphysical Club. New and Giroux, 2001. An
York: Farrar, Straus,
interesting history of pragmatism's development and impact on American life. Menand ex-
amines the major contributions of the founders of pragmatism, and he sees the reemer-
gence of pragmatism as a consequence of the ending of the Cold War. He believes that in a
time of competing belief systems, people need the tolerance of the pragmatists, but they
also must build philosophy anew, just as they had to take new directions in their own day.
Rorty, Richard. Philosophy and Social Hope. New York: Penguin Books, 1999. A leading
neopragmatist reaffirms pragmatism's hopeful approach toward solving human problems,
including educational problems. Rorty maintains that today's philosophical task is not mak-
ing people's ideas correspond to metaphysical views but generating the kind of trust and
cooperation needed to deal with life's practical problems and creating a more democratic
society.
www.pragmatism.org/ (accessed April 5, 2002). Site for the "Pragmatism Cybrary," a help-
ful source with features that include the history of pragmatism, the "Library of Living Prag-
matists," the "Web Companion to Pragmatism," and numerous other major philosophical
links to "nodes on the Web." An excellent source for material on pragmatism and its lead-
ing proponents, past and present.
www.cuip.uchicago.edu/jds/links.htm (accessed April 5, 2002). Homepage of the John
Dewey Society. This site contains numerous Internet links concerning the works of Dewey
and other philosophers, and on pragmatism, progressivism, and related topics.
ONLINE RESEARCH
Utilizing some of the Web sites included in this book, as well as Topics2, 3, and 4,
Companion
of the Prentice Hall Foundations Web site found at www.prenhall.com/ozmon, an-
Website swer the following question with a short essay: What was the progressive movement
and how did it change American education? You can write and submit your essay
response to your instructor by using the "Electronic Bluebook" section found in any
of the topics of the Prentice Hall Foundations Web site.
5
Reconstructionism
and Education
The philosophy of reconstructionism contains two major premises: Society is in ( 1 )
need of constanl reconstruction or change, and (2) such social change involves a re
construction of education and the use of education in reconstructing society. is nol Ii
unusual for people involved with change, particularly the kinds of immediate and
necessary chan^t's thai every age seems to require, to turn to education as the mosl
effective and efficient instrumenl for making such changes in an intelligent, demo
cratic, and humane way. Reconstructionists advocate an aliunde toward change thai
encourages individuals Kiln to make life better than was or is \t the presenl time,
ii
particularly, reconstructionism could strike a responsive chord because people are

faced with a bewildering number of problems regarding race poverty, war. ei
cal destruction, and technological expansion problems thai seem to call for an im-
mediate reconstruction of all existing religious and philosophical value systems
Ideas and values thai once seemed workable for religion, familj life, and edu
cation no longer seem as viable as they once were Individuals are bewildered nol oruj
Future
by the changes thai have taken place alreadj bul also i>> the prospeel of
changes thai musl be made if humans are pe adequateh
I
with these problems
Although persons of intelligence and vision who thoughl aboul and promoted social
mati< outlook developed
change have always existed, onlj in recenl times ha
called reconstructionist philosoj
>
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF RECONSTRUCTIONISM

one form oi another ted throughout h
Reconstructionisl ideas in I
Plato, m preparing
struetiomst" philosophei He outlined a plan for a ju n whi< h edu
WOuld become the building material foi a new and betb i
would be eminenl
thai his state
ible Hei
thecustomsol hi mtempoi
'
'•'' equality, communal child
Hi 7
168 CHAPTER 5
rearing, and rule by a philosopher-king. In the Laws, he envisioned a time when

interest charges would be forbidden, profits would be limited, and human beings
would live as friends.
The Stoic philosophers, particularly in their concern for a world state, pro-
moted a reconstructionist ideal. Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor and philosopher,
maintained that he was a citizen of the world, not of Rome. This concept is one that
reconstructionists articulate today in their attempts to minimize nationalistic fervor
and chauvinism.
Many of the Christian philosophers, such as Augustine, preached reconstruc-
tionistreforms to bring about an ideal Christian state. The kinds of reforms that Au-
gustine asked for in The City of God were intended for the human soul rather than
material being, but they had ramifications that carried over to the material world, as
well. Theodore Brameld, a major twentieth-century reconstructionist, stated that
Augustine raised several difficult questions that later Utopian philosophers endeav-
ored to answer, such as whether history encourages people to believe that their ideal
goals can be reached. Thomas More, Thomas Campanella, Johann Valentin Andreae,
Samuel Gott, and other Christian Utopian writers also proposed things we might do
to bring the state into better accord with Christian thinking.
The writings of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Utopian socialists, such as
Comte de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Francois Noel Babeuf, advocated re-
constructionist ideals through the development of various forms of socialism. Robert
Owen and Edward Bellamy were influenced by the industrial revolution and saw the
use of technology not for the production of wealth per se, but for improving the lot
of humanity throughout the world. It was Karl Marx, decrying the harm done to work-
ers by the dehumanization of the industrial system, who pictured a reconstructed
world based on international communism.
Karl Marx received a doctorate in philosophy yet wrote extensively about eco-
nomics and history. He deplored armchair philosophical thinking and, like recon-
structionists, believed that education should not be an ivory-tower affair but a
method of changing the world. In Theses on Feuerbach, Marx wrote: "Philosophers
have only interpreted the world differently; the point, however, is to change it."
Marx had studied Hegel intensively, but where Hegel saw the dialectical move-
ment of the universe in idealist terms, Marx saw it in terms of the clash of economic
forces. These forces manifest themselves today by pitting the worker against the cap-
italist system. Education has been used as a way of maintaining the status quo be-
cause it has supported the interests of the ruling class, or bourgeoisie. Marx believed,
however, that education also could be used to overthrow those interests and to place
the proletariat in control. At such a time, Marx believed, the power of the state will
begin to wither and eventually will be replaced by true rule of the people.
According to Marx, education has been an insidious device used to indoctrinate
people into accepting and supporting the attitudes and outlooks of the moneyed in-
terests. Although money is seemingly neutral, laborers are robbed of their freedom
by exchanging work and production for money. Thus, workers are exploited by the
system as their productive abilities are appropriated in exchange for the symbolic
value of money.
RK CONSTRUCTIONISM AND EDUCATION 169
Education, according to Marx, is a means system bj promol

to entrench this -
ingthe Interests of the ruling class using the fonna] and the informal or "hidden" cur
riculum thai encourages subservience and docility. Schools arc controlled by elite
governing authorities to accomplish this, and schools in turn control students
through rules and regulations, discipline procedures, and the curriculum. Textbooks
are censored when they challenge conventional views on economics and government,
as well as sex, religion, and other touchy issues. Teachers, often without realizing it,
promote conventional biases, attitudes, and practices in many subtle ways, Students
also control each other through peer-group pressures thai can be powerful and on
conscious influences. As education can be used to enslave people, however, also it
can be used, if properly understood, to tree them To do this would mean over
throwing the current economic system and instituting a new kind of education ori
ented toward raising the social consciousness of economic controls thai would enable
each person to be an end and not a means.
Although World Wars and II turned people's thoughts awaj from optimistic
I
pictures of future worlds and spawned such dystopias as Udous Huxley's Bn

World and George Orwell's 1984, reformers and optimists still existed, such as
Bert rand Russell, whose Principles of Social Reconstruction listed steps that might
betaken to avoid the holocaust of war. Today, various groups propose ways toch
the world and to eliminate racism, poverty, and war. Some advocate the use of con
ditioning or "behavioral engineering" (as in B. F. Skinner's Walden Tu o) to make im
portant and significant changes in everyday life through advancing technical skills
InBeyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner maintains thai people cannot afford fi
don in the traditional sense and thai they must resolutely engineer a new social ordei
i
based on the technologj of behavior.

When examining proposals from Plato to Skinner, one finds that many Utopians
recommend education as a primary instrument for social change. Plato, for example
thought of education as the sine qua won of the g society; Marx saw n as a waj to
l
help the proletariat develop a sense of social consciousness; < Ihristian writers idvo
catedthe use of education as a means of inculcating religious faith and ideals; and mod
em technocrats see as a way to promote technical change and to provide individuals
il
with the necessary skills lor living in an advance.) technological SOCietj In Walden
Two, Skinner depicted a community of highly trained technicians, engineei
and agronomists who are educated or conditioned to a high level of profit iem Ti \
certainly a far crj from the romantic h< Henrj David Thoreaus Walden and
.lean Jacques Rou ;eaus &mue, bu1 ever Rousseau Bav* his finished produ< (as did i
John Locke in SomeThoughl ingEdh m who would latei
guide society along newer and better paths L [entleman" was to lead bj virtue
oi his breeding and education, whereas Rou loble Savage would lead be<
of Ins puritj and naturaliM looked f,,i so,

,ll i., lU( ation
ill K
III the Ulled Stiles, some
I
people ||., .'ill' .ll: I
form, such as Horace Mann and John Dewej f> edu< ation as an instrumenl
for changing individu duringtl
phi] une identified with radi< al so< ial reform t>
linked with a rejection ol absolutes and ai

170 CHAPTER 5
many who thought (and some who still do) that education was in the grip of forces
destined to lead American society down the liberal path to eventual destruction. Al-
though Dewey's philosophy is identified more readily today with moderate progres-
sivism, at its peak it often was identified with radicalism.
Modern reconstructionism is basically pragmatic and owes a tremendous debt
to Dewey. Reconstructionists promote such things as the scientific method, prob-
lem solving, naturalism, and humanism; however, reconstructionists diverge from
pragmatists in how they believe the pragmatic method should be used. Although
pragmatism advocates continuous change and a forward-looking approach to the prob-
lems of people and society, it has become (in the hands of many who call themselves
progressivists) a tool for helping people adjust to society rather than change it. One
can explain this attitude partly by reference to the immigrants coming to America in
the early 1900s who needed to be adjusted to American language and customs to
bring them more into the mainstream of American society. The need for education to
adjust people to social and cultural values has existed and always will exist, but re-
constructionists do not believe that this is the primary role education should under-
take. Education, from the reconstructionist's point of view, is to serve as a tool for
immediate and continuous change.
Although much has been written about Dewey's radicalism in politics, philoso-
phy, education, and other areas, he also has been interpreted to view education as a
way of making evolutionary, as opposed to revolutionary, progress toward social
change. Dewey envisioned these changes occurring within an evolving democratic
society rather than through the major revolutionary changes that many reconstruc-
tionists believe are necessary. Whereas some pragmatists support the idea of dealing
with problems within the existing framework of society, many reconstructionists hold
that although this might be a reasonable approach for some problems, it is often nec-
essary to get outside the general bounds of the contemporary value system to look
at problems from a fresh perspective without traditional restraints. Utopian writers
have pointed out, and perhaps understood better than anyone else, that many of the
great problems of society cannot be solved without changes in the structure of soci-
ety itself. Many Utopians and reconstructionists (and in all fairness, Dewey himself)
believe that some things people consider evil are really part of the institutions to
which they give allegiance, and we cannot hope to eradicate such evils without fun-
damental changes in these institutions.
Many people are perplexed when they hear that Socrates, the "gadfly of Athens,"
chose to face death rather than oppose the laws of Athens as they then existed. Some
reconstructionists charge that pragmatists appear to have accepted the Socratic
compromise: Pragmatists have championed change, but not at the price of alienating
those who need to be persuaded gradually into accepting orderly and systematic
movement through established democratic institutions. Dewey, for example, seemed
to be somewhat reluctant to advance education much faster than society itself could
be advanced. Reconstructionists maintain that modern individuals might not have the
luxury of such delay. Thus, although reconstructionism has its roots in past philo-
sophical systems and philosophers, it attempts to strike out in more radical directions
than its predecessors.
RECONSTRUCTIONISM AND EDUCATION 171
PHILOSOPHY OF RECONSTRUCTIONISM
Reconstructionism is nol a philosophy in the traditional meaning of the term; that
is. does not seek to make detailed epistemological or logical studies. As indicated,
it
reconstructionism is more concerned with the broad social and cultural fabrii in
which humans exist. One might saj thai reconstructionism is almosl apureh social
philosophy. Its leading exponents are nol so much professional philosophers as they
are educational and social activists. They concentrate on social and cultural condi
tionsand how these can be made more palatable for lull human participation.
George S. Counts and Theodore Brameld exemplified this outlook more than
anyone else. Brameld came closer to die more traditional role of the philosopher,
writing in considerable depth about the philosophical nature of reconstructionism.
Counts was the educational activist-scholar whoso interests were wide ranging \l
though not lacking in philosophical knowledge, his writings and professional activi
ties were more broadly concerned with social activism.
GeorgeS. Counts (1889-197-4)

George Counts came from background and spent most of his aduli life m
a rural
some He engaged in exten-

of America's major universities and intellectual circles.
sive travel and study abroad, especially m Russia during the time of the Soviel nion I
He was an acquaintance of John Dewej and was influenced greatly by thai philoso-
pher's social beliefs.
Counts's major work on reconstructionism is a small but widefo read book, Dan
the Schools Build a Neu Social Order? 1932). First delivered as three public lee
(
tures before a national group of educators, the central theme of Dare the Schools
struck American educators with force Counts had returned from the Soviet nion in i
1930, where he had made a detailed study of thai country's struggles. Seeing the
United states bogged down
in the social confusion of the Depression (a condition
thai *'oimis thoughl was inexcusable and needless), he soughl to awaken educators
to their strategic position in social and cultural reconstruction
Counts's central message was thai although education had been used histori
callyasa means of introducing people to their cultural traditions, social and cultural
conditions were so altered by modern science, technology, and industrialization thai
education now must be used as a positive force for establishing
new cultural patterns
and for eliminating social evils He implied thai educators must envision the pros
for radical social change and implement those pi l thai
educators should give up their comfortable roleol being supporters of the status quo
and take on the more difficult ta ial reformers Further, hei
" had " '" n
Hon with the course of pro '' l
bed itself with the liberal minded upper middle s He stated , i.,-
If Pi
from the influence of tl

come to grips with life In all ol il
with the commui

172 CHAPTER 5
fashion a compelling and challenging vision of human destiny, and become less
frightened than it is today at bogies of imposition and indoctrination.
Counts's thesis that the school should take responsibility for social renewal met
with heated opposition. He was criticized and condemned as a Soviet (or Commu-
nist) sympathizer. Critics pointed out that the school, a relatively weak institution,
could not accomplish so great a task. However, Counts's view was not tied solely to
the school, and his radicalism went much deeper. Indeed, he pointed out that the
school should not promote any one reform, but rather it should "give our children a
vision of the possibilities which
ahead and endeavor to enlist their loyalties and
lie
enthusiasms in the realization of the vision." To him, all social institutions and prac-
tices should be scrutinized critically, and the school serves as a reasonable means
whereby a rational scrutiny can be made. The actual reform, however, must be cul-
ture-wide and thorough.
Counts was the author of numerous books (several of them on Soviet culture
and education) and hundreds of articles. He influenced many students, educators,
and social reformers. His philosophical influence, though confined primarily to phi-
losophy of education and within that to the philosophy of reconstructionism, was
nevertheless considerable.
Theodore Brameld (1904-1987)

The person who was most influential in building reconstructionism into a more fully
developed philosophy of education was Theodore Brameld. The author of many

books, includingToward a Reconstructed Philosophy of Education, Education as
Power, and Patterns of Educational Philosophy, Brameld taught philosophy and
philosophy of education, lived and taught in Puerto Rico, and held posts in some of
America's major universities.
Brameld viewed reconstructionism as a crisis philosophy, not only in terms of
education but in terms of culture, as well. He saw humanity at the crossroads: One
road leads to destruction, and the other to salvation only if people make the effort.
Above all, he saw reconstructionism as a philosophy of values, ends, and purposes.
Although he had definite ideas about which road we should take, he pointed out that
he was by no means sure which road we would take.
According to Brameld, people are confronted with mass confusion and contra-
dictions in modern culture. At their disposal is an immense capacity for good on
the one hand, and a terrifying capacity for destruction on the other. Humans, he be-
lieved, must establish clear goals for survival. In broad terms, this calls for world
People must forego narrow nationalistic bias and embrace the community in a
unity.
worldwide sense. This will involve world government and world civilization "in which
peoples of all races, all nations, and all creeds join together in the common
all colors,
purpose of a peaceful world, united under the banner of international order." One
major activity for philosophy would be an inquiry into the meanings of different con-
ceptions of this central purpose of world unity. People need a democratic value ori-
entation, an orientation in which "man believes in himself, in his capacity to direct
himself and govern himself in relation to his fellows." It would involve, in terms of
•
world government, majority policj making and provision for minority criticism. \
basic means by which these goals can be achieved is education.

The Open Society and Its Enemies, Karl Popper wrote aboul a piecemeal
In
engineering approach versus the Utopian approach to the problems of society. Popper
was clearly in favor of the former, which fosters the mow of an open society where
many possibilities arc explored. He opposed the Utopian approach because he be-
lieved that long-range Utopian goals could become fixed and unyielding. Brameld,
however, saw value in both approaches thai is, Utopian ends and piecemeal means
He recognized the need for piecemeal engineering on a daily basis but fell thai tins
should be directed toward some goal even though goals can be changed from time to
time. It is true, as Popper showed, that goals can become inflexible, but for Brameld,
this did not have to be true and he was as opposed to absolutes in goal-setting as he
was to absolutes in anything else He was a dreamer as well as a worker, his prODOS
als were more visceral than provable m am complete sense, and he had certain pie
suppositions aboul the continued perfectibility of individuals and society. Brameld
was active m advancing proposals for consideration and implementation, and he saw
the Utopian concept as a technique for establishing useful goals and for orienting
people toward an acceptance of change itself.
Reconstructionists tend to look at problems holistically. They understand that
problems overlap and one problem, people mighl only create new
that in solving
ones; however, they maintain that people can be encouraged to see problems in a
if
broader perspective, the chain es "f eliminating the problems are greatlj enhani
Reconstructionists charge that the piecemeal engineers, for all their g I intentions,
often are only tinkering with problems rather than solving them, and perhaps iinwit
tingly preparing the ground for other problems to come.
The argumenl often has been advanced that no empirical
way exists to deter
mine what the good society should be and that the remnsl rudionist operates on
premises thai are more a matter of wish fulfillment than anything else. Critics saj that
no one. including Brameld, can saj definitivelj what the good society should be \l
though Brameld was aware and appreciative of the empirical approach, he maintained
that the results of scientific achievemenl should be used as broadrj leforthe
benefit of humankind He was critical, however, of the fail that SCieni e no less than
politics, education, and economics often is dealt with loo narrow])
Scientific technology is making

involved (ties more effi< ienl bul als
in i
re
coi hi ilex than ever before lends itself

It to misuse and destructive ends, as well In this
country, deaths through automobile and industrial accidents are another pan ol the
price we paj for lrvingin a highly mechanized >« ientificta hnoloj
m making cigarettes and all oholand in developing harmful hemi< als used on laud < 1
crops. Technology often is used m industry in ways thai belittle and dehumanize wort
Brameld ertainlj was nol opposed tothi
i
ndte< hnol
but he though! thai their advancement should depend on hun

thai the determination ofwhal is humane is diffii ult, bul he maintained
thai thn
,,!,,, ation, people* an been< ouraged to see hun in a mm h br Iiion
Re, on itru< ti< Brameld, an future orient!

,„,, mi that the tiit • ir bettei than the pi
174 CHAPTER 5
that underlying forces of class struggle or spirit, such as in the Marxian or Hegelian
sense, are propelling us toward a higher point; rather, reconstructionists hold the belief
that the future can be better adopt an attitude to work to make it better.
if people
In addition to schools, individualsand organizations that push for ideas and re-
forms in accord with reconstructionist philosophy have always existed. Brameld main-
tained that although activist reformers, such as Saul Alinsky, hardly can be regarded as
educators in the professional sense, they contribute far more richly to the education of
grassroots Americans than any number of superintendents of schools and professors
of education. For example, in Buffalo, New York, Alinsky taught poor people to unite
against unemployment in favor of equal opportunity for every employable adult.
Many others also have served as change agents for society. Ralph Nader, who
was a candidate for president of the United States in 1996 and in 2000, has long
fought for consumer protection and has maintained that mass injustice can end only
if enough private citizens become public citizens. Common Cause also has shown
how people can work together to eliminate social injustices and to improve the po-
litical process. Buckminster Fuller was another person widely applauded for devel-
oping plans for future awareness and a humane control of technology. An engineer
and inventor, Fuller pioneered the use of geodesic domes and wrote Synergetics,
which is about the cooperation of nature and design. Lewis Mumford was another
who dedicated a great deal of time to analyzing contemporary urban civilization and
suggesting alternatives.
One of the earliest Americans to promote the reconstructionist ideal of chal-
lenging societal norms was Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), who lived a solitary
lifefor 2 years in the woods by Walden Pond near Concord village in Massachusetts.
In Walden, he discussed the need for a reflective life and talked about "higher laws"
that transcended obedience to social dictates. He championed opposition to taxes
that were used to support slavery and war making, and he was willing to go to jail for
his beliefs. He set many of these ideas forth in his essay "Civil Disobedience," which
had a great influence on Gandhi in his campaign against British rule in India. Another
American one who attacked the evils of society through his writing, was Upton
critic,
Sinclair (1878-1968). Sinclair wrote about abuses in the meatpacking industry in The
Jungle; this led to passage of the first federal pure food laws. He also attacked reli-
gion in The Profits of Religion, and education in The Goose Step (1923).
A number of organizations agree with many reconstructionist ideas. For ex-
ample, Greenpeace International engages in educational and activist enterprises,
such as protecting whales and opposition to drilling for oil in fragile wilderness areas.
The World Law Fund has developed models for world law, enlisting a variety of
students in schools and colleges for their projects. The World Future Society con-
sistently examines futuristic trends and develops models in government, family, sci-
ence, and education as guides to human behavior. Basically, such organizations are
concerned with alternative futures and engage in activities to meet those ends.
Reconstructionist philosophy on the whole is strongly inclined toward Utopian
or futuristic thinking. Reconstructionists have a penchant for Utopian thinking, which
manifests itself in their desire for an ideal world free of hunger, strife, and inhuman-
ity They believe that planning and thinking about the future is a good way of pro-
viding alternative societies for people to consider, and they believe thai this km. of I
thinking should be promoted in schools, where teachers can encourage students to

become future-oriented persons.
Akin who coined the term future shock, points oul thai people are suf
Toffler,
fering mental and physical breakdowns from too much change in too shorl a time.
These breakdowns are revealed in the number of heart attacks, ulcers, nervous dis
orders, and similar ailments of modern people To combat future sho< k. Toffler be-
lieves, "hit nrr studies" should be part of the curriculum on every level of schooling.
Some forms this curriculum could lake mighl include students preparing scenarios.
engaging in roundtable discussions, role playing, computer programming of "futures
games." and conducting futures fairs and clubs.
To filers The Third Wave is an appropriate sequel to Future Shock In The
Third Wave, Toffler describes three major changes, or "waves" thai have affected hu-
man life greatly. The first wave was brought about by the developmenl of agriculture,
ending humans' nomadic existence. According to Toffler, this wave existed from s >
b.c. to around v.d. L650 to \.i>. 1750. The second wave, the industrial revolution (or
industrial wave), began after this time and lasted until about 1955. This wave nol only
brought industry and technologj bu1 also changed people's thinking accordingly. It
encouraged schools to adopt routinized lockstep methods of instruction thai para!

leled factory life. Now. Toffler says, a third wave is occurring thai emphasizes indi
viduality, "hot relationships" in which people use technology at home to work
together in joinl projects, and a service economy. Toffler believes thai homes are now
"electronic cottages" with equipment that makes learning opportunities readilj avail
able to children and adults. Because of this, more and more learning is taking place
within the home
In Learning for Tbmorrou . Toffler says:
So long as the rate of technological change in such a communitj stays slow, so long
as no wars, invasions, epidemics or other natural disasters upsel the even rhythm
of life, n is simple for the tribe to formulate a workabli image ol its
own futui
since tomorrow merely repeats to I
Today, the rate of change is rapid, but educational systems often

deal with the world
as a static system. The problem is rerniniscenl of that recounted m Abner PeddiwelTs

The Saber Tboth 'un iculum, in (
which the author shows thai little or no h i
ins necessarj in education until the em roaching gla< iei makes currenl ;
oul of date Today, scl Is continue to teach theories and pi thai no loi
are useful in improving or maintaining the life of the tribe and Tbfflei says thai even
n0W) "
m
osl schools coll< ge and univei e then teaching on the usuall) ta< il
familiar t! fhi
notion thai tomoi orld Will I lllj
is most unlikelj more probable

It is that the future will be radii alb differenl from the
world as people now know n still ontinue to edu< ate people, nol foi a fu
"'"'
lure time, nol even perha]
( i
I1(
.
contemporai h in edu< ation is the appli< ation ol busine is man

education "' technique
emenl theorj to
176 CHAPTER 5
extolled in a provocativebook by Paul S. George entitled The Theory Z School.

George designates the best of Japanese and American corporations as Type Z, and
he believes that people should emulate successful business practices by applying
them to schools. This involves setting forth a vital philosophy, curriculum alignment,
classroom congruence, group involvement, and spirited leadership. One basic as-
pect of the Theory Z approach is that it treats workers as part of a family: Manage-
ment listens toworkers and pays attention to their concerns, fears, and motivations.
Although George thinks that it might be difficult if not impossible to apply Japanese
management theory to education carte blanche, many aspects of it could be used
to make schools more effective, vital, and cooperative ventures than they now are.
James Herndon, in How to Survive in Your Native Land, noted that although
his classes were engaged in new and creative activities, other classes in the same
school slaved over lessons about ancient Egypt. One could compile a lengthy catalog
of obsolete courses that should be replaced with those more germane to today's and
tomorrow's needs. For example, some schools emphasize penmanship instead of
keyboarding, sometimes forbid the use of calculators or computers in mathematics
classes, teach spelling and the diagramming of sentences instead of creative writing,
drill students in phonics instead of teaching speed reading, and so on. The inordinate
attention they give to maintaining the status quo might represent the attitude of
—
those who run schools school boards and state legislatures. Frequently, such orga-
nizations promote a more conservative viewpoint and fail to see the need for change
in education if it is to keep up with changes in society at large.
Reconstructionists, understandably enough, are critical of contemporary soci-
ety. They point out the many contradictions and hypocrisies of modern life. Educa-
tion, they think, should help students deal with these problems by trying to orient
them toward becoming agents of change. Counts, for example, suggested that edu-
cators should enter areas, such as politics, where great change can be achieved. He
also suggested that teachers run for political office or become active in organizations
that promote change. Reconstructionists believe that students should think more
about such things as world government; a world without schools; and approaches to
ending war, bigotry, and hunger.
Although most educators have not heeded the philosophy advocated by recon-
structionists seriously some have become aware of the great need for change. Dur-
ing the 1960s and 1970s, a rash of school programs was sparked by cries for relevance
and innovation. Teachers were encouraged to innovate, although innovation was of-
ten of the most and relevance was interpreted to mean relevance to a sys-
trivial kind,
tem that was in decay. Few programs developed during this period changed
education in any lasting way. Their lack of seriousness has today led to a reaction
among parents and other laypeople calling for a return to basics and the kind of au-
thoritarian school structure that existed in the past.
In many quarters, however, a more sober assessment is being made of the needs
The World Future Society has
of education, not only for today but also for tomorrow.
sponsored numerous workshops for teachers in an effort to get them to think about
the future. Such workshops have spawned some of the programs on the future cur-
rently found in elementary, middle, and secondary schools. Educators are becoming
increasingly aware that classroom activities are not an end in themselves, and thai
years after their days in the classroom, students mighl lace conditions lor which thej
have not been specifically prepared This concern led Dewey to point out that the
facts children are taughl today might be out of date bj the time thej graduate. Thus,
he emphasized teaching a problem-solving method that he thought would he as use
ful in the future as it is in the present.
Many have speculated aboul where schools are headed and what direction thej
should follow in the years ahead Some futurists have suggested such things as es
tablishing longer hours tor preschoolers, extending formal education from birth to
death, increasing the use of computer technology to aid learning, and emploj ing use
ful results from DNA research.
Many futurists think that people need to leek even further, and long-range pre
dictions usually start with things like reproductive technology. It is possible thai fu-
ture prospective parents will he able to predetermine the gender of their child and
toprogram its intelligence. looks, and personality. In vitro fertilization will become
commonplace, and embryo transfers will he widespread Parents will he able to se
lect twins or triplets, children could he gestated in artificial wombs as in Huxley's
"
Brave New World, and parents might one day purchase embryos in a "babytorium
Experiments with stem cell research and human cloning, for example, could have :i
profound effect en societj and education and would necessitate changes in the way
children are viewed. As children in the future grow up. they also might receive more
of their education at home through various new media no; oruj traditional mi
crochip technology hut new ways net yel even envisioned. In addition, i! 1-hour daj
care centers mighl he available where parents can leave children tor extended
periods, visiting them only when thej choose.
From another perspective, schools themselves mighl be obsolete In < luernava
Mexico, Ivan Illich founded the ('enter to t Intercultural Documentation (CIDOt
where he and other scholars studied and explored radical alternatives \pries1 turned
social reformer, Illich argues that no schools are needed at all as they presently exist
In Deschooling Society, he distinguishes between schooling and education, and
he
lievesthal education should be spread throughoul itj rather than being onducted ! i
only in special buildings provided for that purpose He think', that people can he edu
eatodoiithe joh.at home, and when thej mighl be during their daj to daj
tiMties Mich also has proposed the use ofleaming webs" through which people can
pool information and talents with others. Some critii .point out that mcewenl
through a period in history without i with i<\\ s< rtooli « itherssee Ulii h'sidea
ashavinggreal implications for the future; thej ontendthal spa i ial build
for elementary, secondary, and higher education maj

i
wide ranging interests include edu< ation, transportation, medii ine pol
Qlich's
not
itics, and economic conditions in the Thud
World in the last l-v.
written a great deal o (l education, hut much attention has been given to th<
il *''
[)r ,., ,| m Deschooling "- ' 1
" •'
'"
has encoura ''
thai the s< hool thai the

equalitii • ;
benefil
178 CHAPTER 5
Some critics say that what Illich is doing is assessing the role of education in a
just society —the kind of medieval ideal that stressed the cooperative ties among the
individual, the social community, and nature. Education, from Illich's viewpoint,
should be a "convivial" activity in which institutions should treat people with concern
and as individuals. A more recent work is Medical Nemesis, in which Illich points out
that the human ability to cope with pain and death has been appropriated by the medi-
cal profession, which serves the needs not of the individual, but of the corporate in-
dustrial society.
Educators, such as Neil Postman, speak of an "Ivan Illich Problem" that has
caused them to reassess how conservative they are and to reconsider the question of
intellectual cowardice or, even worse, obtuseness. Illich raises the crucial issue of
how effective schools are in seeing the complete student, as well as the needs of hu-
manity; in so doing, he asks one to ponder how well schools serve the cause of a just
and moral universe.
Ideas proposed by thinkers such as Ivan Illich might help educators approach
the teaching of the future in new ways. To get students to think about the future,
some courses raise such questions as these: What will your life circumstances be in
10 years? What will families be like in the future? What major changes will occur
in the years ahead? In some schools, students even play a game called "What If?" in
which they are asked such questions as "What if your eyes were closed and you
opened them in the future? What would be the first thing you would see?" or "What
if there were no schools and everyone had to find their own education? Where would
you begin?"
In experiments in some schools, students work on projects that examine their
possible on Mars. Questions are posed about what laws they would enact. How
life
would they manage limited food and air supplies? What activities might they engage
in on Mars? Students can be asked to develop an ideal society, focusing on such areas
as economics, politics, social patterns, and so forth. They might even prepare a wheel
showing how all of these various activities would interrelate to develop an efficient
and harmonious society. At one school, students were asked to write their own
obituaries, stating the cause of death, the year they died, and major activities per-
formed during their lifetimes. (One creative student reported that his death was
caused by a hammer dropped by a careless robot.)
Students can use various forecasting techniques in making short- and long-
range forecasts. As part of this assignment, they could evaluate the forecasts of oth-
ers. Students can be asked to write scenarios or science fiction stories. They might
even be encouraged to think about the future in terms of such present-day facts as
the following: (1) The United States has a relatively small proportion of the world's
population but consumes a major portion of the world's energy output; (2) a minor-
ity of the world's population is white, and the overwhelming majority is nonwhite; and
(3) the average length of time people of the United States spend in any large city is
lessthan 5 years. These and other facts might encourage interest in the future and
serve as the basis for report writing and discussion. Students also might use these
facts as springboards for dramatizations and role playing. Many students seem to
have a natural interest in the future, and teachers can use this interest for motiva-
tion in the study of mathematics, science, and art. Some students who are nol "turned
on" by traditional approaches mighl be motivated bj the novel and direct appeal of
future concerns.
One unlikely futurisl was Teilhard de Chardin, who was a Jesuit
priesl andasci
entist. Teilhard's primary interesl was way to unifj science and religion.
in finding a
He believed the answer lay m technology, which was an advanced view in lus time,
antedating the wide use of television and computers. In The Phenomenon oj Wan,
he stated that ho believed God was creating a "compressive convergence" and thai
technology would help bring aboul this convergence, <>r what he called the "nod
sphere." Many of Teilhard's ideas weir continued bj Marshall McLuhan, whose con
cept of a "global village" resembles Teilhard's noosphere
One novel approach to thinking is the so-called "chaos theory." Tins approai h
was developed from mathematical theories, particularly the work of Jules Henri
Poincare. Chaos theory gained momentum through quantum mechanics in the held
of physics —
in particular, the work of Werner Heisenberg and his theory of indeter
minaey, or the accidental, contingent, or indeterminate behavior of physical

processes. Recent approai lus have adopted the name "nonlinear dynamical sys
terns" theory (NDS) or "complex systems" theorj CCS). Basically, these theories
point to the tact that no straight lines or perfect
symmetry is found in nature, yet hu-
mans operate on the assumption of symmetry and predictability in thou- dattj lives
People are not machines, bul the "mechanical model of reality" is often used in mea-
suring or describing human behavior. is assumed, for example, that human beha\
It
ior can be describe! with the precision of numbers in psychological testing or that
l
social behavior can bo measured with precision in sociological research. Stephen J.

Guastello, in Chaos, Catastrophe, <nni Unman Mums. sa,\s that a great deal of
knowledge about human systems has born ignored b\ inattention to its non
serial
linear characteristics. It might be as mam philosophers have pointed out. that the
order and regularity seen in nature and in social systems is what has been imp
on them through people's assumptions and thought processes. Is Immanuel Kant put
it. the very way our minds are structured affects the waj we interpret things Uvin
Toffier says that research from the "Brussels school" of Uya Prigogine and his a
ciates indicates that instead ofa well-ordered Newtonian or Lapla< ian model ol the
universe, the universe seething with change, disorder, and pro*
is i
Chaos theorists see the world in terms of vitality, turbulence, and volatility The
idea ofa fixed norm does not have a place in their theorj Thej rejei conventional i
beliefs about finance, probability, and economics Concepts su< h as the bell curve
ression to the an, or othei predictive models ol beha imph human

ideas imposed on nature to explain the order ol things, and haos theorists maintain
i
that such mod) I

il and inaccurate repn entation -t realitj
Proponents haos theorj appb their thinking to widi
ol i
.. »1 dis< iplit
such as e< ology, biology, economi* /eminent Paradox* all
maintain that manj tl n toforei 1

1
haoti<
,od in a determini to the phenomenon know

chaos This <
oncept might pi nil in th< " in
mu be interpreted from the standpoint ol random ban

many situation that '
i
180 CHAPTER 5
probability. It is well known in the social sciences that in measuring human behavior,
all variables cannot be controlled. Although chaos theory has old roots, only in recent
years has a concerted effort been made to apply this theory to natural events and so-
cial interactions.
Because the world of tomorrow will be run by the children of today, it is vital
that young people be encouraged to be concerned about the future and have instilled
in them the idea that they can help shape that future according to their own goals
and aspirations. Rather than view it as something that just happens, people need to
look at the future as something that they can, by their own efforts, make into a world
of beauty and infinite promise.
Reconstructionism has influenced educators into thinking anew about the role
of education. As a relatively recent philosophy of education, reconstructionism has
been vanguard of those seeking to make education a more active social force.
in the
They have championed the role of the educator as a primary change agent and have
sought to change schools in ways that would contribute to a new and better society.
Because reconstructionism is a relatively new movement in education, it is difficult
to assess its impact fully at this time.
RECONSTRUCTIONISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Perhaps the most outstanding characteristics of reconstructionist educators are their
views that modern society is facing a grave crisis of survival, that the educator must
become a social activist, and that the school occupies a strategic position in meeting
the crisis and in providing a necessary foundation for action.
Education and the Human Crisis
Numerous educators call themselves reconstructionists. The Society for Educational

Reconstruction (SER) was established in 1969 to further reconstructionist ideals on
a wider scale. A policy statement released by SER sets forth the two basic objectives
of reconstructionism: (1) democratic control over the decisions that regulate human
lives, and (2) a peaceful world community. SER members believe in assisting educa-
tors everywhere in presenting their deepest social concerns to their students with
optimum effectiveness. They encourage leaders to apply reconstructionist values to
experimental educational programs in schools and communities.
Members of SER believe that most approaches to educational and social reform
are inadequate and outdated. From their perspective, people cannot wait for the
kinds of gradual reform advocated by most philosophies, particularly when human
survival might depend on the immediate steps needed to make society more human-
istic and productive. Indeed, it appears that we are living in an age of crisis, and pro-
gressivism, which once promised so much, seems to them to be an outmoded way of

dealing constructively with current issues. SER points out that humans now have the
power to extinguish themselves and all living creatures from the face of the Earth,
and that unless some way is found to integrate technological developments with the
highest principles of human rights, all cogitations and discussions will become mere
rhetoric. The schools have failed to take on this task. Vsone reconstructionisl pul it,
"What academic concept will students be 'discovering' when the computers press the
nuclear button.'"
Reconstructionists see the primarj struggle in society today as being between
those who wish to preserve society as n is, or with little change, and those who be
lieve that great changes are needed nol only to ensure human survival as a species
but also to make
people's lives better. Such a struggle is not limited to the fnited I
States; major international crisis that demands concerted and well planned ac
it is a
tion. Central to this needed action, reconstructionists believe, is the crucial role of
the educator and the school.
Ifthe role of educators nationally and internationally is assessed in this tune ol
crisis, one might conclude with reconstructionists thai most educators are. at their
worst, linked with the forces of reaction and. al their best, only liberalized. Many
teachers come from which the parents seldom suf
the middle class, from families in
fered loss of income from unemployment; they seldom had to worry about where the
next meal was coming from, and their parents could afford to send them to college
Most of them attended schools that taught traditional genteel attitudes toward hie
and society. As a reward for their endeavors, some of them have obtained positions
in which they haw continued the teaching of preestablished materials in preestab
lished ways. Such teaching has failed to reach minority groups; to change racial atti
tildes; to create change-oriented individuals; to develop humane attitudes; or to solve
the problems ol' poverty, repression, war. and greed. )ne might even argue that in- (
stead of solving such problems, i ducation has helped perpetuate these problems. It
has provided specialists tor warfare and for Wall Street, and it has aided and abetted
rampant consumerism. Reconstructionists maintain that people have indeed foi
ten thai education should create change, and they argue that, unfortunately, il is
used to maintain the status quo.

For educators to make real changes in society, reconstructionists urge them to
become involved in affairs outside then own classrooms and schools Critics have
challenged Counts's thesis of 1932 !>•!" the Schools Build " Veu Social Ord*
because educators are not \<>< ated .it those pome, in society where fundamental po
litical and economic decisions .He made Uthough Count ted that tea I
run for political office and room, the number

of teachers who have doi 'ill. 'hose who nave seem to ha
not for the purpose ol advancing the cause ol education or enat til d re
forms but for achieving p< te other inten

Somecritii nstructionism think that U hould not take part in
i ial and political .illan ulr.il plai es and
might lose objectrvitj bj playing a partisan role v the French philosophei l<
Paul San re has pointed out, no neutra I
Tea< heir deliberate noi ble for tl

bj default I
dities .ill around us in th(
eutral " If thej did. n

atrocitii p i
182 CHAPTER 5
would agree that "the hottest spot in hell is reserved for those who in times of moral
crisis remain neutral."
Nobuo Shimahara, who challenged the neutrality in higher education after the
student uprisings at Columbia University in the late 1960s, also explored this issue.
Shimahara states that the appeal to neutrality as an attempt to resolve the dilemma
was futile and obsolete. Why? Colleges and universities are politically influenced to
a significant degree and occasionally adulterated by political and economic interests.
Research in an advanced university, for example, is more or less determined by the
structure of investments of private industries and the order of political priorities in
government. University trustees and alumni are often high-ranking members in the
corporate structure of the United States and greatly influence local and national po-
litical and economic power. They also strongly influence the basic policies of higher
education in ways that reflect business attitudes and the economic interests of the
business sector.
Reconstructionist educators tend to think of themselves as radical educational
reformers rather than as reactionary conservatives, timid moderates, or weak-
hearted liberals. In the past few decades, an increasing number of educators have
called for radical changes in educational aims and methods; among them are Herbert
Kohl, Kenneth Clark, Paul Goodman, A. S. Neill, Ivan Illich, and Neil Postman. Only
a few, however, seemhave comprehended fully that radical changes in education
to
cannot occur without radical changes in the structure of society. Some sociologists
point out that educational reforms cannot be made apart from wider social reforms.
It is generally true that educational reform follows social reform and rarely if ever
precedes or causes it. For educators to engage in educational reform effectively, they
must perform a dual role: educator and social activist. For the reconstructionist, the
two roles should not be separated, for educators should be committed enough to act
on those things they teach in the classroom. This is also what it means to be a citizen
in the fullest sense of that term although this reference is to world citizenship rather
than national citizenship. Acting as a citizen implies that one is not only a participat-
ing member of society but also a person who continually searches for better values
and an end to degrading and harmful aspects of society. It also implies becoming will-
ways to bring society more in line with those better values.
ing to act in
The idea of an educator as an action agent, particularly as a social activist, dis-
turbs some people. Reconstructionists explain that it is not necessary to separate
knowledge and action. Knowledge should lead to action, and action should clarify,
modify, and increase knowledge. This point by a painting that hangs in
is illustrated
the New York Public Library in New York City. It shows monks busily working on their
Bible safe inside the monastery, while outside knights are burning down houses and
cutting off the noses of the slower taxpayers. The monks apparently see no need to
use their knowledge for the improvement of humanity in this world. Action without
thought might lead to detrimental ends, but thought without action is no more de-
fensible. Thus, educators, because of their nonintervention in the course of human
affairs, have contributed to some extent to the problems facing humans worldwide.
Actions are no more perfect than ideas, but placing an idea into action allows one, as
Dewey argued, to reassess it in the world of human experience and, through subse-
quent thought, to make il a better idea. Reconstructionists would like to link thought
with action, theory with practice, and intellect with activism.
Role of the School

Americans have asked a lot from their schools. W lion driver education needed to be
taught, schools took it home econom-
on. just as they have taken on sex education,
ics, drug education, and many other tasks. The
and schools are belief thai educators
thus leading society in some better way, however, mighl be erroneous The schools
are fulfilling a need that by virtue of their organized and specialized structure, they
can do better than am other institution. Yet, schools have remained basically the
same, and the idea that society is being advanced by making education more relevant
or accountable is only to say that is being made more relevant to the needs of the
il
status quo or more accountable in vested interests as they currently exist. To think
that the changes recently undertaken to make school curricula more open or flexible
also will result in necessary societal changes could be called wishful thinking Such
changes often do not succeed in altering the power structure as much as in mam
taining or advancing it.
One great need in education todaj is to view the schools in a much wider per
spective. Such a movement canni simply be a movement in "life adjustment ," "rele
»1
vancy," "accountability." or "basic" education because these only prolong ideas and
institutions that are in need of change. To be effective, this movement must be a
more radical approach through a variety of methods, to change existing
that seeks,
social institutions, including the school, in ways that make them more responsive to
human needs.
Such a movement must begin with the view that the scl I does not exist apart
from society but within n and thai the reconstruction of societj will occur nol
through the school but with it. This movement requires edui ators who are willing to
explore new possibilities through action requires teachers who can see alterna
It
tives and who have some conception of a better world demands a school ist ii It il i!
tion freed hem the traditional ideological framework so that can project lew it .
and values needs individuals teachers and students who are moral in the
Ii
•
that no conflict exists between the well-thoughl ideas and the well planned actions
they are willing to perform on a d.nlv basis This means insisting on the idea thai
people can change societj through individual and collective effort, for nol to be m
velved is to assist in the perpetuation of values and systems thai are an haii mi
workable, and dehumanizing. Humans live in a world where nuclear destTUi tion is
where the air and
possible, th< water are polluted, where the population explo
grows more threatening i
world with worsening racial relations, inter
national misundei I politic al ineptnesson an international
The i
nited States embarked on a program ol mass edui ation unparalleled in
human historj It ha led to the extenl thai I people who

would have been denied h hooling in manj othi i i ountrii
method hing, though still far from ideal have improved R
maintain hi *till looking ba< •

ther than
—
184 CHAPTER 5
In 1900, about 60 percent of our power rested on physical strength. Today, less than
6 percent is manual, as technology has become a bigger part of people's lives. Edu-
cation was slow to cope with such changes. Efforts now must be redoubled to face
the time ahead when even greater changes might occur. As difficult as the task might
be, people need to be provided with education for a future that they do not know
one that most likely will be more complex than today's world.
The problem of goal setting in society and in schools is important because al-
though many people are busily engaged in the affairs of life, much of what they do is
harmful to themselves and others. People are turning out missiles, new methods of
warfare, harmful products, unnecessary luxuries, and all the rest. They do not lack
initiative, drive, and productivity. However, does all of this have any real purpose?
The problem is a moral one. Reconstructionists view all our actions in a moral con-
text because everything people do has consequences for the future. They believe that
education in schools must be directed toward humane goals that result in better so-
cial consequences for all.
Ivan Illich struck a new radical note. He charged that modern societies, such as
the United States, have become too dependent on established institutions, particu-
larly with regard to education. Schools certify and license parasitical interests. They
hold a monopoly over the social imagination, controlling standards for what is valu-
able through their degree-granting powers. It has come to the point that knowledge
is suspect unless certified by schooling. The social and human results create psy-
chological impotence and the inability to fend for oneself.

What must be done, Illich maintained, is detach learning from teaching and cre-
ate a new style of education based on self-motivation and new linkages between
learners and the world. Educational institutions have become too manipulative ac-
cording to Illich; what is needed is a "convivial" system of education that promotes,
rather than selectively controls, educational access by helping learners arrange for
their own education. The results of this new system would be "learning networks" of
information storage and retrieval systems, skill exchanges, and peer-matching ca-
pacities. It would provide learners with available resources at any time in their lives,
and it would recognize those who want to share what they know and connect them
with those who want to learn it. It also would provide opportunities for the open ex-
amination of public issues and provide for a wider dissemination of knowledge. De-
schooling would liberate access to education, promote the sharing of knowledge and
skills, liberate individual initiative, and free individuals from institutional domination.
In some ways, Illich's learning networks anticipated the vast capabilities of comput-
ers using such avenues as the Internet and the World Wide Web. Although Illich's book
did not bring forth a massive disestablishment of schools, it did help many people
reevaluate their beliefs about education and schooling. The idea that many paths lead
to education and that formal schooling is not the only or even the best way in every
instance received a renewed emphasis.
A was heard from Paulo Freire (1921-1997), the Brazil-
similar cry for reform
ian philosopher and educator, who had to leave his native Brazil because of his politi-
cal ideas, although he later returned. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire shows
how education has been used to exploit poor people. Freire suggests that ideal teach-
.
ers arc friends of those they educate. Through proper techniques, a teacher can en
able adult students to become cognizanl of the forces thai exploil them and to be
come aware of how they can use education and knowledge as a means to improve
their lives. Freire criticizes the traditional concepl of education in which peopli
not required to know anything; thej jusl memorize information presented by the
teacher. Instead, Freire wants education to be involved with the real and current
everyday problems of people. According to Freire, poor people need better health it
care, then education oughl to help them comprehend or construct ways in which to
secure it
Aims of Education
Reconstructionism emphasizes the need for change. It is Utopian in the idea of goals
directed toward a world culture or civilization. Yet . n is also flexible because it holds
that goals can be modified process as problems and blocks occur along the wa\
in
Whatever the specific educational goals, one thing seems tank certain to the recon
structionist: Social change and social ucliun are needed.
The idea of promoting change is based on the notion that individuals and soci
ety can be made better. <
toe maj see in tins idea a kind of evolutionarj development
or Hegelianism; that the process of moving things from a less
is, one can assist in
desirahlc to a Thus, reconstructionists would like to involve

more desirable state.
people more as change agents, to change themselves and the world around them
They are opposed to abstract or armchair philosophies in which the emphasis is more
on knowing than on doing. Reconstructionists do not believe that any conflict exists
between knowing and doing, for all actions should he well thought out in advani e
Reconstructionists would like to see an end to the ivorj tower mentality, with e\
one involved in some way in social action. They believe that education includes indi
viduals as well as society The education that one generally receives m today's
schools, based on competition, tends to isolate and separate people Recon-
.is it is
structionists do not think that school can be separated from the rest of society or in
dividu.ils from each other. Thej strive for unitj rather than fragmentation
When Counts wrote Da re the Schools Build <> \ he provided
a rallying crj for reconstructionists. He criticized the direction that |
nam
had taken in its life-adjustment phase and its failure to act on < riti< al I the
day. He argued lor a would he more active and take the lead
new progressivism that
m social change. When looking ;it the situation today, on.' finds that schools and ed
ucators are still not leaders ol change and often serve to prevent Even when it
ety has moved ahead in ac( epting new social customs the s< hooi often continu<
preserve traditional d edut ators to begin taking the lead b

t
taming power,,, ,d in exen isingthal power for the g lol Edui ators should
become more involved in social causes In this way, thej would be involved in km
own education and would '"""' than in
proving their '
classroom £U I r-
World community, brotherhood, and dem

ictionist in and desire to implement in
186 CHAPTER 5
should foster these ideals through curricular, administrative, and instructional prac-
tices.Although schools cannot be expected to reconstruct society by themselves,
they can serve as models for the rest of society by adopting these ideals.
Reconstructionists are critical of most methods currently used in all levels of school-
ing. This because the old methods reinforce traditional values and attitudes un-
is
derlying the status quo. In such circumstances, the teacher becomes an unwitting
agent of entrenched values and ideas. The "hidden curriculum" underlies the educa-
tional process, and students are shaped to fit preexisting models of living. To the ex-
tent that teachers are ignorant of this factor, they continue to nurture and sustain the
system through the teaching techniques and processes they use. For example, school
boards or states approve the textbooks that teachers must use in their classrooms,
and teachers who accept and use these adopted materials without question become
party to a devious kind of indoctrination. Often, such textbooks are approved be-
cause they are noncontroversial or contain distortions, such as subtle economic,
racist, or sexist ideas popular in the dominant culture.
Instructional tools, such as texts and teaching techniques and processes, exert
influences on learners. For example, where teachers are viewed as dispensers of
knowledge and students as passive recipients, the way is paved for students to ac-
cept uncritically whatever is presented. Passivity on the part of students deprives
them of any creative role in analyzing and constructing materials or in making judg-
ments and decisions. Perhaps this kind of problem is seen most readily in the area of
social studies, where objectivity and criticism often are not encouraged. What often
passes as social studies is little more than nationalistic bias that reinforces chauvin-
istic tendencies. Prefabricated teaching materials with the questions and answers al-
ready established result in making students think alike about society, the economy,
and the political structure. Social studies are designed to encourage good citizenship,
but a built-in bias of what good citizenship is almost guarantees a narrow and provin-
cial outlook among students.
It is regrettable that so few of the citizens of the United States bother to vote
in national elections. Local elections are even more poorly attended, and some issues
do not receive even a 15 percent turnout. Polls show that few citizens know who their
representatives and senators are, and even fewer know the names of the members of
the Supreme Court, the duties of the president, the branches of government, and so
forth. Citizens, for the most part, take a passive attitude toward government. Al-
though they might complain about high taxes, inefficient government, and the low
quality of public officials, they do not often exercise their rights to change these
things. Failure to vote is only an indication of a deeper problem, according to the re-
constructionists. In addition to voting, citizens need to work for candidates they be-
lieve in or to run for office themselves. Reconstructionists want to see activism rather
than the passivity that currently exists.
Education should be directed toward arousing interest in public activism. For
example, one political science professor allowed his class to spend a semester work-
RE CONSTRUCTIONISM AND EDUCATION 187
ing for the candidates of their choice. These students learned more aboul the politi-
cal process through active participation than they could have by reading sterile books
or by attending lectures. Reconstructionists would heartily endorse this kind of ap
proach for at least a portion of a student's formal education. In.\// Aristocracy oj
Everyone: The Politics ofEducation and the Future ofAmerica, Benjamin Barber
takes a similar line of reasoning. He believes thai democrat y and education are inex
tricably intertwined and thai one cannol exisl in its fullesl sense without the other.
He believes thai education should be a leading national priority, and he has promoted
what he calls "service learning" as an appropriate waj to help get students involved
in community service and gain firsthand knowledge and experience ol community life
Not only would it build better citizens he believes, bul ilwould strengthen democracy
Curriculum
Reconstructionists favor students getting oul as much as possible into society, where
they can learn and apply learning. Brameld recommends thai as much as half of a
student's time be spent outside the traditional school structure, learning al some
place other than a school. The traditional classroom setting mighl have some value,
but the important thing is to gel students to use what they learn, and traditional
schools do not always encourage this.
One way is to modify the core plan advocated bj pro

of organizing curriculum
gressivists into what Brameld calls "the wheel" curriculum. According to Brameld,
the core can he viewed as the hub of the wheel the central theme of the scl pro I
gram. The spokes represent related studies, such as discussion groups, held experi
ences. content and skill studies, and vocational studies. The huh and die spokes
support each other, and the rim of the wheel serves ma synthesizing and unifyinj
pacity. Although each school year wouM have its own wheel, continuity would i-
tablished from year to year, with each wheel flowing into and strengthening the other.
Although each year would he different, it also would inherit the problems and solu-
tions from previous years and would move on to new syntheses Brameld thinks thai
the reconsiriictionist curriculum is a centripetal and a centrifugal ion e h is cen
tripetal because draws the

it people of die community together in common studies
and centrifugal because extends
it from the school into the wider communitj Thus,
ithas the capacity to help bring aboul ultural transformation
i
he. auseol the dynamic
relationship between school and society
In en is of curriculum, reconstrucl
i i
sts favor a 'world" curriculum with an
emphasis on truth, fellowship, and justi< e paro< hial
curricula thai deal only with local or communitj ideas and idi favoi studies
m world history, as well as explorations into the contemporai of the United
Nations and other world agencies The inn. iilnm should he

. action oriented b> en
Ma^mM students in su< h proji mi. ipating in worthj ommunil i
forming citizens about social problems, and u ;ing petitions and |
,an learn from hooks, but th( HI learn from IU( h adi
ar< h, and antipollution cai n whichthej an

tiondrl
i i
ial contribution whil<

188 CHAPTER 5
One important development in recent years is how much attention schools are
giving to the variety of cultures in American society. Cultural pluralism is the term
generally used to describe this cultural diversity, and multicultural education is the
term most often applied to educational programs designed to study it. The issue of
multicultural education is so important that accrediting organizations, such as the Na-
tional Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, have encouraged it in studies for
prospective teachers. These organizations have made multicultural education a neces-
sary part of every accredited teacher education program. Their rationale is based on
the historical and contemporary fact that American society is a conglomeration of many
cultures and that needs to be recognized properly rather than ignored.
this diversity
systems of public schools had a cultural "melting pot" role in
Originally, state
which schools were viewed as instruments to Americanize immigrant children by
"melting" away cultural differences so that newcomers would fit into mainstream
American society. More recently, however, awareness has been increasing that many
cultural differences did not disappear, that these differences added strength to the
American social fabric, and that such differences needed to be preserved. Thus,
school curricula now include anthologies with stories about many cultural settings,
and American history textbooks now include content on African- American history,
the history of women, and Native Americans. Immigration to the United States has
long been a fact of American life, and now attention has been given not only to the
older immigrant groups from Europe and Asia but also to the newer groups, such as
those from Latin American or Asian cultures.
Reconstructionists champion and welcome such developments. Recognition of
the diversity of American origins is long overdue, and they look to this development
as a fundamental way to promote peace and understanding among people. Indeed,
they believe that multicultural education, if approached with proper care and under-
standing, should help change the ways Americans view themselves as individuals and
as members of groups. Multicultural education should result in views that are in line
with the facts of American historical and contemporary life.
One problem that reconstructionists would like schools to address is the is-
social
sue of nuclear war. Some educational organizations, such as the National Education As-
sociation, have prepared materials for teachers to use in classrooms in explaining the
dangers and horrors of nuclear war. These materials have been strongly resisted by oth-
ers who think that they scare children and may promote a defeatist attitude that en-
courages aggression from national enemies. Reconstructionists believe that nothing is
to be gained by hiding one's head in the sand and that knowledge about the possibilities
and dangers of nuclear war might be this nation's best hope for eliminating future con-
flicts. Many reconstructionists are in the forefront of those opposed to the further de-
velopment and testing of nuclear weapons. Because of their belief in a "spaceship earth"
mentality that points to the interconnectedness of all nations and all peoples, they would
like to see people work together to end the destructive possibilities of nuclear energy.
Reconstructionists realize that it is all too easy to be enculturated so that
people are not aware of the problems of other countries. They would encourage
learning the language and the cultures of other peoples. They also would encourage
reading the literature of other cultures, as well as newspapers and magazines that
deal with issues on a worldwide basis. In some schools, considerable attention is given
to other nations, with special activities designed to inform students aboul their cul-
tures and customs. Sometimes students dress up in the costumes of other countries,
serve their food, and engage provide a inter understanding of cul-
in activities thai I
tural differences. Reconstructionists wanl teachers to be internationally oriented and

humanitarian in their outlook. Teachers should be experts in engaging students in ac
tion projects of all kinds. When a student is involved in some social activity, thai cur-
riculum can produce far more learning than mosl classroom lectures.
Not only should students become oriented to other cultures, hut they also
should become future oriented and should study proposals for Future developmenl
They need to plan activities that lead to Future goals. People must learn to confronl
the future; consequently, teachers should encourage students to construcl plans for
future societies, with some cognizance of problems regarding population, energy,
transportation, and so on. They also could visit with various communal organizations
where futuristic alternative lifestyles are being practiced.
Reconstructionists reason thai if people are sincereh, interested m societj and
education, then they those pivotal places where decisions are made Thej
will be at
strongly urge community action and promote the kind of education needed to assisl
people in obtaining social and human rights.
Role of the Teacher

The kind of teacher thai reconstructionists want is an educator who is also a social
activist. They want a person who keeps up with things that are happening in the
world, deeply and personally concerned with important problems, and has the
is
courage to do something about them Basically, the reconstructionisl teacher sees

education as an important tool for solving the problems of society. First, the teacher
can inform others about the nature and extenl of the problem, perhaps about such
actions as cutting down rain Forests and dynamiting coral reefs Second, the teachei
can suggest what one can do about these problems, such as writing to elected ofB
cials or members of the United Nations, raising money through benefits, and even
picketing or boycotting products Reconstructionists believe thai much ofwhal
on in school is too theoretical and thai students need to become activelj involved in
solving problems nol only worldwide bul also in their local community, with cleanups,
help for the homeless, and campaigning for desirable political candidal
Some people would say thai the role of the reconstructionisl teat hei a pre i
carious one Mam people, including educators, do nol believe thai the si is the I I
place tor social activism that mighl be partisan in nature The believe thai the role
.
is tO leach people aboul Hum'/, thai h,.\e h.ippe
in well
of the school | 1 1
thould nol the pla< to< hal

aboul current events, bul thai tl
I -
Re< onstru< tionists point oul thai traditional beliefs

and
lenge traditions i i
w<
such as the Declaration ol Independent e and tl institution,
ca] them telve

ideas i bul have now I
am thou
improvement ol
fu] change, and the besl change agenl is the edui ational |
190 CHAPTER 5
Perhaps the reconstructionist teacher has a difficult role ahead in presenting

ideas that many people are not yet ready to accept, but reconstructionists operate
under a moral principle that states that education can and should be used to make
the world a more humane place. Teachers need to be freed from passivity and fear of
working for change. They need to focus on critical issues not generally found in text-
books or made a part of the school curriculum. They also need to make students more
critical about the knowledge they receive. Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner sug-
gest that teachers promote "crap detecting," whereby students are encouraged to ex-
amine critically the information they receive in schools, in the mass media, and from
various social institutions such as church and government. Rather than being passive
dispensers of knowledge, teachers would become facilitators for analysis and change.
It needs to be pointed out, however, that reconstructionists see all change oc-
curring within a democratic framework. Therefore, although teachers might attempt

to make students aware of problem areas and point out the pros and cons involved,
students should be free to make their own decisions on the matter, as well as about
the extent of their involvement with it. In fact, reconstructionists argue that demo-
cratic procedures should be at every level of schooling, with the student having an
active say in the formulation and implementation of objectives, methods, and cur-
riculum. The teacher can be a useful facilitator of learning, but decision making about
schooling and about how it shall be used must also actively involve students, a point
strongly emphasized by Theodore Brameld.
CRITIQUE OF RECONSTRUCTIONISM IN EDUCATION

Reconstructionists believe that their approach is a radical departure from pragma-
tism. This is true in terms of the positions that pragmatists have taken on social, eco-
nomic, and political issues. It is misleading, however, to say that Dewey did not
champion radical solutions. He argued that solutions to social problems must be
thought out carefully and experimentally with an ever-watchful eye on possible con-
sequences. The result of his approach might be that Dewey was a cautious radical
and a reflective champion of social change. Critics often have attacked reconstruc-
tionism because it lacks Dewey's caution, charging that the reconstructionist analy-
ses of social problems and the accompanying remedies suffer from shallowness and
superficiality.
Often, in their strong desire for change, reconstructionists are precipitous in
their recommendations for reform. The charge has been made that this precipitous-
ness results in a great deal of talk and controversy concerning aims and methods in
education but that it has little real effect. One can point to the actual effects that
pragmatism has had on schools, but it is difficult to discern any concrete impact from
reconstructionism. Perhaps this occurs because pragmatists' recommendations are
easier to accept and less radical on the surface, but it also may be because of the
depth and feasibility of their proposals. By the same token, reconstructionists' lack
of impact might be attributable directly to their recommendations not being popular
with the mass of people or with the majority of educators.
It seems thai the recenl attention to multicultura] education represents a re

affirmation of reconstructionisi ideas. Reconstructionists have long championed cul-
tural pluralism (or whal is now and any assessmenl of their
called multiculturalism),
impact must include multicultural education. isalsotrue, however, thai ethnicgroups
Ii
promoting their own interests have been as responsible lor the developmenl of multi-
cultural education as any organized reconstructionisi effort. For example, Mexican
Americans, rather than seeking radical change in American thoughl and institutions,
have championed recognition of their cultural identity to gain acceptance in societj as
it exists. The same can be said of women, African Americans, and Native \mericans.
What mighl be lost at the present time, however, is thai philosophical reconstruction-
ism had as part of its agenda many of the elements of multicultura] education, even
though this night not be nearly so obvious today as
1 is for, saw postmodernisl thought. it
Perhaps a philosophical outlook is successful when its ideas become commonplace and
its postulates are accepted by others without recognition of the source.
In many respects, reconstructionists have a romantic notion of what scl Is
can do. Studies by such historians as Michael Katz and >a\ id Tyack and by such so I
ciologists as James Coleman and Christopher Jencks show thai expectations of what
schools can do have far outstripped the benefits accrued, indications are thai schools
cannot directly affect income, facial acceptance, and equality of opportunity. Counts
believed that great social reforms could be achieved when educators handed to
gether, but is questionable whether teachers could ever obtain such power or use
it
it any better than others.

Another charge leveled againsl reconstructionists is that their views of democ
racy and decision making arc questionable. Thej start with the premise thai chat
is needed, and often they state the goals before thej start the journey. This is differ
ent from Dewey's conception of open endedness and of the intimate relationship
between means and ends. Reconstructionists advocate world law. hut evidence sug-
gests that people accept 1;iWs to I ll< e\te|lt that tile law s respect hash c|i||||]',i| p.il
terns and are formulated by the people themselves or their representatives. Beca
of the diversity of world cultures, is doubtful that a universal code to which everj
it
cultural group would paj allegiance could be constructed at this time Not oiuj
a world law code disregard cultural diversity, assumes that is good I" cen
it also it
tralize the regulation of human behavior Reasonable and intelligent objections to

such centralization might be raised by people of different philosophical persuasions
There is the notion that change and noveltj themselves come about because ol indi
vidua! variation and that anj centralization on a world scale may haw detrimental
consequences for social change Indeed, could result m the destruction of cher
ii
ideals in reconstructionism itself concerning change People do nol

know
ished
whether world law is possible or desirable The i
nited Nations is perhaps humanitj
most notable experimenl in this regard, bul its powei i ntrol war. international
conflict, and economic injustice and hui Rei onstrui tionism's noti< eabl<
utopianism has s. (advantages, bul il

'' '" diate i
[ems to focus them on some ideal end

n ii,
i
suggest thai re onstru< tioi
,
i
othei pi
the es th< ""• Thej once fought

been coopted bj ol for<
192 CHAPTER 5
vigorously for the social welfare programs of the early and mid-twentieth century.
They argued for unemployment insurance, welfare, unionism, the graduated income
tax, social security, and the extension of tax-supported education beyond public
elementary and secondary schools to community colleges and state universities.
They have accomplished these aims, and the programs are now part of the status quo;
however, reconstructionists have failed to proffer new programs and goals to capture
the imagination and verve of contemporary activists. In effect, organizations like the
World Future Society and Greenpeace International have presented more alternative
solutions to the world's problems in recent years than has reconstructionism. As a
consequence, many of reconstructionism's thrusts now have the sound of a tired re-
frain, and its forcefulness has been dissipated.
Although reconstructionism has a less noticeable profile, its call for action re-
mains. Despite liberal reform efforts of an earlier time, problems seem to endure and
might even be more complex than they were. Today, people do not speak about
crises, but about mega-crises that seem immune to the best-planned reforms. Many
countries seem opposed to long-range planning, and they appear to muddle through
with a crisis mentality that does not act until a problem is upon them.
Computer simulation of world trends shows humans moving toward a series of
mounting crises as world population and runaway industrialization deplete natural
resources and spoil the environment. The Club of Rome report is only one notable
call to action about such problems. This group of 100 industrialists, scientists, econo-
mists, educators, and statespeople attempted to stimulate concerted and international
political action ina rational and humane direction. They established graphic projec-
tions of impending disasters in population, food supply, economic collapse, and non-
renewable resources unless direct action was taken in the near future. The Limits of
Growth, a book based on their initial work, predicted global catastrophe within the
twenty-first century if such growth continued.
In their second report, Mankind at the Turning Point, the Club of Rome de-
—
scribed two great gaps one between human beings and nature and the other be-
tween the rich countries of the Northern Hemisphere and the poor countries of the
Southern Hemisphere. These findings and conclusions stressed the need for the im-
mediate and radical worldwide changes advocated by reconstructionists. The crises
and impending disasters on the horizon have been anticipated by reconstructionists
for many years and should not take people by surprise. Critics who have accused re-
constructionists of being alarmists might need to reconsider. If anything, it appears
that reconstructionists erred by failing to sound a stronger warning. Today, many
people are unaware of the extent and depth of human problems, and reconstruc-
tionists can rightly claim that schools and educators have not been forthright in in-
forming the public about the nature of the difficulties.
Reconstructionist philosophy has been an available antidote to the easy virtues
of materialism, traditional cultural values, and social stability. Although reconstruc-
tionist theories are not always accepted, they can stimulate and provoke thinking
about critical issues. They have provided visions of a more perfect world and have
suggested means of attaining them. It is, perhaps, a shortcoming of some philosophies
that they do not have future goals, either short range or long range. Concern for so-
rial values, humane justice, the human community, world peace, economic justice,
equality of opportunity, freedom, and democracy things in which the world is sadly
lacking — are all significant goals for reconstructionism. II" it is true that reconstruc-
tionists are impatient and precipitous in their desire to eliminate social evils, then ii
is understandable in a world still filled with hate, gr I. bigotry, poverty, and war
COUNTS
DARE THE SCHOOLS BUILD A NEW SOCIAL ORDER?
George S. Counts, man,/ of whose ideas I torn large in reconstructionism, was one oj the most
radical progressive educators He thought that the aim oj education slum hi be social reform
and urged teachers to throu off their "slai e psychology" and to work for the good oj the people
Counts was identified with the progress^ ent in education but became disenchanted
with /is rhetoric for change and reluctant (n the following selection, written in 1932
in the depths of the Great Depression, Counts calls to educators to "read, for power" and ini-
tiate changes in society The words still have a modern ana (Education} must face
its stark reality,
squarely and courageously eto grips with life in all oj
establish an organic relation with Vie community, ,ie, elop a realistic and comprehensit e the-
ory ofwelfare, lash/on a com/>ell ,/,/ a ml challemn mi ision of human dest,,,,/. ami hecmie Irss
i >
frightened than it is todai/ a! the bogies Oj imposition and indoctrination .

.
This brings us to the mosl crucial issue in edu that the existence and evolution of societ} depend
cation — the question of die nature and extern of the upon it. thai is consequently eminent!) desirable,
it
influence which the school should exercise over the and that the frank acceptance of this feci b) the edu
development of the child. The advocates of extreme cator is a major professional obligation even con- I
freedom have been so successful inchampioning what tend that failure to do tins involves the clothing ol
they call the rights of the child that even the most .Mi deepesl prejudices in the garb of universal
practitioners of the art of converting others to

skillful truth and the introduction into the theorj .nid prac
their opinions disclaim all intention of molding the ti< e .,i education of an element ol obsi nrantism
learner. And when the word indoctrination i

There is the talla. \ that the s,| should I"' I
pled with education there is scarcely one among us impartial mils emphases, that nobiasshould be given
Mug the hardihood to refuse to he horrified instruction We d how the indl

I
i
I believe firmlj tint a critical factor must |

vidua! is inevitabb molded b) the culture into which
an important role in am adequate educational pro . r 1 1 In the i ase ol the school a similar pi
gram, any su( h program fashioned tor the

at least in operates and pn ibje< t
to a
rive to lion M implete im

modem world. An education that di lirei
promote ih<' fullest anil most thorough undei partialit) is utterly impossible, that the » hool must
nd even impose
ingof the world is not worth) ol the name Mso there
ion ol is that the wh< ition cannot
must be no deliberate distortion 01
support air. theorj "i poiJ '
'" '1"' ughl mto the schoo

to I
am
prepared to defend thi lection must he :
other hand. I
all education contain lemenl of imp

G must alw
that m the ven nature ol the •
itable,
-
194 CHAPTER 5
this or that. Here is a fundamental truth that cannot entists and scholars of the highest rank, as well as
be brushed aside as irrelevant or unimportant; it teachers working at all levels of the educational sys-
constitutes the very essence of the matter under dis- tem, it has no other group, the
at its disposal, as
cussion. Nor can the reality be concealed beneath knowledge and wisdom of the ages. . . .
agreeable phrases. . . . This brings us to the question of the kind of im-

If we may now assume that the child will be imposition in which teachers should engage, if they had
posed upon in some fashion by the various elements the power. Our obligations, I think, grow out of the so-
in his environment, the real question is not whether cial situation. We live in troublous times; we live in an
imposition will take place, but rather from what age of profound change; we live in an age of revolu-
source it will come. If we were to answer this question. Indeed it is highly doubtful whether man ever
tion in terms of the past, there could, be but I think, lived in a more eventful period than the present. In
one answer: On all genuinely crucial matters the order to match our epoch we would probably have to
school follows the wishes of the groups or classes that go back to the fall of the ancient empires or even to
actually rule society;on minor matters the school is that unrecorded age when men first abandoned the
sometimes allowed a certain measure of freedom. But natural arts of hunting and fishing and trapping and
the future may be unlike the past. Or perhaps I should began to experiment with agriculture and the settled
say that teachers, if they could increase sufficiently life. Today we are witnessing the rise of a civilization
their stock of courage, intelligence, and vision, might quite without precedent in human history a civiliza- —
become a social force of some magnitude. About this tion founded on science, technology, and machinery,
eventuality I am not over sanguine, but a society lack- possessing the most extraordinary power, and rapidly
ing leadership as ours does, might even accept the making of the entire world a single great society. Be-
guidance of teachers. Through powerful organiza- cause of forces already released, whether in the field
tions they might at least reach the public conscience of economics, politics, morals, religion, or art, the old
and come measure of control over
to exercise a larger molds are being broken. And the peoples of the earth
the schools than hitherto. They would then have to are everywhere seething with strange ideas and pas-
assume some responsibility for the more fundamen- sions. If life were peaceful and quiet and undisturbed
tal forms of imposition which, according to my argu- by great issues, we might with some show of wisdom
ment, cannot be avoided. center our attention on the nature of the child. But
That the teachers should deliberately reach for with the world as it is, we cannot afford for a single in-
power and then make the most of their conquest is stant to remove our eyes from the social scene or shift
my firm conviction. To the extent that they are per- our attention from the peculiar needs of the age. . . .
mitted to fashion the curriculum and the procedures Consider the present condition of the nation.
of the school they will definitely and positively influ- Who among us, if he had not been reared amid our in-
ence the social attitudes, ideals, and behavior of the stitutions, could believe his eyes as he surveys the
coming generation. In doing this they should resort to economic situation, or his ears as solemn
he listens to
no subterfuge or false modesty. They should say nei- disquisitions by our financial and political leaders on
ther that they are merely teaching the truth nor that the cause and cure of the depression! Here is a soci-
they are unwilling to wield power in their own right. ety that manifests the most extraordinary contradic-
The first position is false and the second is a confes- tions: A mastery over the forces of nature, surpassing
sion of incompetence. It is my observation that the the wildest dreams of antiquity, is accompanied by
men and women who have affected the course of extreme material insecurity; dire poverty walks hand
human events are those who have not hesitated to in hand with the most extravagant living the world
use the power that has come to them. Representing has ever known; an abundance of goods of all kinds is
as they do, not the interests of the moment or of any coupled with privation, misery, and even starvation;
special class, but rather the common and abiding in- an excess of production is seriously offered as the un-
terests of the people, teachers are under heavy social derlying cause of severe physical suffering; break
obligation to protect and further those interests. In fastless children march to school past bankrupt shops
this they occupy a relatively unique position in so- laden with rich foods gathered from the ends of the
ciety. Also since the profession should embrace sci- earth; strong men by the million walk the streets in a
1
futile search for employment and with the exhaustion todaj We shall probablj know more tomorrow \t last
of hope enter the ranks of the damned; greal captains men have achieved such a mastery over the fo]
of industry close factories without warning and dis- nature that wage slaver) can follow chattel slavery
miss the workmen by whose- labors they have amassed and take its place among the relics of the past No
huge fortunes through the years; automatic machin- longer are there grounds for the contention that the
ery increasingly displaces men and threatens societj finer fruits ofhuman culture must he nurtured upon
with a growing contingent of the permanently unem- the and watered by the tears of the masses The
toil
ployed; racketeers and gangsters with the connivance limits to achievement set bj nature have been
of public officials fasten themselves on the channels tended lhal we are today hound inereh b) our ideals,
of trade and exact toll at the end of the machine gun; by our power of self-discipline, by ourabilitj tod
economic parasitism, either within or without the law. social arrangements suited to an industrial age If we
is so prevalent that the tradition of honest labor is are to place am credence whatsoever in the weld "I
showing signs of decay; the wages paid to the work our engineers, the full utilization of modem technol-
ers are too meager to enable them to buj hack the ogy al its present level of development should enable
goods they produce; consumption is subordinated to us to produce several nines as much g Is as were
production and a philosophy of deliberate waste is ever produced peak of prosperity, and
at the verj
widely proclaimed as the highest economic wisdom: with the working day, the working year, and the work-
tin 1 science of psychology is employed to fan the reduced bj half We hold Within our hands the
flames of desire so that men may he enslaved by then- power to usher in an age of plenty, to make secure the
wants and hound to die wheel of production lives of all. and to banish povert) forever from the
eminent hoard advises the cotton-growers to plow land The only cause for doubl or pessimism lies in
under even' third row of cotton m order to bolster up the question of our ability to rise to the stature of the
the market; both ethical ami aesthetic considerations iitnes in which we live.
arecommonly over-ridden bj "hard headed business ( Kir generation has die good "i the ill fortune
men" bent on material gain; federal aid to the un an age when greal decisions must he made
In live in
employed is opposed on the ground that it would The American people, like most of the oilier peoples
pauperize the masses when the favored meml of the Earth, have come to the parting of th<
society have always lived on a dole; even responsible hi no longer i rust entirely the inspiration which
leaders resort to the practices of the witch docfc came them when the Republic was young; thej
t<>
vie with one another m predicting the return of pros must decide afresh what the) are todo with their tal
perity;an ideal of rugged individualism, evolved in a ents. I tbove all other nations with 1
simple pioneering and agrarian order at a time when sources of nature and the material instrumentalities
free kind existed in abundance, is used tojustifj a of civilization, the) stand confused and irresolute I"
system which exploits pitiless!) and without tl ion- the future Thej seem to lack die ral qualit)
morrow die natural and human resoui Loquicken, discipline, and 'ion to
of the
the nation and of the world One can onlj imagine their man I In .1 re< em papei Pr
what Jeremiah would say if he could step out of the in myjud

like the nation,"
pages of the Old Testament and cast his eyes over this troubli Is,
1 1
spectacle so full ol ti d ol men.: in need ofai entral purpose winch will create n<
The point should be emphasized, however, that •id devotion and which will mm
the present situation is hope and
also freighted with guide all intellectual plat
promise The age is pregnant with possibilities There

ithin our grasp the most humane, the most
beautiful, the most majestic civilizatioi

ioned bj anj per, pie Tin. mu< h al know
—
196 CHAPTER 5
SHANE AND SHAN

EDUCATING THE YOUNGEST EOR TOMORROW
Harold Shane and June Grant Shane are well known for their writings on the future. The fol-
lowing selection reflects the reconstructionist belief that the school should be on the 'frontiers of
social change. "Education is viewed as perhaps the only sane way to prepare for the future and
to bring about the major changes that are needed if humans are to achieve a civilized future. It
also should be noted that this selection is taken from a book edited by Alvin Toffler, the author
of the influential work Future Shock (1970). Reconstructionists/futurists, like the Shanes and
Toffler, would like to see the future, as a topic of study, brought into schools at all levels of in-
struction. They promote efforts to change schools to promote more futuristic thinking.
Learning for Tomorrow: tion,and the continuing development of the open-

The Role of the Future in Education mindedness which is a prerequisite to inquiry. It also
From earliest times there have been divided opinions involves an understanding of the meaning of "duty"
as to the purpose of schooling. In somewhat over- to one's society (as one of many world cultures
simplified terms, the major split has been between of comparable respectability), instrumental skills
persons of conservative persuasion, those who are that make one useful to himself and to his fellows,
satisfied to support teaching that will reflect and pre- expressive skills that lend meaning to the individual
serve the status quo, and those who believe that human life, and the will to laugh (with kindness
the schools should be outposts on the frontiers of so- and compassion as needed) at and with a world in
cial change. Between these polar positions, of course, —
which individual humor and even pleasant irony
there are infinite nuances of opinion. have become diminished by the canned "overkill hu-
To accept the idea of a future-oriented educa- mor" or puerile farce poured out each season by
tion is to enter the ranks of those who believe that mass media.
education must be an agent of cultural change. It is A "futurizing" education implies that the learner
from this action viewpoint that we explore possible will begin to sense and to accept both the constraints
educational developments that promise better to and the advantages of freedom. Finally, future-directed
school our children by teaching the future. teaching and learning should emphasize the ineluctable
Any meaningful approach to conceptions of the fact that education will increase rather than decrease
future (when working with children of 12 or below) inequality! To the degree that it personalizes, it will
has at least two dimensions: (1) an image of the kind increase inequalities in the ability of different indi-
of world to be sought in the future, including the viduals to contribute to society, rather than suppress
future-focused role-image with which the child iden- the differences and, in that way, create dull, egalitar-
himself in this world, and (2) a perspective of

tifies ian intellectual bidonvilles. (One important quali-
the content and the educational conditions or "cli- ficationmust be voiced, however, with respect to
mate" which (hopefully) will create changes in the education that "increases inequality." Such future-
individual behavior of boys and girls —
changes con- directed learning should decrease inequality in the
gruent with the self-image they have of themselves in persons to engage in effective, receptive,
ability of all
the future. and expressive communication in their many forms,

Development of an image of a "good" future including the inaudible but eloquent languages of
world implies a number of new teaching methods. gesture and expression.)
Thus, it requires preparation without indoctrination, These educational methods and targets are too
the extensive use of inquiry as a method of instruc- important to postpone until students reach the sec-
ondary level, and, indeed, even to delay until the pri- Problem awareness
mary-school years. In an appropriate fashion they can
i
eol manj media in addition to texts

be used with children under the age of three.
Active stimulation of intellect and so on
The Content of Learning But to advocate or acquiesce in the mere reversal of

present practices in elementary education is both
Ifone probes beneath the surface of a generalization
simplistic and likely to build a false sens.' of success
such as "the school should make extensive use of inquirj
in teaching foi and oj the future w hal is needed, in
asa method of instruction," what docs such a phrase re-
addition to manj basic 180 di gr< e turns, is a new
ally mean when interpreted or applied with young learn- conception of what const content and
it i lies fitting ol
ers? 1low shall we change the content (what is learned I
the qualities of a suitable psychoemotional and

and the climate (the spirit or tone) of the teaching-
climate for learning.
learning situations that we endeavor to develop'.'
We need a better understanding of the educa
Since most schooling up to the 1970s has
tional experiences that will implant, without numbing
tended to preserve the traditions of the past and to
indoctrination, a wholesome future-focused self-
maintain much of the status quo, one mighl contend
image in the mind need to
ol the child We also
that the host future-oriented education could be
conceive ol a desirable psychological Beld and an
based ona reversal of contemporary practice. Such a
emotionalh, stabilizing matrix in which young learn
switch would create or accelerate curriculum trends
ers be< ome secure and self directive in the
and changes that carried us
tance and pursuit ol a satisfying role-image.
The genuinely important content of insirix
From Hon eventually resides in a bodj of skills, knowl-
Mass teaching edge, altitudes, and convictions thai govern the

learner's behavior after he has forgotten mart) of
Single learnings
the details of the input that he has absorbed through
Passive answer-absorbing his schooling. What we propose is nol a downgrad
Rigid daily programs such individual content-bred competencies
but a closer linkage of the individual to the pur
Training in formal skills and knowledge
ii his experiencing, and to the acceptance
Teacher initiative and direction and &
of these purposes because he recognizes
Isolated content cepts them as relevant to his personal future
Memorized answers focused role Image

We noted earlier that "teaching the future
Emphasis on textbooks
I
In addition to a reinterpreted ap
wofold task
Passive mastery of information and so on proach to content which provides a more suitable
role image for the future with which a child an iden <
To tify, there is the matter of maintaining a sound
ilieu for learning an emotionalh wholesome

Personalized teaching
(Innate thai will mediate thinking and behaving In
Multiple learnings
childhood in wa istenl with ih<
V tive answer-seeking .1 education
Flexible schedules
Comp. tei i d that
h a thing a
Building desuahle appreciatiot mulate a
ili.u .ill r d-
questing for knowledge
•uent oi inquiry,
''hild initiative and group planning
Interrelated content stimulal
198 CHAPTER 5
so on. The climate of future-focused schooling is Teaching for Maximum Self-Realization

especially important because of the need to motivate as Children Grow Older Will More
children to make a sustained effort both to attain a Clearly Recognize That It Is Unwise
better world of tomorrow and to create a realistic to Attempt to Pour Human Individuality
place for themselves in such a world. into an Eighteenth-Century New
This is not to imply that each child should be England Mold
prepared for his slot in an Orwellian future. Rather, The future requires flexibility and the power to adapt
his learning experiences should free him to "create
quickly, rather than an ability to respond to behavioral
himself in terms of a viable self-image of the finest, problems in terms of carefully transmitted, rigid con-
most contributive, joyful person he can become. duct codes. This is not to suggest that elementary
Patently, a supportive environment that will help
education will be without standards, but that the tone
children accomplish this delicate task is tremen- of teaching and learning will reflect an appreciation
dously important. But what are its characteristics? for a number of different values. Respect for human
Here is some of the important, often
a brief list of individuality — in recognition of the fact that children
neglected, components of a psychological climate
best do different things in different ways at different
that promise to help free children for cumulative times —implies varied school entrance ages, perhaps
self-realization:
different hours spent in learning, certainly a large
number of personalized experiences, and new think-
ing as to the desirable limits of compulsory atten-
An Affective Approach Is Made to Cognitive
dance at the secondary level.
Experiences
The learner should feel ready to learn. His attitude,
his readiness, rather than a prescriptive curriculum Society Rather Than Child or School Is Held
guide or course of study, provide the clues as to the Accountable
timing, the sequence, and the breadth of what is Until recently children were held personally ac-
experienced. countable for behavior and achievement in school.
Participation is encouraged. A suitable climate Punishment and report cards were the agents, re-
helps prepare the child of 12 and below for future ef- spectively, for preserving orderand for recording
fectiveness by ensuring that he is "in" on things, that academic performance. In the late 1960s and 1970s
his opinions are valued, and that they will govern de- there was much talk about the schools being held
cisions to whatever degree that they have merit. Con- accountable, especially with respect to measurable
frontation, as a technique of forcing issues, thus academic skills. When teaching for the future, it prob-
becomes needless. Even very young children can de- ably will be desirable to do so in a classroom climate
velop this understanding. They also can begin to in which the child himself is not the fall guy who is
sense that genuine broad-based participation makes blamed if he learns less than demanded for a "C" or
it unnecessary to support an elite to think for others better!
in the years ahead. At the same time, there is considerable doubt
in our minds as to whether the teacher of the school
can be made accountable for formal discipline and
Pressures for Uniform "Protestant Ethic"
Behavior Are Sharply Reduced
uniform academic performance particularly if an —
emotionally comfortable atmosphere is sought. Only
At least some Americans have long been persuaded in a comfortable atmosphere, free of unreasonable or
that unpleasant or hard school tasks had disciplinary premature academic pressure, can youngsters have
value. They "helped make a man of you." Long, cold experiences that will enable them to move into the fu-
winter walks to school, penalties for being tardy, bell- ture with a positive self-concept and a healthy future-
regulated schedules, busywork that "kept idle hands focused role-image. Neither the teacher nor the
from becoming the Devil's Workshop," and arduous, learner can be held fully accountable. Society, itself,
drill-type homework were some of the educational must once again accept some responsibility for the
expressions of this Protestant- Ethic. educative experiences of children.
When Tom Sawyer was a lad, virtually all of mankind's histoq in being accountable for the next
the adults in his riverfront town on the Mississippi generation
fell responsible for all children's progress toward
adult maturity. Recall how quickly someone look ac-

tion or informed Aunt Polly when Tom strayed From Harold Shane and .tunc Grant Shane, "Edu
the path of rectitude! In a broader, more dynamic Voungest for Tomorrow," in Learning foi
ill-'
sense, tin- community today needs once again to

Tfu Role of the Future m
Education, edited bj Uvin Tbl
fler.NewYork Rand House, 1974,pp is:; 186,192 mi
take on the responsible role it has played in most of Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd.
SELECTED READINGS
Brameld, Theodore. Tou urd a /, ted Philosophy ofEducation \>-\\ fork: Dryden,
1956. One of the most complete statements bj a leading reconstructionist. Tins book ex-
plores the developmenl am! usesofreconstructionism as a philosophj of education
Shimahara, Nobuo, ed. Educational Reconstruction Promise and Challenge I

pper
Saddle River. N.I: Merrill Publishing Co., 1973 \ collection of reconstructionist writings.
The book deals with significanl educational and social problems and isoneofthemosl com
plete statements of recent reconstructionisl thought.
Stanley, William B. ( 'urriculum for l topia. Social Reconstructionism and 'ritical Ped <
agogy in the Postmodern Era Ubany, New York: state Universitj of New York Press,
1992. An overview of the historj of ret onstructionism ami a connection of that tradition
with recent developments, including feminist scholarship, neopragmatism, poststructural
ism. and critical theorj
Toffler, Alvin. The Thml Wave New York: William Morrow and Co., 1980 V leading treatise
on futiiristics that attempts to explain the dramatic changes that have affected human soci
ety. The author focuseson educational changes thai he believes will come in the near future
www.wfs.org (accessed \j -nl 5, jiiii_: | Homepage

World Future So< ietj Empha
for the
ing social and technological developments that might shape the future, tins site provides
s to interviews, hook reviews, Web forums, and other materials that students mighl
find helpful
ONLINE RESEARCH
Utilizing some of the Web sites iiKûdedm this book, as well as Topics 2 and 3 of the
Prentice Hall Foundations Web site found al wwu pn nhaU.com ozmon, answei the
following <)i n 'st ions uitii a short ess;i\ What are some of the major differences be
tween progressive education and reconstructionism? Whj did reconstructionists
deem these changes necessary? You can write and submii yom s.s .w response i<> i
youi instiiK tor bj using the "Electronic Bluebook" section found In an) <>i the top
us ni the I'iciiiK Hall Foundations Web site
<•
Behaviorism
and Education
Behaviorism generally is not considered a philosophy in the same sense that ideal-
ism, realism, pragmatism, and other such thought systems are. It most often is clas-
sified as a psychological theory, a more specialized and less comprehensive theory
than a systematic philosophy At the same time, behaviorism has been given in-
—
creasing attention and acceptance in the field of education so much so, that in many
instances it has extended into areas ordinarily considered the domain of philosophy
These extensions include theoretical considerations dealing with the nature of the
human being and society, values, the good life, and speculations or assumptions on
the nature of reality.
Perhaps no theory, psychological or otherwise, can escape dealing with philo-

sophical assumptions and implications. For a long time, psychology was thought to
be a philosophical study; only in recent times have most psychologists come to think
of themselves as scientists. Indeed, the leading proponents of behaviorism do con-
sider themselves scientists, perhaps more justifiably laying claim to that title than
proponents of some other schools of psychology. Be that as it may, most psycholo-
gists at some point in their endeavors encounter philosophical questions, and much
psychological theory rests upon assumptions about human nature that have had a
long career in the history of philosophy. Behaviorists, even though they lay claim to
an objective scientific orientation, are no less involved with philosophical questions
than are other psychological theorists.
This chapter shows some connections of behaviorism with past philosophi-
cal systems and how these systems have influenced modern behaviorist theory. It
also explores philosophical themes in behaviorism, primarily as these are given
in the works of B. F. Skinner. Finally, it considers the educational uses and impli-
—
cations of behaviorism what might be more appropriately called behavioral
engineering.
200
BEHAVIORISM AND EDUCATION 201
PHILOSOPHICAL BASES OF BEHAVIORISM

Behaviorism has roots in several philosophical traditions. It is related to realism, and
the realists' thesis of independent reality resembles the behaviorists' belief thai be
havior caused by environmental conditions. Behaviorism also is indebted to mate
is
rialistic Thomas Hobbes, who held thai reality

philosophy, such as that promoted bj
is primarily matter and motion and that .ill behavioral phenomena can be explained
in those terms.
Realism
Behaviorism's connection with realism is primarily with modem realism and its ad
vocacy of science. has some similarities to classical realism, however For example,
It
Aristotle thought thai humans reached form or essence through the study ofparticu
lars, and behaviorists think thai people can understand human behavior l>\ a meticu
Ions study of particular behaviors Indeed, they expand tins approach to the effei I
that human nature (if there be such) can be explained bywhal traditionallj has ho, mi
considered only a particular aspecl of human nature behavior. In addition, no "in
ternal" reality ishidden from scientific discovery for behaviorists because whal is real
is external, factual, and observable behavior thai can be known
Thus, one realist element of behaviorism includes going from particular, ob
servable facts (particular behaviors) to "forms," or the laws of behavior. Behaviorists
think that the human traits of personality, character, integrity, and so forth are the
results ofbehavingin certain ways. These traits are no1 internally determined bj each
individual, but come from behavior patterns developed through environmental con
ditioning. The emphasis on environment shows another realisl leaningtoward
theim
portance of the discernible, factual, observable aspects of the universe In other
words, by understanding particular behaviors and how they are caused bj environ
mf n a circumstances, one can deteel the patterns and processes l».\ which behavior
.
i l
comes about. Thus, n is possible, behaviorists maintain, to discern the laws ol
havior and thereby come to exercise control over them

ispossibl
These notions aboul behavior would be foreign to Aristotle, but il
see similarities between him and behaviorists in at least the basic framework Thecon
versions of realism, especialh,
tion becomes even more apparenl withmorerei ent
came aboul with the advenl ofi lern science Foi example, Fran
the realism that
cis Bacon, in his efforts to develop an inductive scientific method, held thai people
dogmas in favor of an inquiry approach thai aningin
nms i rejec1 indubitable
ntuatingthe
the facts as one finds them Behaviorism holds thai oneshouldi
behaviorand lool rathei to the
mind, conscioui i
and capable of empirical verifii ation Thi« con

factsol behavior, or whal i
ible
o n pr< ontempoi
sideration isnol onlj Baconian bul al
Aristotelian and
The idea of the "laws" of behavior though having similarities to
contention that the phi
Baconian realism, is akin to Ufred North Whitehead's
202 CHAPTER 6
should seek out the patterns of reality. Behaviorists do this by seeking the processes
and patterns through which behavior is shaped. Once we have sufficient under-
standing of these, they maintain, it will be possible to engineer more effectively the
kinds of people and social conditions society wants.
Materialism
Materialism has its roots in Greek philosophy, but as it exists today, it is essentially a
theory developed along with modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies. Materialism is the theory that reality can be explained by the laws of matter
and motion. Behaviorism is definitely a kind of materialism because most behavior-
ists view human beings in terms of their neurological, physiological, and biological
contexts. Beliefs about mind, consciousness, and soul, they say, are relics of a pre-
scientific age. Behaviorists seem to be saying that the body is material and that be-
havior is motion. Thus, humans can be known from the standpoints of matter and
motion as Hobbes suggested.
Elements of behaviorism are akin to some aspects of mechanistic materialism.
This philosophical perspective also dates back several centuries. For the materialist,
human beings are not partially supernatural beings above nature (as some religious
persons might hold); rather, they are a part of nature. Even though they are one of
the more complex natural organisms, they can be studied and are governed by natu-
ral law like any other natural creature.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Thomas Hobbes was an exponent of mechanistic materialism. He was acquainted
personally with some of the greatest figures of his day, including Descartes, Galileo,
and Kepler. He learned a great deal about philosophy and science from these men but
was also a first-rate thinker in his own right. Hobbes was a thoroughgoing determin-
ist, and he rejected the elements of self-determination and free will in the thought of
Descartes. In most respects, he was more at home with the thinking of Galileo and
Kepler. He applied some of their ideas about the physical universe to human beings
and social institutions. Life is simply motion, Hobbes held; one can say that a machine
has life, albeit artificial. By the same token, an organized society is like a machine: It
has an artificial life that has to be maintained. Even biological natural life is mecha-
nistic in the sense that it operates according to its own design.
For Hobbes, an individual's psychological makeup can be explained in mecha-
nistic terms. People experience objects by their qualities (color, odor, texture, and
so forth) through sensation. Sensation is physical, what is sensed is quality, and qual-
ity is motion. Even imagination, according to Hobbes, is motion. The same can be said
for thinking. Therefore, all that truly exists is matter and motion, and all reality can
be explained in terms of mathematical precision.
Behaviorism's close affinity with mechanistic materialism is evident in several ar-
eas. Materialists and behaviorists believe that people behave in certain ways according
to their physical makeup. Bodily functions occur in certain objectively describable and
predictable ways. Because of this physical makeup, people are capable of numerous
motor responses, and organs and limbs operate according to known physiological
processes. The brain, for instance, contains no soul bul does contain physiological and
neurological materials and processes because chemical and electrical processes make
up a large part of the brain's functions. Body-in-situation is significant, however, be-
cause human behavior or motion is present. The significant thing to observe is lie be t
havior (motion) of a body in an environment (supporting material conditions).

Although this is not precisely whal behaviorists say, the similarity to mechanistic ma-
terialism is obvious. For behaviorists, human behavior or motion is the significant da-
tum and knowledge of ii latter is crucial because it helps one understand beha\ ior itself.
Early Behaviorists
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

ban Pavlov was an eminent experimental psychologist and physiologist in pre-So\ iet
Russia. He was noted for his studies of the reflex reaction in humans and animals and
devised conditioning experiments. Pavlo\ found that when a bell is rung each time a
dog is fed, the dog is conditioned to associate the sound of the bell with food. < ion
sequently. whensounded, the dog physiologicallj anticipates food. Pav

the bell is lo\
was the father of conditioning theory and was also a strong opponent, throughout his
life, of the Freudian interpretation of neuroses.

Pavlov's conditioning studies shew how realism and materialism are related.
For a dog, bodily response is not based on something mental going on inside the dog;
rather, the response is made on the basis of conditioning, and conditioning can be ex
plained by external circumstances. This idea is at the heart of Pavlov's opposition to
Freudianism. It could be argued that Sigmund Freud recognized conditioning by his
extensive work on the influence of earlj childhood and familj training The differ
ence, however, is that Fond claimed that this influence resides in a mentalistic un
conscious, an "•inner" thing. Pavlov wanted an explanation based on controllable
external conditions that require no mm
r source of action. This search for external
causation illustrates the realists affinitj for an independent realitj and the material
1
ists' claim that things can be explained in terms of matter and

motion
[ontemporarj behaviorists hold that Pavlov was headed in the right direction
(
but that his explanations were too simplistic. Pavlov considered onlj conditioned re
Hex behavior, whereas contemporary behaviorists use operant onditioning that in i
eludes action on the part of the organism being conditioned The organism can a tto
chai nvironment, and the resulting changes reinfon e the behavior ol th<
ism in some ua> The contemp w tends moo- toward a two waj H
i
onlj as one w his pioneering work wa

wherea Pavlov showed it
'iin ial importam
.loin, ft Watson (1878 1958)

method nd un
John Watson repudiate,) theintn
tional techniq ted to behavioi Hi
scientific He relied
believed thai fi
ronment lnexperim< i
204 CHAPTER 6
conditioned people to be fearful and then deconditioned them. He thought of the en-
vironment as the primary shaper of behavior and maintained that if he could control
a child's environment, then he could engineer that child into any kind of person de-
sired. Following his work with infants in the maternity ward of Johns Hopkins Hos-
pital in Baltimore, he announced that as far as behaviorists believed, there was
nothing within the organism to develop. If one started with a healthy body at birth,
he continued, it would be possible through proper behavioral conditioning to make a
person "a genius, a cultured gentleman, a rowdy, or a thug." Watson was influential,
and the strong movement in American psychology toward behaviorism often is at-
tributed directly to him.

Watson was even more materialistic than preceding behaviorists. He thought
that the chief function of the nervous system is simply to coordinate senses with mo-
tor responses. Thus, the brain is only a part of the nervous system and not the seat
of mind or consciousness or a self-active entity. He thought that the senses not only
gain knowledge of the world but also are instruments in guiding activity In rejecting
mentalistic notions of mind and consciousness, Watson also rejected such concepts
as purpose, feeling, satisfaction, and free will because they are not observable and
therefore not capable of scientific treatment or measurement.
Behaviorism and Positivism

Watson's penchant for giving acceptance only to directly observable things set a pat-
tern for those who came after him. E. L. Thorndike solidly followed Watson's view-
point when he proclaimed that anything that exists, exists in some quantity capable
of being measured. This kind of thinking has been influential in psychology and has
parallels in philosophy. One movement that has given a philosophical basis to such
positions as Watson's and Thorndike's is known as positivism.
Philosophical positivism was initiated by Auguste Comte, often referred to as
the founder of modern sociology. His objective was to reform society, and he argued
for a positive social science to achieve this end. He thought that by applying scien-
tific principles to social conditions systematically, one would be able to recognize the
laws constituting the social order, their evolution, and ways to apply them more sys-
tematically. This could be accomplished through discovering the real and exact
knowledge of society, and the test of this knowledge would be the extent to which it
helps people change the material world and society to more desirable conditions.
Comte divided history into three periods, each characterized by a particular
way of thinking. The first is the theological, in which things are explained by refer-
ence to spirits and gods. The second period is the metaphysical, in which events are
explained by causes, inner principles, and substances. The third, or positive period,
is the highest stage, in which one does not attempt to go beyond observable and mea-
surable fact.
Comte influenced subsequent thinkers to use science in devising social policy,
and behaviorists follow this tradition. Contemporary behaviorists take seriously Wat-
son's belief that through the use of scientific conditioning, virtually any kind of per-
son can be produced from a reasonably healthy child. Thus, no longer is science sim-
ply a concern for scientists, hut for social-policy makers, as well. In this view, social
science is the key to a better society. In some quarters, psychology, sociology, an
thropology, and similar disciplines no longer are referred to as the social sciences hut
as the behavioral sciences. This change m terms lias occurred because behavioi is
the objective, observable human element susceptible to scientific manipulation.

Whereas earlier positivism was founded on the empirical science of the nine
teenth century, contemporary positivists have been more interested in the logic and
language of scientific concepts. This was exemplified must by the school of though!
called logical positivism. Logical positivism dealt with areas familiar tobehaviot
and the older is known primarily because of its emphasis on the
positivists. hut it
logic of propositions and the principle of verification. The movement began in the
early decades of the twentieth century and was identified with a group of European
scholars known as the Vienna Jircle. The Jircle later dissolved, hut one goal of logi
( (
cal positivists was to develop a consistent set of logical or linguistic phrasmgs and
structures. This effort came aboulto rectify the language difficulties encountered in
scientific investigation because investigation often can he sidetracked or misled bj

confusions caused by the words and statements used.
Suppose one is scientifically studying an educational problem and the problem
is involved largely wit h self-concept or self-esteem. What if one cannot discover thai
such a thing as "self exists in any measurable quantity? Then what one needs to do
is examine what one means h\ die term self. This word is so colored h\ prescientific
and metaphysical considerations that its usage is vague, much like the terms mind,
consciousness, orthe theological soul. To he truly scientific, an objective statemenl
is needed of the problem in such terms that an objective resolution can
he made In
other words, one must specify death what one is talking about.
The connection of this philosophical school of thought with behaviorism is thai
behaviorists seek a language framework that more accurately reflects the facts ol he
liavior. Rather than use the wool se{) to signify personal identity or the characteris
tics of an individual, behaviorists speal of "conditioned" or "reinforced behavior,

"repertoire ofbehavioral responses," or perhaps "operant conditioning" m regard to
the specific organism one might call Jane Jones For behaviorists, sell 01 sell oncepl i
is tied 100 much to mentalistic construcl , and die dangi ol being misled in
Redirection of imputing certain mysterious, internal, driving forces toJaneJom

explain her behavior
Logical positivists are sensitive to the fallacies that the wrong u le ol
can rosier What one should do, thej maintain, is make meaningful statemenl i on
ing information regarding the observable, verifiable facts ol the situation In the
context of behaviorism and logical positivism, it is one thing to make a statemenl
There are matches in this box" and quite another iliu
concept m JaneJone It rift whether nun •
ing the box and examining it Mat ither in there or tl
possible, ho< lane

one cannol open .lane Jones and find a sell It is
Jones's heh., her to i- I

.
206 CHAPTER 6
The behaviorist maintains that because so little is known about behavior, people
wrongly impute meaning to behavior by reference to an "inner being," a self, mind,
consciousness, soul, or some such hidden entity that causes the behavior. Even the
most meticulous and rigorous scientific experiments have not been able to locate this
inner being. Behaviorists and logical positivists alike would agree with the British
philosopher Gilbert Ryle that traditional meanings of mind really imply a "ghost in
the machine" (or a mind in the body)
Coupled with their concern for more linguistic precision, logical positivists
also have championed what is called the principle of verifiability. This principle
means that no statement should be taken as truthful unless it can be verified em-
pirically or at least until it is capable of being verified. For example, a statement
about elves is not verifiable in any scientific way, nor can it be verified at some fu-
ture date because of the nature of the statement itself. Even those who believe in
elves do not maintain that elves can be verified by science. Such a statement as "In-
telligent life exists in outer space," however, might not be amenable to verification
immediately, but it is within our technical capacity to verify that statement in the
future. Thus, logical positivists try to discourage nonsense statements and promote
language and thought that are more controllable and rigorous. The behaviorist,
mindful about careless linguistic and logical statements, also seeks to avoid such
mistakes. Behaviorists maintain that observable, factual behavior and environmen-
tal conditions do exist, and they must be described in objective, logical, and accu-
rate terms.
PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF BEHAVIORISM

B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. He studied at
Hamilton College and Harvard University, and later taught at the University of Min-
nesota and at Indiana University before returning to Harvard as a professor of psy-
chology. He sometimes is called the high priest of behaviorism. Others more
sympathetically refer to him as one of the most important twentieth-century psy-
chologists. Skinner's work and influence certainly have caught people's attention and
comment, even though opinions have ranged from bitter criticism to disciple-like
emulation.
Skinner himself often debunked philosophical approaches to psychology. He
thought, on the one hand, that much error and misunderstanding have come about
because philosophers have tried to deduce an understanding of human beings from
a priori generalizations. (In other words, they have been "armchair scientists" con-
tent with introspection.) He claimed, on the other hand, to base his findings on ob-
servations and controlled scientific experiments. Yet, he often found it necessary to
make statements about such traditional philosophical topics as human nature and the
good society. In fact, Skinner was not the sterile scientist in the laboratory; he was
also a dreamer and a Utopian. Thus, it is possible to discern a strong element of so-
cial radicalism in his writing.
Human Nature. Traditionally, the study of human nature has been an importanl
aspect of philosophical endeavor. It has been central to the metaphysics of manj
great philosophers and influential in the philosophical treatment of ethics. Skinner
maintained that, less philosophical speculation and more "realistic" observation of
behavior are necessary, but he still posed the question "What is man?"
In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner attacked what he called traditional
views of humanity. Those views have imputed all kinds of internal drives, forci
otherwise mysterious actions to the "autonomous person" such forces as aggres-

sion, industry, attention, knowing, and perceiving. Traditionally, such capacities
were assumed to be there somewhere, hidden from direct scrutiny, and wore said to
make up (at least in part the essence of human nature Skinner, in contrast, main
)
tained that aggression, for example, is not inherent in human nature in the sense
that people will harm or damage others automatically. makes more sense to It
say that people behave in an aggressive manner because that behavior is reinforced
by particular environmental contingencies. For Skinner, the contingencies of rein
forcement themselves explain the aggressive behavior aparl from some assumed in
ternal or genetic force within people.
As an example, in wartime, some persons commit acts that are called depraved.
During the Vietnam War, some American soldiers mdiscriminateh. killed noncombal
ant women and children \\ hen one such evenl was made known in America, raised it
outcries of disbelief and horror. In searching for explanations, some observers said
that these actions indicated an inherent evil in human nature \ widelj publicized
court martial was held, and an officer was found guilts of having participated in the
massacre. From a Skinnerian point of view, one could saj thai however deplorable
the behavior, finding a guilty culpril and punishing him does not gel at the real prob
lem (what conditions caused the problem). Punishment might seem to extinguish
such behavior, but it is usually ineffective and counterproductive in the long run he
cause it does not attack the mot of the problem.
1 toes a soldier under combal conditions kill others because he is basically evil?
Or does it make more sense to observe his behavior in terms of the environmental
contingencies and the reinforcement of particular aggressive behaviors under those
conditions.' Although not all soldiers kill noncombatanl civilians, i1 also seems likeh
that civilians would not have been killed l>\ soldiers if there had been no war. no war
likebehaviors, and no existing environmental conditions thai would make warlike be

havior rewarding. The evil lies in making war. training people to kill, and maintaining
and securing conditions thai make such behavior rewarding not in some innate evil
uithm people.
Skinner said that the traditional Mew sees an autonomous individual who. in
perceiving the world, rea< hesoul or acts on thai world to know it, to 'lake i1 in," and
to "graspit
."
The implication is thai the action and the initiative i ome from the au
tonomous person, bul Skinner maintained thai tl Knowingi

; ,ll ironmenl actingon people We wd know totl i
to itimuli from environmental ontii i

one
thai thi I
might respond to heat, light, colors, and oforthat cordingtotl

intooroul ol sunl how hot
in, tsSlrinnerpul it
—
208 CHAPTER 6
or cold it is. Thus, one comes to know and cold. Sunlight also figures
sunlight, heat,
in how time is and certain activities are performed.
arranged, schedules are set,
Knowledge of the sun, heat, and light is expanded to the extent that people behave
in relation to these environmental conditions and are reinforced by that behavior. Too
often, people think that knowing is a cognitive process, but it is behavioral and envi-
ronmental, neurological, and even physiological.
Some critics say that behaviorism cannot deal with individual consciousness
with an awareness of oneself. They on an "inner realm" that the behaviorist ig-
insist
nores. Perhaps Skinner's best-known critic on this issue was Carl Rogers, another
psychologist who approached his work philosophically. Rogers maintained that the
—
"inner realm" of individuals is real a reality characterized by freedom. He agreed that
humans are conditioned by outside factors and that they respond to external stimuli,
but Rogers thought that Skinner did not explain how free and responsible choice can
be exercised in the way a person responds to external conditions. An individual does
not have to respond to a stimulus in a preestablished and set way but can examine the
alternatives or even create new ones. In other words, an individual can choose a di-
rection, be responsible in pursuing it, and give commitment to sustaining it. This,
Rogers argued, shows that the person has freedom of choice and freedom of respon-
sible commitment, and this freedom springs from the inside. Freedom is a subjective,
inner thing. Skinner said that this charge is serious and cannot be lightly passed over.
At stake, however, is what an individual knows when doing this self-analysis. For Skin-
ner, what one knows in this respect is difficult to comprehend because it is largely a
matter of responding to the natural contingencies of individual circumstances. People
respond to their own internal stimuli (without much awareness) as in such behavior
,
as walking, jumping, and running. To the extent that one knows these behaviors and
their causes, one must do more than merely respond to them. This kind of knowing
involves systematic study beyond a mere internal soliloquy and would include knowl-
edge of bodily functions, environmental conditions, and contingencies.
—
Knowing one's desires, beliefs, and feelings the things usually thought to be
—
most private is even more difficult because many people lack the necessary verbal
tools to accomplish this. Without some form of verbalization, behavior is largely un-
conscious. Skinner maintained that consciousness in the verbal awareness sense is a
social product and not within the range of a solitary individual. Really knowing this
inner realm is difficult because people have not developed appropriate words for it.
We are too prone to rest the case on our conviction of an inner or autonomous per-
son. We have not effectively uncovered the contingencies of reinforcement to de-
scribe this personal awareness.
Skinner did not deny that some personal awareness might be involved in human
efforts toknow, but he did affirm that what people know would be essentially the ob-
jects and conditions of the external world. That is, the what or content of the knowl-
edge will be that which is observable. In Skinnerian terminology, that content will be
knowledge of behavior and contingencies of reinforcement, and not the old catchall
of a mind, soul, consciousness, or an "inner man."
Skinner's reply to the charges of his critics that he was destroying or abolishing
what is known as humanity was that a scientific analysis in no way destroys this be-
a
cause no theory destroys the objective conditions attempts to describe. What can ii
be truly destructive is actual human behavior, nol a theory. Skinner pu1 n this way:
"What is being abolished is autonomous man the inner man, the komunculus, the
possessing demon, the man defended by the literature of freedom and dignity." Whal
is left is the real, observable human organism who is biological and animal. Although
Skinner maintained thai humans are nol machines in the classic sense, he held thai
we are machinelike in the sense that we are a complex system behaving in lawful,
observable ways. Even if humans are simply animal and mechanical. Skinner was fas
cinated by our complexity, our uniqueness, and our intricacy.
Perhaps the most accurate description of Skinner's view is that we are both
controller and controlled. In a real sense, we humans are our own makers. is Skin It
ner's position that people have developed through two processes of evolution; one is
the biological process from which we evolved, and the other is the cultural process
of evolution that people have largely created. This latter process was more impor
tant and intriguing for Skinner. He pom led oul that the environment is largely con
t rived, not natural, and that it is a condition humans have wrought; the environmenl
people live in contains the significant contingencies of reinforcement thai make
oik- human.
The Good Society Through Cultural Design. Skinner was paradoxical. On the
one hand, he appeared to be a hard nosed scientist, dealing only with factual, obsen
able behavior. On the other hand, he seemed to be a Utopian dreamer. Perhaps the
best statement of Skinner's Utopian ideals is expressed m his work Walden Two, a Be
tional account of a futuristic social experiment. This hook became the impetus for a
community called Twin >aks. which was founded in Louisa lounty, \ irginia in 1967
< <
At Twin Oaks, children are educated in a modified Skiniienan approach Skinner vis
ited Twin Oaks and was impressed with what members were doing to make Walden
Two a reality, lie also realized thai they had to make modifications to ins prop. .sals in
order to adapt to the necessities of everyday life

In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, however. Skinner gave a nonfictional de
script i\e account of his views. Accordingly, the important thing is the social environ
ment. could even be said thai

It for Skinner, social environmenl is culture This
position is in opposition to those who say that culture Is i i sentialjh ideas or va
apart irom human behavio] For Skmner. behavior carries the ideas and values of a
cult ure. and transforms, alters, and changes a culture Inalai
n cultural i
lution is an evolution of behavioral practices thai are established within so< ial mi .1
l„. u or milieu ot contingencies ol reinfor< ement. So could be said thai in cultural ii
evolution, what evolves are practices sel in .1 locial com.

Skmner makes a strong case for controlled cultural evolution In the 1
people had a confused tori ol control "hen as not, blind and ai idental The na 1
ture of the control or how could be more effectively used was nol fullj understood
ii
Skinner maintained thai controls are needed i" make us more sensitive to thi
'• "
il their behavior Reinforcemenl foil
(even though most human behavior is conditioned 1 infon em<
naviord n directions thai an ' quently, people should

.
210 CHAPTER 6
be controlling, devising, or using contingencies that reinforce desired behaviors. In

short, control lies at the crux of sensitivity to the consequences of human behavior.
Skinner admitted that we do not know the best way to rear children, to edu-
cate effective citizens, or to build the good society; he did maintain that better ways
than we now have could be developed. To change culture or individuals, behavior
must be changed, and the way to change behavior is to change the contingencies of
reinforcement (culture or social environment)
What are contingencies of reinforcement? Simply put, contingencies are the
conditions in which behavior occurs; they reinforce it and influence the future di-
rection and quality of behavior. For example, one cannot drive an automobile unless
an automobile exists. The behavior of automobile driving is contingent upon an ac-
tual automobile. Furthermore, the way we drive is contingent upon numerous other
conditions, such as the functions and capacities of that particular automobile, road
and traffic conditions, and a host of other supporting conditions. Finally, driving an
automobile does things for people. It gets them to a desired destination, helps them
earn a living, and increases their range of mobility. What an automobile does is re-
warding, so human behavior of driving automobiles is reinforced. Some of these con-
ditions serve as particularly strong contingencies. Much of the trouble with the
operation of motor vehicles, such as speeding, comes about because of a lack of
understanding and control of the contingencies.
Skinner stated that contingencies of reinforcement are difficult to discern in
many instances. For one thing, we are not used to viewing human situations in be-
havioral terms (or else we fail to recognize the behavioral point of view). For an-
other, human understanding is at least hampered, if not misled, by holding to such
notions as the autonomous individual. People have not developed sensitivity to the
conditions, the contingencies, in and with which behavior occurs. However, Skinner
maintained that contingencies are accessible (even if with difficulty) and as we pro-,
gressivelycome to understand the relationship between behavior and environment,

we will discover new ways of controlling behavior. It is possible, as further under-
standing is developed, to design and control not just isolated behaviors and their con-
tingencies but a whole culture.
Skinner viewed the educational process as one chief way of designing a culture,
and was directed at numerous other institutions. He believed that
his attention also
positive reinforcement could induce people to begin to alter and control schools and
other institutions. Behavior shaped in the direction of reward; that is, behavior is
is
reinforced to the extent that its consequences are good or bad. Good consequences
are positive reinforcement, and bad consequences are aversive reinforcement. A
problem arises in that humanity is too often ignorant of long-range consequences.
Immediate positive reinforcement might have negative effects later. It is important
to examine cultural contingencies critically in light of likely consequences.
The critical analysis of culture is not to be taken lightly. It is easier to proceed
piecemeal because planning and foresight of consequences are simplified. Thus, it is
easier to change particular teaching practices than a whole educational establish-
ment, and it is easier to change one institution than a whole culture. For Skinner, the
greatest mistake is to stop trying.
The big questions, however, are "Whal is the good society?" "Hovi do we gel it?"
"Who is to say what is good?" and "Who controls the good society?" Such questions
have been stumbling blocks to social or cultural reconstruction throughoul history.

Recently, these questions have been considered to be outside the realm of science
As the claim goes, science deals with whal is. whereas questions aboul good soci- .1
ety deal with whai should oroughl to be. Such questions involve value judgments and
not matters of fact. This would seem to rule oul an) pari for the behavioral scientist
or other scientists.
( )n the contrary, Skinner rejected the claim thai value judgments are more re
mote from scientists than from other human beings. He posed this question as a more
suitable one: "If a scientific analysis can tell us how to change beha\ ior, can n tell us
what changes to make?" To Skinner, this is a question aboul the beha> ior of those
who advocate and promote changes. In other words, people act to effect changes for
reasons, and among these reasons are behavioral consequences. To saj that we would
like a culture in which making war is absent is to say that we would like to eradicate
war-making behavior. Whatever the beliaviora consequences considered in efforts to

I
effectchange, these consequences include things thai people call good or valuable.
Thus, one can see that for skinner, the good society and values are within the domain
of the behavioral scientist precisely because those goods and values are involved in
behavior, even based and coming out of it.
in it
As a behavioral scientist. Skinner might have been solidly involved with values
and the good, but makes just as much sense to saj thai he also was behaving like
it
a philosopher and dealing with philosophical issues. Critics mighl quibble over what
label should be applied to Skinner, but he did concern himself with values and the
good, and these are woven intricately into his views of achieving a better culture or
social environment.
What. then, is good and of value from the Skiniierian standpoint" Simpl.v put,
to classify something as "good" is to dassifv as a positive reinforcer lertain foods
it <
are good because they give positive reinforcement (the) are pleasing, delicious,
palatable, healthful, and so forth), and people tend i" seek oul and e.ii good food Bj
the same token, son u- foods are bad be< ause they donol taste good, are unhealthful,
and are undesirable, so people avoid them. However, tastes vary, and what is |
tivelj reinforcing to one mighl be aversive to another This applies in man) ai
such as things that feel good or bad, look g <n bad, sound good <>i I n bad, and •
Skinner called these goods person

Other goods can be considered, those that Skinner called and
they refer to more social like behaviors even though the) also mighl flou from personal
goods Most societies have found rampanl dishonest) tob el) reinfon in
though some people find dishonesl behavior to be rewarding tuted
measures to control behavior to the extern that certain hud-, ol d met

with punitdvi measure •
wh< n d and reward* ! 1
among criminals, honest) withone ighl bel
mighl be rewarded only when is ondu< ted again

il < ;1 an i m)
Skinner -ailed another find ol good the
the membei ilture to work fortl J and enhancement of that cull
—
212 CHAPTER 6
Generally, such goods might have dim cultural and genetic roots. It is not always clear
why we work change it for what is deemed a better state
to support our culture or to
of affairs. As Skinner pointed out, people are faced with so many enormous problems
today that immediate changes are needed just for survival. People are confronted
with warfare, overpopulation, starvation, and environmental pollution, all of which,
if allowed to run rampant, can mean disaster.
Change does not occur simply because of the passage of time but because of
what occurs while time passes. Thus, we are thrown back to behavior. All change is
not necessarily good and valuable, and neither is all behavior. However, directed and
intended change depends on people's awareness of their behavior and its conse-
quences. One could phrase the behavioral context of the goods of culture in this way:
If human survival, and if human survival depends on the cul-
people are reinforced by
tural and physical environment in which people exist, then they will work for human
survival by designing culture to that end. Skinner seems to say that there is little
choice. We must act.
What, then, is good? Good is that which is positively reinforcing in terms of
personal, social, and cultural survival contexts. What is of value? Value is that which
has desired reinforcing effects. The good society is one that gives personal satis-
faction, supports social interaction, and furthers our survival. The good society is
valuable, and the way to achieve it is through the proper design of the culture
that is, through the proper arrangement and development of the contingencies of
reinforcement.
Skinner maintained that people need a sophisticated science and technology of
human behavior. Although such a development would be morally neutral and could be
misused and abused, he believed that it has a definite survival value. The survival value
will not ensure against abuse, but he thought that survival would go a long way in aid-
ing desirable usage. When one surveys the plight of the modern world and the brink
on which humans often totter, one might be strongly inclined to agree with Skinner.
BEHAVIORISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

The principles of behaviorism and the techniques of behavioral engineering go back
and Watson, but Skinner pioneered their implementation in many
at least to Pavlov
fields of contemporary life. Skinner saw behaviorism extending into politics, eco-
nomics, and other social organizations. He strongly championed it as an educational
method that is more practical and produces greater results than any other.
Aims of Education
Although many people disapprove of the concept of behavioral engineering, it has in-
creasingly become part of the educational process. One might even argue that con-
ditioning has always gone on in education although it has not been labeled as such.
Teachers have conditioned students to sit up straight and to be quiet through looks,
grades, and physical punishment. When students are emotionally disturbed, condi-
tioning is one way to develop a step-by-step program through rewards (or punish-
merit) so that they are led to achieve complex patterns of behavior. At some institu-
tions for people with emotional disabilities, students can earn tokens and use them
to buy things: a drink, playtime, or even time away from the institution. Students
might acquire tokens in diverse ways. Thej could obtain them for staying in their
seats, for doing a certain amount of required work, or for approved social behavior.
Critics often consider it undesirable for children to be rewarded extrinsical^ for
every action, but Skinner responded by saying thai extrinsic rewards are necessarj
when other methods do not work or do not work as well, and they should be replaced
by more intrinsic rewards at a later date.
Behaviorists consider the child to be an organism who already is highly
programmed before coming to school. This programming is accomplished by
among other influences — parents, peers, siblings, and television. Some programming
might have been bad, but the child has been receptive to and has absorbed a lot of it
it. Skinner believed that one reason why people have trouble making moral decisions
is that the programming they haw received on morality has been contradictory. Par
one thing and do another.
ents, for example, often say
Skinner wanted to replace the erratic and haphazard conditioning that most
people receive with something systematic and meaningful. To do this, some kind of
agreement about what is meaningful and important (toward which children ought to
be conditioned) must he reached. This point raises a storm of controversy because it
indicates that some people will decide how other people will lie conditioned. Skinner
maintained that one obligation of adults, and particularly of educators, is to make

educational decisions and then to use whatever methods are available (conditioning
being the best to achieve them. He believed thai people should try to create a world
)
of peace and and if conditioning can help, then

justice, should be used it
It is easy to see that the way children are being conditioned in school is in
Lsfactory. Hither theteacher does not condition systematically or reinforcemenl does

not follow immediately. Skinner wanted teachers to see thai what thej are doing
orally involves some kind of conditioning: hence, thej should learn Imu to do more it
effectively.
Many people see education and conditioning as two different things. Education
presumably represents a tie,, mind being exposed t<> ideas thai one can look .it criti
cally and accept or not accept, whereas conditioning is seen to represenl the iiuple
mentation of certain specific ideas m the student's mind with or without thestudi
critical consent. Skinner, however, dn-u n<> distinction between education and
ditioning. He did not believe that the mind is tree to begin with Whatever kind
critical judgments or acceptance ol ideas students make alreadj are predii ated "n
ideas with which they have he. mi conditioned previou

Because so much ol lucation involves rote or memorj learning Skinner
I
believedthal computers also have a useful pari U lally.the] \
••man.
for computers have been structured in ways thai provide foi I<
ing. and h<> provide the kinds of immediate reinfon

t
emenl thai Skinner believi
lacking m edu< ation Computer pi
in the theorj thai the I

'
°uld be i
it should be done imn

214 CHAPTER 6
Behavioral engineering, one might argue, has been based primarily on experi-
ments with laboratory animals. Some claim that Skinner's experiments with animals
are inapplicable to humans and to human education, but Skinner argued that the
human being is an animal, though highly developed, and that the difference between
humans and other animals is of degree and not of kind.
The primary aim of behaviorist techniques is to change behavior and point it in
more desirable directions. The question of whether one should go in a special direc-
tion is raised immediately: Who decides what changes and what direction? Skinner
replied that people already are controlled by environmental forces such as parental
upbringing, schooling, peer groups, media, church, and society. He argued that the
question of control is not a good one; that is, we might feel free and even be relatively
free, but we always are controlled by something —
although we might assist in the
control that is exercised over us, such as accepting good habits of punctuality and
cleanliness. Thus, Skinner does away with the concept of innate freedom by saying
that people always have been controlled although we have not always been aware of
the control and the direction in which it leads.
One thing primarily wrong with control is not that it always has existed but that
it has been random and without any real direction. People have been controlled by
politicians for their own ends and purposes and by business interests for their own
profits, but such controls have been directed toward base ends and, unfortunately,
in ways that adversely affected those on the receiving end of the controls. Skinner
advocated what he believed were controls for good ends, and he thought that a new
society can be shaped through control. This means that someone must be in charge
to make sure the control is exercised efficiently toward the highest aims that can be
established. Currently, many kinds of control are possible, but they are directed to-
ward consumerism, superstition, and greed. Skinner pointed out that people have
been talking for years about a world devoted to peace, kinship, and freedom, and that
now, for the first time, people have in their hands a method for bringing about such
things. Not to use control for such high purposes would be immoral.
Skinner was a strong advocate of education, although many critics argue that
what he meant by education is not education but training. Skinner charged that much
of what passes for education is not good education because it is not reinforcing, does
not properly motivate students to progress, and does not deal with immediate re-
inforcement. When students take a spelling test, for example, they are interested in
knowing what responses are right or wrong at the time of the test. When the test is
returned to them a week later, they usually have lost interest. Skinner maintained
that children should know immediately when they are wrong and that this is
right or
why he has championed such methods of immediate reinforcement as programmed
learning.
Although many behaviorists use positive and negative methods of reinforcing
behavior, Skinner advocated positive reinforcement. Aversive (or negative) reinforce-
ment, though it might be effective, often has many bad side effects. The same results
can be achieved through rewarding good behavior rather than punishing bad behav-
ior. For example, in experiments to train pigeons to perform certain activities, the pi-
geons are rewarded with food when they peck the proper square. Such behavior can
be discontinued simply by stopping the reward. The behavior maj continue for a
short time after is no longer rewarded, but eventually
it will cease. Some behavior it
ists would punish the pigeon with shocks or similar devices, hut Skinner maintained
that the most effective procedure is to withdraw reward. It could be argued thai de
priving the organism of reward for a particular task punishment. In most situations,
is
Skinner would disagree: It is simply a matter of ceasing to reward a specific behavior.

Many people argue thai the aim of behavioral engineering is to turn ou1 robots
people who are at the heck and call of others who control them. Skinner com Horn I
that this is not true; in looking around al the current world, one finds that most people
are controlled by forces of which they are not const ions. He believed that people to
day live in a world where advanced technology in conditioning can be used to improve
human life if used in the right way. Wdlden Two shows world where technology is ;i
used to make people better, more humane, creative, and even more individualistic
Skinner did not believe thai individuality could exisl apaii from social development.
The title Waldo/ Tuo is drawn from Henrj David Thoreau's Walden Pond, which de
scribes Thoreau's sojourn in the woods where he was "a majority of one" who lived a
life entirely of his own choosing. Most people today would probably believe such
Walden-like schemes to he rather romantic notions, and even may \ lew Skinnei
forts in the same ways. A major difference, however, is that Skinner was attempting
to show what technology can do when is used wisely. it
In Wdlden Two, die only unhappy person is Fra/.ier. who is the conditioner of
others. He is aware that he is in control, and whatever decisions he makes involve nu-
merous conflicts. Skinner pointed out thai one who is conditioned mighl nol assenl
to or be aware of being conditioned. Humans are all conditioned anyway, consciouslj
or unconsciously, and could even assist in their own conditioning. People do this
when they reward themselves for doing something righl and punish themselves for
doing something wrong. The developmenl of personal habits depends largely on con
ditioning techniques that people themselves use.

According to the behaviorist, teachers have many rewards or reinforcers at their dis
posal. including praise, a smile, a tOUCh, Stars, or candies In some schools, paper
money or tokens are used as reinforcing mechanisms Manj people have quest -<\
ihe use of such extrinsic rewards, bul behaviorists claim thai the) areonh to be used
in place of intrinsic ones thai should he encouraged later Studies indi< ate thai re
wards need not begr time forthej also an be effe< tiveon an intermittent i
basis. One example is a mi nation m which a child would ho ailed onthi

tunes to ^p<'ll words hnl then would not he i ailed upon again The hild i will re
hand to answer the first qui stion and answei itcorrei th Tin i
Iforthi
ond spelling word and the She is no1 to be ailed on again, howevei The child
third i
might continue to raise her hand several moo hum without being called on but it
died on again, the hand rai lualh will diminish H the same hild i
illedononlj <>< casionally, one probabh ould i
u ,. p called
.
innei thoughl that inU rmittenl
.
216 CHAPTER 6
strong or stronger than continual successive rewards. Skinner believed that this is
why gamblers, or perhaps people who fish, are so ardent in their activities (because
they receive intermittent reinforcement)
One might describe briefly a procedure for behavior modification in the ordi-
nary classroom as follows: (1) Specify the desired outcome, what needs to be
changed, and how it will be evaluated; (2) establish a favorable environment by re-
moving unfavorable stimuli that might complicate learning; (3) choose the proper re-
inforcers for desired behavioral manifestations; (4) begin shaping desired behavior
by using immediate reinforcers for desired behavior; (5) once a pattern of desired
behaviors has begun, slacken the number of times reinforcers are given; and (6) evalu-
ate results and reassess for future development.
Suppose, for example, that a student runs in the hallways, endangering other
students and himself. For safety, the teacher wants to modify the behavior so that
running ceases; the objective will be achieved when the student stops running. In-
vestigation shows that the student runs partly because he must go all the way to the
other end of the building for his next class and fears that the time for class change is
too short. Also, he seems to like to run. The teacher works to get the student's class
time shortened so that he can be excused earlier. The teacher begins to compliment
the student when he does not run, and the student's classmates are less hostile to-
ward him because he is not bumping and jostling them constantly in the hall. Because
the student gets more positive reinforcement from his peers, the teacher finds it less
necessary to compliment him. In addition, the student finds that he can make it to
class on time if he does not dawdle, even without extra time. Finally, because he now
finds walking more rewarding than running, extrinsic reinforcers no longer are
needed or can be reduced.
Evaluation by the teacher shows that the desired behavior has been fairly well
achieved and that it eventually may be possible to stop all external reinforcers. This
does not mean that the teacher loses interest in the problem; he should check peri-
odically to see whether the student's desired behavior is being continued. One also
might observe that this approach has reinforced the teacher's behavior. The positive
success reinforces the teacher to use this technique in similar instances.
Skinner thought that one of the most effective kinds of instruction might be ac-
complished through the use of what he called teaching machines (or in today's terms,
personal computers). He often is referred to as the "father of the teaching machine"
and did significant research in this area. One type of program might ask, "Who was
the first president of the United States?" Students type in their answer in the proper
space, and their answer appears on the screen when they click a button. If they an-
swer correctly, they are rewarded by the program, which reinforces them to remem-
ber the answer.
The questions in such a program are interrelated and usually arranged in se-
quences of increasing complexity. Skinner thought that learning should take place in
small steps and that succeeding questions should have some relationship to the pre-
ceding ones. He preferred that students have nothing but success. They should sim-
ply go on if they miss a question or two. If they miss too many questions, then they
probably do not belong on that particular program. Some early teaching machines re-
warded the children with candy or spoke to them, bill recenl studies indicate thai
getting the right answer is often reward enough.
Other more sophisticated programs are designed primarily for adults. me pro I
gram might have extensive material thai thestudenl can read, tfter reading, the stu-
dent is asked to choose one of several possible answers. If the correcl answer is
chosen, the student goes on to the next screen If the wrong answer is chosen, how
ever, two contrasting views exisl about what should happen. Skinner thoughl thai to
make the student repeat the material is too much punishment and that if one misses
the answer, the program still should go on to the nexl screen. >ther behaviorists, (
such as S.J. Pressey, maintain that repeating the material is not too aversive and that
the student should get the right answer before moving to the next screen Some pro
grams make this process as painless as possible, and it the student clicks the wrong
button, then the program will go to a screen that tells win the answer was wrong and
then refer back to the material to hi' reread.
Some early teaching machines were also "branching" mat tunes: thai is. the\
contained programs for average, slow, and bright students A student who completed
exercises one through ten without making a mistake might be able to skip the next
ten lessons because they were repetitious. \ student who made a single mistake
would have to do the next ten, and one who made two mistakes would be referred to
a remedial program before beginning al Lesson again. 1
According to behaviorists, the advantages of programmed learning are mam

Immediate reinforcement is given, the programmed material is written competenl l>.\
people, and the learning takes place in many small steps so that thestudenl can avoid
making mistakes. One major objection to programmed learning is thai although il
might be good in teaching tactual material, cannot teach material of a more con-
it
ceptual or creative nature. Skinner disputed this and claimed thai programs can be
developed to teach complicated ideas as well as programs that provide reinfon e
ment every time a child gives what is considered a more creative aru wer
For behaviorists, the curriculum should be organized into small, discrete units
that can be managed easilj and for which simple and straightforward learning objec
tives can be readily devised and assessed For example, historj should be taughl nol
as some grand ami encompassing story, but in small, easily managed units The same
would be true tor the sciences, wherein small units are constructed and subject mal
ter is arranged so that it can be Learned successful^ withoul complicating side ,
coming into the picture The "big picture" should emerge aftei Ful completion
of these small units me ( thing stands i. ut m the behaviorisl curriculum fbjective <
must be stated m behavioral terms, and not onlj For the subjeel matter to be learned
In other words, whatever the subjeel being studied, the objective outcomes ol learn
ing will be observable or measurable behavior, elide,- as behavioral change "i a
inforced behavior thai is deemed desirable Behaviorists believe thai their view "t
curriculum is a more scientific one h tru< tured, il I evi
dence, and its result-. < an be •
i
and verified In tl
tlect souk- leading chara teristii s "i reali m and positivism

Behavioral engineerij inj implications 1 lem education bul rai
mam troubling philosophy al question trolanddenux rati

218 CHAPTER 6
Its application and apparent effectiveness make it an important concern in the edu-
cational process. Nothing seems to bring out more ire among educators than a dis-
cussion of behavioral engineering as applied to education. Skinner was always
interested in education, wrote about it, spoke to educational groups, and did pio-
neering work in the field.
Skinner's views about education must be seen as an integral part of his overall
views concerning the individual and society. He believed that education must be seen
not simply as giving people information but as a controlling influence over people's
lives. Many have related Skinner's ideas to those of Aldous Huxley (Brave New
World), George Orwell (1984), and Anthony Burgess (Clockwork Orange). Al-
though Skinner maintained that his ideas about conditioning are different and more
humanitarian, he did not deny that the forces for control (as discussed by Huxley,
Orwell, and Burgess) could exist.
Today, wide varieties of behavioral techniques are already in use. All of these
methods rest essentially on a particular theory: People first determine the kind
of behavior they want, and then they get it repeated by reinforcing it through vari-
ous rewards. Some educators seriously question the use of rewards, but behavioral
engineers argue that rewards are to be used sparingly and only to the point where
students learn to reward themselves without outside tangible rewards. Tangible re-
wards are used often with students in special education, for example, who are re-
warded for desired behavior and work. Carl Bereiter and Siegfried Engelmann used
behavioral techniques with students who had poor learning abilities. Other psychol-
ogists have used such techniques for purposes as diverse as toilet training and pilot-
ing aircraft. The essential thing about any of these techniques, however, is that
whatever reward is used should be systematic and immediate. Skinner and others
believe that a primary problem with most education at present is a lack of immedi-
ate reinforcement.
In recent years, a shift has occurred away from mechanistic, passive models of
behavior modification toward ones that emphasize self-management and the active
role of participants in shaping their own behavior. Earlier Watsonian or Skinnerian
models used a "person as machine" approach in which manipulation of the environ-
ment was the critical factor. Today, many behaviorists are concentrating on the en-
vironment-organism interplay in which organisms contribute to their own learning.
This can be done, in part, by helping people become better problem solvers and an-
alysts of their own condition.
What this shift points to is that many behaviorists now concentrate on "pro-
cesses in the head" —that is, people's belief systems, thinking, and self-control. Indi-
viduals can be induced to study their own behavior, detect elements of danger, and
take appropriate steps to prevent negative actions from taking place or at least to miti-
gate their effects. This approach might well remind one of Kant's notion of the mind
as an active agent in the transformation of ideas. Thus, many behaviorists now study
the philosophical question of how people think and how thinking in turn shapes
behavior.
Today, some people promote a behavioral approach toward changing individual
personality through shaping behavior with biofeedback. Biofeedback techniques can
be used to change such behaviors as smoking and to relieve such physical ailments
as headaches, insomnia, and high blood pressure. This approach uses medical moni-
toring devices along with meditation and exercise. The primary purpose of biofeed
back is to put the body back Into harmony with the environment.
This more recent approach to behavior modification characterized bj an em
is
phasis on the inner person. 1

( 'ognitive theory stresses the human qualities in people
and says that people can change their lives through their own tJtiiuang, creativity, and
willpower. Many destructive and upsetting emotions and behaviors are caused bj whal
people believe about themselves. A mentally healthy person is one who has an accu
rate perception of things and who can acl intelligently on the basis of such perceptions.
Those who promote a cognitive approach insisl thai is a mure humanistic it
method because it looks at the individual, nol as a passive mechanism to be manipu

lated by the environment, bul as a consciously aware being. Individual existence can
be shaped by the power of one's own thinking and thus nol be controlled soleh, bj ex
ternal forces or unconscious drives. Individuals can shape their own destinies and im
prove and create themselves through their own power using behavioral techniques
In using this power, behaviorists believe people best express what it is to be human
Role of the Teacher

All teachers use behavioral techniques of one kind or another in their classrooms.
This is true even if Teachers condition students
they are nol aware of this fact.
through grades, their attitudes toward them, gestures, and in a thousand other w
Such conditioning is often unconscious and unreflective; however, behaviorists sec
this kind of conditioning as too random and counterproductive because one kind ol
conditioning may wipe out another For example, a teacher might reward a partial
lar behavior on Monday bul because of other outside variables, fail to reward on il
Tuesday or Wednesday. Also, the teacher ma\ reward an appropriate behavior

fail to
in a timely manner. This often happens in a school where one teacher might reward
a particular behavior but another teacher might not.

Skinner and other behaviorists would like to see some consensus ai gedui a
tors as to i he kinds of behavior thej would like to see reinforced and then use proven
methods of conditioning to achieve such l>eha\iors. This means thai teachers must
work together and agree on goals and methodology also means thai teachers nol It
only will reward good behavior uniformly bul also will nol reward undesirable l>eha\
is probabh
ior uniformly. Although this technique sounds authoritarian in nature, il
true thai mosi teachers alreadj agree on the kinds ol behavior the) would like t<
repeated: students studying more, doing their homework, being on time foi lass and i
so forth. Skinner believed thai if teachers adopted u< h goals and used appropriate •
methods, then such things* ould be realized in a relatively short period of time
One ichercandois learn the theorj and the
of the most importanl th
technique of the onditioninj
i
Uthough .ill tea hers affecl the behavi
i
their studei lo nol .ill affe< behavior in ways thai behavior! its would ap
I
prove Teachers musl nol oiuj learn the techniques ol onditioning bul
Lhem -
,.)),., | lv ,.|-, (
iritii ool cannot • ompete with outside tnfluei
220 CHAPTER 6
as the peer group, television, home, and the Internet, but behaviorists argue that
teachers can make a difference if they act cooperatively and intelligently.
CRITIQUE OF BEHAVIORISM IN EDUCATION

Interest in the use of behavioral engineering has been increasing steadily in many
walks of life. Businesses, religious organizations, the military, and schools use
and it,
it is becoming more prevalent for such institutions to assess their own growth by their
success with behavioral techniques.
Probably the most outstanding feature of this approach for many advocates is
that it is scientific and research based, and researchers can point to measurable suc-
cess with this method. It has been used in education since the 1960s, and many edu-
cators are zealous supporters of the behavioral techniques they currently are using
in their classrooms. Insuch areas as special education, teachers find the concept of
immediate reinforcement particularly useful in controlling and directing children
with motor and mental disabilities. Even within the ordinary classroom, one some-
times hears about a token economy with positive and negative reinforcements as ef-
fective aids in the educational process.
The popularity of behaviorism arose because the techniques seem to work when
so many other approaches fail. Furthermore, the approach used by many behavioral
engineers —Skinner in particular — any aversive methods of education,
tries to avoid
and this fact appeals to many contemporary educators. Children also respond well to
a method that provides incentives and rewards for their achievements. Educational
computer programs provide immediate reinforcement and are popular with teachers
and students. They are effective and efficient ways of imparting knowledge, with the
range increasing with new software and more powerful computers.
Behavioral engineers suggest the use of their methods not only in education but
in social life, as well. Skinner, for example, took the possibilities of his theories into
the area of social and cultural reform. He thought that behavioral engineering would
be applicable on a global scale, maintaining that it is possible to solve problems of
hunger, warfare, and economic upheaval through a technology of behavior.
Many people scoff at Skinner's recommendations and launch vitriolic attacks on
his theories, particularly where he held that the individual has no inherent freedom
and dignity. They say that if his suggestions are followed, then Orwell's 1984 with
"Big Brother" in charge will be a certainty. Skinner replied that his theory is perhaps
the only hope for survival in this technologically complex age. He believed that
people have come to the point where they no longer can afford the old luxuries of
self-centeredness, violence as a way of life, the wealth of a few at the expense of the
many, and the old philosophical and theological notions about the human being's
inner makeup that support these old luxuries. Freedom and dignity in the old sense
are emotive ideas that generate strong support, but Skinner maintained that these
ideas are used too often for hiding a multitude of sins. Aggressiveness, for example,
often is said to be a part of the human being's inner makeup or is connected with
Original Sin, and nothing can be done about it because we cannot change human na-
ture. Skinner considered such easy escapes and superficial assumptions regrettable.
The net result is to give up before one begins because aggressiveness and greed are
learned behaviors and can be unlearned or extinguished if one takes an intelligent
approach in controlling
them.
Some critics charge that Skinner's theories belittle and limit humanity, bul a
strong argument can be made that his views are optimistic, holding the promise thai
humans can become practically anything through proper behavioral engineering.
From the Skinnorian standpoint, little in people's inner makeup limits development
in a variety of creative ways. For these reasons, the Skmnerians maintain thai il
is good society with good people in the foreseeable future

possible to build the il'
people have the fortitude to plan and cooperate in this venture. The controls will be
—
on the environment on the contingencies of reinforcemenl and in this way, null
viduals are controlled indirectly. Some critics, however, see Skinner's Wctiden
as the kind of dystopian Brave New World Huxlej wrote about.
Behavioral techniques might be successful in the laboratory, but legitimate
questions also can be raised about their applicability to human society, where so
many variables and unknowns exist. In the laboratory, rigorous control can be main
tained, but control is difficult in the rough-and-tumble, out-of-doors world Beha\
iorists are probably on soundest grounds when they are dealing with the step-by step
procedures of learning. It is certainly possible to construct a theory that ignores or
discounts inner human nature and might work beautifully, but this still does
it not
mean that no innate human capacities or characteristics exist. Skinner said that "no
-
theory destroys what it is a theory about.' and this idea cuts both ways. To say that
the individual has no inner freedom and dignity does not destroy such inner freedom
and dignity if they do exist.
In many respects, this controversy is a continuation of the old nature versus

nurture debate, or the argument over whether human development is fixed geneti
cally (by nature) or can be affected by upbringing and other educational influei
(by nurture). Perhaps one of the most glaring weaknesses in the nature nurture de
bate is thai proponents Of each side seem unwilling to accept that human develop
ment might be combination of both influences Indeed. Skinner was adamant thai
a
virtually all human behavior is controlled bj environmental influences of some kind
or another whether or not people are aware of Skinner once told the Philosophj it
of Education Society that he was there as speaker because ;ill ol the nurturing
;i in
fluences in his life where he lived, schools ho attended, and other things had I'd
him to that point Those who accepl a nature or biological point of mow. howi
seem unwilling to admit such impact from environmental influent es Nature advo
cates say that such thinj izophrenia are genetic in origin and need to be
treated medicalh Nurture advoi al thai such dysfuni tional behavior is likeh
caused bj environmental factors and can be treated through behavior modifii ation
techniques.
\n m i, | levelopmenl in the nature nurture debate ha
Edward I » Wilson and il - ohm-, net from philosophj bul from

' ""' " 111 " ""' ] '
liu[ '' |,i '
biology Ttu '

1
' '
tahnin rasa as Ixx ke termed it, bul rati loped w

222 CHAPTER 6
has given new impetus to Darwinism, and he believes that the influence of genes is
absolute. Free will, the soul, mind, self — all are illusions. However, environmental
conditions might influence genetic structures, a view that has been advanced by
Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene, who talks about the existence of "memes."
Memes are ideas, slogans, and beliefs passed on to the brain and that operate like
genes. His point is that learned experiences might influence genetic structures, a
view that is controversial. However, Wilson believes that when the Human Genome
Project completed and all the thousands of genes are correctly identified, then all
is
knowledge will be capable of being explained in biological terms. Similar ideas about
naturally determined human characteristics have long impacted educational theory,
perhaps most recently in such books as The Bell Curve by Charles Murray and
Richard Hernstein. They promote the view that intellectual ability is not endowed
equally among people and that natural and inherent differences exist in intelligence
(or I.Q.) among individuals and even among groups of people.
Perhaps the real truth of the matter is somewhere in between: People are pre-
disposed toward certain behaviors through genetic factors, but these influences can
be modified or even changed through nurturing conditions. A significant challenge to
behaviorism today, as well as to realism and its impact on education, comes from a
psychological theory called constructivism. This theory holds that students are not
passive recipients of information, but actively connect it with previously assimilated
knowledge and make it their own. Like behaviorism, it too has philosophical precur-
sors. As Maxine Greene points out, constructivism's numerous philosophical roots in-
clude pragmatism, existentialism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, and some modes
of idealism, all philosophies that have for a considerable time attacked objectivity,
overweening rationality, and disembodied abstract meaning. They affirm as con- —
structivism does —that truth is made (or constructed), not discovered or uncovered.
As a psychological theory', constructivism draws heavily from Jean Piaget
(1896-1980) and Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). According to Catherine Fosnot, con-
structivism is nonpositivistic and stakes out new ground in opposition to behavior-
ism and biological stage theory. Rather than maturation or behavioral conditioning,
the goal of constructivism is the growth of active learners through the construction
and reorganization of cognitive structures. As Fosnot traces it, constructivism leans
heavily on Piaget 's interest in equilibration, which includes assimilation and accom-
modation. The drive for equilibration is a dynamic process of growth and change.
According to Fosnot, Vygotsky contributed his work on social interaction to
constructivism. He studied "spontaneous" concepts developed by the child in every-
day experience, and "formal" concepts learned or imposed in structured activity as
in a classroom or learning environment. Spontaneous concepts provide the vitality of
the child's experiential learning, whereas formal concepts provide disciplined struc-
tures for a more mature consciousness and application, "scaffolding" for the growth
of the child's conceptual understanding. The child gets important cognitive structure
from the outer world but also provides individualized cognitive structure from per-
sonal experience. The point Fosnot claims, is that constructivism adds a new voice
.
to the idea that humans are constantly making and remaking their versions of real-
ity, and in the process humans transform themselves and the world.
Advocates of behaviorism do nol den$ thai children have spontaneous learning

moments or that they can assimilate, relate, internalize, and constmcl ideas. They
still maintain, however, thai learning is controlled and reinforced by environmental
conditions, not some mysterious inner force.
Critics claim thai behaviorists nol only make questionable assumptions aboul
human beings, they also make them aboul the nature of the universe. < >ne assump-
tion undergirding much of their thinking is thai the universe operates mechanisti-
cally. They view the scheme of things as orderly, regular, predictable, and thus
controllable. Serious questions have been raised aboul whether the universe oper-
ates this way or whether behaviorists impose this notion of order on the inscrutable
face of the universe. This penchanl for order and regularitj is most noticeable tn be
haviorists' effortstodevelopa technologj ofbeha\ ior. Thej are trying to make an ex
acting approach oul of something based on highly questionable assumptions. Tliis
drive for exactness seems to be modeled after the physical sciences, but some physi
cal scientists maintain thai exactness is much overrated even within their disciplines.
In other words, beha\ iorists might be constructing their theory on the shitting sands
of the quest for certainty.
One of the most glaring weaknesses thai critics poinl to is the social policj rec
ommendations of behaviorists such as Skinner. Behaviorists maj be on solid ground
when they are describing how learning takes place or how behavior is altered in the
laboratory or classroom. I>ni they make a quantum leap from the laboratorj to broad
social, political, and economic conditions. In Walden Two, Skinner recommends a
group of planners and controllers for the reshaping of Walden society, but the con
trailers sound much like the psychologisl in the laboratory. \gam. the laboratory is
different from society al large. Historj is replete with examples of individuals and
groups who thoughl thai thej and onlj thej could lead society in the proper direc
tion. History also shows the disastrous effects of such thinking. In so mam respi
there seems to be little difference in deriving the powers ofgovernmenl from divine
authority, the laws of dialectical materialism, or the laws ol behavior
One recurring concern is who controls the controllers Skinner maintained thai
the controlled exert influence over the controllers, jusl as the behavior of school
children affects the teacher's behavior. In other words, the directions of the beha>
Lor the conditions to which the controllers read Thisargumenl
of the controlled sel
seems weak because the initiative is loaded in favor of the controllers, who hav<
cial, political, intellectual, and economic power concentrated in their hands H seems
predictable thai the powerless of the Skinni rian societj will be jusl as manipulated
(even if for heir own good) as thepowi rl<
i
other authoritarian strui ture
In Ufie Kohn's Punished ards, thi lumptions of behaviorism
are criticized as intrinsicalh objectionable and i ounterproductive « hie problem is
that behaviorism stem m animal

I
Kohn ai
giiesthat human beha '

furthermore, h(
finds thai behaviori im ha i perva »ive in modern life Foi example, i hi!
'" manipulate
ar< bribed from birth with r<
"" '" '"''

their behavioi \ adults, th<
!
P^W l
promotion and spe< ial titles H ha ven been hildren to

hical
:
i
;,
224 CHAPTER 6
read books and do their homework. Kohn believes that intrinsic motivation is being
destroyed. Children do not have to be rewarded to learn because learning has its own
value and reward. The moral issue is whether a person has to be rewarded to do what
should be done. Kohn fears that the influence of behaviorist theory is destroying the
notion of the self, individual responsibility, and self-reliance.
Although Skinner and other behaviorists strongly maintain that their aims and
methods do not belittle people or eclipse inner feelings and purposes, the charge that
their programs result in a robotization of humanity has some basis. Some critics be-
lieve that behaviorists ignore what is truly human in favor of a new, more mechanis-
tic view of human nature. Frazier, in Walden Two, says that he is the only unhappy
one in the controlled society because he is the only one who was not reared there.
Given the option of being Frazier, with all his frustrations, hopes, and fears, or the
new-engineered individual of Walden Two, who is in blissful ignorance of the con-
trols exerted on him, many people would choose the former.
THE LEVIATHAN
Thomas Hobbes, the seventeenth-century English philosopher, was not a behaviorist, but his
materialist philosophy contains many ideas central to behaviorism. The following selection is
from Leviathan, or the Matter, Form, andPower of a Commonwealth Ecclesiastical and Civil,
first published in 1651. Hobbes thought that the human mind connects with environmental ob-
jects (the behaviorist's "stimuli") by way of the senses. Motion (or behavior) is vital (inborn
or genetic) and acquired (learned). His notions of "appetite" and "aversion" have close affin-
ity with positive and negative reinforcement. Hobbes's belief that science and reason could be
used to build the good society is akin to behavioral engineering. Finally, like such behavior-
ists as Skinner, Hobbes saw liberty or freedom as depending on external conditions.
The Introduction ing that rational and most excellent work of nature,
Nature, the art whereby God has made and governs man. For by art is created that great Leviathan called
the world, is by the art of man, as in many other

a Commonwealth or State —
in Latin, Civitas which is —
things, so in this also —
imitated that it can make an
but an man, though of greater stature and
artificial
strength than the natural, for whose protection and

artificial animal. For seeing life is but a motion of
defense it was intended. .
limbs, the beginning whereofsome principal

is in
. .
part within, why may we not say that all automata

(engines that move themselves by springs and
wheels as does a watch) have an artificial life? For
Of Sense
what is the heart but a spring, and the nerves but Concerning the thoughts of man, I will consider them
so many strings, and the joints but so many wheels first singly and afterwards dependence
in train or
giving motion to the whole body such as was in- upon one another. Singly, they are every one a repr-
tended by the artificer? Art goes yet further, imitat- esentation or appearance of some quality or other
i
accident of a body without us which is commonly Of Reason and Science

called an object. Which objed works on the eyes,
. .. |Il] appears dial reason is not. as sense and mem-
ears,and other parts of a man's body, and by diversity
ory, horn wiih us. nor gotten by experience onh a
of working produces diversity of appearances.
prudence is. hut attained bj industry: Brsl in apt im
The original of them all is thai which we call
posing of names, and secondly by getting a good and
sense, for there is no conception in a man's mind
orderij method in proceeding from the elements,
which has not at first, totally or by parts, been begot-
which are names, to assertions made bj connection
ten upon the organs of sense. The resl are derived
of one of hen in anot her.
i i
and so to -a Uogisms, which
from that original. . . .
are the connections "I' one assertion to another, till

The cause of sense is die external body or ob-
we ome i" a knowledge of all the consequem
i
jed which presses the organ proper to each sense.

names appertaining to the subjeel in hand, and that
either immediately as in the taste and touch, or me-
is it men call Si \nd whereas sense and memorj
diately as in seeing, hearing, and smelling; which
are hut knowledge "I fart, which is a thing past and
pressure, by the mediation of the nerves and other
able, science isthe know!. nsequem es
strings and membranes of die body continued in-
and dependence of one fact upon another, bj which[,]
ward to the brain and heart, causes there a resis- oui of that [which] we can presentlj do[,] we know
tance or counter-pressure or endeavor of the heart how to do Something else when We will, or the like
to deliver itself, which endeavor, because outward,
another time; because when we see how anything
seems to lie some matter without. And this seeming comes about, upon what causes and bj what manner.
orfancy is that which men call sense, and consists.
when the like causes come into our power we see how
as to the eye. in a light or color figured, to the ear,
im make produce die like effects.
il . , .
in a sound: to the nostril, in an odor; to the tongue

To conclude, the light of human minds is per
and palate, in a savor; and to the resl of the body in
spicuous words, bul bj exa< t definitions first snuffed
heat, cold, Iki illness, soilness, and such other qual-
and purged from ambiguity; reason is the pace; in
ities as we discern by feeling All which qualities,
icience, the way; and the benefit ol
called sensible, are in the objeel dial causes them mankind, the end
but so many several motions of the matter by which
it presses our organs diversely. Neither in us thai are
pressed are they anything else hut divers motions, Of the Interior Beginnings of Voluntary
formotion produces nothing bul motion. Bui their
Motions Commonly Called the Passions . . .
appearance to us is fancy, the same waking that There be in animals two sorts of motu ms pecu
dreaming. And as pressing, rubbing or striking the liar to them: one called vital, begun in generation and
eye makes us fancy a light, and pressing the ear pi" continued without interruption through their whole
duces a dill, so do the bodies also we see or heal pro rse of the blood, the pulse,
dure the same by their strong, though unobserved, the breathing, the ". nutrit
action For if those colors and sounds were in the etc to which motions there need-, no help ol
bodies or objects that cause them, they could nol he imagination; the other is animal motion, othi
I from them as by glasses, and in echi called

reflection, we see thej are. where we know the thing ij OUT Imihs in SUI h main •
e is m one place, die appearance in another. cied in our mm'! motion in the
And though ai some certain distance die real and and in'
Vep, Objed seem ||i\esler| with l||e |aiM\ It I » of the thin. and dial I
•
still the obj< thing, the lie i
the oil' s "t the same motion remait
fancy is another So that sense in a noth- I in the In
ing else hut original I

ud, bj and the i:,
the pressure (hat |. bj the uwl

things upon -iin there-
unto ordained dent that thi lining
.
226 CHAPTER 6
of all voluntary motion. And although unstudied men And because the constitution of a man's body is
do not conceive any motion be there where

at all to in continual mutation, it is impossible that all the
the thing moved is invisible or the space it is moved in same things should always cause in him the same ap-
is, for the shortness of it, insensible, yet that does not petites and aversions; much less can all men consent
hinder but that such motions are. For let a space be in the desire of almost any one and the same object.
never so little,which is moved over a greater
that But whatsoever is the object of any man's ap-
space, whereof that little one is part, must first be petite or desire, that is it which he for his part calls
moved over that. These small beginnings of motion good; and the object of his hate and aversion, evil; and
within the body of man, before they appear in walk- of his contempt, vile and inconsiderable. For these
ing, speaking, striking, and other visible actions, are words of good, evil, and contemptible are ever used
commonly called endeavor. with relation to the person that uses them, there be-
This endeavor, when it is toward something ing nothing simply and absolutely so, nor any common
which causes it, is called appetite or desire, the latter rule of good and evil to be taken from the nature of the
being the general name and the other oftentimes re- objects themselves —but from the person of the man,
strained to signify the desire of food, namely hunger where there is no commonwealth, or, in a common-
and thirst. And when fromward
the endeavor is wealth, from the person that represents it, or from an
something, it is generally called aversion. These words, arbitrator or judge whom men disagreeing shall by
appetite and aversion, we have from the Latins; and consent set up and make his sentence the rule thereof.
they both of them signify the motions, one of ap- As in sense that which is really within us is, as
proaching, the other of retiring. For nature itself
. . . Ihave said before, only motion caused by the action
does often press upon men those truths which after- of external objects, but in appearance to the sight
wards, when they look for somewhat beyond nature, light and color, to the ear sound, to the nostril odor,
they stumble at. . . etc., so when the action of the same object is contin-
That which men desire they are also said to ued from the eyes, ears, and other organs to the
love, and which they have
to hate those things for heart, the real effect there is nothing but motion or
aversion. So that desire and love are the same thing, endeavor, which consists in appetite or aversion to or
save that by desire we always signify the absence of from the object moving. But the appearance or sense
the object, by love most commonly the presence of of that motion is that we either call delight or trouble
the same. So also by aversion we signify the absence, of mind.
and by hate the presence of the object. This motion, which is called appetite, and for
Of appetites and aversions, some are born with the appearance of it delight and pleasure, seems to
men, as appetite of food, appetite of excretion, and be a corroboration of vital motion and a help there-
exoneration, which may also and more properly be unto; and therefore such things as caused delight were
called aversions from somewhat they feel in their not improperly called jucunda, a juvando, from
bodies; and some other appetites, not many. The rest, helping or fortifying, and the contrary, molesta, offen-
which are appetites of particular things, proceed sive, from hindering and troubling the motion vital.
from experience and trial of their effects upon them- Pleasure, therefore, or delight is the appearance
selves or other men. For of things we know not at all, or sense of good; and molestation or displeasure the
or believe not to be, we can have no further desire appearance or sense of evil. And consequently all ap-
than to taste and try. But aversion we have for things, petite, desire, and love is accompanied with some de-
not only which we know have hurt us, but also that we light more or less, and all hatred and aversion with
do not know whether they will hurt us or not. more or less displeasure and offense.
Those things which we neither desire nor hate Of pleasures or delights, some arise from the
we are said to contemn, contempt being nothing else sense of an object present, and those may be called
but an immobility or contumacy of the heart in re- —
pleasures of sense the word sensual, as it is used
sisting the action of certain things; and proceeding by those only that condemn them, having no place till
from that the heart is already moved otherwise by there be laws. Of this kind are all onerations and ex-
ol ter more potent objects or from want of experience
1 onerations of the body, as also all that is pleasant in the
of them. sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch. Others arise
from the expectation that proceeds from foresighl held to and observe differently the things thai pass
of the end or consequence of things, whether those through their imagination. And ... in this succession
things in the sense please or displease 1
. And these are of mens thoughts there is nothing to observe in the
pleasures of the mind of him that draws those con- things they think on but either in what they be like
sequences, and are generally called joy. In the like oneanotheror in what they be unlike, or what they
manner, displeasures are some in the sense, and serve for or how they serve to such a purpost
called pain; others in the expectation of consequences, \s for acquired wit- mean acquired bj I
and are called grief. method and instruction there is none bill reason,
These simple passions called appetite, desire, which is grounded on the right use of speech and pro
Ion; aversion, hate, joy, and griefhave their names duces the sciences. . . .
for [diverse] considerations diversified. As first, when The causes of this difference Of wits are 111
they one succeed another, they are diversely called the passions, and the difference ol passions pro< eeds
from the opinion men have of the likelihood of attain- parti) from the different constitution of the body
ing what they desire. Secondly, from the object loved and from differenl education For
partlj the differ it
or hated. Thirdly, from the consideration of manj of ence proceeded from the temper of the brain and
them together. Fourthly, from the alteration or suc- the organs of sense, either exterior or interior, there
cession itself. would be no less difference of men in their sight,
hearing, or other senses than in their fancies and dis
cretions. It proceeds, therefore, from the passions,

Of the Virtues Commonly Called winch are differenl nol onlj from the differen< e ol
Intellectual . . .
men's complexions, but also from their difference ol
virtue generally, in all sorts of subjects, is somewhat i ustoms and education

that is valued for eminence, and consists in compari- The passions that most of all cause the differ
son. For if all things were equal in all men. nothing ence of wit are principally the more or less desire
would be prized. And by virtues intellectual are al Of power, Of riches, of knowledge, and Ol honor \n
ways understood such abilities of the mind as men which ma) be reduced to the fust that is. desire ol
praise, value, and desire should be in themselves and power for riches, knowledge, and honor ate but se\
go commonly under the name of a good wit, though era! sorts of power.
the same word wit be used also to distinguish one \ud therefore a man who has no great p
certain ability from the rest. for any of these things but men term it. indil is. as
These virtues are of two sorts: natural and ferent,though he may be so far a good man as to be
acquired. By natural. mean not thai which a man
1
free from giving offense, yel he cannol possibh
has from his birth for that is nothing else but ither a greal fan< y or mui h [udgmenl For the
wherein men differ so little one from another and thoughts are to the desir iuts and sp
from brute beasts as it is not to be reckoned among id and find the wa) to the things di
virtues. Bui I mean that " it which is gotten bj use all steadiness of the mind's motion, and all quid
only and experience, withoul method, culture, or in- ol the k eeding from then< e foi as to have
struction. This natural wrr consists principally in two to be dead so to have ions is
imagining thai
things: celerity oj
dullness
one thought to another -and sfc

Hon to some approved end m the conti ( i
Of the First and Second Natural Lawi .
imagination makes that defect or fault of the mind

which is commonly called stupidity, and •. hi< h writers commonl) i i
sometimes b\ oilier nam' nifj slowi natwi h man ha
motion or difficulty to be moved e will himself, for U ition of his
\nd this dit: ' bj own nature tb
the difference ol Ih'-C Mill |o\eaiid dislike sequent!) ol doing anything whii h, In his own |udg
some one thing ither and th< n men! and

run one v.
228 CHAPTER 6
By liberty is understood, according to the mental law of nature, which is to seek peace and fol-
proper signification of the word, the absence of ex- low it. The second, the sum of the right of nature,
ternal impediments; which impediments may oft take which is, by all means we can to defend ourselves.
away part power to do what he would, but
of a man's From this fundamental law of nature, by which
cannot hinder him from using the power left him ac- men are commanded to endeavor peace, is derived
cording as his judgment and reason shall dictate to this second law: that a man be willing, when others
him. are so too, as far forth as for peace and defense of
A law of nature, lex naturalis, is a precept or himself he shall think it necessary, to lay down this
general rule, found out by reason, by which a man is right to all things, and be contended with so much
forbidden to do that which is destructive of his life or liberty against other men as he would allow other
takes away the means of preserving the same and to men against himself. For as long as every man holds
omit that by which he thinks it may be best preserved. this right of doing anything he likes, so long are all
For though they that speak of this subject use to con- men in the condition of war. But if other men will not
found jus and lex, right and law, yet they ought to lay down their right as well as he, then there is no rea-
be distinguished; because right consists in liberty to do son for anyone to divest himself ofhis, for that were
or to forbear, whereas law determines and binds to one to expose himself to prey, which no man is bound to,
of them; so that law and right differ as much as obliga- rather than to dispose himself to peace. This is that
tion and which in one and the same matter are
liberty, law of the gospel: whatsoever you require that oth-
inconsistent. Consequently it is a precept or gen-
. . . ers should do to you, that do ye to them.
eral rule of reason that every man ought to en-
deavor peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it;
Source: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Parts I and II, edited
and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek by Herbert. W. Schneider, by permission of the Bobbs-Merrill
and use all helps and advantages of war. The first Company. Copyright 1958, The Liberal Arts Press, pp. 23,
branch of which rule contains the first and funda- 25-26, 49, 50-55, 64, 68, 109-110.
KINNER
BEYOND FREEDOM AND DIGNITY
Of all the behaviorists, Skinner probably has been the most important. Following the leads of
Pavlov and Watson, he constructed a science of behavior based on operant conditioning. Al-
though much of his work was based on laboratory experiments, he took considerable pains to
discuss the social and political consequences of his theory. In the following selection, Skinner ar-
gues against traditional notions of the freedom and dignity of the human being, views that are
often supported by various philosophies. His claim is that such notions can be socially harmful,
particularly the notions of permissiveness championed by some philosophical and educational
schools of thought. At the same time, his rejection of permissiveness does not imply a resort to
punishment; instead, he argues for control based on the principles of a technology of behavior.
Those who champion freedom and dignity do and timidity. Their concern for autonomous man
not, of course, confine themselves to punitive mea- commits them to only ineffective measures, several of
sures, but they turn to alternatives with diffidence which we may now examine. . . .
—
A method of modifying behavior withoul ap- in.14 anyway but cannot quite say without
i sa\
pearing to exert control represented by Socrates's is help. We

understand the author, although we could
metaphor of the midwife: One person helps another not have formulated what we understand before he
give birth to behavior. Since the midwife plays no part put into words There are similar advantagi
il
in conception and only a small part in parturition, the the patienl in psychotherapy. Maieutie prau tices are
person who gives birth to the behavior may take full helpful, loo. because they exerl more control than is
credit for it. Socrates demonstrated the ait of mid usually acknowledged and some of il maj be valuable
wifery, or maieuties. in education. He pretended to These advantages, however, are far short of the
show how an uneducated slave boy could lie led to claims made Socrates' slave boj learned nothing;
prove Pythagoras's theorem for doubling the square. there was no evidence whatever that he could have
The boy assented to the steps in the proof, and gone through the theorem by hmisell afterward. \nd
Socrates claimed that he did so without being told ii is as true of maieuties as of permissiveness that
inother words, that he "knew" the theorem in some positive results must be credited to unacknov* l<
sense all along. Socrates contended that even ordi- controls of other sorts. If the patient in ids a solution
nary knowledge could be drawn out in the same waj withoul Ihe help of his therapist, it is because he has
knew the truth and needed only to be
since the soul exposed to a helpful environment elsewhere
shown that it knew it. The episode is often cited as if Another metaphor associated with weak prai
it were relevant to modern educational practice. . . tices is horticultural The behavior to which a person
Intellectual, therapeutic, and moral midwifery has given birth grows, and n maj be guided or
is scarcely easier than punitive control, because de il trained, as a growing plain is trained Behavior ma.\
"
mands rather subtle and concentrated atten-
skills nil ivated
tion, but it has its advantages. It seems to confer a The metaphor is particularly at home m educa
strange power on the practitioner, hike the cabalistic tion \ school for small children is a child garden, or
use of buns and allusions, achieves results seem
ii kindergarten, The behavior of tin- child "develops"
ingly out of proportion to the measures employed. until he reaches "maturity." A teacher maj accelerate
The apparent contribution of the individual is nol the process or turn 11 111 slight l.\ different directions,
duced, however. He is given lull credit for knowing but — in heca t teach, he can
the classical phrase
before he learns, for having within him the only help the student learn The metaphor of guid-
good mental health, and for being able to enter into ance is also common in psychotherapy. Freud argued
direct communication with find An importanl ad that a person inns! pass through several develop
vantage is that the practitioner avoids responsibility. menial stages, and that if the patient has become "fix
.lust as il is not the midwifes fault if the baby is still ated" al a given stage, the therapist must help him
born or deformed, so the teacher is exonerated when break loose and move forward. Governments •
the student fails, the psychotherapist when the pa in guidance for example, when thej encourage the
tient does not solve his problem, and the mystical re "development" of industry through tax exempt -"t
ligious leader when his disciples behave badly. provide a "climate" that is favorable to the \xn\
Maieutie practices have their place Just hov* men! of race relatioi
help the tea* her should give the student as he iuidani e is nol permissiveness, but it
much (
a delicate question usiiailv easier than midwifery, and has some ol the
acquires new forms of behavior is it
is
The teacher should wait lor the student to respond same advai natural
ipmenl annol to< on

rat her than rush to tell him what heistodoi 1 1
more the the tea. her n hes, the lid Growth remains an a< hievement oi ihe individ
Comenius put it. a- 11
less the student The student gains m other

learns
•
m and worth, his hidden
In general, we do not like to be told either what propensitii
now lor the ultimate form ol what ne who
thready know or what weareunlikel
I
well or lo good effe. We .jo not read I

t
ahead;, thoroughly familiar with the material or il Guid

islikeh toremaii tent that contra
oxnpletefy unfamiliar that it
the rticulai
We read books which h<
230 CHAPTER 6
directions. To arrange an opportunity is not a very things are more precise and shape more useful be-
positive act, but it is nevertheless a form of control if havior than contingencies arranged by other people.
it increases the likelihood that behavior will be emit- The temporal properties of the environment are more
ted. The teacher who merely selects the material the pervasive and more subtle than any series of re-
student is to study or the therapist who merely sug- minders. A person whose behavior in driving a car is
gests a different job or change of scene has exerted shaped by the response of the car behaves more skill-
control, though it may be hard to detect. fully than one who is following instructions. . . .
Control is more obvious when growth or devel- But things do not easily take control. The pro-
opment is prevented. Censorship blocks access to cedures Rousseau described were not simple, and
material needed for development in a given direction; they do not often work. The complex contingencies
it closes opportunities. De Tocqueville saw this in involving things (including people who are behaving
the America of his day: "The will of man is not shat- "unintentionally") can, unaided, have very little effect
tered, but softened, bent, and guided. Men are sel- —
on an individual in his lifetime a fact of great im-
dom forced ... to act, but they are constantly portance for reasons we shall note later. We must also
restrained from acting." As Ralph Barton Perry put it, remember that the control exercised by things may
"Whoever determines what alternatives shall be made be destructive. The world of things can be tyrannical.
known to man controls what that man shall choose Natural contingencies induce people to behave su-
from. He is deprived of freedom in proportion as he is perstitiously, to risk greater and greater dangers, to
denied access to any ideas, or is confined to any work uselessly and so on. Only the
to exhaustion,
range of ideas short of the totality of relevant possi- counter control exerted by a social environment of-
bilities." For "deprived of freedom" read "controlled." fers any protection against these consequences.
It isno doubt valuable to create an environment Dependence on things is not independence. The
in which a person acquires effective behavior rapidly child who does not need to be told that it is time to go to
and continues to behave effectively. In constructing school has come under the control of more subtle, and
such an environment we may eliminate distractions more useful, stimuli. The child who has learned what to
and open opportunities, and these are key points in say and how to behave in getting along with other peo-
the metaphor of guidance or growth or development; ple is under the control of social contingencies. People
but it is the contingencies we arrange, rather than the who get along together well under the mild contingen-
unfolding of some predetermined pattern, which are cies of approval and disapproval are controlled as effec-
responsible for the changes observed. tively as many ways more effectively than) the
(and in
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was alert to the dan- citizens of a police state. Orthodoxy controls through
gers of social control, and he thought it might be pos- the establishment of rules, but the mystic is no freer be-
them by making a person dependent not
sible to avoid cause the contingencies which have shaped his behav-
on people but on things. In Emile he showed how a ior are more personal or idiosyncratic. Those who work
child could learn about things from the things them- productively because of the reinforcing value of what
selves rather than from books. The practices he de- they produce are under the sensitive and powerful con-
scribed are still common, largely because of John trol of the products. Those who learn in the natural en-
Dewey's emphasis on real life in the classroom. vironment are under a form of control as powerful as any
One of the advantages in being dependent on control exerted by a teacher.
things rather than on other people is that the time A person never becomes truly self-reliant.
and energy of other people are saved. The child who Even though he deals effectively with things, he is
must be reminded that it is time to go to school is de- necessarily dependent upon those who have taught
pendent upon his parents, but the child who has him to do so. They have selected the things he is de-
learned to respond to clocks and other temporal pendent upon and determined the kinds and degrees
properties of the world around him (not to a "sense of dependencies. (They cannot, therefore, disclaim
of time") is dependent upon things, and he makes responsibility for the results.)
fewer demands on his parents. . . . It is a surprising fact that those who object most
Another important advantage of being depen- violently to the manipulation of behavior nevertheless
dent on things is that the contingencies which involve make the most vigorous efforts to manipulate minds. Ev-
.
Ldently freedom and dignity are threatened onlj when < Changes in preference, perceptions, needs, pur
behavior is changed by physically changing the environ- poses, an nudes, opinions, and other attributes of mind
ment. There appears to be no threat when the states of may be analyzed in the same way. We change the waj
mind said to be responsible for behavior are changed, a person looks at something, as well as what he sees
presumably because autonomous man possesses mirac- when he changing the contingencies; we do
looks, bj
ulous powers which enable him to yield or resist . . not change something called perception We change
Beliefs, preferences, perceptions, needs, pur- the relative strengths of responses bj differential re
poses, and opinions are other possessions of au- inforcemenl of alternative courses of action; we do
tonomous man which are said to change when we noi change something called a preference We change
change minds. What is changed in each case is a prob- the probability of an act by changing a condition ol
ability of action. A person's belief thai a Qoor \\ ill hold deprivation or aversive stimulation; we do noi change
him as he walks across depends upon lus past expe-
it a need. We reinforce behavior in particular ways;
rience. If he has walked across without incident it we do person a purpose or an intention We
noi give a
many times, he will do so again readily, and his be- change behavior toward something, noi an attitude
haviorwill not create any of the aversive stimuli fell as toward il We sample and change verbal beha> ior, noi
anxiety. He may report that he has "faith" in the solid- opinions

ity of the Qoor or "confidence" thai it will hold him. hut Another way to change a mind is to poinl to
the kinds of things which are felt as faith or confidence reasons wh> a person should behave in a given way,
are not states of mind; they are at best by-products of and the reasons are almost alwa\s consequences
the behavior in its relation to antecedent events, and which are likely to be contingent on behavior Lei us
they do not explain why a person walks as he does. saj thai a child is using a knife in a dangerous way We
We build "belief" when we increase the proba- maj avoid trouble by making the environment safer
bility of action by reinforcing behavior. When we build by taking the knife awaj or giving him a safer kind
a person's confidence that a Qoor will hold him by in- hut thai will not prepare him for a world with unsafe
ducing him to walk on it. we might not lie said to he knives. Left alone, he may learn to use the knife pro).
changing a belief, hut we do so in the traditional sense erly by cutting himself whenever he uses u improp
when we him verbal assurances that the Qoor is
give erly. We maj help bj substituting a less dangerous
solid, demonstrate its solidity by walking on our ll form of punishment spanking him, for example, or
selves, or describe its structure or state The onh dif- perhaps merely .shaming him when we Dnd him using
ference is in theconspicuousnessofthe measures The a knife in a dangerous way. We maj tell him that some
change which occurs as a person "learns to trust a uses are had and others good it "Bad!" and "Good!"
Door" by walking on it is the characteristic effect of re dreads been conditioned as positive and nega-
inforcement; the change which occurs when he is told tive reinforcers Suppose, however, thai all these
that the floor is Solid, when he sees someone else walk- methods have unwanted bj produ< ts, sui h
ing on it. or when he is convinced'' by assurances that change in his relation to us, and thai we therefore de
"
the Door will hold him depends upon past experiences cide to appeal to ' reason (Tins is possible
which no longer make a conspicuous contribution For onh if hed the "age ol reason ") We ex
he has reai
example, a person who walks on surfaces which are plain the contingent ies, demonstrating what happens
likely '" vary in then- solidity (for example, ;i frozen when one uses a knife in one waj and noi another We
lake; quickly forms a discrimination between surfai es how him how rules maj be extra* ted From
on which others are walking and surfaces on whuh no You should never i ul t
one is walking, or between surfai es called safe and sur .11 we maj indu< e the child to
ailed dangerous He learns lo walk confident!) use the knife properlj and will be likelj tosaj that we
on the first and cautiously on Hie se. ond The sight of have imparted •< knowled
someone walking on a nee thai it i^ we hav< had U leal ol
inverts il from these ond i lass into the firsl The onditioning wit to instrui I
tustorj during which the discrimination w.r. formed ,nd othei verbal stimuli, whit I
forgotten, and the effect thei nvohre ! and heir cont ill. ul ion maj then be attributed
I
that inner event -

ailed a change of mind
.
232 CHAPTER 6
argument has to do with deriving new reasons from condoned by the defenders of freedom and dignity
old, the process of deduction which depends upon a because it is an ineffective way of changing behavior,
much longer verbal history and is particularly likely to and the changer of minds can therefore escape from
be called changing a mind. the charge that he is controlling people. He is also ex-
Ways of changing behavior by changing minds onerated when things go wrong. Autonomous man
are seldom condoned when they are clearly effective, survives to be credited with his achievements and
even though it is still a mind which is apparently be- blamed for his mistakes. . .
ing changed. We do not condone the changing of The freedom and dignity of autonomous man
minds when the contestants are unevenly matched; seem to be preserved when only weak forms of non-
that is "undue influence." Nor do we condone chang- aversive control are used. Those who use them seem to
ing minds surreptitiously. If a person cannot see what defend themselves against the charge that they are at-
the would-be changer of minds is doing, he cannot es- tempting to control behavior, and they are exonerated
cape or counterattack; he is being exposed to "propa- when things go wrong. Permissiveness is the absence
ganda." "Brainwashing" is proscribed by those who of control, and if it appears to lead to desirable results,
otherwise condone the changing of minds simply be- it is only because of other contingencies. Maieutics, or
cause the control is obvious. A common technique is the art of midwifery, seems to leave behavior to be cred-
to buildup a strong aversive condition, such as hunger ited to those who give birth to it, and the guidance of
or lack of sleep and, by alleviating it, to reinforce any development to those who develop. Human interven-
behavior which "shows a positive attitude" toward a tion seems to be minimized when a person is made de-
political or religious system. A favorable "opinion" is pendent upon things rather than upon other people.
up simply by reinforcing favorable statements.
built Various ways of changing behavior by changing minds
The procedure may not be obvious to those upon are not only condoned but vigorously practiced by the
whom it is used, but it is too obvious to others to be defenders of freedom and dignity. There is a good deal
accepted as an allowable way of changing minds. to be said for minimizing current control by other peo-
The illusion that freedom and dignity are re- ple, but other measures still operate. A person who re-
spected when control seems incomplete arises in part sponds in acceptable ways to weak forms of control
from the probabilistic nature of operant behavior. Sel- may have been changed by contingencies which are no
dom does any environmental condition "elicit" be- longer operative. By refusing to recognize them the de-
havior in the all-or-nothing fashion of a reflex; it fenders of freedom and dignity encourage the misuse
simply makes a bit of behavior more likely to occur. A of controlling practices and block progress toward a
hint will not itself suffice to evoke a response, but it more effective technology of behavior.
adds strength to a weak response which may then ap-
pear. The hint is conspicuous, but the other events re-
Source: From Beyond Freedom and Dignity by B. F.
sponsible for the appearance of the response are not,
Skinner. Copyright © 1971 by B. F. Skinner. Reprinted 2002
Like permissiveness, maieutics, guidance, and by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., through special arrange-
building a dependence on things, changing a mind is ment with B. F. Foundation. All rights reserved.
SELECTED READINGS
Kohn, Alfie. Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's,
Praise,and Other Bribes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. A critique of behaviorism that
examines how behavior-shaping rewards are used and abused in education. Kohn believes
that behavioral techniques as currently used are more damaging than beneficial.
Meichenbaum, Donald. Cognitive-Behavior Modification New York: Plenum Press, L977.

\ look conditioning techniques thai takes intoaccounl more than simple environmental
al
factors. Cognitive-behavioral modification includes nol oruj organism-environmenl rela-

tions Inn also the ways an organism modifies and changes the environmenl through its be
lief system.
Pavlov, I. P. Conditioned Reflexes. London: Oxford University Press, 1927. A classic studj
Of conditioning. Pavlov's work has hadgreal influence on the historical developmenl ofbe
haviorism.
Skinner, B. F. Walden Two New York: Macmillan, 1948 \ fictional treatise thai has attracted
a wide audience of readers from scientists to utopian-minded thinkers. Skinner presentsa
picture ofwhal behavioral engineering mighl be like in communal form

www.bfskinner.org (accessed Homepage of the B F Skinner Foundation
April 5, 2002).
Genera] information aboul the foundation, with brief documents concerning operanl con
ditioning and other topics.
plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorisni/ (accessed April 5, 2002). \n example of a spe

ei he entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia oj Philosophy This particular page is devoted to
the philosophical roots of behaviorism.
ONLINE RESEARCH
Utilizing some of the Web sites included in this book, as well as Topics 2 an< 3 of the
Prentice Hall Foundations Website found www.prvnhall.com ozmon, artswei the
at
following question with a short essay: What arc the essential components of behav-
iorism and how is it utilized in educational practices? Vatican write and submit youi
essay response to your instructor by using the "Electronic Bluebook" section found
in any of the topics of the Prentice Hall Foundations Web site.
7
Existentialism,
Phenomenology,
and Education
The roots of existentialism can be traced as far back as the Sophists, but as a distinct
philosophy it began with the works of Soren Kierkegaard and, to a degree, by Friedrich
Wilhelm Nietzsche in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, it was further
developed by such figures as Martin Buber, Karl Jaspers, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Phe-
nomenology, which is closely allied with existentialism, deals primarily with the phe-
nomena of consciousness and usually is attributed to Edmund Husserl in the early
twentieth century, and greatly extended by such figures as Martin Heidegger and
Maurice Merleau-Ponty.
Although differences are found between existentialism and phenomenology,
the two have much in common. Sartre as much as anyone was identified with exis-
tentialism, yet he also wrote as a phenomenologist. Heidegger, who rejected the ex-
istentialist label, wrote philosophy that many existentialists have found compatible
with their views. As these philosophies have been used in philosophy of education,
they have been so closely allied that some advocates refer to their work as existen-
tialist phenomenology of education.
Although traditional philosophers consider questions about the nature of
knowledge, truth, and meaning, existentialists are concerned with how these ques-
tions are educationally significant within the lived experience of individuals. Phe-
nomenologists see their inquiry more specifically focused on the phenomena of
consciousness, the significance of education in perception, and the development of
meaning in concrete individual experience.
EXISTENTIALIST PHILOSOPHERS AND THEIR THOUGHT

Existentialism offers an array of interpretations because it is spread across so many
different cultures. Its seemingly tortured and mixed varieties could be a result of the
nature of the existentialist credo —the lonely, estranged, and alienated individual
caught up in a meaningless and absurd world.
234
EXISTENTIALISM. PHENOMENOLOGY. AND EDUCATION 235
In some respects, the nature of individualism studied by existentialists was in-

fluenced by the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900), a German
philosopher. Nietzsche attempted to establish a morality thai went beyond traditional
Judeo-Christian morality because he believed thai traditional morality had lamed
peopk too much, making them weak.
1
Thus Spake Zarathustra, he explored the
In
individual transcending conventional social values and becoming a "superman." a be

ing beyond the confines of the conventional. This theme was expanded in Beyond
Good (Did EvU and Toward a (inn-ahum q) Morals. In The Will to Power, he ex
plored the political ramifications of his ideas and favored a leadership of exceptional
people who would create and define values for others, a position that Nazi Germany
usurped for propaganda purposes.
The difference between Nietzsche and most other existentialists, however, is
the existentialists' deep sense of moral reservation, even moral uncertainty, about in
dividual existence. Rather than a drive to he a Nietzschean overlord, the individual
ism of existentialists is characterized bj anxiety, a lack of definition, and paradox lb
understand what existentialists themselves are attempting to say, one can examine
the particular thought systems of tour representative philosophers: Kierkegaard.
Buber, Heidegger, and Sartre
Soreu Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

Soron Kierkegaard's childhood was spent in close association with his father, who
demanded that his children excel in intellectual matters. Under the eye of his father,
young Kierkegaard learned to act out the plots of literarj works, became proficienl
in and Greek, and developed the habit of pursuing ideas for intellectual satis
Latin
faction. As a young man. he studied Hegel hut revolted against his systematization
and adherence to a society-oriented outlook. Kierkegaard chose instead to search oul
individual truths by which he could live and die.
Kierkegaard was a devout Christian win. attacked conventional Christianitj
with a vengeance, producing biting literarj works, such as bisAttach l pon
"( 'hris
tendom " Me believed that Christianity had become warped by modern times, for
conventional Christianity seemed to perpetuate many modern absurdities Thi
views did noi endear him to the religious establishment He called for a "leap of faith"
in which the modern individual would accepl the Christian deitj even
though there
isno proof thai God exists and no rational way to know ihm >nh through the leap
<
of faith can <>"< begin to restructure one's lif«' and trulj li\<' out the prin< ipl<
Christianity.
Kierk'
'
philosophical study was the i sly individual againsl
an objective and scien< e oriented world Me was biting in hi riti< ism ol

i i
he the pen< haril foi objecth

and what n has wrought, and believed that scientific
ity has largeh driven modem from viable >Christian beliel People
have embraced objectification, and thii has led to them 1 I oi
in the w •me contemporary \nv

Kierkegaard argued tor the subja tive individual who m
">.ii i h<
tiveprool This unfounded subje< Uvitj mi

chewing the scientific demand for obje<
ill,-,
i one must abandon reason and
236 CHAPTER 7
Kierkegaard was not concerned with "being" in general but with individual hu-
man existence. He believed that people need to come
an understanding of souls,
to
destiny, and the reality of God. He attacked Hegelian philosophy and other abstract
speculation for depersonalizing individuals by emphasizing the thought rather than
the thinker. He believed that individuals are confronted with choices in life that they
alone can make and for which they must accept complete responsibility. Kierkegaard
described three stages on "life's road." The first is the aesthetic stage, where one lives
in sensuous enjoyment and where emotions are dominant. The second, the ethical
stage, occurs when one arrives at the "universal human" and achieves an under-
standing of one's place and function in life. The third is the religious stage, which for
Kierkegaard was the highest, where one stands alone before God.
Kierkegaard held that there was an unbridgeable gulf between God and the
world that we must somehow cross through faith. This takes passion, and passion is
sorely lacking in modern life. We achieve such passion, not through reflection, but
through understanding ourselves as creatures of God. Kierkegaard thought that edu-
cation should be subjective and religious, devoted to developing individuality and the
individual's relationship with God. He opposed vocational and technical studies be-
cause they are directed primarily toward the secular world of objectivity.
Although Kierkegaard was largely ignored in his own time, his writings and
thoughts were revived in the twentieth century because it was then that Kierke-
gaard's fears of an unchecked and raging objectification and technological revolution
seem to have become largely realized. World wars, with their ever-increasing engines
of death and destruction, characterized the twentieth century, and the rise of totali-
tarianism and the loss of individuality seem to go along with this objectification. Thus,
Kierkegaard's thought appeared to many European and American intellectuals to
point the finger most aptly at the true condition of the modern individual. Through
the efforts of such thinkers, the word existentialism gained familiarity with in-
creasing numbers of people.
Martin Buber (1878-1965)

Martin Buber, a philosopher-theologian, was one who took Kierkegaard seriously and
began to develop his own system of thought. Although born and educated in Europe,
Buber immigrated to Palestine (now Israel) to join in the attempt of the Jewish
people to reclaim their homeland. Perhaps this struggle epitomized the human
predicament for Buber, because his writings reflect the need for mutual respect and
dignity among all humans. Buber's best-known book is / and Thou, a work that seeks
to get at the heart of human relations.
In /and Thou, Buber describes how the individual is capable of relating to and
identifying with the outside world. An objective relationship is characterized as "I—It."
In this relationship, one views something outside oneself in a purely objective man-
ner, as a thing tobe used and manipulated for selfish ends. One needs to look on one's
fellow human beings in terms of the I-Thou relationship; that is, one must recognize
that each individual has an intense, personal world of meaning. To the extent that
this personal or subjective reality of each individual is discounted or ignored, human
beings will continue to suffer from the absurdities in which they are caught. It is from
EXISTENTIALISM. PHENOMENOLOGY, AND EDUCATION 237
the standpoint of 1 — It that inhumanity, death, ami destruction are foisted upon one
person by another.
Buber found that people are treated as objects (Its) in business, religion, science,
government ami education. Manx- students todaj believe thai they are seen only as
,
numbers stored in a computer. In college classes of 200 or more, il is not surprising thai
this concern becomes reinforced when the teacher cannol remembera student's name
or perhaps not even remember who is enrolled in the class. The teacher assigns mate
rial, marks papers, and gives grades, bul studenl and teacher cacti go their separate
ways. When the students leave thai class, they arc replaced by other equally anonj
mous people. Buber did no1 believe thai things have to be this way. In a propel re
lationship between teacher and studenl . a mutual sensibility of feeling exists: There
is empathy. This is nol a subject-to-objeel relationship as in an I It relationship, bul
rather a subject-to-subjeel relationship one with a sharing of knowledge, feelings,
and aspirations. Ii which each person involved is both teacher and
is a relationship in
learner, sharing in a personal way with the other. Buber believed that this kind of rela
tionship should pervade the educational process al all levels, as well as societj al large.
Buber thoughl thai a series of] Then relationships constitute a continuum with
humanity at one end and God at the other. The divine and the human are related, and
through one's communication with fellow human beings, one experiences a recipro-
cal subjectivity thai makes life more spiritual. The existence of mutuality between
God and humanity cannot be proved, jusl as God's existence cannol be proved. Yet,
one's faith in God and in one's fellow human beings is witness to one's devotion to a
higher end.
Buber's humanism has had a profound impacl on many thinkers, not only in phi
losophy and theology bul also m psychology, psychiatry, literature, and education. In
fact, Buber was one of he few existentialists who wrote specifically aboul education,
i
especially lie lal lire of the relat loiislup between teacher and student. He was can-
I l
fultopoinl oni thai education, like manj other areas, also could consisl of an It re I
lationship in which the student is treated as an object, w hat Buber wanted was the
kind of education in which the teacher and student, though differing in kinds and
amounts of knowledge, were on an equal footing at least in terms of then riumanitj
Martin Heidegger (1889 1976)

Martm Heidegger was born m Messkirch, Germany, and was nared 111 the latholii <
faith. He attended he niversitj of Freiburg, where he was influenced bj Kantian

i
i
philosophy and later b> the teachings of philosopher Edmund Husseri, who devel
oped a philosophical method known as phenomenology H adopted this
methodology and extended n usage with hermeneutu s, "i the interpretation "t
lived experience III his IM.it U r !h | ,. (| .,m<- lallloir, .c a profeSSOl Of phU
phy at the i nre '• taughl mai in
eluding Sartre, who prol t renowned studenl His 1 and

particularl) his majoi work, Sein und Zeil published in
L927, have influeni ed manj philosophi

on several :Mi " 1
'
>''
investigation wa mdnotthel f ed individual Be that a

238 CHAPTER 7
Heidegger's starting point was what he called "being-in-the-world," or lived experi-

ence at the individual-environment (world) level. The individual existent is dasein,
and Heidegger devotes considerable space to an analysis of dasein. Thus, although
Heidegger's intent and purpose are to investigate Being, his analysis largely rests on
the individual interpreting and constructing a personal world of meaning.
Individual existence, or being-in-the-world, consists of three basic aspects. The
first aspect is the individual experiencing the world as a surrounding environment
(Umwelt). Umwelt is not just the physical environment in the objective sense;
rather, it is the environment as experienced by the individual. Thus, it is not strictly
an objective experience. The second aspect is the experience of others, or fellow in-
dividuals (Mitwelt). This is the complicated ground of social relations; not only does
the individual experience others subjectively, but others are also subjectivities with
their own personal viewpoints. The third aspect is the individual becoming aware of
himself as a distinct and subjective existence (eigenwelt). This is the intensely per-
sonal level encountered when one poses such a question as "Who am I?" In encoun-
comes face to face with existential
tering such a fundamental question, the individual
anguish and anxiety because the question has no apparent answer at the level of lived
experience. No laws, guidelines, or objective reality automatically give the answer.
People must answer the question for themselves.
This brief exposition of Heidegger's dasein analysis in noway does justice to
his complex philosophy. he found it extremely difficult to find adequate words
In fact,
to describe the intricacies of Being from the standpoint of the individual existent, and
he has been criticized for the terminology and style in which he wrote. The weighty
and intricate particular meanings he had to attach to such words as dasein and
eigenwelt complicate any understanding of his thought. This complexity is height-
ened further for those who must read him in English translation; one will encounter
many words, such as dasein, that have no accurate English equivalent.
Although Heidegger did not write specifically about education, educators might
better understand the intense personal side of existence after studying his thoughts.
The question "Who am I?" is a profound and troubling one that most people face more
or less with consternation while growing up and one that probably is never answered
could be said that this condition lies at the heart of the identity
fully. It crisis that
each person encounters at various times in life.
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

Of all the leading existentialist philosophers, probably the best known is Jean-Paul
Sartre. Born in France, he was brought up in a home where he was encouraged to de-
velop his intellectual talents. At an early age, he began to write, emphasizing the
predicaments of the human condition. Influenced a great deal by his grandfather,
who was a language teacher, Sartre aspired to become a teacher of philosophy. He
was an excellent student, and after completing his education in France, he went to
Germany where he studied with Heidegger in the 1930s. He later settled in Paris,
where he became a professor of philosophy.
At the same time, he pursued his literary ambitions, writing several novels and
plays that became best sellers. However, Sartre, like so many others, was caught up
EXISTENTIALISM. PHENOMENOLOCV. AND EDUCATION 239
in the destructive web of World War II. He joined the French Army and was captured
by the Germans early in the war. After the fall of France, he was allowed to return to
Paris on parole and there he joined the French Resistance. The Nazis were brutal
and swift in their punishment of captured Resistance fighters: Men and women in the
Resistance were faced constantly with instanl death, and this kind of situation sharp
ened Sartre's thinking on the absurdity and meaninglessness of individual existence
Even in the lace of the Nazi death machine, Sartre was able to write and pub-
lish a major philosophical work in l943,L'£treetle ne'ant (Being and Nothingness).
Itstands as one of the original philosophical treatises of the twentieth century.and it
is most thorough philosophical statement.

Sartre's investigates consciousness (be It
ing-for-itself) and the objects of consciousness Cbeing in itself)- 'onsciousness, or '
being-for-itself, is the reflection and negation of the objective world. It is as if human

consciousness tries to be its objects, as in the ease of the self-conscious person who,
in playing a role, literally tries to he the ether person, or the dedicated teacher who
trios to he the essence of all teachers. Such attempts are always failures; conscious
ness. or individuality, cannot be what it is not. Being for-itself always transcends,
negates, or goes beyond being-in-itself. This means thai human consciousness or in-
dividuality is free, in a sense, it could be said that consciousness deals with the mean
ing of things and not with raw objectivity or things-in-themselves
In his philosophical works. Sartre viewed the human predicament in term
the lonely individualin an absurd world. He viewed human existence as primarily
meaningless because people are thrown into the world totally without meaning, and
any meaning that is encountered m the world must he constructed bj oneself. Tin
development of meaning is an individual matter, and because the world and the m
dividual are without meaning, no justification is round for existing There is no God
to give existence meaning (Sartre was an atheist nor does any realm of ideas or in |,
dependent physical realitj exist with its own independent and immutable meaning.
Humanity, individuallj and collectively, exists without am meaning or justification
except what people make themselves.
Sallies point of Mew is austere, at least when compared with. Say, idealism 01
realism, and it is pessimistic when compared with pragmatism Vet. would be an it
error to take this notion ioo far. Sartre staled thai "existence pre< i nee" and
meant that if we are indeed withoul meaning when we arc born, then we an i fashion
our own meaning m the world m any way we see in According i" Sartre, if thi i
no God (no first Cause), then there is nothing to prevent us from becoming what
ever We desire heeallse hep- Is n0 I Self Or essoin e J
•
F ' <
I • 1 « I 1 1 1 1 1 1 • ' 1
The same can be said for physi< a reality and scien< e because Sartn l
ence as a human creation, no better and no worse in and of itself than any othei
ation Thus, when people step hack and view th<
that not lung det ermines hem to do anything; all the.,
i i restrit I
jimplj the punj and absurd creations "I humans it no primal restri< ti<
id,.,, th< ible Humanil

Sartre pui n m his . hara. teristi< terminology Man is i ondemned to i
Human fiee. Ion »me, foi it we .,,, n.ialh I'
onsible for our -

hoii e and a. tiona In othei imething and
240 CHAPTER 7
then claim that it was God's will or caused by the laws of science or that society made
us do it. We are free; therefore, we are totally responsible. We have no excuse, as
Sartre tried to show in his play No Exit.
one thinks seriously about this existentialist proposition, one might come to
If
understand that human existence is a sword that cuts two ways. Existence today
might be characterized by war, disease, hunger, or starvation on the part of many, and
conspicuous consumption on the part of a few. Ignorance, racial strife, and a host of
the most severe and depressing conditions make up the human predicament, but
who is responsible? Is it God? The law of supply and demand? National honor? No.
People themselves are responsible. If people can create war, then they also can cre-
ate peace. If people can, through absurd economics, create conditions of starvation
by allowing a few individuals to control the wealth of a country, then people also can
likewise redistribute the wealth so that no one need starve. In other words, if humans
are the creators of their ills, then they also can create a better and more humane way
of living. It is up to us. All people have to do is make choices and act accordingly.
These choices and actions are not easy, however, for in an attempt to change such
conditions, those who benefit from the current conditions will resist. Sartre did not
disregard existing society and customs; he was well aware that many individuals do
not see anything wrong with war, the surplus controlled by a few, or even starvation.
We may argue that although all of this is true, we do have to contend with na-
ture and scientific law. Sartre would answer by pointing out that "nature," "law," and
"science" are themselves meanings created by humans. We may then object that al-
though this is true for science and scientific laws, surely we cannot ignore nature, our
oldest enemy that thwarts us at every turn. However, that which we call nature is it-
self meaningless and without justification, and people give it meaning as nature. Wit-
ness how the laws of nature have changed through the ages: Once it was accepted
that the world was flat, but this has changed. No one would want to stake his or her
life on the proposition that people will view the world 1000 years from now in the
same way they do now. This argument points out that even nature itself is endowed
with meaning by human beings. Through this endowment, we come to control na-
ture, however limited this control might be. We say that people cannot control nature
because they do not understand it, but it makes just as much sense to say that people
do not control nature because they have not given it sufficient meaning. Scientific in-
vestigation is, after all, nothing more than striving to endow the natural world with
meaning so that people can control their own lives better. Again, humans are even
responsible for the meaning of nature.
Lest one begins to think that Sartre makes the human being into God, it should
be pointed out that this is just the opposite of his view. Instead, he says that people
try to be God, but because God does not exist, this is only further evidence of human
absurdity. In fact, Sartre calls humans a "useless passion" when they try to set them-
selves up as God.
Muchof the foregoing might sound strange. We are used to thinking differently
about existence, if we bother to think about it at all. We may tend to view life as a
"bowl of cherries," or we may go the other way and become cynical pessimists who
bemoan our fate. Sartre is trying to call our attention to what is obvious: We can make
EXISTENTIALISM, PHENOMENOLoilV. AND EDUCATION 241
a difference, but not without choosing our goals and working toward them. could It
be said advance thai humans have made every humane acl committed,
that every
lias happened because some individual or group of individuals chose to make hap il
pen and then struggled to achieve thai choice. Fev. ifanj of the things we achieve
come about by accident. Even those events thai occur by accidenl show Sartre's in-
sight because they are accidents, meaningless in and of themselves. Thej depend on
humans to experience them, suffer, undergo, endure, or enjoy them. Humanity gives
them their meaning/or humanity.
Critics have pointed out that existentialism in general, and Sartre's philosophy
in particular, lacks an adequate social theorj with complex institutions such
to deal
as schools, and that this factor has hampered
more thorough application of exis-
a
tentialist thought to die problems of education. Sartre, who was perhaps he must in i
dividualistic of all the existentialist philosophers, eventually came i<> align himsell
with Marxist theory although he did not adopt a doctrinaire Marxist position and pie
ferred to think of himself as an independent thinker. This happened primarilj l"
cause (as Sartre put it) his theorj could not stand alone: h needed Marxism for
completion, and Marxism needed the humanizing influence of the existentialist per
spective. Apparently, Sartre came to agree that individuals might find valuem par
ticipation in the social and political process as long as the individual defines that
participation.
EXISTENTIALISM IN MODERN LIFE

Existentialism has affected many areas of thought, h has been influential in the realm
of theology, particularly the writings of Rheinhold Niebuhr, Gabriel Marcel, and I'au l
Tillich. It also has made inroads into the fields of psychology and psychiatry and has
been championed by such advocates as < Jarl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
(arl Rogers, for example, believed thai teachers should risk themselves for
their students in classroom experimentation. The teacher should look foi the "po
tentiality and wisdom of the person" and work for seii directed change on the part ol
the learner This risk involves not only the individual teacher's sense of self but also
lus or her willingness to trust the learner, 'fins means thai the teacher must be le
1
a "facilitator of learning' to help release a student's potential. Roj nstthe

concepl of teaching as showing, guiding, or directing; rather, the tea* hei should
"prize" the learner and make the learner feel worthwhile. Tins ,m i>. , .1 plished
through prizing the feelings and opinions of the student, and it involves the develop
ment of what Rogers called "empathic understanding " The result ol iledu
cation ami living should he a "fully functioning
Maslow talked about a hierarchy afro differentiated between ba i
needs and "metaneeds Basit > '"i air, prote< tion '
1 1
from danger, and a familiarity with the environment Metaneeds transi end lh<
sic needs and involvi apei onal reaching or growing to real potential Meta
in' lude such things as belongit
|p people he. om< hoare
242 CHAPTER 7
realistically oriented, autonomous, and creative. Maslow also differentiated between

pseudo-self-actualization and authentic self-actualization. Pseudo-self-actualization
is the undisciplined release of impulses in which, for example, someone behaves like
a spoiled child. An authentic self-actualized person says, "I've considered my feelings
and yours, too." The central idea is that people should be encouraged to make their
own decisions, respect themselves, and treat others with compassion. Life is full of
paradox and contradiction, and no single lifestyle is necessarily the true one. To rec-
ognize the existentialist frame of reference is to recognize individual differences and
variation.
The intensity of modern life has brought on increasing tension and anxiety. The
nature of individual choice, individual action, and commitment is such that anxiety is
realand present in all human beings regardless of their station in life or their ideology.
This feature of modern life is of great concern to existentialists and has been treated
extensively in their works. Some critics have castigated existentialists for an inordi-
nate amount of attention to anxiety, charging that they dwell too much on the tragic,
the perverse, and the morbid side of life and exclude more hopeful and optimistic
themes. Existentialists reply that too many people wrongly emphasize the optimistic,
—
the good, and the beautiful all of which create a false impression of existence. For
example, if friends from out of town visit, the host usually takes them to the beautiful
—
spots the parks, the museums and art galleries, and the best restaurants. One does
not take a guest to the slums, the depressing areas of poverty, and places where ex-
tensive suffering is evident. Without experiencing these other things, visitors get a
one-sided picture of the city. Existentialists believe that it is time to balance the scales,
but even more fundamentally, they think that the tragic side of life more nearly illus-
trates human existence, and the individual must face up to this condition. Humans
have no recourse but themselves. Humans' very existence is one of anxiety.
Strange as it might sound, Christian theologians have found existentialism to give
new meaning to the Christian experience. At first glance, it might seem that existen-
tialism is against religion. It was Nietzsche, who had an important influence on exis-
tentialism, who proclaimed that God is dead. Although Christianity traditionally has
had a strong streak of optimism in its promise of eternal salvation, atheistic existen-
tialists agree with Karl Marx that religion is the opiate of the masses, pointing toward
some supposed heaven and keeping attention diverted from the real problems of the
world. The result is that the masses are brutally exploited by the few. Recall, however,
that another founder of existentialism — Kierkegaard —found Christian belief to be
characterized by anxiety, anguish, and doubt. Christian existentialist theology has em-
braced these themes, holding out to the believer the proposition that anxiety and
doubt are real and necessary experiences to be encountered in living the Christian life.
Marcel, a French religious existentialist, wrote about the Christian experience
of the "subjectivity" or "presence" of others. This presence should not be treated as
a mere object of experience but as a fellow human in line with perhaps the theme of
the Golden Rule. The idea of "presence" has similarities to Buber's I-Thou concept.
It also resembles Sartre's being-for-itself (subjectivity) and being-in-itself (objectiv-
ity) , but Marcel was more attuned to the characteristics and necessities of social re-
lationships than was Sartre. Marcel recognized anxiety and "baseless" choice and
EXISTENTIALISM, PHENOMENOLOGY. AND E5DUCATION 243
held that although a person's belief is always subjeel to doubt and questioning, one
is not totally isolated from all other existence and needs to be open to the "presence"
of others.
Other Christian thinkers, such as
Tillich, examined human nature mall its am-
biguity. Tillieh how people should define themselves in modern times, an
questioned
"age of anxiety." His answer was thai we must have "the courage to be" despite fate,
1
death, meaninglessness, and despair. The "courage to be" is based on a belief in God
when God has "disappeared," and involves a faith undermined by resulting doubt,
it
akin to Kierkegaard's "leap of faith-" Thus, couragebecomes a necessary character

istic order to sustain belief The imparl of existentialism on mod
of the believer in
ern Christianity has been notable. It has thrown new lighl on the mystical aspects of
religion and reduced the emphasis on the material side of life h also has helped make
religion more a matter of personal
commitmenl and inner conviction
Some critics have even questioned whether existentialism should be consid
ered a philosophy. Certainly, is not systematic in the traditional pattern, but
it still ii
has a strong claim as a philosophy in the tradition of Socrates, -lust as Socrates was
the "gadfly" of Athens, pricking the consciences and shells of decency < if the Atheni-
ans, so also do existentialists call people to examine their personal lives and to break
away from superficial beliefs and uncommitted action.
PHENOMENOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHERS
AND THEIR THOUGHT
Edmund Hussert (1859-1938)
Edmund Husserl was born in Czechoslovakia Mora\ ia and was educated in schools
and universities in Austria and Germany. Although he received a doctorate in math
ematics. he was drawn to philosophy after stud) ing under bran/. Brentano Me aught i
philosophy at several universities, including Gottingen and Freiburg The term phen
omenology was used earlier by Kant and Hegel. The use of this term today to di
natea particular philosophical met ho, however, general!) is attributed to Husserl
i.
Ihisseri was influenced by Kant and Hegel, bul he saw his work as a radical de
parture from theirs, similar to Rene" tescartes's call for philosophy to be grounded on
1
insight beyond the possibility "I dOUbl In Ideas, HuSSerf'S main work, his aim wa to j
use phenomenology to help make philosophy into a rigorous si ien< i bul
different from the physical and behavioral The latter take what Hn
.ailed "the thesis of he naiiual standpoint";
i thai is, ih.- ihii '
eption i
tuned whoih toward things of the environment or ol overt behavioi Traditional

ence, then, assumes .in autonon s world outside human thought Husserl, in
contrast, wanted to Btudj the original intuition ol the things outside; thai i
wanted tO Stud) peoples ,|U',I nal , I

in to mi
pnie meaning or interpretation to them His field "I investigation was the pre* on
ceptual level ol e original and immedJ
phenomenologist, th !
" undei rimordial
phenomena ol l prior to the time when one bin
244 CHAPTER 7
prejudices to bear on the perception of subsequent meanings. Husserl's call to go

"back to the things themselves" means to return to these original, immediate data of
consciousness.
Husserl thought that if the phenomenological method were applied and exe-
cuted rigorously, then it would make philosophy scientific but different from the
traditional sciences. Traditional scientific realism teaches that the objects of
experience —the sticks, stones, and events of life —are
what they are, independent
just
of conscious perception. This reality is outside consciousness and can be understood
or brought to consciousness by the exacting descriptions of scientific method. Husserl
argued, however, that scientific descriptions are abstractions filtered from scientific
methodology, that they are not the stuff of primordial conscious perception. Conse-
quently, if one wants to understand primordial conscious experience, then one has to
perform a "phenomenological reduction"; that is, one must strip away or "bracket" the
assumptions and presuppositions of culture (of which traditional science is but one
part) and get back to the immediate or original consciousness.
In many respects, Husserl's philosophy is a form of transcendental idealism. On
the one hand, he took Descartes's notion of the cogito, an idealistic view of subjec-
tive thought, and transformed it into a transcendental ego —
that is, a consciousness
that transcends natural conditions and confronts pure Being. This is seen in his be-
lief that the bracketing of the cultural world was possible. On the other hand, his
thought also contains a sense of realism; his phenomenology can be seen as a form
of empiricism — of trying to arrive at meaning through conscious experience.
Heidegger and Phenomenology

Martin Heidegger served for a time as Husserl's assistant, and he accepted the notion
of phenomenology as a method and as a science of the phenomena of consciousness.
An analysis of the term phenomenology provides a better idea of Heidegger's con-
ception: Phenomenon is that which shows or presents itself, and logos is rational dis-
course about phenomena. For Heidegger, the task was not, however, simply an effort
to describe phenomena, but rather to get at what lies behind them —
their being.
Thus, for Heidegger, phenomenology was the science of Being ontology. —
To get to the being of phenomena, Heidegger concentrated his analysis on dasein,
which signifies a human being in the sense of "being there," situated within a historical
context. This helps show why Heidegger resisted being lumped with existentialism;
dasein is not the isolated ego that many existentialists write about. The human being
is indelibly historical, he argued, and history is the indelible determinant of human na-
ture. Individual dasein has a past and is oriented toward a future, and although phe-
nomenology looks at the immediate present, this historical background colors any given
situation of dasein, for dasein is always arriving out of a past and anticipating a future.
Thus, Heidegger changed Husserl's notion of bracketing in any absolute sense because
to understand immediate dasein, it is necessary to consider its history. With Heidegger,
this meant that historical background needs to be interpreted, and this steered him to-
ward hermeneutics, or historical interpretation. His focus was on concrete history, how-
ever, not history writ large as Hegel or Marx would view it.
)
EXISTENTIALISM, PHENOMENOLOGY. AND EDUCATION 245
Two developments by Heidegger would help steer phenomenologj awaj from

Husseri's transcendentalism: the importance of language (after the logos, or dis
course aspect of phenomenology) and hermeneutics (which interprets lived expert
1
,
(Mice). Heidegger's major work was Being and Time (1927, English translation
199(5),which concentrated on dasein analysis. In The Basic Problems cj Phenom
enology (1975, English translation 1982), a work published shortly before his death,
one can see certain directional changes in his thought The study of the philosophic
concept of time becomes more important than dasein analysis alone and his t
added importance to hermeneutics and the need Tor interpretation
Ma urice Medea u -Po ti tg ( 1 90S- 1 96 1

Where Husserl looked for a complete bracketing of the world through phenomeno
logical reduction.Maurice Merleau-Pontj maintained thai there could be no denial
of the world and hence no complete bracketing. \\ here Heidegger soughl to under
stand Being, Merleau-Ponty concentrated On the primacy of perception, Where
Sartresaw a radical dichotomy between consciousness and the world. Merleau-Pontj
saw perception as always a part of the world. For Merleau-Ponty, perception is in and
of the world. Because reflection is carried out m the temporal llu\ of the world, the
only way to view it with any accuracy is to accept tins worldlj base in philosophical
study. He saw the roots of the mind in the body and the world and maintained thai
perception is not simply the result of the action of external things on people, for no
pure interioniy or exteriority exists.
Merleau-Ponty was attempting to devise a philosophical program thai would
enable him to lay down new base
research on imagination, language, culture.
a for
ethics, and politics. Unfortunately, his untimely death in 1961 prevented him from
carrying out this objective, and only hints remain of what his plans mighl have pro
duced. His major work was Phenomenology ofPerception 1945), and several of his <
more important papers and articles were published posthumously as Primacy Oj

Perception 1962). It has been said thai he used the fundamental concepts ol phe
(
nomenology hut interpreted them in his own unique way.

For Merleau-Ponty, our "facticity," our worldlj existence, cai t
be esi aped
We must recognize thai human consciousness itself is a projeel of the world, a world
that neither possesses nor embraces hut without which
it cannot exisl lonsi ious it <
ness is directed perpeiualh low aid the world ofthinj events, pet e\ I
perience. Perception is not a pureh intellectual synthesis; rather perception is
experienced bodily and in the world al the prereflective level Reflection comes alter
perception and helps solidify or clarifj per. eption, for a perception thai is nol fol
lowed by thoughl lost. is soon Reflection involves language, and this puts us even far
therawaj from immediacj v. Meiieau Pontj pul It, to use lai thing
or describe il with langua »m a thing's individual and
unique charactei
o from d"- oncrete to 1 thi ish meaning
Nevertl i Merieau Ponty, per- eption la primary H ed thai pi
philosophy had erred in viewi] ip to th<
thai of a thinker to an objeel of thoughl Thinkinj ltheobje< tsol thoughl

246 CHAPTER 7
are not concrete but abstract. Perception occurs in a concrete, temporal world of flux,
and what one thinks about it later might not hold for similar future perceptions. In
other words, perception is immediate and prereflective, and "every perception takes
place within a particular horizon. We experience a perception and its horizon 'in
. . .
action' rather than by 'posing' them or explicitly 'knowing' them." The significance of
this realization, which inserts a note of skepticism into Merleau-Ponty's philosophy, is
that one cannot view perceptions as pure, unified abstractions or theorems; no tran-
scendent Cartesian cogito grasps truths, nor is truth immanent in perception. These
things come secondarily, not primarily. Certainty might be had in reflection, but it is
a certainty that is abstract, categorical, and secondary. In other words, abstract truth
is not self-evident in perception, but perception has within it the potential for arriv-
ing at truth in a more sensed or experienced, rather than as
suitable fashion as it is it
is filtered through the philosophical dogmatisms and assumptions of the past.
Phenomenology and Hermeneutics

Whereas phenomenology seeks an ordered description of the objects of conscious-
ness, hermeneutics concentrates on the interpretation and meaning of conscious ex-
perience over time. Language is central to hermeneutics because it is through
language that fruitful interpretation and meaning are secured. What Heidegger was
striving for in his analyses of dasein and time was a rational understanding of human
existence or human being, and this could not be secured without attention to lan-
guage. As he put it in The Basic Problems of Phenomenology "In speaking about ,
something, the dasein speaks itself out, expresses itself, as existent being-in-the-
when people con-
world, dwelling with and occupying itself with beings." In effect,
template or mull over something, they are projecting themselves into a future
understanding of themselves and the world. To project oneself into some new un-
derstanding is, so to speak, to redefine oneself and to strike out in new directions.
This is how the self (or dasein) grows and evolves; it was just this history, this con-
cept of time, that Heidegger was attempting to understand. Furthermore, under-
standing (and thought itself) is carried on through some form of language or
symbolization. To gain clarity or rational understanding, one must be attentive to lan-
guage and engage in hermeneutics.
Two philosophers who have been prominent in developing hermeneutics are
Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) and Paul Ricoeur (1913- ). Gadamer has taken
the position that Heidegger's later philosophy was not concerned with just the being
of dasein, but rather the being of dasein that understands itself, or self-understanding.
This is shown in Heidegger's concentration on historicity and time. In effect, conscious-
ness and selfhood, in and of themselves, are banished in favor of self-understanding in
the historical sense and establish the essential unity of self-understanding. This is not,
however, the same as focusing one's gaze inward. Rather, it is a self-understanding
that comes from trying to understand oneself and the world, from trying to be as ra-
tional as possible about the things around us. Hence, hermeneutical phenomenology
does not embrace the radical (and perhaps self-centered) individualism on which
some existentialists dwell.
Hermeneutics does, however, focus on the "internal" process of using language;

as Gadamer
puts it. "hermeneutics is primarily of use where making clear to others
and making clear to oneself has become blocked." In Gadamer's view, a chief value of
hermeneutical philosophy is the educational value of self-formation (prBildungy It
is his belief thai this self-formation is a more important goal for philosophical stud)
than traditional epistemology.
Paul Rieoeur. in some respects like Gadamer, shifts the point of departure of
phenomenology from the perceptualisl mode to the linguistic mode. Ho maintains the
concrete subject as the focus of inquiry bul does not believe thai one can know one
self directly or introspect ively. The only course is to seek understanding indirectly,
and this explains his concentration on language. His linguistic and phenomenologi-
cal hermeneutics is based on the notion thai through language, one expresses one's
self-understanding. Through words, through language, people bring into the open
whatever understanding they have of themselves. His phenomenology, then, incuses
on a description of the phenomena if consciousness indirectly, as these phenomena
<
are revealed through language, and hermeneutic interpretation is brought to hear en

the question of how the comprehension of signs (language) relates to the compre-
hension of self.
EXISTENTIALISM AND PHENOMENOLOGY

IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
Because existentialism is a protesl type of philosophy, many of its adherents havenol
been overly concerned with methodology and systematic exposition. Some philoso-
phers, however, have seen phenomenology as providing a rigorous methodology for
describing lived experience, and hermeneutics as providing an interpretive approa h
to inilividu.il experience.
Aims of Education
Existentialists believe thai si philosophies of the past have asked people to think
deeply about abstractions that had little or n<> relationship to life Scholastic philos-
ophy, in which thinkers debated such questions as hew man) angels could sit on the
head of a pin, might be a case m poinl The answers to such questions provided noth
ing except perhaps some psychological satisfaction at winning a debate tlirou
gumentation. Even then, the answers were unprovable Existentialists rejeel this
approach to ideas The) believe thai in theii philosophy, the individual is drawn in as
a participant People explore then- own feelings and relate ideas to their own lives
Consequently, an existentialist education, the emphasis is nol on si holarh debate

in
hui on creation; thai is, one can create idea relevanl tooro nee
Existentialists, such as Sartre, believe thai exi item e pn
comes the individual and then the ideas the individual aboul hi
hell, and God are all human inventions Eventhei

!
idmitthal
aboul God are unprovable although the) mighl parallel something in i Thus,
248 CHAPTER 7
the individual can be given credit for the creation of concepts like peace, truth, and
justice but blamed for tilings like bigotry, war, and greed. Because people are the cre-
ators of all ideas, this focuses as much attention on humans as on the ideas them-
selves; if it is true that people have created ideas that are harmful in practice, then
they also can create new ideas to replace them.
Because the individual human is so important as the creator of ideas, existen-
tialists maintain that education should focus on individual human reality. It should deal
with the individual as a unique being in the world —not only as a creator of ideas, but
also as a living, feeling being. Most philosophies and religions, existentialists charge,
tend to focus on the individual only as a cognitive being. The individual is this but is
also a feeling, aware person, and existentialists think this side deserves attention.
good education would encourage individuals to
Existentialists assert that a
ask such questions as "Where is my life headed?" and "Why do I ex-
"Who am I?"
ist?" In dealing with these questions, people would have to recognize that the indi-
vidual is an emotional and irrational creature as much or more than an unemotional
and rational one. The individual is always in transition, so the moment people be-
lieve they know themselves is probably the moment to begin the examination all
over again.
Most educational philosophies up have emphasized the concept of
to this point
a person as a rational being in a rational world. Much
of this stems from the Aris-
totelian notion that we can understand our place in the universe and that this under-
standing is primarily a result of sharpening our powers of intellect through reason
and observation. Even through the Age of Enlightenment, some held a strong con-
viction that we could steadily increase our knowledge and power over the universe.
Yet, with this rise of rationality, we continued to be plagued by wars, inhumanity, and
irrationality —
often perpetrated by those who believed that they had attained a mas-
tery of logic and philosophy.
For the modern existentialists, World War II was a watershed in such irra-
tionality and inhumanity, and existentialists, particularly in France and Germany,
began to take a new look at human nature. They reexamined such things as death,
courage, and reason. Reason, often used to justify the death and destruction inflicted
by war, was particularly scrutinized. Existentialists found that reason was used to jus-
tify cruelty and aggression to the extent that millions of Jews were sent to the gas
chambers through what some Nazis thought were rational motives. Reason was used
to defend these actions, so people could say they were only following orders, it was
not their decision, or it was done for purposes of the state.
Existentialists believe that a good education emphasizes individuality. It at-
tempts to assist each of us in seeing ourselves with our fears, frustrations, and hopes,
as well as the ways we use reason for good and ill. The first step in any education,
then, is to understand ourselves.
needs serious exploration.
Existentialists maintain that the "absurd" side of life
Perhaps what people take to be a rational explanation of the universe is their own ap-
what they think is rational. It is difficult to see things as they are, objec-
plication of
tively, one is from another planet. Yet, if people did so, how strange many things
as if
would seem that are taken for granted, such as women walking on little stilts that
EXISTENTIALISM, PHENOMENOLOGY, AND EDUCATION 249
they call shoes, and men wearing flashy-colored nooses thai they call tics. Further
areas of absurdity mighl be explored, such as the pierced ear from which to dangle
bright, shiny objects, or tin- efforts of one who hates blacks hut wants to change his
skin coloring to dark tan in the summer, ^re these rational acts, or do people use then-
reason to say that they are rational?
One area of drama is known as theater of the absurd. Eugene [onesco, Samuel
Beckett, Kdward Albee, and others wrote plays in this genre. Theatei of the absurd is
about magnifying and emphasizing certain aspects of
life, to show its irrationality it
and absurdity. In the play Who's Afraid oj Virginia Wootf?a married couple spends
a great deal of time attacking each other to the extenl that each has become skillful
at it through practice. Seemingly, such people remain together lor the purpose of de-
veloping greater ways of hurting each other. Books like Games People Play, by Eric
Berne, also show how people use others to achieve their own narrow ends.
People are not encouraged through most education to see the absurdities of
life; good side is emphasized. For example, most reading hooks for chil-
rather, the
dren focus on the uniformity and reliability of existence. They show children in set
tings with no marital conflict, war. hunger, or death. Existentialists believe that a vital
part of one's education is to examine the perverted and ugly side of life, the irrational
as well as the good side. Yet. m education we are always covering up. Apparently,
adults do not believe that a child should be exposed to such human realities as death,
and so the children are told that their dead grandmother went on a long Hip or thai
she is away. Adults lie to children aboul birth, sex. money, and a host of other things.
Existentialists believe in a truthful kind of education, where children learn ahoiit
many facets of life, whether good or had. rational or irrational.
Existentialists believe that education should foster an understanding of anxi
ety. Many people certainly are frustrated by life, hut this frustration often is caused
by a kind of education that did not prepare them for a world of conflict. What exis
tentialists mean bj anxietj is an awareness of the tension of existence. \\ hen people
are involved they are acting persons, they are hound to feel some ten
in life, when
sion through involvement. Existentialists point out thai no tension exists after death
and that some people are trying to make their lives like death bj avoiding conflicl at
all cost. The opposite of death is life, and life for the existentialist requires some de
gree of tension Although Marx talked of religion as the opium of the people, 'hrisiian <
existentialists say that christians are people in conflict, people who must wonder
constantly whether what they believe is true and if n ting enough in support
of those hell'
One distinguishing feature of existentialist phenomenologj in philosophy "i
education is the emphasis on /«>ss/h/l it,, \ ol education It could I"
that the emphasis on human being is an emphasis on becoming because human

consciousness never can he stati< Tin. Is reminiscent ol Sartn argument that
human consciou !
" bee i an objective
thing (being-in itself) Hero e, when 01 ol the aims ol edu< ation tr at
istentialisl phenomenoloj ntral '"'h rt
Ion Chamberliri puts it in Th life world out ol which

we interpret what happen 11 1 onstituted through oui interpretatioi
250 CHAPTER 7
what has happened to us in the past." This life-world interpretation can be charac-
terized by adequacy or inadequacy, but each person reacts to a new experience in
terms of this interpreted background. This life-world "history" is the history that Hei-
degger wanted to understand in his hermeneutics. It is what Gadamer was seeking
to understand in his notion of education as Bildung, or edification. In short, each
new experience adds to the funded meaning of experience that each of us has and
sets the stage for present and future possibilities. Educators, then, must be cognizant
of their own and their students' life-worlds. Indeed, it could be said that the chief goal
of the educator is to help learners construct the best life-worlds possible. The em-
phasis is not simply on the past, however, but on the present and the future, on poss-
ibility. As Chamberlin points out, "Education always leads to action. Education
always follows action. Indeed, education is an activity."
The point is illustrated further by Paulo Freire in Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Freire asserts that often people are oppressed because they serve as "hosts" for the
oppressors. An oppressor is whoever or whatever serves as an overriding influence
that is uncritically accepted or chosen by the oppressed. In Freire 's view, oppression
will be present wherever one's consciousness is characterized by the condition "in
which to be is to be like, and to be like is to be like the oppressor." Oppression thus
forces passivity, and passivity provides a degree of security because nothing is risked.
For Freire, however, an education that liberates is painful because, similar to child-
birth, it brings a new person into the world. It is an education that cannot be achieved
in idealistic terms or simply by talking about it; rather, it is something to be achieved
through purposeful action.
From the phenomenological standpoint, liberating education initially results in
the perception that the world of oppression is not a closed world from which one can-
not escape; instead, oppression a limiting situation that can be transformed. This
is
perception is because it must result in action that seeks to change

tentative, however,
existing conditions. The phenomenological import of this educational view resides in
how people perceive conditions or in how conditions present themselves to con-
sciousness. On the one hand, the oppressive perception is fatalistic, believing that
the given cannot be changed. On the other hand, liberated perception does not ac-
cept the given as inevitable, but rather looks to possibilities, to a world to be born
through praxis or purposeful action.
Maxine Greene's expression for education as possibility is wide-awakeness.
The aim is to enable learners to become attentive, perceptive, or wide-awake to pos-
sibilities. Many things in contemporary life hinder wakefulness. Many people live in
societies that are characterized by stifling bureaucracies and mindless consumerism.

Others suffer from grinding poverty and ignorance. These and other forces almost
guarantee passivity in conditions of domination and powerlessness. Greene forcefully
suggests, however, that such feelings can largely be overcome through the conscious
effort of individuals to keep themselves alert, to think about their worldly condition,
to inquire into the forces that seem to dominate them, and to interpret their daily ex-
periences. Education can help tremendously in achieving this wide-awakeness, but
it must be conceived and conducted in the right way. For the educator, it means not
accepting dominating administrative hierarchies as inevitable. It means becoming

aware that hierarchies are made by human beings and are nm a pari of the inevitable
order of the universe. It means developing awareness about such things as stair
adopted classroom material, mandated testing programs, or curriculum censorship
instigated by politically powerful interest groups, means becoming aware of the
it
moral issues involved in such things as mandated testing programs that unfairly dis-
criminate or any host of institutionalized practices that interfere in Tree educational
1
activity. Finally, means that the educator should develop phenomenological and
it
hermeneutical competence to demystify such conditions and help learners develop

similar competence. People must learn to evaluate comfortable conventions and
pressure to go along with the crowd againsl carefullj chosen moral principles. Thej
must become attuned to possibility, to being wide-awake.
Despite the seeming fascination of existentialists with the irrational, they rarely
if ever have advocated irrationality as a goal. To the contrary, their effort has been to
confront irrationality as an aspect of the human condition and to put n in proper per
spective. Many existentialists have talked about the "tragic side of life," and a large
part of thai tragedy is the result of irrationality. Phenomenology helps put the irra-
tional inproper perspective because the thrusl ^l' phenomenology is toward rational
description. As phenomenology has been applied to education, emphasis has been
put on helping learners understand and comprehend lived experience Vs >onald I
Vandenberg put it. education involves becoming as reasonable a person as humanly

possible. Thus, reasonableness should be added as one goal of an existentialist phe
nomenological philosophy of education.
Greene makes the point that one problem of the contemporary world is the po-
larization of those who embrace an authority of science and those who embrace an
)n the one hand are tiu.se who extol scientific knowl
authority of a fleet i\c behavior. <
edge as the objective and answer to fundamental questions; on the other hand
final
are those who extol the subjective and private inner world as the only source of an
swers. Although educators maj nol accepl either side of the argument, the) cannot
remain unaffected b) this kind of polarization, or what has been called "the crisis of
culture." Buffeted by such polarizations, young people ma) ihrow up their hands in
discouragement from sorting out the conflicting claims of life. The) might trj to fit
into the mold and be accepted b\ their peers. What often results from the frustration
of such culture conflicl is anti-intellectualism, but the educator must help enable the
young to conceptualize and developa rational perspective of their worlds
The rational understanding sought by the phenomenologist is not that of an
older rational empiricism that looked solel) on the impact ol the outer world, instead
the phenomenologist looks toward a ra!ionali!\ that p] from primal '"ii
sciousness, which thrusts toward the outer world and with it from I
point of view, phenomenology does not glorify inwai I

i tion It con
cerns itself with how the individual toui hes the outer world through pen eiving,
mg. believing, remembering, and imagining What composes the inrn m ol
perience" has to do with the outer world and involves what phenomenol<
intentional:'
This notion should be explored furthei b< i au i it lies at the hi art ol an) phe
nomenological <
oncepl ol i du< ation Much ol human onscious < lit without
252 CHAPTER 7
people being explicitly conscious of being conscious; that is, consciousness is ab-
sorbed with everyday events, and we take for granted the commonsense reality of
things. Occasionally, however, we become explicitly aware of things on the horizon
of consciousness that become suddenly questionable and throw barriers before the
flow of everyday events (similar to the Jamesian-Deweyan "hitch" or "block" to the
flow of conscious experience). As a consequence, people must try to sort things out
through existentialist critique, phenomenological description, and hermeneutical in-
terpretation. People must try to be as reasonable as possible, not in the sense of ob-
jective and removed rationalism, but a reasonableness that is ever cognizant of the
human condition. If we are going to be open to possibility and wide-awake, we also
must be reasonable.
The first thing that most existentialists want is a change in attitude about education.
Instead of seeing it as something a student is filled with, measured against, or fitted
into, the existentialist suggests that students first be looked at as individuals and that
they be allowed to take a positive role in the shaping of their own education and life.
Every student brings to school a background of experiences that will influence per-
sonal decisions, but by and large, existentialists urge that schools and other institu-
tions be free places where students are encouraged to do things because they want
to do them. Some writers, such as Van Cleve Morris, look at A.S. Neill's Summerhill
as a sketch of the kind of education that existentialists prefer. Neill's book, first pub-
lished in 1960 and in several editions since, gave Summerhill School an international
reputation for emphasizing student freedom, spontaneous play, open expression of
feelings, and student participation in the democratic control over community life in
the school. While these themes often strike a responsive chord among educators with
existentialist leanings, the school does not identify itself with existentialism but calls
itself a "progressive" school. an environment where students are encouraged to
It is
make their own choices and are free to do so. Summerhill has its rules and regula-
tions, some made by the students and some made by the administration, but basically
it is a free institution as compared with most other schools.
For the existentialist, no two children are alike. They differ in the information,
personal traits, interests, and desires they have acquired. It is ridiculous to think that
they should have the same kind of education. Yet, too often children not only are
lumped together but also taught the same things that are supposedly appropriate to
their grade level. People have expressed much concern over "mass society," "the
lonely crowd," and "a nation of sheep," but today's educational institutions still fos-
ter conformity and obedience.
Many existentialists are disturbed by the emphasis that some educators put on
education for adjustment. Although John Dewey believed that education should be
in the forefront of change, he also recognized the need to prepare the child for ex-
isting society while working for change. Some "progressive" educators, however, un-
der the guise of pragmatic philosophy, made "life adjustment" the primary focus of
education and promoted education that stifled individuality and social change.
.
Existentialists would liketoseean end to the manipulation of the student, with

teachers controlling students along predetermined behavioral paths. Existentialists
would like the children to choose their own paths from the options available to them.
Schools often contain uniform materials, curricula, and leaching, and although edu
cators have talked quite a bit about promoting individuality in education, mosl pro
grams and teaching methods have tended to become more alike. Existentialists argue
for diversity in education -nol oruj the ways things are
in curriculum but also in
taught. Some
students, they point out, learn well through one approach and others
through another. Many options For learning should be Open to thorn.
Existentialists are concerned with the role of the teacher or educator in the
learning process. They believe that every teacher should be a student and every sin
dent a teacher. Buber discussed this in detail in his description of the Thou and I I It
concepts. In the — It relation, a teacher treats a studenl as someone to direct and fill
I
up with knowledge; the student is an objeel to be manipulated. Followers of Buber

support an I-Thou approach in which student and teacher learn from each other and
the relationship more one of mutual respect
is
Vandenberg, in Being mid Education, gives a phenomenological description

of traditional pedagogic methods as characterized by dominance/submission and
commanding/obeying relations. The teacher dominates and commands, and n is the
role of the student to submit and obey. In such relations, teachers and students are
moved away from what could be a more satisfying educational relationship into play-
ing roles that defeat education In other words, the teacher is pulled into spending
time controlling students, and students are drawn into defeating teacher control Edu
cational method is not used to help students be open to possibilities for growth bj
understanding their "being-in-the-world" (their individual histories and ways of re
sponding). nor is it used to help them secure a better understanding of their own po
tentials on which to engage m educational activity. As a result, thej are alienated

from the teacher. What phenomenologist-educators must seek, then, is to construe!
educational methods thai provide an openness to the world for themselves and their
students. This does nol imply a lais.se/ lane role for teachers: rather, because el the
greater experience, knowledge, and phenomenological understanding of teachers, il
is their responsibility to develop an educational environment thai promotes awar
of the past and present and of future possibilities Tins awareness is also sensitive to
phenomenological time dial is, tO the past present future nature ofCOIti us life
Proper educational method, then, brings the possibilities ofthe world before teai 1 1' i
and student to the teacher in rediscovering the excitemenl of learning and to the
student m opening up a whole new world ol possibility.
In practical terms, this involvi unple, methodologj thai helps studenl -i
gain greater command of a Ian I realize moree£Fe< tive ways to communicate

ways that m moo- articulate and capable
tudenl ol i omprehension and sell
expression toother ..ample is an openness to human li i lb'- development
of a greater understanding "i why human cultui
become edu< ated intoa better understanding hum ol the aid 1
1
• • ii
circumstance within t il Thej become more sensitive to human possibility and undei
,.„| t| i; ,t the\ then ire nol n< and fill Ined b\ Hi- :
254 CHAPTER 7
Every present is conditioned by the past, but every present is also pregnant with fu-
ture possibility for change and new direction. To accomplish this kind of educational
approach and outcome, the teacher must understand that the chief requirement is to
help students explore the world and to open up the possibilities of the world for them.
In a sense, the phenomenologist seeks a method that helps students internal-
ize the world and make it their own, but it is always more than a mere internalizing.
Chamberlin describes the educational experience as "the meeting of two complex
streams of experience" —the stream of the teacher and the stream of the learner. Al-
though the teacher's experience might be greater than the learner's simply because
of maturity and extent, both are complex; the educational process essentially brings
these streams together. The student is dependent because of immaturity, lack of
understanding, or other factors, but this does not mean that all the initiative is on the
side of the teacher. The teacher's role is that of an enabler who helps the student ap-
propriate, internalize, and make over. The teacher takes a cue from the responses of
the learner, whether these responses are active or passive, and the learner can initi-
ate new directions by posing questions and expressing a desire to learn.
As Chamberlin sees it, the teacher can make authority claims over the learner,
but that authority derives from an understanding of the educational process and the
phenomenological world of the learner. The learner also has authority the author- —
ity to interpret the teacher's intent and the authority to interpret how learning is ap-
propriated and meaning imputed within the learner's own life-world.
The convergence of the two streams of experience of teacher and learner, then,
depends to some degree on the antecedents that each brings to an educational en-
counter. It also depends on the present and on the interpretation that each makes of
ongoing activity. Finally, the convergence depends on ensuing action that is, on —
how the teacher becomes more effective and how the learner grows and is more ca-
pable of managing personal affairs and the affairs of the world.
In Teacher as Stranger, Greene set forth the kinds of questions an educator
must ask in confronting the phenomenological conditions of human relationships be-
tween a teacher and a student. The teacher must ask not only the existentialist ques-
tion "Who am I?" but also "How am I to conceive the other as a fellow human being?"
It is simply not enough to know the scientific characteristics of a fellow being, such
as biological and psychological characteristics; one also must know the phenomeno-
logical conditions. Teachers must confront phenomenologically what they under-
stand (and feel and imagine) as significant fact, as useful knowledge, or as serious
belief. Contemporary life is a time of uncertainty and confusion, and this is even more
reason for the educator to seek rational understanding and comprehension not —
from some all-encompassing, objective platform removed from living experience but
from a phenomenological standpoint that attempts to understand the primary world
of consciousness that each person brings to the educational situation. Consequently,
the educator will not view the educational process as simply something to be imposed
from the outside onto impressionable students but will strive to understand how each
of us approaches learning from a unique background.
This is not to say that structured knowledge will not be presented by the
teacher and by learning materials or that students will not have to struggle with dif-
ficult ideas. As Greene sees it, educators musl be capable of 'tough mindedness" and
"tender mindedness"; that is. they must be able to comprehend the educational
process from the standpoint of subject matter to be learned and from the lived ex-
perience perspective of the learner. Of course, ho educator over can climb into the
consciousness of the learner and sec the world as is presented t<> and experienced
it
by the learner; however, each of us is a learner, and cadi of us is presented with situa-
tions thai are difficult to embrace ami understand. Educators, b\ trying to under-
stand rationally then- own experience and the learning difficulties presented by so
main experiences of life, also will have a better understanding of the proper meth
-
odsof education by understanding the difficulties, mysteries, uncertainties, and joys

experienced by the learner.
The phenomenologist's concern with educational method is not so much with
specific techniques, although these arc important, hut with clearing tin- waj t"i a
pedagogical encounter. In the words of Vandenberg, the com em is "to lay the ground-
work so that being can clear a space for itself within the teacher pupil relation."
Curriculum
It is interesting that most existentialist and phenomenological philosophers have had
lengthy and rigorous educations. Most of them taught at one tune or another, usuallj
in a university setting. They were concerned primarily with the humanities and have
written extensively m Through the humanities, existentialists have tried
that genre.
to awaken modern individuals to the dangers of being swallowed up bj the m
lopolisand runaway technology This seems to have taken place because the humani-
ties contain greater potential for introspection and the development of self meaning
than other studies.
The humanities loom large in an existentialist curriculum because thej deal
with the essential aspeeis of human e\isienee. such as the relationships among
people, the tragic as well as the happy side ol human life, and the absurdities as well
as the meaningful aspects of life. In short, existentialists want to see humankind in
its totalitj the perverted as well as the exalted, the mundane as well as the glori
ous. the despairing as well as the hopeful and thej believe thai the humanities and
the arts do this better than the sciences Existentialists definite rules do not have anj
about what the curriculum should comprise, however Thej believe thai thestudenl
m-siiuation makinga choice should be the deciding ml. r I.
Mihoiigh phenomenologists have been more interested in understanding the

livedexperience of the learner than m the specific < ontenl oi things to be learned,
of them have given attention to curriculum organization andcontenl The

some ten
the standpoint the learnei rather than
dency, however, is t<> vie* curriculum from ol
collection ol di cret<
., Vandenl thai an appropriate v.
conceive of the tasks involved in curriculum de< ision making the learner m
ape" .mo '"' ol ""' ' •" :
terms ol "landsi
prereflectivi " should

ape within the limits ol the
proceed to expand continuallj the horizons ol tl
learner's own finitud.

256 CHAPTER 7
and providing the learner with a structured education as represented by the orga-
nized curriculum. Landscape is the original setting of one's being-in-the-world, and
geography is the world of fact and universal concept, a world of abstraction. Authen-
tic existence is in neither one nor the other but, in a sense, has a foot in each or re-
sides in between. To ignore landscape is to court alienation of the learner. To ignore

geography is to court a disorganized and chaotic conscious life. The educator, then,
must deal with what Vandenberg calls the "pedagogic paradox." The educator must
seek a context in which students can unite their originality, their landscape, with the
geography of organized curriculum so that originality gains power and direction.
Greene makes a similar point although in a different manner. She has spoken
more explicitly about specific subject matter because she is a steadfast advocate of
the humanities and the arts and also has given attention to the basics. Greene be-
lieves that the disciplines constituting the curriculum should be presented as oppor-
tunities for individual "sense making." many circumstances to arouse
It is difficult in
student interest in traditional curriculum because so many youths exist in conditions
of dominance and alienation. If the teacher attempts to introduce students to dog-
matic "truth" and if students are cut off from using the curriculum to make meaning
in their own lives, then the possibility exists that students will only become more
alienated from organized educational activity. This is a difficult path for the teacher,
who is obligated at some point to take the student out of the familiar into the realm
of more remote subject matter. In some cases, this is not all that difficult because the
subject matter lends itself, with appropriate interpretation, to the lived experience
of learners.
Greene illustrates many ways in which literature, for example, can be used to
help students interpret the moral dilemmas humans face as a society and as individ-
uals. In addition to literature, other art forms express meanings that can be inter-
preted fruitfully for the lives of learners. Some subject areas, such as linear algebra
or chemistry, do not lend themselves readily to such application and might seem re-
mote to many students, but they also have the capacity to help students gain mean-
ing. Whatever the subject and whatever the nature of the students with whom the
teacher works, it is necessary for the teacher to confront the task of education and
to balance as well as humanly possible the tension between the demands of individ-
ual learners and their need to understand a variety of subjects.
Certainly,one responsibility of the teacher is the transmission of cherished val-
ues and ideals, and another is the communication of the skills and concepts needed
to survive and thrive. Students, however, might not appreciate abstract justifications
for education and, in fact, may resist them. Furthermore, little social consensus ex-
ists about what education should be, and so the wider society offers no clear support
for what should be in the curriculum. This further complicates the teacher's task, but
Greene maintains that the task is not impossible. She recommends that a dialogue be
initiated to involve the community in conversation and shared activity regarding edu-
cation. Although there is no absence of public talk about education, it is as if one
group speaks past another. For example, some advocates of the basics seem to want
to go back to an idealized earlier time. Some debate the merits of computers in the
classroom, vocational education, or the humanities. In Greene's view, the need is to
build community understanding of the complexities of curriculum issues; their im-

portance is too great simply to be settled b.\ professional educators.
In the meantime, the teacher must decide what to include and howto approach
iiwithin the restrictions of requirements, tune, and circumstance This means the
educator must be knowledgeable about students' needs and students' perceptions of
the world. The teacher must study and wrestle with the moral choices involved in
curriculum selection and arrangement and the difference those choices might make
in the lives of students. It is not an easy task, but an existentialist phenomeuological
understanding of education is an invaluable source of insight One insight is that stu-

dents need considerable freedom m order to merge their own perceived possibilities
with those of the organized curriculum and to synthesize their own courses of ad ion
with the best of communal life.
Role of the Teacher

Existentialists have many role models for the ideal teacher, including philosophers
like Socrates and Sail re. Even though Socrates was not an exist out ialist by name, his
embodied many things that existentialists admire, particularly his refusal to
lifestyle
change ways even at the price of his life. Sartre, too. stood firm in the face of
his
tyranny (from the Nazis in World War and challenged many conventional beliefs.
II )
even when it was dangerous to do so.

Existentialists extol the knowledgeable poison who is not simply an ivorj tower
type of philosopher. Thej believe in knowledge and wisdom, to be sure but thej !»
lieve that these ideas nei d to bo tested m the crucible of everyday existence Thus,
knowledge needs to be put to work, and if you are not willing to back up ideas in terms
of your own actions, then you do not really believe these ideas Thej are only lip
vice to real positions
Sartre evidenced Ins commitmenl to his ideas m terms of his support of the
French underground during World War II. with his fervent support of Algerian mdc
pendence, with his condemnation of the Vietnam War. ami with Ins defense of a to e
press. Sartre pointed out that not acting is still a form of action, because |,\ OUT noli
actions evil things are allowed to happen Sartre's views about commit nieiit and ac
tion influenced many young people m the late 1960s and 'ait. 1070.. to protesl the
Vietnam War and the growing mechanization of life Ills mows also led i" a varietj "t
movements supporting individual freedom, and he constantly preached that wi
"condemned to be free " Because wi tentially free, even in the face of tyrannj
and bureaucratization, we can take -lands and oppose actions with which we dis
agree TruK moral persons acl in ai 1 ordance with their beli< I
Many educational theorists who embra ntialistidi Lhatteacl

should have strong beliefs and commitments ol then own but that thej should not
expect students to accept these beliefs unli tudentj have thought them out
for themselve The tea* her an and should present ideas, but die positions and m
1
tions that students take should be their own h • \' Sununerhill, forexampl<
1
environment ited that supported an. I en I individual 1

i Th<
ulum, '"
dents them irri( thi '
258 CHAPTER 7
Summerhill, Neill pointed out that he had a vote equal to any student and that he of-
ten was out-voted for good reasons.
Some existentialist educators believe that today's schools are too bureaucratic
and have too many rules, rules not made by the students themselves, but imposed on
them. They believe that schools should promote "inner-directedness," whereby stu-
dents are encouraged to act in accordance with their own convictions even if this
means challenging the status quo. Buber urged that teachers should treat students
with a sense of equality and mutual respect.
The role of existentialist teachers is not an easy one because although they
may struggle against the absurdities around them in everyday life, including what
happens in schools and in the teaching profession, others may not agree and may
even oppose them. This is where the notion of courage arises, and existentialists
believe that teachers, like Socrates, must act with courage to fulfill the notion of true
individuality.
The phenomenologist gives much attention to the student's conscious acquisi-
tion of knowledge. Phenomenologists believe that students act in a conscious way on
the things that confront them and that people need to be aware of how this con-
sciousness works. Indeed, this places the teacher in the role of a psychologist, but in-
stead of believing that knowledge is fostered on a passive mind as in behavioristic

techniques, phenomenologists believe that meaningful learning occurs only when the
student actively faces the world and interacts withit. The problem with this approach
is that although people face or accept knowledge in many similar ways, many indi-
vidual differences still exist, and one needs to understand such differences. Phe-
nomenologists believe that students can and should discover knowledge through
their own efforts and that the role of the teacher is to act as a guide or facilitator in
this learning process. Although pragmatists also believe in the teacher as a guide or
facilitator, the phenomenologist is much more individualistic in the process and the
outcome of such learning, and does not believe that it has to relate to either demo-
cratic or social development. Greene, who uses many existentialist-phenomenologist
themes inher writing, says that to be in touch with our "landscapes," our personal/
social life circumstances and environments, is to be conscious of our evolving expe-
riences, and to be aware of the ways we encounter the world and the ways we can
change the world. Students need to be encouraged to be "self-reflective," "wide-
awake," and engaged in creating their own particular landscapes.
CRITIQUE OF EXISTENTIALISM AND PHENOMENOLOGY

IN EDUCATION
Existentialist philosophy hasbeen hailed as a helpful antidote in American educa-
tion, especiallywhere that education has become dominated by an organizational
mentality and the continuing bureaucratization of the American school. Existential-
ism's challenge that people must not be beguiled by the technological society has
been heeded by many members of society, such as the counterculture described by
. 1
EXISTENTIALISM. PHENOMENOLOCV. AND EDUCATION 259
Theodore Roszak. This challenge lias awakened us to the tragedy and absurditj of
life and to the lonely, baseless existence of the modem individual, has been a li
needed medicine for contemporary Americans who never have experienced the di
rect effects of widespread hunger, devastating war, or wide-scale genocide. Mosl
American philosophies have an optimistic tone, and existentialism lias served the
purpose of sounding a sobering note sobering bul not hopeless.
If it is sobering, then it also calls people to reexamine American culture in terms
of its rampant materialism, robot i/.at ion of the worker, anti-intelleciualism. and de\
astating effect on individuality. Probably no modern philosophy devotes as mui h on i
cern to individuality in political, social, and economic life as existentialism h speaks

in terms that belong distinctly to the modern age and the enduring human predii a
ment. It encourages self-examination in a world thai lends to force one outward to

nonpersonal concerns.
People are bombarded constantly i>.\ advertisements that induce us to be some
thing other than what we are. Individuals are manipulated b.\ religion, school, family,
business, industry, government, and other institutional forces Existentialism points

to the possibility that these enticements and seductions can be refused, thai we are
free to choose ourselves if we will bul exhibit the courage. We do not have to be
pawns buffeted about like helpless victims without succor. Even though efforts to re
sist might be puny and end in death, the individual human beingis forged inthestrug
gle to overcome such forces. Albert 'aiuiis wrote The Myth oj Sisyphus to describe
(
the struggles thai people must undergo to create change and to survive in a hostile
and difficult world.
With regard to education, existentialists and phenomenologists have been

among the most severe critics. Thej have condemned the school as a dehumanizing
force that indoctrinates the individual and steals personal initiative is as if the It
schools main function is to process human beings as a canning factors processes

tuna. Everyone comes oul alike. Although this analogy might exaggerate the
with schools, the existentialist criticism calls attention to a definite problem of mag
nitude. Teachers and students are victims of such conditions, and modern societj
cannot hope to find itself if its educational institutions are aligned against individual
identity, personality, and well-being Rather than uplifl individuality, schools all too
often seem to submerge it
These conditions helped give rise to a popularization ol existentialist thought,

mainly because vigorouslj protested againsl such conditions However, popu
it
lan/.aiion also has had lis drawbacks, perhaps besl shown bj the glorification of
the individual (meaning, in thi n abstrai i individual) The individual isglori
Bed to the exclusion ol the real life needs of parti) ular, i om rete, live children
Some educators have rejected all order dis< ipline, and studj m thi pro
moling true individuality. They ha tied an Individualism thai is often harm

|m|
lui to real individual e it pron !
other •
Spoiled brat ometimes been the result Existentialists have i ailed
on us to becomi authentic beings, but thii I
rupted bj tl »ur own thing

11
ethii 1
i em to I nl of
260 CHAPTER 7
Sartre'sreminder that although an individual can do anything, personal actions are

a message to others that they can do likewise. If one is totally free, Sartre cau-
tioned, one is also totally responsible, and this is an awesome responsibility for any
individual.
Repeated criticisms of the individualistic and nihilistic character of existential-
istthought have led some adherents to strike off in new directions. Phenomenology
has been used as a more adequate method to investigate educational problems from
an existentialist perspective. Vandenberg, a leading figure in this methodological
movement, advocates analyzing problems from the standpoint of the lived experi-
—
ence of the child that is, the child's world, existence, and experiences. Proponents
of the phenomenological method try to understand and develop a more adequate the-
ory of what Vandenberg calls "the chronological development of inwardness and out-
—
wardness" that is, understanding how people's consciousness is developed or
educated from their own perspective. This method investigates phenomena related
to the expansion, development, and integration of conscious existence through
learning. Learning, in this case, means "coming to know things" and "being aware of
something of which one was not previously aware." Thus, educational phenomena
are those things that generate awareness of conscious existence. The emphasis is still
on the lived world of the child, but the focus is not so much on doctrinaire notions of
a nihilistic lifestyle as on methodological steps toward understanding how individu-
als come to be whatever they are in the modern world.
Despite its promise of more methodological rigor for existentialist educational
theory, the phenomenological movement presents some persistent problems. One
of these is the difficulty that many people have with phenomenological terminology.
Its reliance on hard-to-translate German terms and its penchant for hyphenated ex-
pressions create comprehension problems for many readers. Critics argue that these
devices obfuscate our thinking, and that a theory is useful only to the extent that it
clarifies rather than confuses. Supporters reply that although phenomenological the-
ory is complex, this is because the nature of the human condition it seeks to clarify
is complex. Furthermore, the ideas uncovered by phenomenology seem strange to

people who are enamored with "objective" scientific terminology, and more familiar-
ity with phenomenological philosophy might help solve many comprehension diffi-
culties. Finally, supporters maintain, the difficulties of comprehension are a small

price to pay for the greater understanding that phenomenology can bring to human
education and the lived experience of the learner.
Existentialist and phenomenologist ideas of education do not mean that indi-
viduals cannot learn from others, cannot profit from discipline, or cannot gain from
formal study in school. They insist, however, that these are not the only ways people
can create new avenues and identities. Although existentialism and phenomenology
have helped foster the movement known as alternative education, proponents some-
— —
times forget that formal study even the three R's is an alternative open to con-
sideration. Existentialist and phenomenological philosophers seek to open our eyes
to human possibility and not necessarily to make narrow, doctrinaire ideologues out
of us. Such an outcome would be anathema to the letter and spirit of existentialism
and phenomenology.
EXISTENTIALISM. PHENOMENOLOGY. AND EDUCATION 261
SARTRE
EXISTENTIALISM AND HUMANISM
Jean-Paul Sarin' was a prolific writer and produced major narks in many different genres,
including novels, plans, and formal philosophical treatises In the following selection, he oj
fers a defense of some of his ideas and, in the course q) this defense, presents some central
themes of his philosophical views, lie claims that existentialism is indeed humanistic andpro
rides insight into human freedom and human responsibility Although Sartre did not write
directly about education, his views ham been applied to learning, curriculum, and the ethi
cat aspects of education
My purpose here is to offer a defense of cms of view, of condemning either the poinl of view or tin •
tentialism againsl several reproaches thai have been action of anyone else
laid against it. It is to these various reproaches thai shall 1
endeavour tO reply today: thai is wh\ have entitled

First, it has been reproached as an invitation to 1
people to dwell m quietism of despair. For if every this briel exposition "Existentialism and Humanism."
way to a solution is barred, one would have to regard Many may be surprised at the mention of humanism
lection, but we shall trj to see in what
any action in this world as entirely ineffective, and in this c
one would arrive finally at a contemplative phili sense we understand it. In am case, we can begin by
phy. Moreover, since contemplation is a luxury, tins saying thai existentialism, in our sense of the word, is
would be only another bourgeois philosophy. This is. a doctrine thai does render human life possible: a
• •specially, made by
the reproach the ( lommunists. doctrine, also, which affirms that every truth and
From another quarter we are reproached for every action imply both an environmenl and a human
having underlined all that is ignominious in the hu- subjectivm The essential charge laid against us Is, of
man situation, for depicting what is mean, sordid or course, thai ol over-emphasis upon the evil side ol
base to the neglect of certain things that possess human life. have lately been told ol a lad) who.
1
charm and beauty and belong to the brighter side whenever she lets slip a vulgar expression in a mo
of human nature: For example, according to the ment of nervousness, excuses hersell bj exclaiming,
Catholic critic. Mile. Mercier, we forget how an infanl I believe am becoming an existentialist." So
I
il
smiles. Both from this side and from the other we are appears that ugliness is being identified withexisten
also reproached for leaving OUl of account the tialism That is whs some people saj we are "natural
we is strange to see how much we
danty of mankind and considering man in isolation ind il are, il
scandalise ami horrifj them, for n seems to be

And this, say the lommunists, is because we base our
I
upon the lartesian much humiliated nowadays bj what is

frightened <>r
doctrine upon pure subject ivit.s '
"I think": which is which solitarj man

the moment in proper!) called naturalism Those who an <|inle well i
attains to himself; a position from which is imj il

lown a novel by Zola
an e\ls!e||!ial|s!
able to regain solidarity with other men who exisl out-
,.|„.,| , tfj
who appeal to the wisdom of the people

Bide of the self. The ego cannot [each them through
"" x '"'
the cogito which ,,n l 1 '
"
we OK reDTOai bed as o ii« be more disillusioned thai

From the Christian side, I
people who deny the reality and seriousness of human

and h him dov
affairs For since we ignore the commandment
he'll s
: and all values pre* rib- <l iiottuc. heii do you he

mams but what isstricth vohmtai
what he likes, and will be incapable, from sui h a point
— —
262 CHAPTER 7
powers-that-be; that you must not fight against supe- If one considers an article of manufacture
rior force;must not meddle in matters that are above as, for example, a book or a paper-knife —one sees
your station. Or that any action not in accordance that it made by an artisan who had a con-
has been
with some tradition is mere romanticism; or that any ception of it: And he has paid attention, equally, to the
undertaking which has not the support of proven conception of a paper-knife and to the pre-existent
experience is foredoomed to frustration; and that technique of production which is a part of that con-
since experience has shown men to be invariably inception and is, Thus the paper-
at bottom, a formula.
clined to evil, there must be firm rules to restrain knife is at thesame time an article producible in a
them, otherwise we shall have anarchy. It is, how- certain manner and one which, on the other hand,
ever, the people who are forever mouthing these dis- serves a definite purpose, for one cannot suppose
mal proverbs and, whenever they are told of some that aman would produce a paper-knife without
more or less repulsive action, say "How like human knowing what it was for. Let us say, then, of the paper-
nature!" — it is these very people, always harping knife that its essence —that is to say the sum of the
upon realism, who complain that existentialism is too formulae and the qualities which made its produc-
gloomy a view of things. Indeed their excessive pro- tion and its definition possible —precedes its exis-
tests make me suspect that what is annoying them is tence. The presence of such-and-such a paper-knife
not so much our pessimism, but, much more likely, or book is thus determined before my eyes. Here,
our optimism. For at bottom, what is alarming in the then, we are viewing the world from a technical
doctrine that I am about to try to explain to you is standpoint, and we can say that production precedes
is it not? —that it confronts man with a possibility of existence.
choice. To verify this, let us review the whole ques- When we think of God as the creator, we are
tion upon the strictly philosophic level. What, then, is thinking of him, most of the time, as a supernal artisan.
this that we call existentialism? Whatever doctrine we may be considering, whether it
Most of those who are making use of this word be a doctrine like that of Descartes, or of Leibnitz
would be highly confused if required to explain its himself, we always imply that the will follows, more or
meaning. For since it has become fashionable, people less, from the understanding or at least accompanies
cheerfully declare that this musician or that painter is it, so that when God creates he knows precisely what
"existentialist." A columnist in Clartes signs himself he is creating. Thus, the conception of man in the
"The Existentialist," and, indeed, the word is now so mind of God is comparable to that of the paper-knife
loosely applied to so many things that it no longer in the mind of the artisan: God makes man according
means anything at all. It would appear that, for the to a procedure and a conception, exactly as the arti-
lack of any novel doctrine such as that of surrealism, san manufactures a paper-knife, following a definition
all who are eager to join in the latest scandal or
those and a formula. Thus each individual man is the real-
movement now seize upon this philosophy in which, ization of a certain conception which dwells in the di-
however, they can find nothing to their purpose. For vine understanding. In the philosophic atheism of the
in truth this is of all teachings the least scandalous eighteenth century, the notion of God is suppressed,
and the most austere: It is intended strictly for tech- but not for all that, the idea that essence is prior to
nicians and philosophers. All the same, it can easily existence; something of that idea we still find every-
be defined. where, in Diderot, in Voltaire and even in Kant. Man

The question is only complicated because there possesses a human nature; that "human nature,"
are two kinds of existentialists. There are, on the one which is the conception of human being, is found in
hand, the Christians, amongst whom I shall name every man; which means that each man is a particu-
Jaspers and Gabriel Marcel, both professed Catholics; lar example of a universal conception, the conception
and on the other the existential atheists, amongst of Man. In Kant, this universality goes so far that the
whom we must place Heidegger as well as the French wild man of the woods, man in the state of nature and
existentialists and myself. What they have in common is the bourgeois are all contained in the same definition
simply the fact that they believe that existence comes and have the same fundamental qualities. Here again,
—
before essence or, if you will, that we must begin from the essence of man precedes that historic existence
the subjective. What exactly do we mean by that? which we confront in experience.
Atheistic existentialism, of which I am a repre- for himself, we do not mean that he is responsible
sentative, declares with greater consistencj thai it' Only for his own individuality, but that he is response
Cod does not exist three is at least one being whose hie for all men. The word Subjectivism is to be under-
existence comes before its essence, a being which ex stood in two senses, and our adversaries plaj upon
ists before it can be defined by any conception of it. only one o\' them. Subjectivism means, on the one
That being is man or, as Heidegger has it. the tinman hand, the freedom of the individual subject and. on
reality. What do we mean by saying that existence the other, that man cannot pass beyond human sub
precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists. jectivity It is the latter which is the deeper meaning
encounters himself, surges up in the world—and de- of existentialism. When we.say that man (booses him
fines himself afterwards. It' man as the existentialist Self. We do mean that every one of US must chouse
sees him is not definable, it is because to begin with himself; but bj that wo alsomoan thai in choosing for
he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and himself he chooses for all men for in effecl of all the ,
then he will be what he makes of himself. Thus, there actions a man may take in order to create himself as
is no human nature, because there is no God t<> have a he wills to be. there is not one which is not creative,
conception of it. Man simply is. Not that he is simply at the same lime, of an image of man such as he be-
what he conceives himself to be. but he is what he wills, lieves he ought to lie To choose between tills or that
and as he conceives himself after already existing — is at same tune to affirm the value ofthat which is
the
as he wills to be after that leap towards existence. chosen; for WC are unable ever to choose the Worse
Man is nothing else but that which he makes of him- \\ hat we choose is always the belter; and nothing can
self. That is the first principle of existentialism. And be better for us unless is better tor all If. moreover,
it
this what people call its "subjectivity." using the

is existence precedes essence and W e W ill o exist at lie t I
word as a reproach against us. But what do we mean same tune as we fashion our image, that image is valid
to say by this, but that man is of a greater dignity than for all and for the entire epoch in which we find our-
a stone or a table? For we mean to saj that man pri- selves ' hir responsibilitj is thus much greater than
marily exists — that man is. before all else, something we had supposed, tor it concerns mankind as a whole
which propels itself towards a future and is aware If I am a worker, for instance, may choose to join a
I
that is doing so. Man is. indeed, a project which pos-

it ( 'hnstian rather than a Communis! trade union \nd
sesses a subjective life, instead ol being a kind of if.bythal membership, I choose to signifj that resig
moss, or a fungus or a cauliflower. Before that pro- nation is, after all. tin- attitude that best becomes a
jection of the self nothing exists: not even in the man. thai man's kingdom is not upon this earth. I do
heaven of intelligence: man will only attain existence not commit myself alone to thai mow Resignation is
when he is what he purposes to be. Not. however. my will tor everyone, and mj action is. m conse
what he may wish to be. for what we usiialh under- quence, a commitment on behalJ ol all mankind >r it. <
stand by wishing or willing is a conscious decision to take a more personal case, decide to marrj and I
taken— much more often than not alter we have to have children, even though this decision pro
made ourselves what we are may wish to join a I simply from mj situation, from mj passion or my de
party, to write a book or to marrj bul in such Mic .mi therebj committing not only myself, but hu
i
what is usually called my will is probably a manifesta inanity as a whole, to the practice ol monogamj I
Hon of a prior and more spontaneous decision. If. am thus responsible tor myself and for all men. and
however, it is true thai existence is prior to essen< e, Iam creating a ertain image "t man as would have
i I
man is responsible for what he is. Thus, the In i i ffe< i him to bo In fashionii fashion man I
of existentialism is that it puts everj man in p

sion of himself as he and places the entire n
is.
ability for his existence squareh upon in phil it l.il'i •' : 9 in

shoulders \nd. wh« i hat man i I
—
264 CHAPTER 7
GREENE
LANDSCAPES OF LEARNING
Maxine Greeyie has been an important contributor to an existentialist phenomenology of ed-

ucation. She has urged educators to use the creative products of human struggle to help young-
sters come to grips with their own lives. To be "wide-awake" is to be open to the possibilities of
human existence, but aware of the need for meaning. In this selection, Greene
it is also to be
sketches ways the arts and humanities can
be used to help students become more acutely con-
scious of their existential situation. Literature is Greene's special concern, and she proposes
to use it to help students gain personal meaning through a phenomenological interpretation
of human predicaments as portrayed in literature.
In an ironic account of how he "became an au- "personal mode of existence," their responsibility as
thor,"Soren Kierkegaard describes himself sitting in individuals in a changing and problematic world.
the Frederiksberg Garden one Sunday afternoon Henry David Thoreau was living at Walden Pond
asking himself what he was going to do with his life. in 1846, and, when he wrote about his experience
Wherever he looked, he thought, practical men were there, he also talked (in the first person) of arousing
preoccupied with making life easier for people. Those people from somnolence and ease. Walden also has
considered the "benefactors of the age" knew how to to do with making life harder, with moving individu-
make things better "by making life easier and easier, als to discover what they lived for. Early in the book,
some by railways, others by omnibuses and steam- Thoreau writes passionately about throwing off sleep.
boats, othersby telegraph, others by easily appre- He talks about how few people are awake enough "for
hended compendiums and short recitals of everything a poetic or divine life." And he asserts that "To be awake
worth knowing, and finally the true benefactors of is to be alive." He speaks personally, eloquently, about
the age . . . (making) spiritual existence systematically what strikes him to be the requirements of the truly
easier and ." He decided, he says, "with the
easier. . . moral life. But he never prescribes; he never imposes
same humanitarian enthusiasm as the others," to make his own ethical point of view. The point of his kind of
things harder, "to create difficulties everywhere." writing was not simply to describe a particular experi-
Writing that way in 1846, Kierkegaard was an- ment with living in the woods; it was to move others
ticipating what certain contemporary thinkers speak to elevate their lives by a "conscious endeavor," to
of as a "civilization malaise" reflecting "the inability of —
arouse others to discover each in his or her own
a civilization directed to material improvement —
terms what it would mean to "live deliberately."
higher incomes, better diets, miracles of medicine, The theme has been developed through the
triumphs of applied physics and chemistry —to sat- years as technology has expanded, fragmentation has
isfy the human spirit." He saw the individual sub- increased, and more and more people have felt them-
sumed under abstractions like "the Public," lost in the selves impinged upon by forces they have been unable
anonymity of "the Crowd." Like others responding to to understand. As time has gone on, various writers
the industrial and then the technological age, he was and artists have articulated experiences of being
concerned about depersonalization, automatization, conditioned and controlled. Contemporaneous with
and the bland routinization of life. For him, human the advance of scientific and positivistic thinking,
reality — —
the lived reality could only be understood therefore, an alternative tradition has taken shape, a
as a difficult, indeed a dreadful freedom. To make tradition generated by perceptions of passivity, acqui-
things harder for people meant awakening them to escence, and what Thoreau called "quiet despera-
their freedom. It meant communicating to them in tion." It is what may now be called the humanist
such a way that they would become aware of their tradition, if the human being is understood to be
—
someone always in search of himself or herself, choos- It is. at least on one level, evident that works of
ing himself or hers* '11' in thesituat ions of a problemal ic art Moby Dick, for instance, a Hudson River land-
life.There are works of art. there are certain works in scape painting, Charles Ives't 'oncord Sonata must
history, philosophy, and psychology, thai were delib- be directly addressed by existing and situated per-
erately created to move people to critical awareness, sons, equipped to attend to the qualities of what pre-
to a sense of moral agency, and to a conscious en- sents itself to them, to make sense ol in the light of it
gagement with the world. As see it, they ought 1 then- own lived worlds Works of art are, visibly and
under the rubric ()i the "arts and humanities" - to be palpably, human achievements, renderings of the
central to any curriculum that is constructed today. ways which aspects of realil\ have impinged upon
in
My argument, as has been suggested, has to human consciousness. What distinguishes one art
do with wide-awakeness, not with the glowing form from another (music from poetry, say, the dance
abstractions —
the True, the Beautiful, and the Good. from painting) is the mode ol rendering, the medium
Like Nick Henry Hemingway's Farewell
in Ernesl used, and the qualities explored But all art tonus
to Arms. am embarrassed by, "Abstracl words such
1 must be encountered as achievements thai can only
as glory, honour, courage, or hallow. ." Wide- . . be brought to significant life when human beings en-
auakeness has a concreteness; is related, as il with them imaginatively.
the philosopher Alfred Schutz suggests, to being in for all the distinctiveness of the arts. I here is a
the world: characteristic thej share with certain kinds of histor}

Ihave in mind, as an example. Edward Hallel
By the term wide-awakeness we want to conception of history as dialogue. Carr talks about the
denote a plane of consciousness of high- historian's provisional interpretations of provisionally
est tension originating in an attitude of selected facts and about I he subtle changes thai take
full attention to life and its requirements. place through the "reciprocal action" ol interprets
Only the performing and especially the lion and the ordering of those facts
working self is fully interested in life and.

hence, wide-awake. It lives within its \nd this reciprocal action also involvi
acts and us attention is exclusively di- reciprocity between present and past,
rected to carrying its projeel into effect, since the historian is part of the present
to executing its plan. Tins attention is an and the tacts belong to the past The his
active, not a passive one. Passive atten- torian and the facts of historj are nei t
tion is the opposite tO full awareness. sary to each other. The historian without
Ins facts is rootless and futile, the fai
This goes beyond ordinary notions of "relevance" Without then historians are dead and
where education is concerned. Schutz is pointing out meaningless M\ Brst answer there! ire
thai heightened consciousness and reflectiveness to the question, What is historj '. is that
are meaningful only with respect to human projects, it is a continuous proi ess ol interaction
human undertakings, nol in a withdrawal from the iieiu.Mii the historian and his fai ts, an
intersubjective world. He is also pointing oul thai unending dialogue between the pn
human beings define themselves bj means ol their and the p
projects and that wide awakeness contributes to the
.•ion of the self. II it is indeed the case, as I believe What is striking here is the emphasii si li
and human shaping, and interpreting, theoi ran materi

it is. that involvement with the arts
ording to distini tive nouns The pi
has the potential for provoking pre iselj this soil of
reflectiveness, we need to d< iting is not unlike the pi"

different e that the historian is in 'i" ,,sl ol truth, in
them into what we teach at all levels ol the ed is
tional enterprise, we need '

•'" ,1 some
a clear perception of what it means to enable people hereni e, - laril
to pay, from their own distinctive bill more important h
the mundane world or the emplrii al world must

attention to lib-
266 CHAPTER 7
be bracketed out or in some sense distanced, so that works that engage people in posing questions with re-
the reader, listener, or beholder can enter the aes- spect to their own projects, their own life situations.
thetic space in which the work of art exists. Captain William James, John Dewey, George Herbert Mead,
Ahab's manic search for the white whale cannot be George Santayana, Alfred North Whitehead, Jean-
checked any history of the whaling industry; its
in Paul Sartre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty: These, among
plausibility and impact have little to do with a testable the modern philosophers, are likely to move readers
truth. Thomas Cole's painting, "The Ox-Bow," may to think about their own thinking, to risk examination
look in some way like the river, but, if it is not en- of what is presupposed or taken for granted, to clar-
countered as a drama of color, receding planes, and ify what is vague or mystifying or obscure. To "do"
light, it will not be experienced as a work of art. A his- philosophy in this fashion is to respond to actual
torical work—Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War, problems and real interests, to the requirements of
John B. Bury's The Idea of Progress, or Richard Hof- sense-making in a confusing world. It may also in-
stadter's The Age of Reform—refers beyond itself volve identification of lacks and insufficiencies in that
to events in time past, to the changing situations in world —and some conscious effort to repair those
humankind's ongoing experience, to whatever are lacks, to choose what ought to be. Some of the hu-
conceived to be the "facts." manistic or existential psychologies may function
Most significant of all, however, is the possibil- similarly as they engage students in dialogue about
ity that these histories, like Carr's own history, can in- what it is to be human, to grow, to be.
volve their readers in dialogue. Reading any one of If the humanities are indeed oriented to wide-
them, readers or students cannot but be cognizant of awakeness, if dialogue and encounter are encouraged
a distinctive individual behind the inquiry. They can- at every point, it might be possible to break through
not but gain a sense of a living human being posing the artificial separations that make interdisciplinary
questions to the past from his own standpoint and study so difficult to achieve. If students (and their
the standpoints of those he chooses to be his fellow- teachers as well) are enabled to pose questions rele-
historians, working moments in time. Stu-
at different vant to their life plans and their being in the world,
dents may well come upon the insight Jacob they might well seek out answers in free involvement
Burckhardt describes when he speaks of history as "the with a range of disciplines. Once this occurs, new per-
break with nature caused by the awakening of con- spectives will open up —perspectives on the past, on
sciousness." They may begin, from their own vantage cumulative meanings, on future possibilities.
points to confer significance on moments in the past, The important thing is for these perspectives to
to push back the horizons of the meaningful world, to be sought consciously and critically and for meanings
expand the scope of lived experiences. Maurice Mer- to be perceived from the vantage points of persons
leau-Ponty, speaking of what this kind of awareness awake to their freedom. The arts are of focal signifi-
can mean, writes, "My life must have a significance cance in this regard, because perceptive encounters
which I do not constitute; there must be strictly with works of art can bring human beings in touch
speaking an intersubjectivity ..." Engaging with the with themselves. Jean-Paul Sartre writes that litera-
kind of history I have been describing, individual hu- ture addresses itself to the reader's freedom:
man beings can locate themselves in an intersubjec-
tive reality reaching backwards and forwards in time. For, since the one who writes recognizes,
These are the reasons why would include
I by the very he takes the trouble
fact that
certain works of history in an arts and humanities to write, the freedom of his readers, and
—
program works that provoke wide-awakeness and since the one who reads, by the mere fact
an awareness of the quest for meaning, which has so of his opening the book, recognizes the
much to do with feeling alive in the world. I would ex- freedom of the writer, the work of art,
clude from the program (although not from the total from whichever side you a] iproach it, is an
curriculum) mathematicized or computerized his- act of confidence in the freedom of men.
tory, exemplified by, say, Time on the Cross.
would approach my choices in philosophy,
I I believe this may be said, in essence, about all the
criticism, and psychology in the same fashion: those arts. Liberating those who come attentively to them,
they permit confrontations with the world as indi- ing grounded, he or she will be far less likelj to con-
viduals are conscious of it, personally conscious, fuse abstraction with concreteness, formalized and
apart from "the Crowd." schematized reality with what is "real." Made aware
I would want to see one or another art form of the multiplicity of possible perspectives, made
taught in all pedagogical contexts, because of the aware of incompleteness and of a human reality to
way inwhich aesthetic experiences provide a ground be pursued, the individual may reach "a plane of
for the questioning that launches sense-making and consciousness of highest tension." Difficulties will be
the understanding of what it is to exist in a world created even where, and the arts and humanities
If the arts are given such a central place, and if the will come into their own.
disciplines that compose the humanities arc at the
core of the curriculum, all kinds of reaching out
Reprinted bj permission of the publisher from
are likely. The situated person, conscious of his or
New York
Maxine, Land
her freedom, can move outwards to empirical study, rs College Press, 1978 bj Teachers College, Co-
!
analytic study, or quantitative study of all kinds. Be- lumbia University. All i
pp 161 LI
SELECTED READINGS
Gallagher, Shaun. Hermeneutics and Education Albany. New fork State njversitj ol I
New York Press. 1992. A comprehensive exploration of the varieties of hermeneutics con
servative, moderate, critical, and radical and how each can inform educational theory \l
though hermeneutics lias relevance for educational theory, the analysis of educational
experience also might help develop hermeneutical theory.
Morris, Van Cleve. Existentialism in Education New York Harper and Row, 1966 ^com-
prehensive overview of existentialism as a philosophy of education. This work tries to pro
vide some insight into possibl xistentialisl thought. Like Kneller, Morris has been
vigorously criticized for treating existentialist thought as another "ism."
Troutner, Lee. "Making Sense mi of 'Existential Thought and Education' \ Search for the
(
Interface,' in Philosophy qj Education, 1975. Pro, eedingsofthe 31st Annual Meeting of

1
- Philosophj of Education Society, 1975,

the Philosophy of Education ^
185 199 Explores the contributions of existentialist thought toeducation Theauthor

pp
sketches possible future contributions existentialism can make
Vandenberg, Donald.
i
pper Saddle River, N.i Hall, 1971 \ different work in that it does not pn
tentialist thought a " attempts to apply phenomenol

method to selected problems In education
f7ww.knowdeep.org/exl0tentiAllsii] roximatelj
com
n u wspep.org/resoiirce. lit ml
tial Philosophj
"•" ,; Eui
phiio ' 1
Hot
turalism
268 CHAPTER 7
ONLINE RESEARCH
Prentice Hall Foundations Web site found at wivw.prenhall.com/ozmon, answer the
following question with a short essay: What are some of the essential ideas of exis-
and how have these ideas influenced educational theory and
tentialist philosophy,
practice? You can write and submit your essay response to your instructor by using
the "Electronic Bluebook" section found in any of the topics of the Prentice Hall
Foundations Web site.
8
Analytic Philosophy
and Education
Analytic philosophy is nol a systematic philosophy like idealism, realism, or pragma-

tism. Indeed, most analytic philosophers lake pains to repudiate identity with a sys-
tematic philosophy because thej say thai the systems approach in philosophy has
brought more problems than solutions to human understanding. For the most part,
analytic philosophers seek to clarify the language, concepts, and methods used in
such holds as science politics, and education.

( Jlarification is 1 1 if one simple unifying theme in analytic philosophy. The under
lying assumption of the analysts is thai most philosophical problems of the past were
not problems concerning ultimate reality or truth, goodness, and beauty, bul prob
lems with confused language, warped or unclear meanings, and conceptual confusion
Genuine knowledge, most analysts claim, is the business of science, nol philosophy
Thus, the true role of philosophy is critical clarification
Several kinds of approaches can be taken within the genera] movemenl of an
alytic philosophy, and the movemenl itself has undergone a somewhal puzzling his
torical evolution. Basically, philosophical anal en place; Socrates I
was analyzing when he investigated the meaning of justice However, the modern
movement of analytic philosophy has its more immediate roots in several i
philosophical developments
The first part of this chapter shows the evolution of analytic philosophy from
the late nineteenth and earlj twentieth rent ones in the present, and the second pari
concerns the waj philosophical analj ipplied to educational theoi
philosophy of education.
ANALYTK MOVEMENT l\ PHILOSOPHY

The analytic movemenl has undergone an evolution stemming in pari town the in
Quence ol contemp iped >' the turn ol the < enl
(. E Moore and Bertrand Rus tell Furthem phila tit

270 CHAPTER 8
largely in theAnglo-American cultural context although several of its exponents, pri-

marily of Germanic-Austrian origin, came from Continental Europe. This latter aspect,
however, was to have its impact mainly in Britain and the United States because the
Germanic-Austrian figures came to these two countries as they found Nazism repul-
sive and Continental social conditions restrictive. One important aspect of the influ-
ence that came from the Continent and finally merged for the most part with the
Anglo-American analytic movement was logical positivism. This was a philosophical
school originally identified with a group of philosophers known as the Vienna Circle.
More recently, the analytic movement (including many persons formerly asso-
ciated with logical positivism) often has been identified with the name "linguistic
analysis," and most of its advocates were greatly influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Overall, these developments are referred to sometimes as "the linguistic turn" in phi-
losophy, a turn away from traditional philosophy (such as concern with absolute
knowledge and truth) toward examining the way people discuss and describe their
conceptions of things and ideas.
Realism and the Early Analytic Movement

Realism not the sole parent of the analytic movement, but the family resemblance
is
is Moore and Russell did not found the analytic movement, because some of
strong.
their contemporaries were more directly involved, but Moore and Russell are perhaps
most representative of the realist backgrounds.
George Edward Moore (1873-1958)

G. E. Moore was instrumental in the development of twentieth-century realism and
one of its outgrowths, philosophical analysis. He influenced Bertrand Russell and is
often credited with heading Russell toward a realist orientation when Russell had be-
come infatuated with Hegelian idealism. Moore and Russell became good friends and
philosophical colleagues, but gradually a difference emerged. Moore's realism went
toward commonsense philosophy and ordinary language, whereas Russell's went to-
ward science, mathematics, and formal language.
A Defense of Common Sense is one of Moore's better-known works. Primarily,
he was interested in the things people say in ordinary life. He believed that most com-
monsense things are true and that we know what people are talking about in their
ordinary, commonsense language. Many philosophers, in contrast, had made a career
out of disputing ordinary common sense. In ordinary language and philosophy, how-
ever, one can find many statements that can neither be proved nor disproved, and
Moore saw as his task not the discovery of the truth or falsity of the propositions of
ordinary language and philosophy, but an analysis of the meaning of propositions. He
thought that analysis would clear the way toward a better understanding of the truth
and propriety of what people say and write.
Moore's investigations went primarily into ordinary language because he thought
there were better reasons for accepting it than philosophical propositions. For one
thing, ordinary language deals with the commonsense, everyday world. Its statements
and propositions are about commonly encountered matters of fact and real-life ex-
"
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION 271
periences. ordinary language and common sense .leal with the real and havedo]
overlie centres, withstanding the test of time Moore soughl to analyze commonlj used
terms, such asgood, know, and real. Everyone knows what these words mean when
they are used in ordinary language. Moore believed thai people have a concept of
good already in mind before thej use the term and thai knowing the meaning (or ha\
ing the concepl and analyzing the meaning are two different things. An analysis ol
)
the meaning would help clarify the propriety of the meaning or, its "goodness of fit."
How often do all kinds of difficulties and troubles arise because of confusion over
meaning? Main if nol most problems of the modern world are a result of misunder
standing and confusion over ideological posil s, political beliefs, and so forth, all of
which depend heavily on keyword meanings and concepts. Moore soughl to analyze the
meanings of key words so as to shed light on the nature of the confusion. !onsequently, (
he became much involved in ethical meanings of language. \nPrincipia Ethica, he an

alyzed the various meanings that people have in mind when they use the wordôod
This can be explored further in lighl of ideological and political confusion. is It
probably safe to assume thai mosl serious-minded political theories incorporate no

tions or concepts about what is good. \\ hat one theory holds to be good is often dif-
ferent from what another theory holds. Think about economic considerations in
political theories as an example. Marxist theory holds that collective ownership of the
means of production results m certain desirable ends or goods, other political theo
ries, such as capitalism, maintain that private ownership is one of the supreme goods.
In other instances, a political theorj mighl contain internal inconsistencies and even
contradictions about what is good. Perhaps a greal deal of human strife results from
such confusion over the various meanings of the word good

From Monies standpoint, philosophers were also guilty of adding totheconfu
sion because hey attempted to wrest
t meaning from common sense and ordinary Ian
guage and to make
meaning remote and abstract
that for example, u nsm.u words
like t/ond in abstract ways Moore believed that common sense knows "where the
shoe pinches" and that abstract theories do not. lie accused philosophers ol abusing
language when thej took awaj from common, ordinarj usage and meaning. How
it
ever, wasnotjusl meaning thai Moore was after; he was after the analysis of mean
it
ing. His characteristic approach was to analyze a given concepl (or meaning) in lighl
of similar concepts and to distinguish on-' from another in precise v.
Moore's influence diminished because of the developmenl of Russell's more for
malistic analyticapproach and the appearance of logical positivism Some phil<
phers, however, are reexamining Moore's id.
Bertrand Russell (1872 1970)

Whereas Moore regarded analytic philo the analysis ol meanings Inordinary
language and commo] Bertrand Russell developed a more formal logii alanal}
sisakin to the i In Principia Matnematica bj Russell and Alfred
North Whitehead mathematics is redu< ed to a logical langu tell held that

""' " 1111 ' '" '•'"
mathemati<
'
, 1
i, ban important pari ol life people mm. i

ti\ to make il
more pre ise and e|.
I
.
272 CHAPTER 8
Aristotle's syllogistic logic was a logic of classes. Russell's logic, however, dealt
with the relationship of propositions to each other: "If it is raining, then the streets
are wet." The clauses "it is raining" and "the streets are wet" express propositions
that have a certain relationship, or what Russell called implication. In Principia
Mathematica, he attempted to demonstrate that mathematics is, in fact, a part of
logic and that language has a basic logical structure similar to that of mathematics.
Thus, he hoped that mathematical logic could be used to provide philosophy with an
instrument for precisely clarifying the meaning of language.
Russell distinguished between what he called atomic sentences and molecu-
lar sentences. An atomic sentence has no parts that can stand alone as sentences.
Thus, "Megan is human" is an atomic sentence. "Megan and Bonita are going shop-
ping" is a molecular sentence because it is a complex sentence containing two parts,
each of which is itself a sentence: "Megan is going shopping" and "Bonita is going
shopping." Molecular sentences are created out of atomic sentences by connective
words, such as and, or, and if. Russell thought that any molecular sentence could be
analyzed into a set of atomic sentences with the logical connectives. Thus, the mean-
ing of a molecular sentence could be explained by breaking it down into its con-
stituent atomic sentences. This often is referred to as Russell's logical atomism.
Accordingly, when an atomic sentence is true, the subject denotes an individual
thing or object and the predicate refers to some characteristic of this thing or object. In
showing that atomic sentences refer to such objects and characteristics, one is informed
that the world is made up of facts and that all facts are atomic and can be described by
atomic sentences. Russell believed that no molecular facts exist in nature because the
connectives and, or, and if then are only linguistic devices used to combine atomic
. . .
sentences in various ways. Atomic sentences are syntactic only. No generalized facts
exist either, such as "All humans are mortal," because this can be reduced to the atomic
sentences "Megan is mortal," "Bonita is mortal," and so on for every individual.
Russell dealt with what he which he at-
called the theory of descriptions, in
tempted to show that philosophers, through a faulty analysis of language, had been
led by specious arguments into believing that the sorts of things ordinary people re-
gard as fiction, or nonexistent, in some sense actually do exist. For example, we seem
to be making a true statement when we say "Captain Ahab pursued the white whale."
This is true in a sense even though no Captain Ahab or white whale actually existed
except in a work of fiction. Russell put it this way: "How is it possible for there to be
such a sentence as 'The present king of France is wise,' when there is no king of
France?" Russell dealt with this kind of problem by distinguishing between the
"grammatical form" of a sentence and its "logical form." Thus, the grammatical struc-
ture leads one to believe that the phrase "the present king of France" is logically the
subject term and "is wise" is the predicate term and that this is an atomic sentence.
However, this sentence is not "logically" of the subject-predicate form. When ana-
lyzed, one finds the following three sentences:
1 Something is the current monarch of France.

2. Not more than one thing is the current monarch of France.
3. Whatever is the current monarch of France is wise.
Each of these three sentences is a general sentence, nol an atomic one. No proper
names are used; instead, such generalities as "something," "whatever," and so forth
are used. Thus, "the present king of France" is nol logically a proper name although
it might function to form a grammatical poinl ofview In pointing oul thai "thepres
ent king of France" is logically a "general" sentence and not an atomic one. Russell
showed that such a phrase has no relationship toanyobjeel in the world and thus
no meaning on its own. If a sentence is translated into logical language, its meaning
becomes clear. If it turns out not to he of the subjed predicate form, then its gram
matieal subject refers to nothing directly because, in a perfect language. every sub
ject term denotes an actual objeel in the world and everj predicate term denotes an
actual characteristic of that subject.
more perfect language that
Russell's efforts to construct a logical language, or a
is and oriented to the facts of science, show the difference between M
objective
and Russell. Russell wanted a formal, logical language and called his approach l<«//<-<il
analysis.
The term analytic takes en special meaning for Russell. Much of the philoso
phy of the past had been synthetic; that is. had tried to take disparate parts or
it i~-
sues and synthesize them into a "great answer" or a "block system." Russell argued
that philosophers already had their great answers in hand and that they erroneouslj
tried to make the disparate parts fil into the answers. He believed thai thewaj oul
of trouble is to discard block universe conceptions in favor of taking on issues one at
a time. By reducing each problem to its smallest parts (its "atoms." so to

issue or
speak), clarity and precision of meaning could he gained.
This is Russell's analytic approach- to whittle each problem down to its con
stituent parts and then to examine each part in detail to pick out its essential fea
tures. Thus, rather than arriving at great answers or syntheses, one has small hut
significant and well-worked analyses. Science does this, according to Russell, ami
philosophy should do it. too. Russell's analytic approach is reductive M reduces
propositions to their smallest, hare hones significance is also empirical because It
the bare-hones significance of a proposition must square with reality or with the facts
of the case. This is demonstrated by the example about the king of France It 1
less to talk ahoul the king of France there is. in fact, no king If no king exists,
il this
nonexistent king cannot possibly he wise This, in effect, illustrates Russell's coii
demnation of the synthetic, "grand manner" philosophy of the pasl ll'- believed thai
"1
too much talk and system building has gone on around nonexistent, nonwise
or great answers
In fact, this aversion to "systems" or "grand manner" approach to phila
.1 • ;
fairly well characterizes the analytic movemenl as a whole Analysts oppose .1'' 1
fixation of ideas into philosophicalsystems prefi rring to vie* idi

and noi belonging to anj single viewpoint Tims, thej believe that systems -1 em ••
approach defeats the purpose ot the kind oi thinking philosophy should promote
They prefer to analyze language meaning and to 1 larifj ideas rath< 1 than 1
rize them
Although Russell helped develop philosophic al anal
primarily methodology al, ami his orientatiot tronglj In realism
274 CHAPTER 8
Russell's emphasis on fact, his insistence on going to the atomic as opposed to molecu-
lar and general propositions, shows his acceptance of the realist's thesis of indepen-
dence. It should be pointed out that a figure of Russell's stature is difficult to pin into
any school. He willingly gave up positions and renounced views when he discovered
what to him were errors, and he seemed to lose faith in the analytic approach as the
essence of philosophy. At the end of his life, he still was making the philosophical quest,
still searching for wisdom wherever that search led and whatever sacred ox was gored.
That his influence has extended in many directions is testimony of his virtue as a thinker.
Moore and Russell showed the strong roots that analysis has in realism: Moore
for his insistence on anchoring analysis in the ordinary world of facts and sense ex-
perience, and Russell for his insistence on the scientific model of a logical, orderly,
and systematic treatment of particulars. The analytic movement still has much of this
realist orientation, although most modern analysts reject identity with any philo-
sophical system.
Logical Positivism and Analysis
Logical positivism originated with a group of European philosophers, scientists, and

mathematicians. In 1929, they formally designated themselves the "Vienna Circle"
and began publishing a journal, Erkenntnis. Members included Moritz Schlick,
Rudolph Carnap, Herbert Feigl, Felix Kaufmann, and A. J. Ayer. The works of Ber-
trand Russell, especially the Principia Mathematica, exerted some influence on
this group, as did the earlier works of Ludwig Wittgenstein, especially his Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus. Perhaps the most notable feature of the members of the
group was their fascination with the progress of modern scientific method (especially
the theory of relativity) and what has been called the principle of verification; that
is, no proposition can be accepted as meaningful unless it can be verified on formal
grounds (through logic and mathematics) or verified on empirical or sense-data

grounds. The former shows their indebtedness to modern mathematics and logic, and
the latter their indebtedness to modern empirical science.
After several years, however, they encountered difficulties with the principle of
verification because, in their zeal, they had given it a narrow and rigorous application
that ruled out any consideration of unverifiable propositions. It was found that some
fundamental assumptions of science itself are unverifiable in the rigorous application

the logical positivists used. The important weight given to empirical sense data pre-
sented problems too; such data depend on human beings observing some phenome-
non, and this lets in the subjective element of perception. One encounters the
observation of the object or phenomenon and not the objective reality of the thing
itself, as Immanuel Kant maintained with das Ding an sich. Thus, this probable
error of subjectivism always exists, and this particularly sticky problem led to vari-
ous splinterings among logical positivists.
For this reason,few people have subsequently identified themselves with logi-
cal positivism; its assumptions have proved to be perhaps too simple and its method-
ology too rigid. Nonetheless, its influence should not be discounted even though its
career as a dominant philosophical position was short lived.
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY ANO EDUCATION 275
Two leading figures important in the analytic movement, bul with roots in log-
ical positivism, were Ludwig Wittgenstein and A. J. Ayer.
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)

Ludwig Wittgenstein's connection with logical positivism stems from his earner
works, primarily Tractatus Logico Philosophicus. In this bonk, he argues thai the
natural sciences are the primary source of true propositions and the primarj means
of finding now facts. Philosophy should nol be seen as the discovers of truth, bul
rather as an activity to solve dilemmas, elucidate problems, and clarify ideas obtained
from other sources. A true proposition mighl be referred to as an atomic proposition"
that reveals the particular structureand arrangement of objects and facts Philoso
phers should not concern themselves with the truth of the data, bul rather should
deal with thelanguage and statements made about it Thus, we need to specifj
what we can and cannol say thai is, the limits of language.
Wittgenstein was horn in Austria and raised by rather rigid parents who ex
pected only excellence from their children. His father wanted Ludwig to heroine an
engineer, so he studied engineering first in Merlin and later in Manchester, England.
He specialized in aircraft propulsion and consequently developed a deep interest in
pure mathematics as an outgrowth of his work.
While in England, he was introduced to the mathematical logic of Russell He soon
went to Cambridge and became a student and personal friend ofRussell, but World War 1
interrupted his studies and philosophical research. He returned to Austria, served in the
Austrian Army, and was captured on the Italian front He completed most of the work
on Tractatus Logico Philosophicus while serving in the army. Uso during this time, he
apparently had some sort of mystical experience, because after the war. he returned
home, gave away his considerable wealth, and became an elementarj school teacher
Wittgenstein's views in the Tractatus revealed that he was an even more ri
ous empiricist than Russell, winch mighl accounl for Ins appeal to logical positivists
He thOUghl that the only significant use of language was to picture the lads or to
state tautologies; beyond this, he thoughl language was nonsensical During the
1920s, he again came intocontad with lambridge intellei tual circles, and m 19
<
moved to Britain and became a British subject. He began revising his philosophy, and
by the mid-1980s, arrived al an altered pi sition thai was to have profound effi i
Anglo-American philosophj
Uthough in works Wittgenstein repudiated or n
his later ol his \ •
the members of the Vienna Circle understood his earh views to mean thai phi
losophy should be primarih an activity thai tries to larifj oni epti Th( j too be
i i
lievedthal philosophj should nol produce propositions thai merelj should larifj i1 i
the meaning of statements, showing some to be icientifn some mathematical and

some nonsensical Tim gnifi< anl statement is eithi menl ol formal
logic (which includes mathematical statements) oi a statemenl ol Othei

statements maj be partial emotive, pictorial, or motivational bul are nol < ognitive
Philosophy, then, should how the limitsol Lai tions Intel
ligible, and provide clarity. The ii notonthi pment of truth,

hut on the meaning ol propositi)
i
—
276 CHAPTER 8
The principle was adopted by the Vienna Circle and stands as one
of verification
of its chief methods. The members believed that all propositions must be verifiable by
either logic or sense perception statements. An example of a logical statement is
"Mothers are females" —a logically true statement based on the terms employed.
"Mothers are workers," however, is not necessarily true or meaningful. This kind of
proposition is meaningful only if it can be verified empirically by sense experience.
Proponents of logical positivism distinguished between what they called "analytic" and
"synthetic" sentences. Sentences whose truth logically follows from their meaning,
such as the statement "All bald-headed men have no hair," are called analytic. Sen-
tences that have some sort of empirical investigation for their confirmation are called
synthetic, such as the statement "John has brown hair." Kant made this distinction be-
tween analytic and synthetic in his Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics and in-
sisted that synthetic a priori statements are permissible only in mathematics.
Positivists believed that all analytic sentences are in the realm of formal logic
they are true because of their structure —and all synthetic statements belong to sci-
ence, requiring empirical investigation for their validity. It should be pointed out that
analytic sentences do not refer to the world the way synthetic sentences do. We can-
not, for example, infer that the items mentioned by the terms of an analytic sentence
actually exist. Thus, from the analytic statement "Mermaids are women," one cannot
infer that any actual mermaids exist. However, the statement "This cat is white" can
be verified by checking the facts of the situation. Logical positivists thought that ana-
lytic sentences are "trivial" but that synthetic ones are "informative." Analytic state-
ments are true only by definition, whereas synthetic statements make claims about
reality that can be verified as true or false.
Care should be taken here with the terms analytic and synthetic. Positivists were
not using the term synthetic in the older meaning. They, too, were as suspicious as Rus-
sell had been of the old "philosophy in the grand manner" that sought to construct "great
answers" and elaborate systems out of a synthesis of conflicting ideas. To Wittgenstein

and the logical positivists, the old manner of synthesis was too metaphysical and non-
sensical. The only sayable propositions are the propositions of natural science. Logical
positivists took Wittgenstein's position to mean that true propositions must be capable
of empirical verification. Wittgenstein, however, was also interested in the limits of lan-
guage or what is sayable, and he did not anchor his position on empirical verification.
Apparently, logical positivists understood his statement about natural science to mean
"the empirically discoverable" or "what can be verified by the senses." At any rate, they
arrived at the "principle of verification" and gave a rather exalted position to "synthetic,"
"informative" statements because these can be verified empirically.
Alfred Jules Ayer (1910-1989)

A. Ayer was another who seriously sought to combine logical positivism with ana-
J.
lyticapproaches. He was educated at Eton and Oxford, taught for several years at
the University of London, and became a professor at Oxford in 1959. He was a promi-
nent member of the Vienna Circle and sought to interpret logical positivism for the
English-speaking world not only through teaching and writing but also through radio
and television.
Ayer attempted to reconcile and order the principal doctrines of analysis from
the works of Russell, Wittgenstein, and the Vienna Circle. He though! thai the task
of philosophy is to classify language, distinguish genuine propositions from others,
and explain the meaning and justification of propositions by their reductive analysis
into basic statements about immediate experience. Ayer used the principle of veri
fication to show thai religious, evaluative, and metaphysical utterances are nol
propositions.
In Language, Truth and Logic, Ayeruses theverifiabilitj criterion of meaning.
Accordingly, a sentence can be factually significant toagiven poison if and only if thai
person knows how to verify the propositions thai purports to express thai is. if the
it
person knows what observation would load them, under certain conditions, toaccepl
the proposition as being true or to rejecl as being false. Thus, il must be possible to
it
describe what sorts of observations would have to be made to dot on nine whether a
sentence is true or false, [fsome observations can bo made that will be relevanl inde
temuning the truth or falsity of a sentence, then the sentence is significant; if not. then
it is meaningless. For example, no observation can occur to confirm or denj the
proposition "Angels have silver wings," and thus il is meaningless. This is differenl from
a statement such as "Intelligenl beings live on another planet"; although this state
mentis not verifiable al present, could possiblj be verified al sonic point in the future,
it
Ayer thought that philosophers would do well to abandon the metaphysical

grand manner approach, especially where that approach starts with fust principles
and then constructs a deductive system from them as a complete picture of reality
The problem with this approach is that first principles are taken to be logically cer
tain. What makes more sense, according to Ayer, is the inductive approach, in which
any derived generalizations are viewed only as probable and hypothetical More to
the point, the most valuable thing thai philosophy can do is to reveal the criteria used
inshowing whether a proposition is true or false The truth or falsil\ of am proposi
tion must be determined bj empirical verification, no1 philosophical clarifii ation
Ayer softened somewhat on the finality of the verification principle because "i
the criticism directed at the rigorous application he and the logical positivists used
Consequently, he ceased to identify himself with anj definable school of thought, but
he did retain some elements of the empirical approach of logical positivism It has been
suggested that Ayer most apth could be called an analytically minded empiri< isl
Linguistic Analysis
Linguistic analysis is the name many ol prefei to use when di
analytic philosophy. This is be< tuse ol the general trend awaj from trying i
n
struct an ideal langua th< si ientific model of mathema

to construct too i
i
ol rules for ordii Perhaj the word
linguistic in fronl ol analysis is still a far from a< i urate was to dea ribe this pin
losophy. Indeed, manj find, ol ai ring bul the term ling i
sun accurate The i., i. h linguistii i formal
brand of positivism. The trend jusl noted can I-- credited to the later won
Wittgenstein as mu< ii a to anj one I
in his maturt his viewpoinl
278 CHAPTER 8
opened considerably to recognize many uses of language. Hence, linguistic becomes

an apt term to signify this approach to philosophy.
Wittgenstein's Later Works

Wittgenstein was mentioned earlier, yet his ideas deserve additional attention be-
cause of the complexities of his career and thought, as well as the historical devel-
opment of philosophical analysis. Wittgenstein's later ideas set new directions in
philosophy, and these new directions had a profound impact on linguistic analysis.
These views first came to light in written form as mimeographed notes on lec-
tures he had delivered to students in the early 1930s. They were called the Blue Book
and the Brown Book and were not published until after his death. The basic ideas of
these works appear in a much expanded and revised form as Philosophical Investi-
gations, also published posthumously. Of all his writings, perhaps the easiest to read
is the Blue Book.
Wittgenstein's revised philosophy no longer took the narrow view of language

but saw language consisting of indefinite possibilities of usage. In effect, he was saying
that people need to understand the context of language usage, and in order to under-
stand the meaning of that language usage, we may construct "language games." He
thought that most philosophical problems are not problems at all but puzzlements
brought about by linguistic confusions. The proper issue is these puzzlements and
how most people, early in life, get locked into certain language uses from which they
cannot escape Humans are, in Wittgenstein's view, like flies in a bottle, hap-
readily.
hazardly about and banging against the walls in their confusion. The role of
flitting
philosophy, then, should not be to construct explanations about reality and so forth
but to solve the puzzles of linguistic confusion. Philosophy should be viewed as a
method of investigation (although no specified, singular method) that results in pure
description, and language should be seen as having no necessary or ideal form.
Historically,philosophy has posed such questions as "What is real?" and "What
is meaning?" Wittgenstein thought that these kinds of questions only lead to mental
cramp. It is better to ask "What is an explanation of meaning?" than to ask "What is

meaning?" Thus, he focused on the explanation of meaning, or the meaning of mean-
ing. According to Wittgenstein, problems occur when, upon hearing a word, people
immediately begin to look for its meaning in some corresponding object. He believed
that what people ought to do is look at the word itself, the sign, and the statement,
and examine the context of its usage. Usage depends on the meaning of signs (names
or words) in relation to other signs within a system of signs —
in short, within a lan-
guage. According to Wittgenstein, understanding a sentence involves understanding
a language. (By language, he did not mean English, French, or German, for any of
these can have many languages within them
terms of usage and context.)
in
For example, consider a word over which philosophers have long argued:
thinking. According to Wittgenstein, the meaning of thinking varies. When con-
fronted with the word, most people associate it with mind and mental activity. What
happens, however, when we begin what one means by the sign thinking!
to explain
Is it hidden away inside the cranium? If we could open people's heads while they were
thinking, could one see it? Likely, one would see physiological structures (brain mat-
ter, blood vessels, etc.). What. thru, is happening when thinking is going on? Some
suggestions might come easily to mind: writing, reading, and speaking. Is thinking
done by the mouth and larynx? Why does one say mind is doing tfie thinking? V here
is its locus, its seat? Thinking can be explained onh by signifying such agents as the
brain, hand, and larynx.

Wittgenstein did not question that thinking also occurred in the brain, but he
did maintain that when we try to describe thinking in words and statements, they sig
nil'y agents of tl linking and we draw analogies Brora them. People try to summarize
all of these into a general term such as mind and then relate this to a thing or objecl
Pôr centuries, philosophers have argued about mind, mental, and thinking and have
tried to locate and delineate them. Wittgenstein suggested that the puzzle is linguis-
tic. People became fascinated with a linguistic form when they thought thej had a
problem with a thing.

Part of this difficulty, Wittgenstein maintained, is that people have come in
crave generality, a concept linked to many philosophical puzzlements. Philosophers

have taught that we should look lor commonality in all things that can be brought
under a general term. The tendency to generalize is rooted in forms of expression.
Words have come to possess the meaning of a general image of things associated with,
or corresponding to. the words. The result is a confusion of the things named with
the names themselves the words. We have come to confuse, as in the case oi think
ing, mental processes and mechanisms with states of consciousness or awareness.

Part of this is a result. Wittgenstein thought, of human preoccupation with the method
of science, which seeks to reduce the explanations of natural phenomena to the small
est possible number of natural "laws" or principles or. if you will, scientific general]
zations. He stated that this preoccupation is the source of metaphysics in philosophy
For Wittgenstein, it is not the proper business of philosophy to reduce anything, to
produce generalizations, or to offer grand explanations. Philosophy's business is to
be purely descriptive.
Wittgenstein believed that the problem with modern philosophy is the "con
temptuous attitude towards the particular case For example, the word hi ml is used
"
a great deal. This shows the human penchanl lot generalization because people
quickly want to subsume something under a larger heading. When confronted with
strange words about something, a quick reaction is to ask. "\\ bat kind of thing i
as if has
it to be subsumed under some heading of animal, vegetable, or mineral be
fore the meaning of the word can be understood properlj Think again about the
philosophers plight with the word thinking The desire is to locate it, and in the
analysis several thinking are Something is '.mi lacking though,
di i ribed
because is virtually impossible to define
it thinking in a manner verall t
that the word truly design tieral lass in » tual usage the
i
word has no sharp
boundary To Wittgen ttein, the idea thai one must find common element in all ap •>
plications oi a word oi statement ! hindian< e to

.iphUosophii .ii in has 'ii It
led philo ""' " l '"
Furthermore, v. mi held thai the explanation ol the meaning ol •• v
depends on theai tual i ontexl ol usage and the ture being used In at
tempting to construct generalizations peopli an thrown into the pit ol

280 CHAPTER 8
analogies from one context to another, relying on conventions rather than specifics
of behavior; devising criteria and symptoms of usage; and then arbitrarily picking one
convention, criterion, or symptom as more important than another. In effect, one is
reduced to constructing arbitrary and abstract rules and procedures that get away
from the concrete usage and meaning in context. We come to view language accord-
ing to the mathematical rules of calculus. Language, however, is rarely like calculus.
The craving for generality leads to abstract exactness that gives rise to philosophical
puzzlements and linguistic confusion.
Wittgenstein believed that in actuality, words have no true meaning given to
them by some independent power. They have the meanings people give them. Thus,
one cannot scientifically investigate what a word really means, and one cannot
tabulate strict rules of usage. It is also fruitless to construct an ideal language to re-
place ordinary language: Rather, an ideal language should remove the trouble of
thinking that one had gotten the exact usage of an ordinary word. Thus, Wittgenstein
rejected any necessary form of language.
In actual usage, people construct and play language games, or "systems" of
communication. The understanding of language is as varied as the games. What makes
anything a language, anyway? Commonality or generality is necessarily involved, but
it is a commonality like a family resemblance and not the complete picture of the fam-
ily. Wittgenstein thought that people could invent their own language games to help
them understand actual usage by showing the similarities and differences of a lan-
guage. These constructed games would be used to examine actual and possible uses
of language in various contexts.
Wittgenstein had no systematic doctrine, no rules of procedure, and no lockstep
grand manner approach to philosophizing. This makes his philosophy difficult to com-
prehend because people are accustomed to seeing answers put forth and explana-
tions offered for the world's origin and destiny. Wittgenstein would have none of this
and asserted that philosophy needs to be purely descriptive. One could say that his
view recommends uncorking the bottle and letting the fly out to see where it will go.
Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976)

Gilbert Ryle was born, reared, and educated in England. Early in his philosophical ca-
reer, he was attracted to certain aspects of Continental philosophy, especially
Husserl's work, but by the age of 31, Ryle had become well versed in philosophical
analysis. He viewed analysis as a matter of finding the sources of linguistic confusion
by examining some of the continually perplexing problems in philosophy, such as the
mind-body dualism. His work on the use of the words mind, mental, thinking,
knowing, and related words made him one of the most influential and widely read
contemporary British philosophers. His best-known work is The Concept of Mind,
which is one of the more famous books in twentieth-century philosophy.
In The Concept of Mind, Ryle attacks the Cartesian doctrine of splitting off
body and mind. This doctrine holds that the body is in the realm of matter, suscepti-
ble to and subject to the laws of matter. It can be studied objectively, and its behav-
ior can be observed and measured publicly. In contrast with this, the mind is hidden
—
from view a private, secret realm. It is subjective, and although one may have ac-
cess to one's own mental operations, one cannol read another's mind objectively.
Thus, although the material body can be studied scientifically, mind is nol available
to science but is amenable to a special subjective method of investigation called intra
sped ion. Ryle disputed these contentions, calling this theory "the dogma of the Ghosl
in the Machine." It is false in principle, he maintained, because it is a "categorj mis
take." and he referred to the dogma as "the philosopher's myth."
According to Kyle, a category mistake occurs when one allocates concepts to
logical types to which they do nol belong. He gave the example of the visitor who
came to Oxford and was shown the various colleges, laboratories, libraries, offices,
and so forth. The visitor then asked. "Bui where is the university?" This is a category
mistake: the visitor was allocating the concept of university to the same logical type
as its constituent colleges. In the <ase of < Moid, university is a collective logical
type and college is a "constituent element" logical type. A similar kind of category
mistake can be made with the word institution )ne speaks of marriage as an insti . (
and of Harvard University as an institution, bul there is a world of difference

tut ion
between the logical meanings of the term institution in these cases

How did the mind-body confusion come about? According to Ryle, the science
developed by Galileo and others maintained that certain mechanical laws of matter
governed every object occupying space Rene* Descartes, being concerned with sci-
ence, could accept such laws, hut as a philosopher, he could not accept a mechanistic
theory for the human mind. Mental was not the same as mechanical, hut its exact op
posite. This is a category mistake because puts body and mind under the same logi-
it
cal type in the manner of exact opposites. Moth are things, hut things of entirely
different natures, [f body is a machine, then mind is a nonmachine. The belief thai mind
and body (or mind and matter) are at polar positions came about because of the belief
that they are both of the same logical type, although opposites. Ryle was not trying to
absorb the one into the other 03 saying that is either all material or all mental
it He
held that although the dogma is absurd, making distinctions between physical activity
and mental activity is justifiable. all hinges on the sense in which one is speaking
It
Perhaps most of the problem belongs to the confusion engendered b.\ such
words as mmd. mental, tlnnkimj. and similar iiientalist ic terms Certainly, Ryle
maintained, is legitimate to describe doing long division or thinking things ovi
it
mental activity. It is an error, however, to ascribe anj sens.' of place to mental acth
"
ity. People picture "in the head" when thej saj "mental activity This is what Ryle
called the 'inteiiectuaiist legend," that intelligence is some internal operation Yet, it
is justifiable to speak of menial activit) In the hod" if we understand that wi

speaking metaphorically does not necessarily do arithmetic in the head;
<
>ne an it 1
be done just as well ni not better) ing aloud orI

by writing on paper
it The it
same can he sai.l of imagined noise people cm hear musit in then heads \\ ho has
,,,,1 heard a nine over and over m their mind It someone else pla< ed .in ear against
'
ili,- i,ead of the subject, the tune would nol be heard; if the Bubje< I
singing aloud though, could he heard i",

il raniaJ bone vibrations The tune
1:
that people metaphorical) in their mind all) in then r
deal oi confusion over the mind bodj problem >m mixing the in. 1
1
with a metaphorical one
I
282 CHAPTER 8
A related problem is associated with the term knowing. Knowing and knowl-
edge have long been of concern to philosophers, and epistemology (theory of knowl-
edge) traditionally has been a main discipline of philosophy. Yet, all sorts of problems
have been encountered with understanding knowing because of confusion with the
term. Ryle maintained that people have confused "knowing that" and "knowing how."
"Knowing how" is having the capacity to perform, being able to do, and so forth. How-
ever, Ryle pointed out, knowing that something is the case does not mean that we
necessarily know how to do it. In the same way, to be able to perform or do does not
necessarily mean that the purposes and reasons for doing are understood. Too often,
it is assumed that knowing and knowledge are too much on the side of "knowing
an ignorant approach to formal education whereby it is as-

that." This has resulted in
sumed crammed with facts and "knowledge," they will
that after students' heads are
be able to go out into the world and perform successfully. A healthier concept of
knowing and knowledge would be that to know in the best sense is to "know that"
and "know how."
Many problems go back to the mind-body dualism. These can be traced all the
way back to Plato, who extolled the mental over the material; to the churchmen who
extolled soul (mind) over body; and to Descartes, who devised the cogito. Ryle
pointed out that the fault was not so much that of Descartes as it was of a long philo-
sophical and theological tradition. Furthermore, he thought that such myths as the
mind-body dualism have their uses. The creationof myths helps people get around
many difficulties. It often has been observed that modern science would never have
been accepted in Christendom if the Cartesian myth had not been developed, for it
helped reconcile with theological dogmas.
scientific findings
Perhaps new myths be needed to get around science's dogmas. New meth-
will
ods of investigation will need to be devised to replace current ones. At any rate, Ryle's
analysis is instructive in helping people wend their way through the linguistic confu-
sions in which they find themselves.
PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS AND PHILOSOPHY

OF EDUCATION
Although philosophical analysis generally is considered a relatively new develop-
ment, all philosophies deal with the logical analysis of concepts, meanings, and prob-
lems to some extent. One can certainly see a great concern for analysis in the writings
of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Descartes, and Nietzsche. The dialectic, for example, is not
only a method for arriving at truth but also a method for eliminating contradictions
that stand in the way of truth. Francis Bacon talked about the Idol of the Marketplace
being the most troublesome of all; as he put it, "Men believe that their reason gov-
erns words, but it is words react on the understanding, and this it is
also true that
that has rendered philosophy and the sciences sophistical and inactive."
The argument has been made many times that human thinking is governed in
whole or in part by language and the meanings of words. It is difficult to conceive of
thoughts without language, and what thinking is done can be expressed only in some
kind of language. Some people believe thai withoul language symbols (whether
mathematical, verbal, written, pictured, or gestured), there would be no means of
communication and hence no mind. Many analysts say thai because thinking is so de-
pendent on language, thinking problems are also language problems resulting fir
faulty usage and lack of clarity.

The use of analytic philosophy in education has some direcl bearing on stu-
dents, but perhaps it is most useful for educators in helping them clarifj what thej
propose to teach students. The consequence of this use ofanalytic philosophy is not
to develop some new educational "ism" or ideologj bul to help people understand
better the meanings of ideologies. The benefits accrue to students as a result of a elan
Bed and more meaningful approach to the educational process.
An illustrative example is the educator's confusion with the word nou ing, an /,
example given by Ryle. "Knowing that" has been confused with the complete picture
of knowing; consequently, once having "filled students' heads" with all kinds of data,
teachers assume that their task is finished. Ryle pointed out, however, thai knowing
also includes "knowing how." or being able to do and perform. In one sense, this in-
volves the old problem of the separation of theory ("knowing") from practice (
"do
ing"), a problem to which John lewey devoted much discussion. tewej spoke of the
I I
philosophical dichotomy between knowledge and action, or knowing and doing, in

other words, he maintained thai knowing and doing have been separated artificially
The knowing side is similar to "knowing hat." and the doing side is similar to "knowI
ing how." Dewey thought thai hose two should go together as much as possible, par
t
ticularly with regard to the education n\' the young. The "learning bj doing" slogan so
often voiced by progressive educators has at least some of its roots m Dewey's
thought. Knowledge is learned or gained by becoming actively or physically involved
with significant tasks. In fact, it could be said that this idea goes back to the ancienl
Greeks, who talked about the merging of arete and t&chne < virtue and skill).
Take, for example, learning how to ride a bicycle. Prospective riders need to
know that the machine is steered by turning the handlebars
in the desired direction
and body weighl to

by shifting maintain balance. Tiny also musl know thai the bi
cycle's momentum has to be maintained al a particular minimum speed for the ma
chine to remain upright though, prospective riders know oruj thai certain
So far
things must be done to ride successfully. In other words, they know thai bicycle rid
ing has certain specific "principles Thej have, so to speak, the "theory" ol bii
'
ruling. All cyclists realize, however, thai thej also musl know how to ride a bii
they musl have a practical knowledge of cycling, and this involves the actual, oul ol
doors "doing" of riding bit yi le Edu< ators havi
.1 too often with the "know 1
mg that" aspect of knowing. Students gel the theorj bul nol the practi
A more complex example Is the objective ol produi ing demoi rati
an objective that is dear to the hearts of manj tonei American
largelj 1 mplii hi d thi ta I bj informing stud 1
ailed dei 1
and by stating that in the nited States, I this usuallj ated with government,
American history, and m h tl rule, howi
l,. u student to be demo< ratii

I
'• """ raticallj Thi
quired to have hall 1

284 CHAPTER 8
restrictive rules they usually have had no voice in constructing. They know of some-
thing called democracy, but they do not know how to be democratic. It is readily ap-
parent why so little democracy is practiced in American life: Most people have not
had the opportunity to know how. In education, usage of the term knowing has had
a narrow meaning. People are confused about knowing because its meaning has been
too arbitrarily restricted to exclude considerations about knowing that extend far
beyond a mere cognitive or intellectual thing.
Thus, many analysts maintain that analytic philosophy has an important role to
play in education because so much of education deals with logic and language. Teach-
ers and students constantly deal in generalizations and value judgments about edu-
cational materials that need to be examined critically.
The analyst emphasizes that the role of language is learning and that it is nec-
essary to apply criteria for evaluating and clarifying the statements people make, a
need that goes beyond the traditional studies of grammar. Some educators believe
that language analysis should be the primary role with which philosophy of educa-
tion is concerned. Their thesis is based on the idea that deliberate education should
become more precise and scientific and that analysis offers one way to do this. They
are quick to point out that other philosophies of education usually are based on highly
questionable metaphysical assumptions and too often result in prescriptions that are
more emotive than anything else. Analytic philosophers of education believe that stu-
dents should study the language that the students themselves use to describe and
meanings they apply in life.
justify the
Language is certainly important. It is doubtful that people could even think
without language; thinking usually parallels language concepts, and bad thinking
could be, in many cases, a poor use of language. Some educators protest that lan-
guage analysis should be only a small part of philosophy, but philosophical analysts
point out that the problems of language are so numerous, diffuse, and complex that
the desired analytic study is a major undertaking of great significance. They contend
that many educational problems are largely language problems and that if the lan-
guage problems can be solved, people can, in effect, better solve the educational
problems.
Language as an educational problem goes far beyond the confines of the school
or classroom into practically all facets of life. Not only is language a prime concern
for students in terms of curriculum, textbooks, and other conveyances of knowledge,

but it is also an integral part of their everyday life. Perhaps a special need today is for
students to have a greater sensitivity to the place of language. The language they en-
counter heavily influences their behavior, because language stimulates a variety of
behaviors. For example, Hitler came to power partly because of his ability to manipu-
late language, and many contemporary totalitarian regimes maintain their power
largely through a careful control of the language media because they fear the conse-
quences of an unfettered language.
George Orwell, in his novel 1984, writes about the creation of "Newspeak," a
language developed so that linguistic techniques could be used to control behavior.
The Newspeak word doublethink means "the ability to believe two contradictory
same time"; for example, "War is peace" and "Love is hate." Healso writes
ideas at the
about "crimestop," whereby people ran be so conditioned by linguistic control thai
they are mentally incapable of entertaining any idea hostile to the state or "Big
Brother." One can find many examples of governments using such techniques to
cover up problems by using language (or corrupted versions of language) to protect
their power and vested interests.
It is easy to sympathize with the position of the philosophical analysl when one
thinks of the barrage of advertising, sloganeering, and cliche" (dunking thai people are
exposed to daily. Because most people have had little training in logical thought, they
are easy victims for the misuse of language to make them buy something, vote a
tain way. or support a particular position. People are exposed constantly toman) ne
farious language devices, and some are effective in influencing their thinking.
Individuals representing vested interests have learned the techniques of language
manipulation and have found them so effective that they have used them to persuade
people to behave in ways they want them to behave. Books such as Vance Packard's
Tlw Hidden Persuaders show how easily people can be manipulated and influenced
by advertisers and politicians and how the methods used are often subtle and inge-
nious. Theodore White's The Making oj the President points out how a variet) of
techniques, including the manipulation of language, can be used to help a particular
candidate win an election.
A further example is the term the law. Many people say thai one should or
should not do certain things because il is the law. But what is the law? Laws change
from time to time or differ from one country or state to another. Further, the) are
subject to interpretation, and thus a law as determined by one court might be over
turned by another. In effect, could be said that the law is an abstraction developed
it
for a mythical person. Critics charge thai lawyers prefer that laws remain vague and
abstract, because this gives them something to interprel and manipulate for clients
and thus leads to large incomes and an abundance of lengthy courl cases Therefore,
for practical and philosophical reasons, analysts argue thai people should be sensi
tive to language problems and attempt to make language more precise and Clear This
is a laudable goal but also difficult to achieve; words haveas mam meaning
intend them to have.

Language usage affects students and teachers Teachers often unwill i •
ing tools of other interests as they use language m the educational proi ess The
teacher teaches primarily with language, and because of its man) possibilities, can
use ina variety of ways to influence the thinking of children, Teachei texpn
n
and information through language (including gestures), and the was the) use has it
a profound effect, often unrecognized and unintended Marxists have harged that i
teachers in capitalist lughl up in the system in which tl ach

ing that they cannot see the) are indoctrinate wth the values In
herent in a particular e< onomii system

B) the time children reach ado,. nditioned i" the "Ian
'din and can "' Bimili tO manipulate
guage '•
I
.il i. -it
others ban.
286 CHAPTER 8
media where the choice of words, the size of letters, and the kinds of grammatical
constructions all contribute to certain effects on a child's mental development. For
example, many social studies texts omit critical discussions of various political, so-
cial, and economic policies because they might offend some pressure group or
vested interest. The textbooks that children use in schools are not written in a vac-
uum and reflect many biases.
Educators themselves are victims of language devices contrived to get them to
think or vote in certain ways and also to develop particular attitudes about education,
children, and society. Teachers seem as susceptible to specious language concerning
social issues as anyone else, and an enormous amount of sloganeering and jargon is
generated within the education profession. One hears talk about "the teachable mo-
ment" and "school choice" and the use of many other slogans. Some critics have
asked: What is a teachable moment? Shouldn't the education system be working
to achieve teachable minutes, periods, and hours? Some talk about "school choice"
as if everyone is going to be able to choose the best schools for their children. It is
clear that everyone cannot possibly go to the best schools, if for no other reasons
than geographical distance, overcrowding, and prohibitive costs of transportation.
Critics see "school choice" as an example of political sloganeering to make people
think something that is not truly intended and is impossible to grant. People talk
about the "democratic process" in instances where little or no democracy exists,
about "individuality" when it is seldom allowed, and about "freedom" only within nar-
rowly prescribed limits. Often, the case is similar to the sense of 1984: We say
"peace" when we mean war, "truth" when we mean falsehood, and "justice" when we
mean injustice.
Aims of Education
Philosophical analysts are interested in improving the educator's concepts about
education and the ways these concepts are used. One of the first steps is to become
acutely aware of language and its potential. Once chances are bet-
this is done, the
ter that people will have a greater concern for the sensitive use of language in the
educational process. The analytic philosopher is after clarification. It must be clear
what educators propose to do in education in a philosophically adequate manner, and
philosophical analysis is a major tool in accomplishing this task of clarification.
Analysts believe that educators should be attuned to the logical complexities
of language. Language is a complex cultural development, and words have a variety
of meanings and usages. What do words such as knowing, mind, freedom, and edu-
cation mean? Although most analysts do not believe that words have inherent mean-
ings, they do words can be used in more precise ways to reflect accurately
insist that
what is intended.Many concepts have an emotive effect that must be taken into con-
sideration. Such words as justice, patriotism, honor, and virtue may give a "halo"
or "hurrah" effect to statements about the aims of education.
Some analysts, such as R. S. Peters, insist that one cannot speak legitimately
about the aims of education because if education is initiation into worthwhile activi-
ties, then it already has all the aims it needs. Making statements about what educa-
lion should do is to make prescriptions an activity thai mosl analysts rejecl as

outside the realm of analytic philosophy, Peters has questioned the use of the con
cept of "education" in genera] and has attempted to show h<>\\ confusing the usage
of theword has been. Ryle attempted to show thai the meaning of the term
knowing could be more inclusive than the way b) educators.
it is used ordinarily
Wittgenstein stated thai words do nol necessarily have an inherent, objective mean
ing; rather, they mean whatever the user intends them to mean. Peters, Ryle, and
Wittgenstein caution people to examine the contexl and precision of thru- word
usage. In short, the analysts do nol attempl to prescribe an) particular kind of edu
cation as much as they seek to clarifj the linguistic de\ ices employed i\\ the educa
tor, the processes of vising them, their underlying presuppositions, and the purposes
involved.
It seems that the use-value ofworcls determines their meanings as much as an)
dictionary definition. In fact, dictionary definitions are altered periodically by practi
cal use. Language itself is always changing and evolving; one can neither define a
word forever nor prescribe its meaning fur everyone else. The educational conse
quence of this, the analysts claim, is that one must see concepts, word meanings, and
statements aboul education in their practical context as opposed to a theoretical,
prescriptive construction.
Teachers constantly call lor practical solutions to educational problems. How
ever, this concern with practicality is itself open to analytic inquiry: Jusl whal d
practical mean in this instance? < iften, the "practical" teacher wants a technique or
a gimmick to apply to and solve a problem. It is reasonable, however, to observe that
such practical solutions are often theoretical m die worst sense. Techniques some-
times are used indiserinunateh Thej are applied generall) and universalis in situa
tions for which the) weir nol designed; however, the) are deemed practical be< ause
their mechanics are known and thej ean be acted upon.
"Achievement" is a talisman by which man) educators swear, and die worth <>t
any educational activit) is judged on students' achievemenl scores. \< hievemenl in
such instances usually is understood to be a practical outcome of education, bul such
emphasis might serve to retard one-, education it the meaning "i die term
achievement is vague and unclear. Suppose one wants to learn how to pla) the pi
ano. and the educator says thai the practical approach is to proceed b) achievemenl
in learning to play scales Such a method might resull m the student learning to pla)
scales hut not m developing an ability to pla) the piano or in sustaining interesl The
question ean he posed: How practical is this approach?
People's usr of words is intimatel) connected with the pi itionsundei
lying their use in the case aboul learning i" pla) the piano, whal was believed to he
practical was not practical at all The proposition thai one learns i" pla) the pi. him u
achievemenl in playing scales is itselJ theoreti< .ii .aid not alv
tual circumstances (although playing tl mighl help at hieve that goal i Simi
lar conditio] rd to numerous other educational prescriptioi

Thus, rather than pres< ribing air •• ational |
the analysl prefers i" lool a1 whal is meanl ition and whal advanl
accrue ftt)m a clarified concept of education P bout the lion"
I
288 CHAPTER 8
of education rather than mere aims. He pointed to at least four considerations that
help people situate the meaning of education to arrive at better educational aims:
1. Education is more than mere specialized skills because it includes developing

one's capacity to reason, justifying beliefs and conduct, knowing the why as
well as the what of things, and organizing experience in terms of systematic
conceptions.
2. Education is more than mere specialized knowledge and includes developing
one's cognitive perspective, expanding moral understandings, and developing
aesthetic appreciations.
3. Education includes doing and knowing things for their own sake, for the joy of
doing and knowing.
4. Education is the process by which people are initiated into their particular
lifestyles.
Thus, in speaking about education, one must never forget that means figure in
the meaning as well as aims. Peters aptly illustrated the problem of speaking about
the aims of education when the meanings of education are so diverse. To be intelli-
gent and reasonable aims in education, people need to clear the

in establishing
ground to arrive at what is meant by education before they can construct particular
aims reasonably. It might be that aims belong to particular teaching strategies and
not to some esoteric word with confused meanings, such as education.
Dewey once said that "aim" was akin to a target and implied a definite goal or
outcome. Peters agreed and pointed out that if "aim" refers to specific outcomes,
then it is ridiculous to speak of the aims of education as if these were universally
agreed-up-on norms. It is more the case that in any given historical period, the mean-
ings of education have particular norms built into them by practical use. Thus, when
people ask for the aims of education, they are requesting clarification and specifica-
tion of their particular contemporary norms. Any number of aims of education is pos-
sible, depending on the kinds of life people think are most important at any given time
in history. Today, for instance, Peters says that some aims are worthwhile overall,
such as growth and the self-realization of the individual. However, aims of this sort
have their roots within a cultural system that supports individualistic thought pat-
terns. They point to autonomy and self-actualization as important, whereas those liv-
ing in another cultural epoch or historical period might view these as minor or not
even recognize them at all.
Such analysts as Peters believe that the process of formulating aims in educa-
tion must be separated from the general question "What is the aim of education?"
This question is not apt because its answer must be either conceptually true or per-
suasive. It falls into timeworn rubrics, such as "good citizenship is the proper aim of
education" or "one cardinal aim of education is worthy home membership." The an-
alyst thinks that such statements only confuse the issue, for then one is pushed to
define "good citizenship" or "worthy home membership." As Wittgenstein pointed
out, no sooner is something uttered than people begin searching for its assumed ob-
jective or existing equivalent.
Israel Scheffler critically analyzed how the word relevance is misused or

overused so as to complicate rather than dear up educational issues. Practically
everybody would agree thai education oughl to be relevant. Being for relevance is
like being for mother love and apple pie. Bui whal is relevant? Scheffler maintains
that the primary task of education is nol relevance so much as supporting and en-
suringa society dedicated to the ideals of free Inquiry and rationality. Thus, is nol it
the aim of education thai people must seek bul an understanding of whal kinds of de
sirable aims may be developed, what the possibilities are of achieving them, and what
kinds of consequences can he expected from acting on them. These latter considers
tions are not within the province of the philosopher of education as much as thej
within tin 1
province of sociologists, psychologists, scientists, political leaders, and or
dinary citizens. The analytic philosopher's role is simply to clarity and criticize the
meanings involved.
Analysts are concerned that both methods and materials of contemporary education
undergo a serious analytic study. Although most analysts avoid prescribing what
should or should nol go on in the educational process, thej are interested in seeing
that the educator and the student critically examine the curriculum from the stand
point of materials, methods, policies, and procedures.
Analysts are aware thai methods and media of all kinds educate the child in
many ways. Although educators should understand that words and concepts are
value-laden, they do nol always operate with an awareness of this fact When the
McGuffey readers were used in the curly 1900s, for example, thej taught nol oruj
reading skills bul also particular values concerning religion, patriotism, and family.
Books of the Dick-and-Jane type thai came later supposed!) attempted to provide .1
more neutral kind of material that was value-free Neutrality was nol achieved, hov*
ever, for these readers contained assumptions aboul gender roles, children's rights
and their relationship to society, and dominant socialclass themes, such as the work
ethic and respect for authority.
Analysts do not attempt to say whai kinds ol hooks children should read; rather,
they examine the meaning of the claims made regarding the merits of such activities
Instead of saying what a child should read, think, study, or learn, the analyst exam
ines what is meant by the words think, read, or learn and the statements people
make regarding these words Some analysts avoid nol oruj prescriptive statemenl
aboul what students oughl or oughl nol do bul also statements of value aboul theim
portance of sued activities
Some analj ite devising paradigms thai nstructit
logic that help clarify and order concept Tin n emblesWitl flan
guage games insom< but differs in that a paradigm has a rather spa lfl<
It is tailored to particular kind ol probli ribedan ap 1
propriate analytic paradij manti< .iih a| |
priate I
»nh to the extent thai ii
"
B
enable|s] the formation ol hypotl ""< now known
290 CHAPTER 8
In this regard, paradigms are useful for looking at educational problems in an objec-
tive, nonpartisan, and unemotive way.
Eastwood even suggested that large-scale paradigms could be used, and he criti-
cized many analytic philosophers of education who direct their attention to small (or
insignificant) problems. Instead, philosophy of education must be concerned with
theory, and we need appropriate large-scale paradigms to help us approach the task
adequately.
Jerome Popp notes that one can choose different paradigms for different pur-
poses and that it is unnecessary to choose global or universal paradigms. At the same
time, however, consistency seems preferable to wild eclecticism. The search for
large-scale paradigms involves, to some extent, worldview outlooks that are close to
old grand manner philosophy. It could be argued, for example, that the paradigm ap-
proach contains the seeds of destruction for the analytic approach to philosophy. It
eschews the large-scale point of view but needs the larger picture to give coherence
and meaning to its task.
Jonas Soltis has observed that in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a shift occurred
from a "pragmatic paradigm" to an "analytic paradigm" that students of philosophy
believed to be more in line with the concerns of the day. Analysis is now apparently
coming to suffer from similar shortcomings, however, and perhaps it should shift its
focus from small-scale problems to larger, more encompassing ones.
One area with which analysts have spent much time is the activity of teaching.
Paul Hirst has shown the need for empirical research on the effectiveness of various
teaching methods. Most methods, he claims, are based on little more than hunches
and personal prejudices. Teachers need to be clear about the nature of the central
activity in which they are involved professionally. How, for example, does one distin-
guish teaching from other activities? Are teachers teaching when they sharpen a few
pencils and break up squabbles among the children? In Hirst's opinion, teaching is a
"polymorphous" activity that can take many different forms. To know that teaching
is going on, the aims and intentions must be clarified so that each activity is seen in
a clear relationship to those aims.

Successful teaching seems to be teaching that brings about desired learning.
Yet, this desired learning could result from conditioning or indoctrination. In order to
study the difference between conditioning and indoctrinating, one should postulate
a perfect case of each in its most literal and ordinary use. Then one can understand
the differences in the meaning of each term —that is, conditioning or indoctrinating.
Even though differences will arise, there also will be similarities of meanings for each
term with which everyone will agree, thus clarifying the meaning of each term. The
clarified, agreed-upon meanings become the different modes of teaching by which
actual cases are compared. Thus, teaching methodologies, based on teaching modes
that serve as benchmarks or standards of minimal performance, are established. If
one were to ask "How would you teachXto someone?" then reference could be made
to the appropriate mode. Of course, disagreements as to proper modes could con-
tinue, so there might be several other models on how to teach.
Analysis is an ongoing activity. Conclusions are not arrived at full-blown and
axiomatic. They do not precede investigation but flow from it. The major thrust of
' t
analytic philosophy is to try to arrive al clarified principles, agreements, and conclu

sions. rather than to start with them. In tins sense, philosophical analysis follows in
the footsteps of the Socratu view of philosophy as the search for wisdom
Curriculum
Richard Pring point sent that such curricular terms as integrated studies, integrated
curriculum, unified knowledge, broad fields oj experience, andproblem solving
are confusing and misleading. Such phrases as "the seamless coal of learning" and "the
unity of all knowledge" lack clarity of meaning and havenoinherenl value. Jonversely, <
such terms as traditional, subject matter, mdcompaiinnentaiizaticm are not ne

sarily bad in and of themselves, hut these slogans and phrases dealing with curricula
have been used to set up straw men polarized along conceptions of good and hid
Curriculum used to be viewed as something established to achieve certain ends,
but it seems that today the ends How from the curriculum itself. Hugh Socketl main-
or curriculum contains much talk aboul taking means to ends
tains that the literature
and conceiving of the relationship between means and ends as contingent. Socket
argues that what must be maintained as central to any accounl of curriculum, aims.
and objectives is human intentionality—one's conception of what we arc doing.
Therefore, conceptions must be clear
Philosophical analysts are concerned aboul the way educational plans arc
made. Curriculum planning is often superficial and badh done, and cultural bias is
almost the only rationale that one can discover in many curriculum plans Little plan
[ling seems to be systematic or careful. ( )ften. this is nol the fault of the persons in
volved so much as is the faulty language, confused meanings, and unclear purposes
it
that are used, people need o examine currenl curricula m terms of these problems,
i
as well as to promote an ongoing critical attitude toward curriculum restructuring m

which meanings and purposes are clarified.
Pring says thai the foremost philosophical problems m curriculum and cur
riculum integration are what meanings are involved, what assumptions are made
about knowledge, what the forms of knowledge are, what the interrelationship among
these forms is. and what the structural unity of language is Thus, am concern with
curriculum goes far beyond the idea of plugging subjeel areas into a switchboard of
school programs. I
fnfortunately, however, man) people see i urriculum reform nar
rowly and give little attention to the deeper questions involved Analysts believe thai
greater attention must be given to the philosophical ind the) have encour
aged greater work in t)
Role of the Teacher

Linguistic analysts are < oni erned thai rthelan
guage used 111 their can be in spoken 01 written form, and
through this medium idea i" 1 '"" •
nol always used well and thai does nol al il
languagi h an Importanl part ol education more than an) othei

292 CHAPTER 8
professionals need to be aware of the possibilities and the limitations of language.

Further, they need to make their students aware of these possibilities and limitations.
Many people have a casual attitude toward the language they use, and this ca-
sualness leads to linguistic confusion and fuzzy thinking. Language is a powerful tool
for conveying ideas when it is used carefully, but when it is used poorly, it makes good
thinking difficult. An example of this can be found in the political arena when diplo-
mats from various nations meet to discuss their differences. They have not only the
primary problem of conveying positions in their own language but also the secondary
problem of seeing that through translation, others understand their ideas as in-
tended. Often, diplomatic procedures are fraught with confusion because some
words lose much of their meaning in translation and convey inexact meanings from
one culture to another. Words ]ike freedom,, democracy, or justice might mean dif-
ferent things in different cultures. As formidable as the task is, however, people do
manage to generate treaties and other agreements by coming to terms with the prob-
lems of language. In the classroom, the problem is no different, and teachers need to
use language in ways that make their meanings clear.
Much language is value-laden and emotive in nature. Not only are the words
themselves capable of carrying hidden meanings, but the way the teacher uses
words, the inflections and emphases, often convey a variety of unconscious and per-
haps unintended meanings. These meanings may include religious and philosophical
attitudes, economic beliefs, or even racial and class biases. Some cultural attitudes
and biases are so built into the structure of a language that it requires considerable
effort to eradicate them. It might seem offensive to use words like mankind when
referring to both men and women, Indians when referring to Native Americans, or
even b.c. and a.d. as reflecting a Christian bias in designating historical periods of
time. It is often difficult to change such things because they are a part of historical
usage and literature, and not everyone is sensitive to such expressions.
Analysts would like teachers to understand the logic of language. This might
entail taking courses in logic to understand the various rules of good word usage.
Also, teachers need to be skilled in the ability to analyze language and to point out
the improper use of language in whatever form it appears: newspaper editorials, text-
books, advertisements, television newscasts, and so on. Teachers need to share this
knowledge with students to help them develop the ability to analyze language so that
they, too, will become adept at uncovering fallacious usage. Analysts believe that if
students develop this ability, then they will become better readers, better consumers,
and also better citizens.
CRITIQUE OF ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION

Analysis has been an indispensable part of philosophy since its inception, and every
serious philosopher has been engaged in analyzing ideas. Much in the writings of
philosophers from Plato to the present points to the need to use language carefully
and to avoid inconsistent and illogical thinking. It is undoubtedly true that a major
problem in life is the confusion in understanding brought about by unclear or care-
less language, and it is easy to documenl the misuse of many words and concepts,
such as liberal, conservative, and God. History is replete with instances of how the
misuse of words and the misunderstandings of meanings have led to internal strife,
religious differences, and even full-scale wars. Some analysts maintain thai because
language is so important to thinking, is almost inconceivable thai humans could
it
think at all They fun her observe thai confused thinking maj
without it. well result
from the poor use of words in the thinking process.
One function of philosophy is to develop a critical attitude toward language and
meaning, and this is certaiiuj something thai analysts have fostered Rather than ac
cept ready-made answers, cliches, and slogans as solutions for educational and so
cial problems, they have supported an approach thai insists that all ideas and issues
be examined every step along the way. Analyst s are warj >f "t he grand manner of phi-
i
losophizing," which entails a cry for synthesis and simple solutions to complicated
problems. They are skeptical of a Utopian attitude toward problems in which emotive
or predetermined ends might lead people's thinking aw ry. They are also fearful of the
emotional factors that could overshadow clear and dispassionate thinking. This is not
to imply that analysts are cold and unemotional, but thej are well aware of the dan
gers of emotive and fuzzy thinking.
Critics of analytic philosophy of education haw pointed out thai although
analysis has helped educators clarify and define some educational problems better.
this might be too limited a view of philosophj to meel the demands of a changing,
complex world. Shying away from presi ription has helped make philosophers ofedu
cation more wary of grandiose statements; at the same time, however, some critics
note that although philosophers have (cased to prescribe, many other people, such
as psychologists, sociologists, and even politicians, continue to make grand pre
scriptions for education. Scant evidence supports the idea thai these latter soui
for contemporary educational prescriptions are necessarily superior to the philo
sophieal sources. Indeed, some critics say that they are worse.
One thing that frustrates critics of philosophical analysis is the difficulty of
ascertaining what analysts want m

terms of education. Ill fairness to philosophical
analysts, should
it be emphasized that they ha\ e seldom claimed to introdU) e am
prescriptive maxims for educational practice itseU fet, although analysts sa\ their
only wish is concepts ami language,
to clarify is extremelj difficult tor manj cm
il
work has achieved anj greal clarification Analysts have urn o\

ics n> see that their
ered ambiguities and misconceptions m education, but where does the educational
system go from II
Suppose nicely clarified and precise language were developed with regard to
;,
education The purely descriptive and analytic approach mighl be able to .
if the wrong thing

trve clarity about what is being done m education, however,
being done to begin with, the wron ted simply by ten
guage clarification. To maintain that language* larifii ation ItseU will reveal inhumane
and wrong educational practii toexpn > <! beliel In the r>
of language at tl iction Clarification does not necessarily ruleoul
nd recommendations about the problems ol hie. and Indeed, should il
help people arrive al better formulated and constructed ra onunendatii !

294 CHAPTER 8
Perhaps part of the critic's frustration lies in the efforts of some philosophical
analysts to say that true philosophy can only be analytic or that analysis inevitably
leads to the "death" of traditional philosophy. However, as Harry Broudy asked,
"Where will our visions come from?" Surely, philosophy is not the only historical
source for social renewal, and many philosophical recommendations and Utopian
schemes are unworkable. It seems just as certain, however, that philosophy has as
great a role to play in formulating social and educational policy as any other intellec-
tual pursuit. According to Broudy, people have a need for speculation and dreams,
and if philosophers fail to provide it, then people will seek it elsewhere. Dewey, in his
quaint way, remarked that "while saints introspect, burly sinners rule the world."
Analytic philosophers seem content to quarrel over the meanings of terms,
phrases, and statements while the world around them pays respect to their efforts
by simply ignoring them. It could be said that philosophical analysis is little more than
a new form of scholasticism, where instead of arguing about how many angels can
stand on the head of a pin, analysts debate about how the words should and ought
can be used. One disgruntled critic charged that when someone points a finger at a
problem, the analytic philosophers study the finger rather than the problem.
Although analysts claim to eschew prescriptive and a priori assumptions, it
seems that, in general, philosophical analysis has its own underlying assumptions
or prescriptions. The penchant for paradigmatic models of analysis betrays a hid-
den assumption that there are clear, certain, and specifiable ways of doing things,
what Richard Rorty has criticized as the "mirror of nature" view of philosophy. This
seems close to the philosophical realists' belief in a reality with its own inherent and
universal principles. For example, Hirst has stated that people need to know about
the effectiveness of different teaching methods but that "without the clearest con-
cept of what teaching is, it is impossible to find appropriate behavioral criteria
whereby to assess what goes on in the classroom." This assumes that a clear con-
cept of teaching can be uncovered. It also assumes that teaching can be assessed on
the basis of appropriate behavioral criteria. The assumptions are these: (1) Teach-
ing has a clear form; (2) there are appropriate teaching behaviors; and (3) these
things have an existence that can be studied, described, classified, and objectively
duplicated.
This universalizing tendency in analytic philosophy has been a bone of conten-
tion for many postmodern thinkers, who attack all efforts to define the philosophical
enterprise into a single universal approach. Although postmodernists are sympa-
thetic to analytic philosophy's sensitivities to language, they maintain that the chief
value to come out of the tradition lies with Wittgenstein's approach —that is, to a
fuller appreciation of the variety of usages that language can have and to the inter-
play of meanings that are possible. On other points, however, postmodernists find
analytic philosophy too constraining and too defining.
No doubt, teaching models can be constructed that can be taught and dupli-
cated. This fact is no proof that such models are ethically desirable. Because some-
thing can be done is no grounds logically, morally, or socially for doing it. Clarity and
logic do not equal Tightness, perfection, or moral certainty; human problems, includ-
ing the problems of education, seem contingent on many fluctuating variables. No
»
sooner do people think they have arrived at a solution than intervening events push
them off on another troublesome tangent.
The analysts have attacked pragmatists, existentialists, reconstructionists, and
others because they recommend certain changes and make substantive judgments
about social and educational policy. Pragmatism, for example, tried to make us sensi
tive to the means-ends continuum in achieving a more democratic so< ietyjthal is, the
actual ends achieved in social and educational endeavors arc continuous with, and
contingent on, the means used. Analytic approaches also mighl help people clarify in
tended and actual means and ends, but their aversion to using philosophj in actively
pursuing broad social and educational changes seems to some critics to be a classic
case of the philosophical "failure of nerve" to meet the challenges we lace today.
Analysts have attempted to redefine the work of philosophj by refuting the old
grand manner or systems approach. This efforl has had some healthy effects because
it helps people stop thinking in terms of ultimate answers and sweeping conclusions.
and it has helped philosophers develop and implemenl mure refined linguistic and
The problem with analytic philosophy is. critics charge, thai the tools
logical tools.
seem become ends in themselves apart from the ethical and political uses to
to have
which they may be put.
MARTIN
ON THE REDUCTION OF "KNOWING THAT" TO "KNOWING HOW »*
/// this selection, Jane R Martin, a contempt

American educator, furthei attempts to clar >rai y
1U1 Gilbert Ryle's distinction between "knou ing that" and "knou inghou " Martin demonstrates
Ik, n the tech n iques analytic philosophy can be used to examine crucial philosophical
i
,j
ii 'i its in terms oj education sin- distinguishes al kinds oj knou ing and suggests •
lion they might enter into the teaching process Without proposing " hat should be taught or
a In, sliimiil teach it, Martin maintains that tht re >>< sevt ml kinds "I "knowing that" and
"knou mi i In hi .
"iimi she examines thefurther imp* s distinction for theory and
practice
The distinction between "knowing how" and referring to a "second sel "i shadow) operations."
"knowing that," which Gilbert Ryle makes in Chapter ling to Ryle, intelligent pnv Lice, that is, "know
"
i of Tin- < 'oncept <>i Mind, is the poinl of departure ing how," is not .1 "step child ol it t\ ' >n tht
for thispaper Ryle's object in writing theorizing, thai is 'knowing thai
Mind was to discredit once and tot all lartesian dual ' practice amongst othi itsell intelligent!) or
ism. or what li<- calls the Myth ol the Ghost in the stupidl) onducted " In
< distinguishing
Ma< hine " Tin- particular aim ol Chaptei !

"knowing how 'and know
thai there are mam. a< tivitie which din reel the intelle< I h tended '
qualities of mind, yet are neither themselves i r

it -u« -« all knowing as "knowing tl
tual operations nor yel effe< ts ol intellectual •

m tli.it intelligent performant • m
n inN-lli-i tual ac knouliUv'.iiii'iii
When we describe such ai livities
296 CHAPTER 8
criteria, that a person must "preach to himself before terms "knowing how" and "knowing that." Ryle calls
he can practice." "know" a capacity verb, and thus it is safe to conclude
Ryle's distinction is clearly relevant to the prob- that he would call both "knowing how" and "knowing
lems of teaching and learning. For example, the learn- that" capacities also. (Ryle differentiates capacities
ing of skills need not be preceded by knowledge of from tendencies, although both are dispositions. A
rules: Men knew how to reason correctly before the tendency implies not only that something could be
rules of correct reasoningwere formulated by Aristo- the case, but that it would be the case regularly when
Knowledge of rules is not sufficient for the per-
tle. the appropriate conditions are realized; a capacity
formance of a skill: We do not say that a boy knows implies the ability to do something under specified
how to play chess if he can recite the rules but can- conditions but does not imply frequency or regular-
not make the required moves. In judging a perfor- At no time does he say exactly what he means by
ity.)
mance we must look "beyond," not "behind," the the two types of knowing. From the examples he ad-
performance. This does not mean we seek an occult duces and several of his statements, however, it is
skillful performance, but rather that a sin-
cause for a possible to determine that "knowing how" refers to
glesample of behavior is not sufficient to attribute skills or operations, for example, knowing how to play
"knowledge how" to an actor; we must take account chess, knowing how to theorize, knowing how to
of past record and subsequent performance as well. speak Russian; and that "knowing that" refers to one's
Because of its simplicity and apparent obvi- "cognitive repertoire," that is, to knowledge of factual
ousness, the distinction between "knowing how" and propositions, as for instance, knowing that Sussex is
"knowing that" has great appeal, but like any dichotomy a county in England, knowing that Messer is the Ger-
itgives rise to much controversy and perplexity. Hart- man word for knife.
land-Swann has argued that "knowing that" can be re- It is essential to note that Ryle assimilates all
duced to "knowing how." Let us grant that his reduction "knowing how" to the model "knowing how to per-
holds if "knowing how" and "knowing that" are used to form a task" and all "knowing that" to the model
refer to a rather limited range of dispositions. Once "knowing that such and such is the case," for we then
"knowing that" reduced to "knowing how," however,
is realize that his distinction is of a more limited nature
a distinction must be made between two types of dis- than we might have thought. In ordinary lan-
at first
positions subsumed under "knowing how." guage the phrase "knowing how" is often used when
It is of practical importance to analyze the various performances are not involved, and the phrase
types of "knowing how" and "knowing that" sentences in "knowing that" is found in sentences which do not re-
ordinary speech and to make such differentiations as fer to knowing factual propositions. For example, we
are necessary, even if the simplicity of Ryle's dichotomy say, "Johnny knows how a motor works," "I know how
or Hartland-Swann's reduction is thereby lost. Just as Eisenhower felt on election night," and "Jones knows
Ryle has drawn our attention to the dangers to educa- how the accident happened." We also say, "Smith
tion inherent in the reduction of "knowing how" to knows that he ought to be honest," "The child knows
"knowing one may point out dangers inherent in
that," that he should be quiet when someone is speaking,"
a reduction of "knowing that" to "knowing how" if analy- and "Johnny knows that stealing is bad." None of these
sis is discontinued at that point. It would seem no more examples fits Ryle's paradigms for "knowing how" or
desirable to teach mathematical or historical facts as if "knowing that."
they were skills like swimming than to teach swimming To summarize, Ryle's distinction between "know-
as if it were Latin or geometry. And an equally grave mis- ing how" and "knowing that" is really a distinction be-
take would be to teach moral judgments and rules of tween "knowing how to perform skills" and "knowing
conduct as if they were either Latin or swimming. propositions of a factual nature." When Hartland-
Swann discusses the question of the reducibility of
"knowing that" to "knowing how," he too, I believe, is
Ryle's Distinction viewing "knowing how" and "knowing that" in this
In order to formulate Ryle's distinction between way. Thus in discussing his reduction one must not
"knowing how" and "knowing that" as clearly as pos- assume that it holds for all "knowing that" sentences.
sible, it is necessary to ascertain the meaning of the In fact, I think we will find that such sentences as
"Johnny knows thai he ought to be quiet" and "-lours ence between the capacities involved in knowing how
knows he should be honest" cannol be reduced
that to swim and knowing how to do logic, or in knowing
to Kyle's and Hartland-Swann's "knowing how." First how to ice skate and knowing how toplaj the violin.
those sentences to which Hartland-Swann's reduc- I would like to suggest thai the feature which
tion applies will be analyzed. distinguishes these two kinds of capacities from each
other is practice. That is, "knowing how to swim" is a
capacity which implies having learned how tp swim
through practice; "knowing how to answer the ques
Two Kinds of "Knowing How" Hon 'W ho murdered "" is a capacity which does nol )
Hartland-Swann maintains that Kyle's distinction be- imply having Learned how to answer the question
tween "knowing how" and "knowing that" proves to through practice When Jones was a witness to the
be unstable when subjected to analysis. Every ease of murder, he knew immediatel) thai A murdered and )
"knowing that." he says, is a ease of "knowing how." did not need to practice stating facts or answering
This follows from the fact that "know" is a dispose questions. Similarly, when Jones looks oul his window
tional term. If 1 understand him correctly, what he and sees ram falling, he knows that is raining withit
means is that if we call the statement "Johnny knows out any son of practice in saying "It is raining" or an
that Columbus discovered America" dispositional. swering the question "W hat is the weather like righl
then must be translatable into some such form as
it now?" To be sure, if he knows thai it is raining, he is
'Johnny knows how to answer the question 'Who dis- able to state certain farts and answer certain ques
covered America? or 'What did
1
( lolumbus discover?' do so dors not imp!) thai he

tions, but his capacity to
correctly." The only alternative to this inclusi >f has practiced doing On the other hand. Jours so.
"knowing that" in the "knowing how" category, Hart- could nol know how to swim or speak French unless
land-Swann feels, would be to give up the disposi- he had at somr tunc practiced swimming or tried to
tional analysis of "know." speak French. If Jones tells us he knows how to swim
I think one must agree with Hartland-Swann we are justified in asking him if he has ever tried to
that a dispositional analysis of "knowing that" entails swim. If he answers "No" to our query, his assertion
a translation of a "knowing that" sentence into a will be discredited. Bui if Jones tells us that he knows
"knowing how" sentence of the type illustrated above, thai X murdered ) . it sureb would be nonsensical for
that is. knowing how to answer a question or to stair ik him if he has practiced thai assertion or tried
i
a fail. It would be a mistake, however, lo end the toanswer questions on the subject before
analysis of "knowing" with this reduction, for granted If, as I propose, the difference between the two
that "knowing that" ran !» reduced to "knowing how." types ol capacities subsumed under "knowing how" is
there is still a fundamental distinction to be made based on the notion ol pra tice, some interesting con
within Hartland-Swann's new, expanded "knowing sequences follow If knowing how to swim requires
how" category. The basis for this distinct ion lies in the learning to swim through practice, then we usually
fact that two very differenl sorts of dispositions are would not consider the practice itself to be swim
subsumed under "knowing how." ming The practii e n i
in ki< king and arm
Let us consider fora momenl the case ol Jones wa\mg goes well, these will gradual!) ap
and. ii all
who was witness to the murder of Y. Withoul doubt proach swimming Although the poinl al which the
Jones knows that X murdered >. and this, in turn. pra tice in swimming 1 wunming is nol
how to state that .V murdered Kand to determine, ii is interesting U
knows how to answer the question "Who mm the individual who

practices jusl up to the poinl
•
it srrins intuitively obvious thai thi when he swims and thru gets oul ol the
actual!)
Bential difference between his knowing how toai think we could say of him that he know
I
the question "Who mm andhisknowi] to swim even though i
to swim or speak Fren< h That i

to lay.thediffi miming •.
between the • apai itj involved in knowing i
i >'and ti •
involved in swim wlui I
knowing how to 'ban the differ millg whx h are not

298 CHAPTER 8
how to swim. For example, it is conceivable that For example, if Jones swims to shore al-
tice for a skill.
Jones falls into the water one day and swims to shore though he has never had practice in swimming, this
although he has never practiced or tried to swim be- very swimming may provide him with practice.
fore. We cannot deny that he is swimming, but we It is not denied here that we do exhibit some
might well wish to deny that he knows how to swim. patterns of behavior with consistency although we
In the case of swimming, of course, it is logically pos- have not practiced them. Yawning, crying, sneezing
sible but in fact unlikely that there would be a per- are examples. We call these reflexes, not skills, how-
formance of the which had not been preceded by
skill ever, and do not speak of "knowing how" to yawn, cry,
practice. If, we think of a skill such as hit-
however, or sneeze. The exception is the case of the actor who
ting the target, we realize that it is not too unusual for is able to perform these behaviors at will. We might
a novice to hit the bull's-eye without any previous actually say of him that he "knows how" to yawn, cry,
practice. In such a situation we would maintain that or sneeze, but it is clear that he has learned to do so
although he hit his mark he does not "know how" to through practice.
hit it. For we would expect someone who knows how It appears, then, that although Hartland-Swann's
to hit the target to hit it again. In other words, hitting reduction of "knowing that" to "knowing how" is legiti-
a target an occurrence which may be due to acci-

is mate for those"knowing that" sentences which are
dent or luck; knowing how to hit a target is a capac- cases of knowing factual propositions, there is still a
ity, and we would be right to look for a certain degree basic distinction between these sentences and the
of consistency of behavior. kinds of "knowing how" sentences which are cases of
"Practice," of course,is a vague term. Although knowing how to perform an operation. Whether or not
I do not think need be set here, it is impor-
its limits it is agreed that the basis for the distinction is practice,
tant to realize that many skills are related and that I do not think the distinction itself can be denied.
practice for one skill may thus serve as practice for an-
other. Hence, on those occasions when it appears that
we know how to do something without having prac- Source: Jane Roland Martin, "On the Reduction of 'Knowing
That' to 'Knowing How,'" in Language and Concepts in
ticed it, upon reflection we will discover that we have
Education, edited by B. O. Smith and R. H. Ennis. Chicago:
had practice in a related skill. It is possible, also, for Rand McNally Company, 1961, pp. 399-404. Reprinted by
the accidental or lucky occurrence to serve as prac- permission of the author.
BARROW
DOES THE QUESTION "WHAT IS EDUCATION?" MAKE SENSE?
Robin Barrow examines one important question to be asked about education: What is it? He
looks at education's historical use, as well as its activity. This article points to the use of analy-
sis as a tool in looking at the fundamental concepts of education and shows the penchant of
the philosophical analyst for exploring significant yet often assumed or passed-over educa-
tional quest ions.
There are those who < >1 >je< :t to discussions about ucation, and more recently Janet Radcliffe Richards,
method and procedure in philosophy. Both Jim Gribble, in The Sceptical Feminist, have suggested that one
for example, in his Introduction to Philosophy of Ed- should get on with philosophizing rather than begin
with an account ofwhal it involves. But since philoso- quired is not my present concern, hut it is evident
phy, unlike most other subjects, is defined in terms of that they are not all acquired inexacth the same way.
its procedures and methods rather than its content. Some, such as color and shape concepts, ma.\ arise
since doing philosophy is engaging in a process rather through direct perception; others, such as the on .
than examining a product, to have a One appreciation cept of house or philosopher, require understanding
of what the activity invokes is more than halfway
to be of function before thej can he grasped But still to
along the road to philosophizing. Furthermore, seems it have a concept of triangularity is to recognize particu
clear to me that we have a particular need to get clear lar triangles as such, just as to have .1 concept ol
aboul the nature of philosophical analysis at the pre is to recognize cognitiveh thai various seem
sent time, since its lack of impact arises parth out < d it ingly dissimilar buildings perform the same partii ular
being confused with other studies, such as that of se- set of functions, and to have .1 1 oncepl of happiness
mantics, and since different philosophers evidently see is to see the common factor between outwardlj verj
themselves as engaged in somewhat different tasks. different people contentedly at one or enmeshed with
The issue has been well highlighted in a recent ex- their situation
change between John W'ilson and Philip Snelders in the \s alreadj noted, words and concepts are n. ,t
Journal <>i Philosophy oj Education, where the for- the same The same word ma\ refer in more
thing.
mer appears, as it were, from stage right with a bareh than one concept; one concepl may lie referred tob)
modified Platonic theory of forms, and the latter comes a number of synonymous words; things can he said
to meet him from stage left with a handful of Protean aboul words that do not make sense in reference 1"
concepts of no fixed shape. My own view, broadly, is concepts, and vice versa; in each of the above ex
that W'ilson has the right of it in that we take too many amples one might have the concepl without having
silly alleged conceptual doubts seriously (the structure the word. < 'oncept s. even when thej relet to what we
of British Trade I nionsjust isn't democratic; influenc- term concrete nouns, are by definition abstract and
ing people or teaching them the mathematics tables is general. It is simplj bad English to use the word con-
not indoctrination), but on the other hand Snelders has cept in reference to particular instances, as in "raj
"
the right of it in seeing that nonetheless questions such cept of Mrs. Thatcher' or "mj concept ol this desk
as. "Is man necessarily committed to the
an educated So much is obvious. However, he.au •
value of X and Y?" and "Does indoctrination ne< matter of fact we use words to identify concepts and
lly presuppose intention?" cannot simph he dismissed seldom, 11 ever, communii an- ex< ept through
on the grounds that education just is this indoctrina- words, there is both a temptation and a justification
tion jusl is dial, and all sensible people know it. for trying to get at concepts bj examining words \nd
So what going on when one asks the question
is this of course is what we are advised to do bj a vari
"What is education?" Does make sense, or should it It ei> of linguistic philosophers. Ami thej have a point
rather he rephrased some other form, such as

in If we want to examine the concept of education, then
"What do you think education is?" "How is the word surely we must start with the word edu< ation," and
used in this society.''' or "What do the professional il is significant In respect of understanding the
educators mean by 'education'?" Is then con< ept that it appears n> make inn.
to education that cannot be ignored, or b exampli ducation improvi

Hi 1
ception just a matter of ideological perspet |

., chocolate pudding m the other hand « th< 1
hope also i" answer problems with this pro. edure First, 11 we
answering the central question I
three others ned with the us.- of the word either we

« Ian a < on« ept be in<
concept he invalid?" and hoes the claim that two e m theempirii al task ..t Qndingoul
conceptioi equalh valid, imprj thai and studying all usesol the word (which would make
thing depends on \oiir point philosophy and linguistics indi
l.et us start, unashamedly, with ba
•.Hal mon
cepl is a unifying principle it i . not to he identified
word Ml in win.
With a mental image not with .. I I
I
pi ot x when 01 ommon such

lo all .
How con although it in
300 CHAPTER 8
about the use of a particular word, it is not at all clear The solution to the problem is very simple, al-
what significance or importance it is supposed to though it has certain consequences which some seem
have. What hangs, for example, on the fact that the unable to come to grips with. We should start with the
Greek word arete is used in very different ways from word, allow usage to guide us to one or a set of target
the English word "virtue" by which it is convention- areas, and from that point on refuse to be bound by
ally translated? What is such scrutiny telling us about usage. For example, we may start with the word "edu-
virtue, which is to say the notion itself, as opposed to cation," make such observations as that it is a com-
what the Greeks and we variously think about it? Or mendatory term, is sometimes used in somewhat
is this the crunch point: do we conclude here and now unexpected contexts ("the educated left-jab of the
that there is nothing more to be considered than what boxer"), is generally presumed to imply something
various groups happen to think? Thirdly, if we do about knowledge and understanding, and so on. In do-
assume that the concept of virtue is to be identified ing that we are gaining something useful, for we are get-
with the use of the word "virtue" (whether this be a ting some hints and clues about what people in general
matter of definitional logic or practical necessity), it think about what we call education. But we should re-
becomes have a revolutionary
logically impossible to member (1) that this is only information about the use
or original thought about a concept. Imagine that we of theword and what people may therefore be pre-
live in a society that finds it inconceivable that non- sumed to think, and (2) that consequently we may get
human animals should be happy. Their conception of some contradictory or even incoherent hints and clues.
happiness, their use of the word "happy," in other What will happen with many words is that a
words, makes it impossible for me to say correctly, number of clearly distinguishable uses will emerge. In
"That dog is happy." But this makes it impossible for that case one settles on one such use (this is one of
us to extend the application of our concepts. Moore the target areas) and tries to gain a more complete
traded, unknowingly, on just this muddle when he and refined understanding of that use, that sense of
used the open question argument to show that good the word, that idea or conception, if necessary mak-
cannot be identified with anything since it is always ing a positive contribution to knock shape into or
possible to say, "I know this is X, but is it good?" Of shed light on it. At this stage no appeal is made to use,
course it is always possible to say that, because what for we are trying to explicate in greater detail an idea
we think it makes sense to say necessarily reflects our that is already in our mind in response to a particular
current views. But suppose we are just wrong? Sup- use of the word. The whole operation can be illus-
pose X and good are to be identified, and it doesn't trated quite neatly by reference to creativity. Johnny,
make sense to say "I know this is X, but is it good?" aged two, splashing paint about at will, is said by some
All Moore's argument does is confirm our prejudices. to be creative. Fred, an adult, converting his attic into
(Indeed one might suggest that change in language a habitable room, is regarded by his neighbors as cre-
presupposes a clear distinction between concepts ative. Beethoven glowering over the manuscript of
and words. Words change their meanings, because the Ninth Symphony is once again in creative mood.
people have original ideas that initially make ordinary Now these are distinct cases. There may very well be
language use inadequate or even wrong.) Fourthly, points of contact between the examples, and some in-
and most important of all, we have to remember that dividuals might even want to call them all "creative"
this link between words and concepts is only contin- because they want to highlight some common de-
gent. One can have a concept of beauty without the nominator. Nonetheless the cases, as a whole, are in-
word "beauty" or any other word open to public dubitably distinct. Unless therefore someone does
scrutiny. And the truth is that many of us when we explicitly offer a lowest common denominator ac-
ask, "What is reality?" "What is free-will?" or "What is count of creativity, one may presume we are dealing
justice?" are manifestly not asking, "How do other with different, if They are
related, uses of the word.
people use the words and 'justice'?"
'real,' 'free will' different conceptions of creativity. To arrive at or
which would at best tell us something about how note such different uses, to comment on the emotive
other people would answer the questions, but are meaning of the term in each case, to consider etymo-
seeking to grapple with certain complex notions on logical origins, even to trace common denominators,
which we have a tenuous hold. are activities that belong to verbal analysis. But to
1
concentrate on one use and to try to explicate the all wools refer to problematic or interesting concepts
idea it refers to more precisely and clearly is to ana- In an otherwise most generous re\ieu ol my Tin /'///
lyze a concept. Philosophical analysis no doubt losophy oj Schooling, I was recenth taken to task bj
should include both, but seems to me that we have it I ). Bob (low in for having failed to include achapter on
spent a disproportionate amount of time on verbal learning, which he suggests is one of the central con
analysis and failed to appreciate that conceptual cepts in the educational enterprise agree with him I
analysis soars away from usage. What am trying to I entirely about its centrality; I disagree with his view
gel at when 1 examine the notion of Beethoven as a that it requires analysis. Learning, like play, teaching,
creative artist should owe no more to how the word is and schooling itself seems to me to be un problematic ,
used: 1 am alone with the notion seeking to giving an as a concept Thai is to say know what learning is. I
account of it that makes explicit what otherwise may even if don't know various non-philosophical things
I
remain a hazy accolade. such as how io facilitate it, in a waj that do not re I
There arc some immediate consequences of ally know what my conception of free will amounts to,
this view. The first is that conceptual analysis is a per- even though quite often make laims about I Natu , il
sonal matter at rock bottom. You clear your mind. You rally there is room for judgment over what concepts
are trying to clarify this idea of Beethoven being cre- .in- problematic, and indeed it follows from the thesis
ative; you are trying to lay out a coherent account "i I am some concepts may be more prob
arguing, thai
what the idea involves Cor you. Of course the task lematic lor one person than another. The important
does not have to be engaged in privately. We can have point here is the general one: we surely want to con
seminars and discussions and we can share concep- tineour attempts to explicate X to those cases where
tions. Very often we will, because, as has nowhere X. though often referred to, is reallj rather ha/.y. in-
been denied, a lot of our concepts are initially ac- coherent or ill-articulated in our minds We want pa
quired through a common language. But the fact that n moral person I mod rather than homo sapiens,
we are all brought up to use the word "democracy" on education rather than schooling.
with the same rough denotation, so that we are all I will not dwell here at an\ length on ,i point
contemplating the same target area, dues not mean thai I have made m the book jusl mentioned: given
that any of us can give a decent explication of that that conceptual analysis is a personal matter the i ri
concept. A second consequence of this view i^ thai lena oi success are essential!) internal to the activitj
the phrase "the concept of X" needs explanation. Good conceptual analysis results in explications thai
Superficially it doesn't make sense, since there is no are clear, coherent, internal]) consistent and impl)
such thing as a unitary concept ex< epl contingently. ing nothing that the agent finds himself logically un
Rather there are conceptions of democracy, educa- able to a< cepl at the same time as something else to
tion or whatever. However, the phrase can be taken which he is committed (<>ne cai t, for example,
as meaningful, if we interpret it to mean something both hold thai education and indoctrination are in
such as "the conception dominant in Western cul- compatible, and explicate the latter concepl in terms
ture" or "the conception in this circle." thai render ii compatible with the former ) But 1 will
A third consequence, as have argued b< 1 I

add thai it is. . .1 C0U1 of my Mew
much philosophy education is not engaging thai conceptions ol coheren< eand 1
might
is thai ol
in bonafide conceptual analysis, and is as a partial re u\ Howevei this d em to me to be

suit rather stultifying, besides providing a vulni rable problematii V- a maltei ol fai :
u < om
point of attack for those who seek to dismiss philoso mon linguistic bai kground and I
phy altogether. Kevin Harris's boo! Ediu to h. relative!) simpli
Km, a hedge, for exampl< • ntire atta same i on< eptioi
philosophy of education, on a misunderstanding ol

,l|lte ..|i.;
what conceptual anal but in thai |
he has been helped h\ the fad that "Hie ,,| what with'
for conceptual analysis is in fad m<
a word o But not

302 CHAPTER 8
We are now in a position to answer the ques- Given that there are senses in which two con-
tions that I outlined at the beginning of this paper. It cepts of X might be equally valid, acceptable or ad-
is clear that a person cannot in any ordinary sense of missible, though different, does it follow that everything
the word be said to be "wrong" when he offers his ac- depends upon your point of view? The real question
count of a concept, whatever he says. He may be criti- is what might be being suggested here. Suppose, for
cized for attaching a word to an unusual concept (as, example, we have a conception of education that is
ifhe uses "refute" when he means reject) for having bound up with breadth of understanding, and another
muddled or hazy concepts, for preoccupying himself that doesn't make reference to understanding at all.
with trivial concepts, or for having an idiosyncratic What can we say? At the verbal level we can say that
conception, but provided he can give a clear, coher- the latter use of the label "education" is odd, possibly
ent, consistent and compatible account of concept X, even incorrect interms of standard English. At the
whatever name he gives to it, it is meaningless to say conceptual level we might wish to criticize either con-
that his conception, as opposed to his use of language, ception for being insufficiently explicated. We are
is incorrect. The only way to retain the sentence "That also at liberty to say that either one is more attractive
is an incorrect conception" to any purpose, would be as a concept to us, more morally acceptable perhaps,
to interpret it to mean either "That is not my/our con- or more in line with our other goals. So the answer to
ception" or "That is an incoherent conception." Much the question is (1) the fact that no conception can be
the same has to be said in reply to the question "Can dismissed as wrong certainly doesn't necessarily im-
a concept be invalid?" Indeed I only include reference ply that everything depends upon your point of view,
to this since misuses of the words "valid" and "invalid" and that you cannot be any way brought into a pub-
in
seem to be on the increase, and it is not usually clear lic arena; rather, it just entails that your conception
what precisely is meant. Validity is, strictly speaking, of X is your point of view on this matter, but (2) while
something that belongs exclusively to arguments. All you may entertain any idea you like, you may still be
we can say therefore is that if the claim that a concept criticized on grounds of coherence, morality, practi-
is invalid is taken to mean that the concept is inco- cality and wisdom.
herent, unclear, inconsistent or incompatible, then Does the question "What is education?" make
obviously it may be invalid. If it is taken to mean that sense then? Not if it is taken to imply that there is an
the wrong label is being attached to a concept, then unalterable, imperishable idea that is always to an-
it may be invalid. (In this sense the concept of valid- swer to the name (or at any rate the English name) of
ity here is invalid.) If it is taken to mean that the con- "education." But certainly it makes sense provided
cept in question is morally repugnant to one, then it that we interpret it either as a verbal question, request-
may be invalid. If it is taken to mean that the concept ing information about the use of the word amongst a
is not much entertained these days or is out of vogue, given group, or as a way of asking one's interlocutor
as one might say is the case with chivalry, then it may "What is your conception of education?"
be invalid. Naturally if the invalidity of a concept is
taken to be the same thing as its incorrectness, then Source: Robin Barrow, "Does the Question 'What Is Educa-
we must conclude that the claim that a concept is in- tion?' Make Sense?" Educational Theory: 191-195, Summer-
valid makes no sense. Fall 1983. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
SELECTED READINGS
Peters, R. S. Ethics and Education. London: Allen and Unwin, 1965. An analytic exploration
of such concepts as freedom, authority, equality, and democracy. It sets forth an ethical po-
sit ion with a point of view regarding moral theory.
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION 3 03
,
ed. The Philosophy of Education Nev< York: Oxford Universitj Press, L973 Vcol
lection thai brings together writings of such Bguresas Paul Hirst, Israel Scheffler, and D
W. Hamlyn. The various contributors analyze an.l attempt to clarify such importanl con-
cepts as the amis of education, curriculum planning, and educational relevance
Scheffler, Israel. The Language of Education Springfield, [L: Charles C. Thomas, I960 \
major statemenl by a leading analytic philosopher in the field of education. He examines

the uses oflanguage in education and the meanings ol various educational i oncepts
Soltis, Jonas Introduction to the Analysis ofEducational Concepts, 2ded Reading,
F..1//
M \: Addison-Wesley, 1977. \ brief bul well written introduction to analytic philosophy in
education. This book is more restricted in scope than some introductorj works in the field
It is recommended as an excellenl beginning treatise on the uses of analysis.
analytic.ontologically.com/ ac< jss< < April 5, 21 N 12). K Web site »n widing numi t« mis
( :< i
]
, l( ,
lions and links to sources on analytic philosophy, including persons and works, lis "links"
option provides access to electronic journals and texts in the field
ONLINE RESEARCH
Utilizing some of the Websites hook, ;ls well as Topics 2 and 3 of the
included in this
Prentice Hall Foundations Website found unow.prenkaU.com a: mo it, answei the

at
following question with a short essay: What is analytic philosophy and what sug-
gestions does it make for how we should teach? Von can write and submit your es-
say response to your instructor by using the "Electronic Bhiebook" section found in
any of the topics of the Prentice kill Foundations Web site.
I
9
Marxism and Education
Of all the philosophies considered in this text, perhaps none has been more controver-
sial than Marxism. The reasons for this are several. First, Karl Marx's ideas helped launch
some of the most far-reaching social and political revolutions in the twentieth century.
Second, Marxism played a significant role in the global competition called the Cold War,
especially the contest between the United States and the former Soviet Union. Third,
there is the historical Marx, whose numerous works have influenced many thinkers.
Marx's writings sometimes are divided into an earlier humanist period and a later
revolutionary period. His later works energized communist revolutionaries, but his
early, more humanistic works were mostly unpublished until the middle decades of
the twentieth century. As a consequence, philosophical disputes have arisen over
which is the "real" Marx —the humanistic social critic or the communist revolutionary.
A further complication is the confusing assortment of neo-Marxist doctrines
that have since developed, such as structural Marxism, phenomenological Marxism,
feminist Marxism, critical Marxism, and numerous other varieties. Despite this di-
versity, some basic divisions of Marxist thought provide a variety of insights into
Marxist educational ideas. These insights rest on the original works of Marx, the the-
ory of Marxism-Leninism, and "Western" or neo-Marxism.
ORIGINS OF MARXISM
Materialism
One distinguishing feature of Marxism is the importance of materialist ideas. Two ma-
terialist traditions (British and French) lie at the foundation of Marxism.
British Materialism
One was Francis Bacon (1561-1626). He main-
chief architect of British materialism
tained that science is a tool for creating new knowledge that can be used to advance
human well-being and progress. Marx drew considerably from Bacon's work because
304
MARXISM AND EDUCATION 305
he believed Macon had emancipated science from theology. Bacon taught that
that
the senses are and the source of ;ill knowledge // they are guided bj scien
infallible
tific method. Because of Bacon's work. Marx stated, "Matter smiled at man with po
etical seasons of brightness."
Thomas Hobbes (1589-1679) systematized Bacon's materialism inn made n
more abstract. According to Hobbes, science is the process of discovering and studj
ing the laws of motion and their effects on material bodies, lie viewed moral philos
ophy as the science of the motion of human minds and rejected the spiritual
dimension, holding that matter permeates the universe. Mis influence en Marx was 1
not in terms of the universal law of motion (an idea Marx rejected I, bul rather in the
idea that materialism should he used in arranging the practical affairs of humanity
and civil society.
John Locke (1632-1704) also influenced Marx's thought, and his empiricism
was oik of
1
its key ingredients. He held that human nature is malleable The French
took this view and made into a "philosophy of progress"; if human nature can he
it
shaped, they reasoned, then is possible to shape and direct human society and in-
it
stitutions. This idea had a profound impacl en Marx
French Materialism
According to Marx. French materialism humanized British materialism by placing it
more squarely within a social context. French materialism was influenced Rene i>.\
Descartes (1596-165(1). who separated his physics from his highly idealistic meta
physics. From the standpoint of physics, he viewed motion as the driving for< > of
matter and matter as the only hasis of being and knowledge a view that French ma
terialists found supportive. The two mosl influential French materialists undergird
ing Marx's thought, however, were Gtienne Condillac (1715 1 780) and Claude \dnen
Helveiins (1715 1771).
Condillac used Locke's sense empiricism to oppose traditional ideas aboul a
tic human nature and an invariant human social order In his "doctrine ol sensation
alism," Condillac maintained that human activities and thinking processes are
matters of experience and habit, and therefore the whole development of humanity
depends on education and environment. Heheiins pushed his idea even furth< I
proclaiming that education could he used to bring about human perfection Me ami
Condillac argued that an individual's social i lass is simplj a result of education and
circumstance. For Helv6tius, even individual differed es in intelli uld be .ii
trihnted to these factors Human nature, he held, is neither good nor had ircum i
tnces, particularly education, make the individual, and n

arrange circumstances and education to produce human progress and a m<
fying life for all
Marx from materialist phi!

di'-w te important ingredii i
; the view thai scieni e Bhould he used t" transform human i in umstam es Ulied
to this was the Mew that human perception and lOTOWli

perience of the material world Pinallj the notions of human perfe tibilit) and
the possibilit) et ..,< ial i
n 'he material world w<
i
h\ M
I
306 CHAPTER 9
Socialism
The word socialism first came into use in the late 1820s and was associated with the
theories of such people as Henri Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Charles Fourier (1772-
1837), and Robert Owen (1771-1858). Henri Saint-Simon embraced industrialization
and pushed for the scientific study of industry to serve the needs of society. He
viewed industrial labor as the essential form of labor and held that industrialists
rather than "idle aristocrats" should govern society. He called his theory the "indus-
trial doctrine" and advocated progress in terms of society-wide improvement rather
than simply individual improvement, a focus of great importance for Marx.
Charles Fourier believed in human perfectibility and called for new forms of
social organization based on his theory of "perfection by association," a notion de-
rived from Isaac Newton's law of gravitation. He believed that progress would occur
through proper human association, the basic unit of association being anchored in a
community Marx adopted many of Fourier's criticisms of capitalism's lack

of interest.
of social responsibility and its selfish absorption in the accumulation of wealth.
The leading socialist for Marx, however, was Robert Owen, who started as a
child laborer in Manchester, England, and eventually became a wealthy and impor-
tant industrialist. In the textile mills of New Lanark, Scotland, he was instrumental
in establishing shorter working hours, schools for child laborers, infant schools for
the small children of working mothers, and improved housing and health conditions
for all employees. Despite the initial fears of other mill owners, Owen's reforms in-
creased the earnings of the mills. However, when Owen tried to spread his ideas
among other industrialists, he had limited success. He eventually came to believe that
radical social change was needed and that human progress would come about only
through widespread fundamental changes in social and environmental conditions.
Marx said that English communism began with Owen, for Owen took the lead in sow-
ing the seeds of a cooperative social system.
Political Economy
The economy is distinguished by the study of sociological, po-
discipline of political
and philosophical thought and using them to analyze the political
litical, historical,
and economic forces of society. One chief architect of this approach was Adam Smith
(1723-1790), a Scottish philosopher whose major treatise, The Wealth of Nations,
published in 1776, greatly influenced subsequent economic thought particularly —
the theory of capitalism and the point of view that promotes minimum government
regulation of economic life. Smith used the metaphor of the "invisible hand" to de-
scribe the way the economy is supposed to regulate itself if left to private individual
initiative and market competition.
Another leading political economist was David Ricardo (1772-1823). Smith and
Ricardo recognized productive labor as one prime base of wealth, but Ricardo refined
the definition of wages as the labor time it takes to produce a commodity. Marx
thought that Smith and Ricardo had provided a valuable service in formulating new
economic: laws that advanced the production of wealth, but most of the policy impli-
cations he drew from them were the opposite of their intent. Marx used their ideas
on labor as a basis of wealth, but he also added the notion of "surplus value"; thai is,
a worker produces more than his wage or the cost of production, and is this sur- it
plus value from which profits are gained and by which workers are exploited.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF KARL MARX

Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Karl Heinrich Marx was born into comfortable middle-class circumstances in Trier, in
the German Rhineland. His father was a lawyer, and both parents were Jewish. The
family converted to Christianity shortly before Marx's birth, at least in part because
otherwise Jews could not enter the professions legally at that time. Although his la-
ther encouraged Marx's interest in philosophy, he wanted him to become a lawyer.
Marx entered the University of Bonn to study law but soon transferred to the I
ni
versity of Berlin, where he studied history and philosophy.
Hegel, Feuerbach, and Materialism

When Marx arrived at the University of Berlin, the faculty and students were mostly
followers of Georg Hegel. Marx caught the enthusiasm of these "Young Hegelians,"
and although he later broke from it, llegelianism made a lasting impression. I )f
the ideas that Marx gained from Hegelianism, at least two stand out: the concept of
alienation and the process of the Hegel thought that alienation came from
dialectic.
people's failure to recognize that truth connected intimately with human thought.
is
He rejected the realist position that truth is independent of the human mind and ar-
gued that alienation is the result of Spirit externalizing itself. This alienation will
cease, Hegel believed, when people become self-conscious and realize that they are
thinking beings and that truth is a facet of this self-consciousness. Humanity will re-
alize that "objective" reality, such as culture and the human environment, is an ema-
nation of Spirit.
Hegel maintained that reality could he comprehended through the dialectic, a
system of logic with its triadic thesis, antithesis, and synthesis in which contradic-
tions could he dispelled and agreement eventually achieved in the synthesis of \h
solute Idea (or spirit ). If a person thinks of a category, such as nature, he is forced
to think of its opposite history. In studying the development of the tension between
nature and history in any given period, one is led to the nexl era Natural conditions
shape what occurs in history, and the human activities that make up historj have a
way of iransioriiiiiig or altering natural conditions. The sj nthesis "i ideas about na
ture and history in any given era is the creation of the beginning of a new era.
Marx rejected Hegel's idealism hut kepi the concept of alienation and a dialec
ticai version of history. Some
Marx stood Hegel on
saj thai Ins head because he r<
tamed the Hegelian conceptual apparatus hut (hanged it from an idealist l" .1
materialist philosophical base. Instead of humans being alienated from Spiril ob

jectifying itself, Marx maintained, people become alienated from their own i
•
Hon iety and the means ol production Rather than a dialectii occurring
308 CHAPTER 9
between ideas, Marx adopted the notion of a dialectic between economic conditions
and human action, or what has been called "the materialist conception of history."
A second major influence on young Marx's philosophical development came from
Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872). Where Hegel had maintained that human thought
and action are determined by Spirit as it develops to any point in history, Feuerbach
argued that the "spirit" of an era is nothing more than the totality of events and ma-
terial conditions occurring during that era, for history is determined by the material
influences on the thoughts and actions of real persons existing in a world of material
conditions. This view greatly appealed to Marx, and although he later broke with
Feuerbach by adhering to the position that human action does affect the course of
history (how else could he advocate revolution?) he did maintain that material con-
,
ditions exert the primary influence on humanity and its institutions.

Feuerbach also held that all ideologies, including religion, are usually an effort
to construct an ideal world as a form of escape from the miseries of the material
world. Marx, in turn, came to interpret religion as the fantasy of the alienated indi-
vidual. In an oft-quoted statement, Marx called religion "the opium of the people,"
for, like Feuerbach, Marx believed that religion diverts people's attention from the
necessity for reform and revolution in the here and now.

In his Theses on Feuerbach, however, Marx asserts that the older material-
ist theories had erred in viewing human beings as passive, because they failed to ac-
count for human action. For Marx, then, circumstances are changed only by human
thought and practical action and not by passive contemplation. This position is some-
what similar to the pragmatist view of the unity of thought and action. For Marx, how-
ever, the human action to be valued is "practical-critical" or revolutionary action
—
(praxis) even violent revolutionary action.
The "Real" Marx

In his early years, as he was struggling with Hegelianism and developing his own
views on socialism and reform, Marx wrote with a decidedly humanistic tendency. As
he matured, he moved to revolutionary communism, particularly after he began col-
laborating with Friedrich Engels. He emerged as a severe critic of bourgeois capital-
istic and became a leading advocate of sweeping change.
society
The debate within philosophical circles over the "real" Marx has occurred, at
least in part, because important early works were published only after such figures
as Vladimir Ilich Lenin, the leader of the Russian Revolution, already had formed
views based on Marx's later works. Lenin's approach has been compared unfavorably
with the early humanist writings of Marx. A rule of thumb for dividing the early pe-
riod from the later period is the year 1848, when Marx and Engels' The Communist
Manifesto was published. Some critics have wondered whether Lenin's interpreta-
tion of Marx would have been so influential had the early works been widely avail-
able. Others, attracted to the power of revolutionary Marxism but repelled by the
authoritarian and statist behavior of Marxist regimes, have sought to humanize Marx-
ism. Jean-Paul Sartre attempted to do this by attaching his view of existentialism to
a Marxist base. Adam Schaff, however, a Polish philosopher, held that Marx main-
tained his humanism throughout and that, to understand Marx's thought, one must
view it from both early and later perspectives.
Part of the debate also relates to the nature of Marx's writing. Much of his work
is difficult to understand because he was not always consistent in his use of terms and
meanings. Some of his writing was directed at specific issues of his day, and so lacks
it
any precise bearing on the present. But more importantly, much of Marx's work was in
unfinished drafts, examples being the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of
1844 (published in 1932), TheGerman Ideology 1844 (written in L845 and published
in 1982), and Grundrisse 1844 (written in 1857-1858 and published in 1941). Even
his most important work, Das Kapital (in English, Capital, first published in 18(57),
was envisioned as only the first part of a six-part work, but the other parts were never
completed. The Grundrisse is a sketch of what this massive work might have entailed.
In the "Preface tOi4 Critique of Political Economy," written in 185*), Marx
comments on his intellectual development. He calls the "guiding thread" of his stud-
ies the conception that to understand the nature of society, one has to go not t < >
Hegel's view of mind and spirit but to the material conditions of life. It is in how peo-
ple produce necessities and create institutions that they become enmeshed in forces
beyond their conscious wills. To understand how these forms of cont rol come about,
one must examine the way people produce material things. The sum of the material
—
forces of production agriculture, handicrafts, industry, and so forth —
is the mater-
ial base. All social relations —

the class structure, institutions, legal and political au-
thority, and so forth —are the societal superstructure. The material base is the
foundation on which the superstructure of society is built; hence, rather than look-
first at the superstructure to understand society, one must go to the foundation, the
materia] base. The ways of producing material things set the stage for social, polit-
ical, and intellectual life. As Marx states in the "Preface," this means "It is not the con-
sciousness of men that determines their lives, but, on the contrary, their social being
that determines their consciousness."
According to Marx, at critical junctures in history, the material forces of pro-
duction come into conflict with the social, political, and intellectual forces because
material forces outpace institutional frameworks. Marx thought thai the leading ex-
ample of his own day was the way industrial development had outpaced social devel-
opment. Industrial technology had grown tremendously, bul society still was
immersed in private property and monopolistic control of the many by the propertied
few. Workers were enslaved in a system of subsistence wages, existing as little more
than appendages to machines thai produced wealth controlled and consumed l.\ the
tew The workers, the proletariat, would not accept such conditions indefinitelj and
when the conflict between the forces of production and the outmoded superstructure
of social institutions became severe enough, rapid social change would be almost
inevitable. Marx thought, however, that no superstructure ever changed until all the
material forces of production underlying had developed and that these material
it
ion es contained within themselves the bases for a new order Industrial capitalism was
310 CHAPTER 9
therefore a necessary condition on which to build because it provided the material

base on which a new era of more expansive wealth could be realized.
Alienation
One of the best illustrations of Marx's humanism is the Economic and Philosophi-
cal Manuscripts of 1844, in which he describes and analyzes the alienation of in-
dustrial workers. Under competitive capitalism, according to Marx, workers become
reduced to little more than commodities, for they must sell their labor on the market
like any other commodity at the lowest price to those who own the means of pro-
duction. The owners, in turn, are forced to compete in finding markets and in selling
products at the lowest price. Owners must squeeze out the greatest amount of sur-
plus value, and this means paying the lowest wages possible. In this system, the weak
and poor are overcome by the strong and rich, and the result is the accumulation of
wealth in the hands of the few and the reduction of the many to servile dependence.
—
Society becomes divided into two great classes the property owners and the prop-
ertyless, or the "haves" and the "have-nots."
As Marx viewed it, labor becomes "objectified"; that is, both the workers' labor
and the products they make belong to someone else. The workers come to view the
products, which could give creative satisfaction, as alien objects that belong to an-
other. Personal labor, which could give the workers a sense of power, is now only
a means of securing a bare subsistence. The result is alienated labor and alienated
people because the workers become "strangers," not at home with themselves or
their labor.As a consequence, they feel free only in their animal activities eating, —
drinking, and procreating. These functions are essential to human life, but when they
become divorced from creative production and participation in the more fulfilling as-
pects of cultural life, they become merely animal activities.
In this state of affairs,workers become separated from their humanity, or what
Marx called their "species being." In their species being, people relate to themselves
as members of a universal and free humanity and hence can relate to such ideas as
"all men are created equal." Human beings are like all animals in that they are de-
pendent on nature for food, shelter, and other material necessities of life; however,
unlike other animals, they can create things beyond bare necessities and engage in
art, science, and intellectual life —
or what Marx called "conscious vital activity." These
things, along with the raw materials of nature, are the objects of an individual's con-
scious existence and give human life its intellectual meanings. When workers' prod-
ucts (what they produce) are alien to them and when their creative force (their labor)
is alien, then the workers are alienated from their species being. Their humanity, their
species being, then becomes not a source of identity but just another object for sur-
vival. The worker is "objectified" and reduced to an animal-like existence.
According to Marx, private property is the cause of alienated labor. When the
control of property, and hence the control of the means of productive life, is con-
centrated in the hands of a few, the result is alienated labor. If alienated labor robs
people of their humanity, and if private property is the cause of alienated labor, then
private property must be abolished. Marx believed that to emancipate society from
private property, the worker must be emancipated, and to emancipate the worker is
.
to emancipate humanity because the whole of human society is involved in the rela-
tionship of the worker to the product
One can sec from the foregoing how Marx's humanistic orientation led him to
become more and more concerned about the impact of private property, which he
thought was the key element in the superstructure of capitalism. His analysis of the
problem incorporated not only philosophical criticism hut also a philosophy of his-
tory that was central to his mature thought.
Tfie Materialist Interpretation of History

Much has been made of the "dialectical materialism" of Marxism. It has been charac-
terized as a deterministic movement of humankind through various
historical epochs
triumph of communism over capitalism in the dialectic of history.
until the inevitable
Marx believed that communism eventually would triumph, but he did not think that
it was a mechanical inevitability of the dialectic of history. He was a dedicated revo-
lutionary who believed that human resolve and action are necessary to bring about a
new social order, but his view of history as any mechanical dialectic.
he did not see
Si »me of his philosophical descendants, however, have been more dogmatic, and dia-
lectical materialism is a term they have employed frequently.
It has been suggested that perhaps the most appropriate way to describe Marx's
view is "the materialist interpretation of history," wherein the dialectic is seen as an
interpretive device rather than t he deterministic structure and process of history it-
self. Marx thought that in producing the means of living, human beings make history.
Roughly speaking, the stage of development of a people is seen in the level and type
of its division of labor. Historically, this led first and
to the separation of industrial
commercial production from agricultural production and hence to the separation of
—
town and country with its resulting clash of interests. Next came the separation of
industrial production from commercial production and the divisions of labor within
these categories. Thus, human history can be traced through the ever-increasing di-
visions of labor the more "developed" a society becomes, the more division or spe-
cialization experiences. The various stages of development are, in effect, just so
it
many differenl forms of ownership, for the resulting divisions of labor determine the
relations of individuals to each other regarding the materials, instruments, and prod-
ucts of labor
Marx believed that humanity had advanced through five great stages ofhistori-
cal development:
1 Tribcd ownership, a kind of naive communism in which the tribe functioned

as an extended family and members cooperated inproducing the means of
subsistence.
2 The a inn -lit city state, when in several tribes joined together for mutual ben
i
in. and slavery and private ownership became mon pronounced
3 Feudal kingdoms mi<i empires resulting in the division of labor into enserfed
peasants, a nohility of landed estates, a proletariat "i town dwelling rafts i
men. a small but growing class of lesser merchant capitalists, and a i<u great
merchant capital]
312 CHAPTER 9
4. Modern industrial "bourgeois" society, the bourgeoisie or modern capitalists,

akin to the city-dwelling merchant-capitalists (the "burghers" in the Middle
Ages), who had their origins in the breakdown of the feudal order.
5. A future yet to come that will witness the rise of the proletariat, the industrial
worker, in a new socialist era.
Marx thought that history could be interpreted as a history of class conflict, and
he believed that hisown time would see the advent of the socialist era. What char-
acterizes the epoch of the bourgeoisie, however, is that bourgeois domination, in ef-
fect, simplifies class conflict. According to Marx, this occurs because society has
become divided into two great classes of bourgeois capitalists (the "haves") and pro-
letarian workers (the "have-nots"). Bourgeois society developed through a series of
revolutions in the methods of production, culminating in modern capitalistic indus-
trialism. In this respect, then, the bourgeoisie played a revolutionary role because it
destroyed the old feudal order and instituted a simplified social order of haves and
have-nots.
For the modern bourgeoisie to maintainits preeminence, however, it must con-
stantly reinvigorate the means Based as it is on competition, the bour-

of production.
geoisie must expand its markets constantly, and in doing so, it drags reactionary
societies into its fold and transforms them into modern producing and consuming so-
cieties. It transcends national boundaries and establishes international forms of com-
munication, production, and commerce. It builds immense cities, creates new forms
of urban living, and transforms peasant populations into industrial and urban popu-
lations. According to Marx, to accomplish all this, the bourgeoisie must exploit labor
and wring from it all the profits it can; however, such a society contains within itself
the means of its own destruction, for bourgeois society is too narrow to encompass
all the forces of production that it has erected. It has created an immense new class
of alienated labor that it cannot accommodate to its own internal structures, and this
class will rise and overthrow it.
The triumph of the workers is not, however, a guaranteed result. The workers
form an incoherent mass, divided among themselves by competition. Some small
form of cohesion can be gained through such devices as trade unions, but this is not
enough. The workers have to see that their strength lies in solidarity. Indeed, this was
the end toward which Marx aimed in the publication of The Communist Manifesto,
and this was behind the closing lines of that document where he and Engels pro-
claimed: "Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians
have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all
countries, unite!"
Interpretations of Marx
As is the case with most seminal thinkers, Marx attracted disciples, some of whom
took his thought in directions that, had he lived to see them, he might have rejected
vigorously. Even in his own lifetime, Marx is said to have declared that whatever else
he might be, he was certainly not a Marxist. One reason for the variety of "Marxisms"
lies with Marx himself. He was ambiguous on many key points, and conditions
\
changed sufficiently so that over the years, his followers found it necessary to revise
some of his basic conceptions.
Marxism-Leninism
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), the son of a wealthy textile manufacturer, was born
in Germany. After receiving a classical education, he moved to Manchester, England,
to work in one of his father's mills. Influenced by the works of Owen and other re-
formers, he became convinced that radical social reforms were needed. He met Marx
in 1844 and began a collaboration that lasted 40 years. Because of his association with
Marx and his interpretation of Marxist ideas after Marx's death, Engels gained an em-
inent position within socialist circles that enabled him to exercise great influence.
Engels was one of those who helped popularize "dialectical materialism." In
Engels's view, history is determined by a dialectical process, and material conditions
are the deciding factor; therefore, the course of wisdom is for people to attune them-
selves to this historical process so that they are not at odds with it. As Engels viewed
it, when science forsook the study of things and embraced the study of natural
processes, it came nearer to discovering the universal laws of motion. Although he
knew that human actions and social institutions are different from nature, where
blind unconscious processes work on one another, Engels nonetheless held that his-
tory, too, has its own Human designs and individual actions often
inner general laws.
conflict, —
and so history works much like nature in effect for many blind and un-
conscious human processes act against each other; consequently, as in the case of
nature, history can be understood by discovering its inner general laws through dia-
lectical materialism.
Engels gave history a deterministic twist that Marx never intended. As early as
1877, Engels was espousing determinism in Anti-Duhring where he began formu- ,
Although Marx had referred to his own view

lating his idea of "scientific socialism."
as "materialistic and thus scientific method," Engels, it has been charged, converted
Marx's method into a deterministic philosophy. In short, Marx's "historical mate-
rialism" became, in Engels's hands, a variant of Hegelian philosophy where, in The
Dialectics of Nature, "matter" is substituted for "Spirit" as the ontological or meta-
physical foundation.
Marx and Engels were men of theory, Vladimir Ilich Lenin 1870-1924) was
If (
a man of theory and action. The son of a college professor, he was bom with the sur-
name of Ulyanov but took the name Lenin after joining the socialist movement. Lenin
welded his own ideas to those of Marx and Engels so that the orthodox philosophj
of the Soviet Union and several other countries was called "Marxism Leninism."
Lenin's view of materialism, following Engels, resulted in a type of naive realism, a
"mirror-image" epistemology that influenced subsequent views on education in the
Soviet I inon. As he expressed it in Material ism and Ein\urii) (
' rit irisiii: "( )ur sen-
sation, our consciousness is only an image of the external world, and is obvious that it
an image cannot exist without he lung imaged, and the latter exists independent
t t I
of thai which images "

He rejected the Kantian dilemma ahem knowing the thing-
it
in-itself and held that the only difference between the noumenon and the phenome
non is what is known and what is not yet known
314 CHAPTER 9
This penchant for cut-and-dried clarity (his critics would call it narrow dog-
matism) is one hallmark of Lenin's interpretation of Marx. In his conception of the
state, Lenin followed Engels on the inevitability of dialectical materialism —
that the
state will eventually "wither away" after the establishment of the dictatorship of
the proletariat. In The State and Revolution, Lenin interpreted Marx to mean that
violent revolution to overthrow bourgeois forms of the state, including represen-
tative democracy, is part of this inevitability. This is clearly not Marx's view; al-
though Marx did not shrink from violence, he maintained that in some of the more
advanced industrial and democratic countries, such as England, Holland, and the
United States, the proletariat could achieve its ends through peaceful means. As
late as 1880, in a letter to the English socialist Henry Hyndman, Marx wrote: "If the
unavoidable evolution turns into a revolution, it would not only be the fault of the
ruling classes, but also of the working class." Lenin, however, argued that the dicta-
torship of the proletariat, "in accordance with the general rule, can only be brought
about by violent revolution."
Lenin's view was no doubt influenced by the autocratic conditions in Russia at
the time, and this might have compelled him to take what his critics allege to be a nar-
row view. These same critics maintain that following the Russian Revolution, Lenin's
ideas on the nature of the state and the need for a dictatorship controlled by a small,
disciplined party apparatus led only to the establishment of a dictatorship by the of-
ficial Communist Party. This party showed little sign of "withering away" until reforms
led by Mikhail Gorbachev resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Today,
Marxism-Leninism apparently has been rejected in favor of market economies in most
former republics of the old Soviet Union, notably Russia during the administrations of
Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. Whereas the old Soviet Union prided itself on achiev-
ing universal literacy and making education widely available to everyone, by the be-
ginning of the twenty-first century, Russia was bogged down in political and economic
problems, and education seemed to take a back seat to other concerns.
WESTERN MARXISM AND THE ORIGINS

OF "CRITICAL THEORY"
After Engels's death in 1893, the mantle of Marxist leadership was passed to the Ger-
man Social Democratic Party, which became the leading organization of Marxist
thought in the West. Western Marxism lost its revolutionary edge, however, after
changes in capitalist societies duringwhich workers' wages improved and "corpo-
rate" capitalism displaced older forms of capitalism. Many Marxists concluded that
the Western proletariat had lost the will for revolutionary praxis. In the East, Lenin
and his followers launched the revolution that was to focus attention on Marxism-
Leninism as the orthodox standard-bearer of Marxism. In the West, however, Georg
Lukacs (1885-1971) and Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) developed Marxism further
—
along lines that Marx had been associated with in his youth the social criticism of
the Young Hegelians. This theme was to be taken up by a group of philosophers and
developed into a school of thought known as the Frankfurt School. Two distinguish-
ing features of Western or neo-Marxism are its philosophical orientation and its ef-
forts to move beyond material production and class conflict as the chief explanatory
constructs of Marxist analysis and toward broad cultural explanations of power rela-
tions and conflict.
Marx was somewhat ambivalent about the role of philosophy. He thought that
itwas a remnant of bourgeois culture, but he continued to criticize existing society
in philosophical critiques that he claimed were scientific. Georg Lukacs, however,
took the unorthodox view that philosophy still had a role to play in mediating be-
tween changing capitalistic forms and the development of workers' understanding of
their condition. According to Lukacs, the failure of workers to take matters in hand
—
was the result of (1) reification that is, taking prevailing capitalistic ideas about
the nature of society as the way things must be; (2) the division of labor that keeps
workers submerged; and (3) capitalist evolution and its accommodation to the less
threatening demands of workers.
Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci, building on Lukacs's work, maintained
that ideology as cultural hegemony (overriding cultural influence or authority) is an
important aspect of power over society, even more than the modes of material pro-
duction. Through the cultural hegemony of ideology, workers reify (accept an idea
or assumption as true) capitalistic ideas and acquiesce to them. Consequently, ide-
ology is any "ism"), and for those who strug-
a powerful tool of capitalism (as it is in
gle against capitalism, the proper course hegemonic bourgeois culture
is to question
and its control over the consciousness of the proletariat. The unorthodox views of
Lukacs and Gramsci challenged some basic tenets of historical materialism itself and
helped forge a new role for philosophy within Western Marxism.
The Frankfurt School

The term critical theory probably was applied first to the work of the Frankfurt
School. This group of leftist scholars gathered at the Institute for Social Research at
the I Fniversity of Frankfurt in 1923, but many later immigrated to other countries be-
cause of the threat of Hitler and the Nazis. The critical theory that they developed
was influenced by the work of several thinkers, including Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche,
—
Freud, and Marx tonameafew. Central to the Frankfurt Schools critical approach,
however, is Marx's method of examining ideologies and showing their shortcomings.
Some leading figures in the Frankfurt School were Max Horkheinier 1895 1971), (
Theodor Adorno (1903-1969), and Herbert Marcuse 1898 L979). A prominenl re (
com figure in the movemenl is Jurgen Habermas (1929- ).

Max Horkheimer studied the transformation of Western society from old-style
capitalism to contemporary corporate or state capitalism. Mo held that individuality
had been debased by bourgeois capitalism and that the centralizing capacities of
capitalism threatened to eradicate individuality through mass culture, fascism, and
i h«' Horkheimer struck a decidedly pes-
fetishism of the technocratic consciousness.
simisticnote reflected in the titles of some of his works: Eclipse <>i Reason
and Daw // mni Decline Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno coauthored Dialectic oj
Enlightenment, in which they expressed the belief thai humane culture cannol
316 CHAPTER 9
prosper without reasoned thought; but because of centralization and authoritarian-

ism in modern mass culture, theory and an elevation of technologism are feared. Con-
sequently, Horkheimer and Adorno believed that centralized planning and the
authoritarian state should be the foci of critical philosophy.
According to Adorno, the use of various art and communication forms (such as
radio, motion pictures, modern advertising, and so forth) creates the preplanned,
mass-produced social and cultural outlooks he called "mass culture." Such conditions
overwhelm individual initiative and result in the "administered society," character-
ized by a "technological veil" behind which those in control hide facts and use them
to dominate. The result is that people cannot think for themselves. Adorno distrusted
the old Marxist notion of the "spontaneous power of the proletariat in the historical
process," for he held that spontaneity is inadequate in the face of the domination that
exists. Although he developed no single meaning for critical theory, in Negative Dia-
lectics Adorno advocated dialectical thinking; that is, the thinker must try to envi-
sion the negation of things in order to create new alternatives.
Herbert Marcuse developed the Frankfurt School's themes about the eclipse of
individuality into what he called "one-dimensional man." In a work by that title, he
describes how technological consciousness and authoritarianism result in the paraly-
sis of criticism and the "One dimensionality" results
inability to devise alternatives.
from the by which the corporate, bureaucratic, scientific, and tech-
historical process
nological modes of organization have become so reified and entrenched that society
as a whole mobilizes to protect them. The problem is that people apparently cannot
move beyond this one dimension. For a time, Marcuse thought that the student radi-
calism of the 1960s would help bring about change because its "Great Refusal"
showed the limits of the contemporary order. His work^4n Essay on Liberation was
meant to further that movement toward a new socialism.
In some respects, Jurgen Habermas has taken neo-Marxist theory not only be-
yond more traditional Marxism but also beyond the Frankfurt School's approach. In
Communication and the Evolution of Society, he attempts to develop an empiri-
cal philosophy of history with a practical (or political) intent, and he incorporates the
developmental psychology of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg into his theory, as
well as elements of American pragmatism. His interest in communication theory also
incorporates elements of language analysis. He emphasizes, however, the Frankfurt
School's view that sociocultural conditions are more significant than mere material
forces of production. Rather than historical evolution springing only from material
modes of production, it springs from social processes and structures produced by so-
cieties to maintain and enhance themselves. From the standpoint of individuals, this
occurs through individual learning capacities. In this sense, societies are dependent
on individuals. Individuals, however, are dependent on the symbolic structures of the
social world for their meanings and competence; that is, individuals need systems of
language and behavioral expectations to communicate, organize, and resolve con-
flicts. For Habermas, then, material forces of production, though important, are not
decisive for historical evolution. Forms of cooperation are just as decisive,and what
is needed is not further clarification of the modes of production but more general
principles of social organization and communication.
As can be seen, Western Marxism and critical theory have taken Marxism away
from some basic tenets of both Marx and Marxism-Leninism. Although Marx resisted
describing any specific vision of the future of socialism, he did envision a society char-
acterized by free association and self-management. As Stanley Aronowitz points out
in The Crisis in Historical Materialism, however, what actually developed was au-
thoritarian state socialism. Free association and self-management are still Utopian
dreams, not actualities, and the impulse for creative social theory eventually has
come from outside old-style Marxism itself in the form of feminism, the ecology
movement, the drive for racial freedom, new nationalism, and even liberation theol-
ogy. Yet, Aronowitz continues, Marx's thrust against domination, his dialectical the-
ory of capitalist development, and his vision of social transformation still might serve
as useful guideposts for those who seek to change the old order.
MARXISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Although Marx did not write extensively about education, lus educational ideas, cou-
pled with his general theory, greatly influenced other Marxist philosophers and edu-
cators. Subsequent Marxist theory, however, has seen several divergent directions.
For example, the Marxist-Leninist version was dominant in such countries as the
former Soviet Union and the former East Germany, but Marxism-Leninism has had
little direct influence in the West. Western Marxism, though exerting more influence
on the theory of education in the West, has had more impact on educational policy
and practice in such countries as the United States, although this has not been ex-
tensive. The point is that to understand Marxism's historic significance for philoso-
phy of education, one must recognize not only Marx's original works but also
divergent interpretations.
Aims of Education
The aims of Marxist education can be found in the Marxist conception of history and
the critical analysis of existing conditions, for Marxist theory holds that human soci-
ety must move from capitalism to socialism and eventually to communism. In those
count ncs where Marxism-Leninism once held sway, educational aims were viewed
I
irimarily in t erms of this movement, and the immediat e goals were to mold
dialectical
a socialist consciousness and a socialist society This effort was greatly enhanced by
providing an education to develop a new socialist human being.
The Socialist Consciousness

Marx wanted to overcome human which he though! was the direct result
alienation,
of private property and the control of product ion by an elite. The aim was to free con-
scious, vital human activity by putting individuals hack in control of their own labor
Marx tin night thai his particular task was to develop proper theoretical bases so thai
the working class would be aware of general directions to be taken. In this sense, il
eon Id be said thai Marx saw his role as an educational one
318 CHAPTER 9
In the 1840s, Marx criticized the education allowed the working classes of Eng-
land and Germany as a paternalistic device used by the ruling classes to produce
docile and obedient subjects. Public education should result, he argued, in individ-
ual aims becoming public aims, natural independence becoming spiritual freedom,
and raw drive becoming ethical drive. One bourgeois spokesman maintained that the
neglected education of the working class resulted in their unrest because they failed
to understand the "natural laws of commerce" that reduced them to pauperism. Marx
had no patience for such attitudes; instead, he thought that the "brainlessness" of the
bourgeoisie led them to be "embarrassed" by the unrest among the poverty-stricken
working class.
Marx thought that the ruling classes would not provide a proper public educa-
tion for working-class children because this would mean the eventual freeing of the
proletariat and result in the abolition of pauperism and a subjugated proletariat. The
bourgeois state, the organization of society by which the ruling classes maintained
control, was based on the contradiction between public and private life. For the state
to serve broad public needs and interests, the ruling classes would have to forego
their advantage of private gain, and this they would not do. In short, the bourgeois
state used education for ruling-class ends and not for the ends of children or a freer,
more humane society.
Perhaps Marx's conception of education is represented best in summary form
in Theses on Feuerbach, where, in the third thesis, he separates his view of materi-
alism from the older, more mechanistic view. The materialist doctrine that people are
the product of circumstances and education, he states, overlooks the fact that people
change circumstances and that "educators must themselves be educated"; that is,
before one can purposefully educate others, that person must first be educated
through some purposeful human activity. In other words, for Marx, human action is
necessary to change socioeconomic circumstances. Likewise, the changing of edu-
cational processes and circumstances for better effect can be understood rationally
only from the standpoint of purposeful human activity, or praxis.
In The Holy Family, Marx relates how Locke, Condillac, and Helvetius taught
that the whole development of humankind depends on education and environment.
For Marx, this means that if people derive all knowledge and sensation from the world
of sense experience, then it follows that the empirical world must be transformed and
made suitable. If humans are by nature social beings, then they will develop their full
humanity only in circumstances that are truly social. This further illustrates Marx's
idea of revolutionary praxis and the part it would play in a new education as he
envisioned it. This message is summarized in the eleventh thesis on Feuerbach:
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to
change it."
At least one approach to changing the world through the establishment of a so-
cialist consciousness can be illustrated by going to the orthodox Marxist-Leninist ap-
proach as it was practiced in the former Soviet Union and the German Democratic
Republic (East Germany). In 1957, George Counts quoted Lenin as follows: "The
school must become a weapon of the dictatorship of the proletariat." Stalin was even
more direct: "Education is a weapon whose effect depends on who holds it in his
hands and who is struck with it." According to Counts, the Soviet approach was to
eradicate from the consciousness of the people all traces of antisocialist mentality
and to instill the ideology of Communism through an unremitting emphasis on Com-
munist morality. The Communist Party's view was that for the educational program
to operate with maximum efficiency, it was necessary to "protect" the people from
all competing ideologies and to educate them in the one true way.
In the 1970s, Susan Jacoby maintained that although Communist political in-
doctrination was not so crude or abrasive as it formerly was, it was still "woven
through every subject in the regular curriculum." It ranged from respect for Lenin to
agreement with Marxist -Leninist economic principles. If the general values of iden-
tification with the group, muted individualism, and respect for authority were
achieved, then educators thought they were successful. By 1982, Mervyn Matthews,
in his study of Soviet education after Stalin, found that despite the moderate relaxa-
tion of Soviet dogma, the demands of Marxist-Leninist ideology still retained their
preeminence. Efforts to build a socialist consciousness continued to be "exception-
ally narrow and sectarian," with "hardly a trace of non-Marxist thought, or shift from
long-standing anti-Western orientations." This emphasis continued until the dissolu-
tion of the Soviet Union in 1991, after which Russia and the other ten former Soviet
republics created the Commonwealth of Independent States and embarked on dra-
matic social, political, and economic reforms. The change also impacted education,
but what long-term effects this will make in education remain to be seen.
In her study of the former German Democratic Republic's educational system,
Margrete Klein described how East German officialdom held Marxist-Leninist phi-
losophy to be inherently correct and moral but that, in actuality, it led only to a lack
of tolerance for other philosophical systems. Hence, in East Germany, as in the So-
viet Union, the aim was to develop among the young a singular socialist conscious-
ness characterized by dedication to such objectives as the communist cause, socialist
patriotism, internationalism, conscienl ions labor, a high sense of public: duty, and soli-
darity with the working class of all countries. Recent history indicates, however, that
this aim (or at least the ways it was implemented) was hardly as successful as its ad-
herents hoped, because when Finally faced with strong internal opposition, those
Marxist -Leninist regimes crumbled. Even before the former Soviet Union split into
independent republics, East and West Germany were reunited in 1990 in alignment
with the West.
Two Soviet educators who stood out in helping shape orthodox Marxist-Leninisl
education were Nadezhda Krupskaya 1809-19:59), who was Lenin's wife, and Anton
(
Makarenko (1888-19:59). Both were iiuporlanl in developing an educational ap-

proach to help shape socialist consciousness. Nadezhda Krupskaya though! thai this
could best be achieved through an education thai resulted in, among other things,
"conscientious and organized communal instincts" and "a purposeful and well bought - t
oul world view." Anion Makarenko advocated education by means of the collective;
thai one should develop group loyalties and identify oneself within a group con
is.
text. The school served as the mosl important collective, where each member musl
realize dependence and subordination of personal interests to the collective. This de
emphasis of individualism and the emphasis on the collective were drawn from Marx's
320 CHAPTER 9
distrust of capitalistic individualism, which he thought was socially irresponsible and

based only on self-interest.
Orthodox Marxist-Leninists embraced the materialist doctrine that human be-
ings are the product of education and environment, They took to heart Marx's
admonition against allowing any intrusion of bourgeois principles into socialist edu-
cation. If bourgeois indoctrination was banished, however, socialist indoctrination
was not. Part of the explanation comes from the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism it-
self, for it was sure of its principles and took dogmatic positions on all issues.
For a more complete view, however, it is necessary to examine Western Marxism

from outside a Marxist-Leninist perspective. One such outsider was Paulo Freire
(1921-1997), the Brazilian philosopher-educator, who incorporated themes from such
sources as Western Marxism, liberation theology, and phenomenology into his philoso-
phy of education. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, he sets forth a view of education
based on liberation and dialogue that is critical of traditional education, which he claims
is based on the banking concept. By the banking concept, Freire means an approach
to education in which the teacher chooses content and the student tries to absorb it.
Knowledge is like a bank deposit placed in the care of students. It is not theirs to cre-
ate, appropriate, make over, or shape; rather, students are under the power of the de-
positor (the teacher and the social system the teacher represents). Thus, students are
— —
induced to reify view as necessary and inevitable the outlooks and values of the sta-
tus quo. In such a system, the students are dependent on the oppressor for knowledge,
and Freire believed that this approach annuls learners' creative potential and deadens
is made by the oppressor to
their critical faculties. In the banking concept, the effort
change the consciousness of the learners without changing the social, political, and
economic conditions in which they exist. In this manner, the oppressor can maintain
hegemony over the oppressed by controlling how individual consciousness is formed.
Freire proposed a "problem-posing method" (not unlike John Dewey's ap-
proach) that starts with the learner as an active rather than passive being. It takes
its content from the actual experiences of learners or from learners' desires to ex-
pand their understanding. Thus, teachers and students work together in a dialogical
relationship, learning about problems that begin within the domain of the student
and then spread outward to the wider world. Freire believed that this approach helps
create a critical consciousness because it helps learners see how they live and exist
in the world and that the world is not static but in a process of becoming. Learners
come to see themselves and the world as becoming, a dialectical relationship with the
world through which the learner can exert some influence on surrounding condi-
tions. As Freire maintained in Education for a Critical Consciousness, once an in-
dividual perceives a challenge and understands the possible responses, constructive
action to change objective conditions is possible. In short, critical consciousness
leads to critical action —to praxis.
The Socialist Society
If one aim of Marxist education is to build a socialist consciousness, then perhaps an
even greater aim is to build a socialist society, for social conditions are an important
part of the conditions that produce people with the desired consciousness. To repeat
Marx's view, "It is not. the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on
the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness." Contemporary
scholars, such as Stanley Aronowitz and Henry Giroux, have taken pains to point out
that this is much more complex than
it appears, and they have cautioned against the
kind of mechanical determinism that many Marxist advocates have championed.

Orthodox Marxist-Leninist theory, however, accepted such determinism. As
Susan Jacoby notes, Lenin thought that mass exposure to a single mind-set had many
advantages for a revolutionary government attempting to build a new society. Typi-
cal practice in the former Soviet Union began with political indoctrination as early as
nursery school and kindergarten, where children were told stories about Dyadya
Lenin (Uncle Lenin) and his efforts on behalf of the workers. Although in many re-
spects this was not overly different from American practices concerning George
Washington (the "Father of Our Country") Jacoby maintains that the attention given
,
to Lenin bordered on religious practice.

Joseph Zajda points out in his study of Soviet education that the emphasis on
a strong national identity in Russian educational theory predated Lenin and the Revo-
lution but that the stress on Communist morality in Soviet education was based on a
Leninist interpretation of Marx's ethics and humanism. In this outlook, collectivism
denotes Communist morality, and individualism denotes capitalist morality. In effect,
in Marxist-Leninist educational theory, moral education and political socialization are
inseparable, and the collective serves as the backbone for both. The collective might
be one's military unit, workplace, athletic team, or school at the local level; in the So-
viet Union, it extended upward to identity with the Communist Party on a national
basis or the working class on an international basis. In theory, every Soviet citizen
was supposed to identify strongly with some collective aspect of life. Thus, collec-
tivism and Communist morality were the binding principles of Soviet society although
Marx envisioned the new socialist individual as issue oriented and dedicated to ra-
tional principles rather than merely showing allegiance to persons or groups.
Western or neo-Marxist philosophy took a different theoretical approach, an ex-
ample being the educational theory in Schooling in Capitalistic America, by
Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis. They contend that liberal reform efforts in the
United States have failed and rial equalization of educational opportunity has not led
I
to a noticeable economic equalization among individuals. This is because in capital-

ist societies, schools produce workers by reproducing the conditions of the work-
place. The motivating force of the capitalist economy is profit and because workers ,
must satisfy their own economic needs, the capitalist system induces workers to
enter the economic structure with their labor to earn wages and to produce profit (or
surplus value) for capitalists. I Inder such conditions, the school has a dual function:
( 1 ) It provides skills make workers more economically valuable,
and knowledge that
and (2) it economic structures by modeling the school
socializes people to existing
alter the workplace with its rules, lines of authority, hells (or beepers), and hierar
chics. The educational experience gained in school, however, also produces at least
a few who question the existing social order This presents a contradiction between
capitalist educational goals and the actual educational outcome of at least a leu
rebels and "misfits" who question capitalism's principles

322 CHAPTER 9
According to Bowles and Gintis, under progressive liberalism, education be-

came a panacea for social ills at a time when capitalism was really the root cause of
the problems. The schooling process turned to changing people rather than to chang-
ing the economic system. The resulting bureaucratic nature of schooling means that
schools exert socializing pressure through requiring obedience to existing norms and
values. Therefore, rather than liberation, schools promote conformity to a set of au-
thority relationships existing in the capitalistic economic system.
Bowles and Gintis maintain that progressive educational theory has basic flaws,
for its objectives of integration, equality, and development contradict the economic
principles of capitalism. For example, they charge that Dewey erred in characterizing
American society as democratic when, in fact, capitalism, because of its hierarchical
organization and division of labor, is authoritarian. Further, they charge that Dewey
looked to technological solutions when, in reality, the ills and their solutions are social
and political. Perhaps they overlook the fact that Dewey certainly advocated social
and political changes and urged greater efforts toward achieving a more democratic
society, but Bowles and Gintis take the classic Marxist position that the economy "pro-
duces" people and that capitalists use education to produce a large pool of laborers, a
kind of surplus value that capitalists can "invest" at their whim. Furthermore, because
changes in the structure of production usually precede changes in the educational
structure, a strong causal relationship exists between economic structure and educa-
tional structure. If the economy "produces" people (or people's consciousness or out-
look), then schools participate in this people-production process. If the production of
people results in inequality, then schools also participate in this, too. Changing schools
will not necessarily change existing inequalities. At the most, it changes only people's
perceptions or consciousness of conditions because the eradication of economic in-
equities is and not an educational question.

ultimately a political
Bowles and Gintis argue that it follows from this that an equitable and liberat-
ing educational system can flow only from a broad-based transformation of economic
life brought about by fundamental political changes, such as democratic control over
production processes by working people. Their immediate goal for education is to

continue the struggle for school reform as a contribution to the development of a
democratic, revolutionary socialist movement. They agree with Marx that a peaceful
socialist revolution might be achieved in the United States and that the strategy is to
create a working-class consciousness. The initial phase of the revolution must occur
by working through existing capitalistic institutions to enable people to remake op-
pressive institutions and to learn how to exercise power and make cooperative deci-
sions. An egalitarian and liberating educational institution is an essential element of
this process.

Marx did not look favorably on public education provided by the bourgeois capitalist
nation-state, primarily because he distrusted the curriculum it would include and the
way curriculum would be taught. Although Marx came out in favor of compul-
this
sory education in 1869, he was opposed to any curriculum based on class distinctions.
Only such subjects as physical science and grammar were fit for schools, he believed,
because the rules of grammar and the laws of physical science would be the same
regardless of who taught them. He spoke out against a proposal that children should
be taught "the laws that regulate the value of the produce of their labor," for ho be-
lieved that this topic would only uphold bourgeois economic theories. He approved
of nineteenth-century American public schools, whose school boards composed of
community level controlled the hiring of teachers and the cur-
citizens at the local
riculum. The only form of state control that Marx favored was the idea of school
inspectors to see that general school laws were obeyed. As late as 1875, he still
found education by he state objectionable on the grounds that state control too often
t
led to indoctrination in the interest of the bourgeoisie. Marx objected to education

—
under a bourgeois state not a state under "the dictatorship of the proletariat." The
Manifesto set forth a brief sketch of what this latter kind of state might institute, and
free public education for all children was one recommendation.
Marx advocated technical and industrial education, but not narrow vocational-
ism. In a lecture entitled "Wages," delivered before a German workingmen's associa-
tion in 1847, he noted how modern industry at that time used children to tend
machinery, a simplified labor requiring virtually no education. Intellectual education,
if the child or worker had any, made no difference in wages, for the kind of education
advocated by the bourgeoisie was a narrow industrial education that made workers
reluctant to challenge bourgeois interests. Marx approved a three-part curricular or-
ganization: mental education, physical education, and technological training, the lat-
ter including not only practical training in the trades but also the general principles
of production processes. This was meant to compensate for the deficiencies of ap-
prentices, who learned only specific, task-oriented things. A thorough understand-
ing of the whole production process was needed so that ignorance of the inner
workings of the economic system would not be used as a way to hold the proletariat
in industrial bondage.
Marx's views had a subsequent impact on education in Marxist-Leninist coun-
t ncs. particularly with regard to technological education. The attempt was to ensure
the linkage of theory and practice and to avoid differentiations between intellectual
and physical labor. In the early years after the Russian Revolution, Krupskaya advo-
cated "polytechnical education" as a way of making people "masters of industry." As
the word jxil/jlechnical indicates, the concept refers to a broad technical prepara-
tion m production processes. In Krupskaya's view, it should include theoretical and
practical emphases, as well as Marxist -Leninisl philosophy. Polytechiucal educal ion
was an inclusive concept and was difficult if not impossible In implement.
Klein, in her study of education in the former German I democratic Republic
(Kast Germany), found that those in power followed the episteinological doctrines
of Engels and Lenin that what is perceived is a copy or mirror image of objective
reality. Learning and the acquisition of knowledge were seen as the process by
which mind is raised from a level of ignorance to one of knowledge, and this was re
garded as a dialectical process. In other words, a dialectic of matter and motion
musl exisl in which a person art, on Ins perception "I material reality bj seekin
alter or transform matter in terms of its own internal laws According to Lenin, each
324 CHAPTER 9
piecemeal action in this regard results in relative knowledge, but the accumulation
of these instances eventually will result in absolute knowledge revealed through
practice.
This kind of certainty had some direct results for education under Marxist-
Leninist systems of education. Lenin was certainly sympathetic to the plight of the
proletariat, but he did not think that workers could launch and maintain a revolution
without proper guidance. He believed that a small, disciplined party apparatus was
needed to provide leadership for the proletariat. Lenin called this "democratic cen-
tralism," but the school curriculum that he advocated was not simply what any group
might establish but what the vested authority of the party established. This resulted
in an authoritarian view of knowledge and curriculum for schools. It ensured that po-
litical ideology was a central consideration even in those areas of the curriculum that
one might suppose to be free from it.

Perhaps the most notorious example of the pervasiveness of political ideology
was the case of the theories of Trofim Lysenko, an agronomist during the Stalinist
era. Contrary to Mendelian genetics, Lysenko argued that acquired characteristics
could be genetically transferred. Because Stalin liked this theory, it was given offi-
cial sanction and was taught in biology courses in Soviet schools for many years.
Lysenko's ideas — —
and Stalin's insistence on following them had disastrous results
on Soviet agriculture during this period, yet the top-down authoritarian nature of de-
ciding agricultural issues and educational policy overcame all objections.
Despite the many drawbacks now so apparent in Marxist-Leninist educational
theory, many scholars continue to find other variants of Marxist and neo-Marxist
thought helpful in analyzing the problems of education in contemporary society. Sev-
eral educational theorists have used elements of Western Marxist critical theory to
analyze educational problems in capitalistic society and to make recommendations
for new forms of critical pedagogy and policy. In addition to Samuel Bowles and Her-
bert Gintis are Martin Carnoy, Henry Levin, Basil Bernstein, Michael Apple, and
Henry Giroux, to name a few. Giroux's work serves as a good example. In Ideology,
Culture, and the Process of Schooling, Giroux develops the position that the cur-
riculum embodies dominant forms of culture in the way it reproduces the modes
of knowing, learning, speaking, style, and manners of the dominant social classes.
Furthermore, this is done in the guise of objectivity, fairness, and merit. In fact, the
knowledge conveyed by schools reflects the principles of the dominant group, par-
ticularly with regard to political principles and the technical knowledge needed to le-
gitimate its power and to enhance its capital accumulation. What people learn
sometimes helps transform their perceptions and enable them to resist hegemony
more effectively.
Giroux does not accept a simple correspondence theory of the relation of so-
cial being and consciousness, but he argues a neo-Marxist position that recognizes
many mediating influences between the two. In other words, the content of the cur-
riculum and the way it is organized and learned can serve as mediating influences,
and these influences may be unconsciously and passively received or purposefully
organized for liberating effects.
The history-social studies curriculum serves as an example. In recent years,

discussion has revolved around a crisis in historical consciousness, the "death of his-
tory," which has resulted in the development of an ahistorical outlook. People oper-
ate out of a set of assumptions that accepts (or as Lukacs maintained, "reifies")
conditions and ideas as they are received, without seeking explanations or an
understanding of the origins of those conditions and ideas. Under such conditions,
people suffer from a social amnesia and lose sight of the changing nature of social
processes by which hegemony is maintained.
Contemporary cultural hegemony reproduces itself in many ways. As Adorno
showed, the mass-produced objects and messages of the culture industry make for a
common public outlook; the result is the one-dimensional technological conscious-
ness that Marcuse described, a positivism that presents itself as the unalterable re-
sult of the gathering force of science and technology. Whereas at one time in American
history, people looked on improvement as moral self-improvement and self-discipline,

today improvement is seen in the one-dimensional terms of improving material pos-
sessions or technological growth. These outlooks are tied to the present, denying the
importance of historical consciousness. According to Giroux, such developments
have removed political decisions from public discourse by removing "fact" and "solu-
tion" from social and historical contexts and by making them simply technological
concerns. This ahistorical consciousness has developed at the expense of the growth
of independence of thought and a more rational mode of thinking among the public.
From
Giroux's perspective, curriculum theory must become cognizant of the
dialectic between sociocultural conditions and the active nature of human beings.
Students must be seen as self-conscious agents who, with proper education result-
ing in heightened awareness of social and cultural realities, are able to move beyond
an ahistorical consciousness and toward active participation and change.
Role of the Teacher

Because Marxist philosophy places little emphasis on the role of genetic inheritance
in learning, the importance of the teacher and the environment in which one learns
is paramount. Marxist educators who operated under the Soviet regime believed thai
children could be made into whatever the leadership chose to make them, provided
that all aspects of learning were controlled. For this reason, children were placed
early in life in state-controlled nursery schools and then moved up the ladder of learn-
ing in a systematic fashion. Students wore uniforms or other insignia representing
the level they were on, and academic excellence was highly prized. Public education
was free and available to all through high school. After that point, students who
showed further promise were sent to a university, where they could specialize in a
variety of areas. Diversity students were paid stipends if thej excelled in their stud
I
ies. Primarily, students specialized in some technical Held and hen after graduation
i
were placed in positions deemed suitable to their achievements.

Ideal teachers under he Soviet system would be accomplished
l in I hen areas el
study and understand clearly the political aspects of their disciplines This would
326 CHAPTER 9
mean that a teacher teaching literature, for example, would be able to show students
how this study supported Soviet ideals. Not only did all studies at all levels have a po-
litical dimension, but learning was to be used to further the goals of the Soviet Union,
not mere individual development. The Soviets rejected Western-style education that
encouraged individualism and the criticism of government.
Most education that took place in the former Soviet Union was of an "essen-
tialist" nature; that is, it dealt primarily with factual knowledge. Major emphasis was
given to studies in science and mathematics, and these, too, had a political dimen-
sion, one that was to be explained by the teacher and not interpreted by the student.
Speculation and a critical analysis of ideas were not strongly promoted, and students
were expected to learn useful things.
Textbooks and other materials that a teacher used were standardized and ap-
proved by party officials. Teachers were not allowed to introduce other materials or
ideas into a classroom setting unless previously approved. Soviet education, as it de-
veloped, became rigid, inflexible, and bureaucratic. Teachers were not encouraged
or allowed to innovate or to change established educational policy. In the early pe-
riod, however, an effort was made to include people formerly excluded under the old
Czarist regime. Many students who entered the Soviet system came from back-
grounds such as agricultural communities, where book learning was not highly val-
ued and the belief that these students could become intelligent and productive was
strong. Makarenko, a leading proponent of the new Soviet order, stated that he would
consign to the fire any previous record of a child's development lest it prejudice him
from seeing the full potentialities that existed in that person.
Since the fall of the former Soviet Union, education has been undergoing a
transformation. Now education might allow more outside influences and might not
be as rigid as it was formerly. In accord with this, teachers may also be changing the
ways they view and practice education.
CRITIQUE OF MARXISM IN EDUCATION

Marxism has had a major impact on the world and its education, but this impact, like
the philosophy itself, is subject to various interpretations. The most direct impact has
been in those countries under a Marxist-Leninist system, but Marxism also has af-
fected other countries. In the West, that impact was often negative in the sense that
some countries attempted to construct educational policy to counteract what lead-
ers saw as the threat of the Cold War and monolithic Marxist encroachment. Con-
versely, neo-Marxist adherents frequently found themselves in the position of having
to "apologize" for the failure of existing Marxist regimes to match actions with Marx-
ist humanistic rhetoric.
an influence different from the
In recent years, neo-Marxist theory has exerted
older Cold War have
attitudes. In the United States, elements of neo-Marxist theory
been used to analyze the nature of leading American educational policies and prac-
tices. This has not resulted yet in any local or state school systems adopting large-
scale policy redirection or widespread new instructional methodologies, but it could
show some results in the future. Certainly, neo-Marxist ideas have been used by the-
orists to help gain new perspectives on education.
One characteristic of orthodox Marxism, and one to which Marx himself con-
tributed, was the relegation of philosophy to the "dust bin of history." Adorno vigor-
ously criticized this view and argued that Marx's criticism of philosophers talking
about the world rather than changing it, and his call for the unificat ion of theory and
practice, led subsequent followers to ignore mistakenly the place of philosophical
theory in affairs. This was why orthodox Marxism-Leninism, secure in its be-
human
lief that dialectical materialism answered all the needs for philosophizing, became os-
sified. For Adorno, more adequate theory was needed, a position supported by the
Frankfurt School.
This outlook has been important for some recent scholars in education who use
Western Marxist or critical theory ideas in their work, but they are by no means of a
single mind regarding the directions this should take. Their work is not generally
within traditional philosophy; rather, they focus on a critical analysis of education
—
from an interdisciplinary basis using such disciplines as history, sociology, eco-
nomics, and feminist studies but with philosophical emphases. For example, some
scholars have used Marxist theory to help interpret the historical development of
education, such as how business values influenced educational provisions in the
United States or how many curriculum reforms are instituted for social control to
protect power interests rather than humanitarian interests. Some studies suggest
that any changes in basic core values of a society result in a fundamental shift in the
economic system.
The impact of Marxism on educational theory can be seen in several ways.
Madan Sarup has urged that sociology of education needs a Marxist framework 1 1
>
deal with the problems of alienation, division of labor, and class. Marxism helps give
sociology a more encompassing view of the ensemble of social relations, and it gives
a basis for action in its emphasis on praxis. Michael Apple has applied neo-Marxist
ideas to curriculum theory and the ways schools reproduce knowledge to maintain
existing social, economic, and political conditions. Ho holds that education not only
functions as a way of reproducing social class and capital accumulation but also re-
produces gender stratification, the privileges of culturally dominant groups, and the
limitationsimposed by the structure of the state. Carnoyand Levin are political econ-
omists who examine the traditional American justification Of public education as the
way to alleviate poverty and argue that the elimination of poverty and inequality, in
eluding racism, sexism, and unemployment, cannot progress far in a capitalist -dom-
inated society. Rather than being independent of the ills of society, schools are an
integral part of the capitalist system, and as such their potential lor reform is severely
limited. Only by reform of the economic and political system can schools help raise
the condition of the dispossessed.
Yet, lor all the analysis that has come out otitic varieties oi Marxist educational
theory, does nol seem to have generated as yet a growing momentum among ordi
it
nary people to carry out he social and economic reforms the critics advocate. This is
i
true not only m education hut m i he wider society, as well. In the advanced industrial
societies. Marxist theories and policy recommendations seem to gel an indifferent
328 CHAPTER 9
reception or even hostile reactions from rank-and-file members of society. This has
been recognized by theorists such as Giroux, who notes that the failures of exist-
ing socialisms to elevate the working class to assume its envisioned role have dealt
Marxism a fatal blow. What radical educators must do, he argues, is to see Marxism
not as a system valid for all times, but as a "way of seeing" in which discourse is linked
with the spirit of critical inquiry, a position clearly within the philosophical tradition
of thought.
One strength of Marxism as a philosophy is that it provides a view of social
transformation and promotes a view of purposeful human action to carry through on
that transformation. It portrays a world where things are not fixed, and it strives for
change. Because of these features, Marxism often appeals to those see them- who
selves as oppressed. In addition, Marxism emphasizes an ideal of social power for the
lower classes. Thus, it has a strong appeal for those who live under regimes or in cir-
cumstances that show little regard for the dispossessed. Finally, Marxism offers a
Utopian vision of collective destiny
—
Marxism also has the strength of its critical role the potential to help societies
look at themselves in ways they would not ordinarily pursue. For example, it has been
said that Marx's works have provided more insight into capitalism than capitalist the-
ory itself. Whether or not this is true, Western Marxist critical analysis has issued
warnings about alienation, technologism, bureaucratic centralization, mass culture,
and presentism that are timely for contemporary society. Its scholarly analysis of
education from an interdisciplinary approach has offered alternative insights for
education in capitalist societies.
Marxists have been major advocates of making resources available to everyone,
and public education is one social good they have advocated. In its educational the-
ory, Marxism claims to blend theory and practice and to bring before learners the cru-
cial need for rational activity and a sense of social responsibility needed for a more
humane existence. Where Marxists have gained political control (and this usually has
occurred not industrially and technologically advanced), leaders
in societies that are
have put a high premium on providing formal education for the population where vir-
tually no one was educated before except for the elite.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many pundits predicted the demise of
Marxism on a worldwide basis. Yet China, the most populous nation in the world, con-
tinues to have a Marxist-oriented system, as does Cuba. One also could argue that
many nations have been influenced by Marxist ideas to the point of instituting em-
ployment safeguards, national health care, and other "womb-to-tomb" social welfare
programs. Marxist-oriented nations had or have, for whatever reasons one might as-
cribe, been greatly concerned with education. China claims that all of its students re-
ceive a minimum of 9 years of formal education, and Fidel Castro claims that illiteracy
has been wiped out in Cuba, something the United States does not claim for itself. At
any rate, Marxist-oriented systems suffered a setback in the late twentieth century
but have not completely disappeared.
Critics of Marxism abound, however, and not simply for what they see as major
philosophical or theoretical weaknesses but for practical reasons, as well. A glaring
detraction of Marxism is the examples of Marxist regimes in action. In those coun-
tries where exponents of Marxism gained the upper hand, the model of education
presented seldom demonstrated the theoretical humanistic ideals that Marxist the-
ory espouses. Governments that have advocated Marxism have been characterized
by an elite party structure, bureaucratic authoritarianism, rigid state control, and
lack of personal freedom. Marxist-Leninist education in the former Soviet Union, for
example, embraced rampant indoctrination, rigid curriculum control, and a disregard
for intellectual freedom.
These drawbacks might be endemic to theoretical Marxism, whether of the or-
thodox or "neo-" varieties, and this has led many of the latter persuasion to attempt
fundamental reconstructions of basic Marxist tenets in efforts to go beyond Marxism.
Historically, the Marxist belief that no neutral education exists led orthodox propo-
nents to indoctrinate single mindedly, whereas critical Western Marxists who drew
back from indoctrination and violent revolution were left with only the role of critics
on the fringes. Today, they decry the crisis in Marxist theory and cast about for new
directions. For example, postmodern critical theorists, such as Aronowitz and
Giroux, each have drawn considerably from the Marxist tradition but are also crit ical
of some of its chief features. Aronowitz, in The Crisis in Historical Materialism,
chronicled how Western Marxists of various hues became aware of the gap between
Marx's intellectual vision and the blunt actualities of Marxist-based regimes.
Marxists also have been reluctant to push some issues to the extent they have
pushed those of a political nature, and they would rather blame Marxism's difficul-
ties on poor strategies of implementation rather than face the prospect that Marxism
itself could have fundamental theoretical weaknesses. Giroux, in Border Crossings,
notes that although Marxist analyses energized radical education in the late 1970s,
he doubts that Marxism is the primary influence on radical education today. Giroux
finds that Marxism also can be reductionist and one dimensional in its emphasis on
class conflict. He argues that Marxism's flaws result in serious doubt about its ap-
propriateness as a guiding theory but maintains that educators still should under-
stand the Marxist tradition and its insight into the politicized nature of schools and
how they reproduce the dominant social consciousness. In Giroux's opinion, the role
Marxism plays today is more in terms of historical background or selling, not guid-
ing vision.
Some contemporary observers argue that educators still haw much fertile
ground to explore in the Marxist way of viewing things. For example, Richard Brosio
and Frank Margonis are among those who continue to find Marxist ideas valuable in
analyzing contemporary education. Michael Apple has faulted postmodern critical
theory persistently for its disillusionmenl with the Marxist concentration on struc-
tural tensions and material conditions. In Official Knou ledge Democratic Educa
turn in (i Conservative Age, Vpple draws attention to structures thai promote
domination and inequalities. He maintains thai social class should not be dismissed
too quickly and that attention still should be given to the material conditions thai
shape life chances. To back his contention. Apple cites what he sees as the growing
don nuance of official policy through tighter accountability and control of education,
the privatization movement, and national curricula and assessment. He says thai the
issue comes down to a recurring conflicl between propertj rights and personal rights,
330 CHAPTER 9
and so his basic argument runs counter to the postmodernist disillusionment with
Marxist concepts.
More recently, Apple argues that the failure to be more class conscious is
particularly regrettable in light of the self-confident market forces of capitalism
today. Apple fears that if left unchallenged, these ideological influences will begin to
change people's commonsense views of education. Apple argues that the time is ripe
for greater attention to socioeconomic factors, reiterating some standard Marxist/
socialist arguments.
Marxism and its critical perspectives have played important roles in helping
people see shortcomings and weaknesses in the social systems they have. However,
as some observers note, adherents of the critical theory perspective often seem to
—
have a Marxist agenda they want implemented in education a movement toward a
socialist society and a continuing strong distrust for any aspects of capitalism. These
observers maintain that Marxists and neo-Marxists alike show a lack of sensitivity to
the positive changes that nonsocialist industrial economies have undergone. They
also note that praxis or purposeful human action might apply in nonsocialist theo-
ries and systems and that the dialectic of history — —
or historical evolution might not
be only a socialist or a materialist development.
MARX
ON EDUCATION
Karl Marx never wrote extended treatments of education, but his works are sprinkled with references to
the importance of education. Marx thought that although modern industry had brought untold misery, it
also could provide a new means for a better life for all; however, this possibility was thwarted by capital-
ist thinking that went to any lengths to make profit, including the vicious exploitation of children. The fol-
lowing selections provide examples of Marx's views on education. Notice how he differentiates between
modern industry and capitalism and how his commentary interweaves concern for how children are ex-
ploited with his concern for children to be educated properly.
Circumstances Change Education The coincidence of the changing of circum-

stances and of human activity can be understood only
[From "Theses on Feuerbach," written in 1845, sec-
as revolutionary practice.
tion 3.]
The materialist doctrine that men are the prod-
ucts of circumstances and education, hence changed
men are the products of different circumstances and
Education and Environment
changed education, forgets that these circumstances [From Marx and Engels, The Holy Family (1845),
are changed by men and that the educator himself Chapter IV.]
must be educated. Necessarily, therefore, it divides Condillac, Locke's immediate follower and
society into two parts, of which one is superior to so- French translator, at once opposed Locke's sensual-
ciety (for example, Robert Owen). ism in favor of seventeenth century metaphysics. . . .
.
In his Essai sur I'Origine des Connaissances power of his nature must
ture only in society, and the
Humaines [Amsterdam, 1746] he consummated be measured not by the power of separate individuals
Locke's ideas and proved that not only the soul but but by the power of society.
also the senses, not only the art of creating ideas but
also the art of sensuous perception, are matters of
experience and habit. Hence the whole development Education for the Worker
of man depends on education and environment. It [From "Wages," lectures delivered before the German
was only by the eclectic philosophy that Condillac Working Men's Association in Brussels, December
was supplanted in the French schools. 1847, and printed in the Neue Rheinische Zeitung,
The difference between French and English April 5, 6, and 11, 1849.]
7,
materialism is the same as the difference between the Another very favorite bourgeois proposal is edu-
two nations. The French endowed English material- cation, especially many-sided industrial education.
ism with wit, flesh, blood, and eloquence. They im- We will not call attention to its trite contradic-
parted to it the temperament and grace it had lacked. tion, which lies in modern industry con-
the fact that
They civilized it. stantly replaces complicated work with more simple
In Helvetins. who likewise derives from Locke, labor which requires no education. We will not call at-
materialism receives its proper French character. He tention to the fact that it throws ever more children,
conceived it primarily in connection with social life from the age of 7 up, behind the machine' and makes
(Helvetius. De I'Homme, de ses Facultes intellec- them sources of profit not only for the bourgeois class
tuels et de son education [London, 1775]). Sensuous but also for their own proletarian parents. The factory
qualities and self-love, enjoyment of understood per- system frustrates the school laws — for example in
sonal interest, are the basis of all morality. The natu- Prussia. We will not call attention to the fact that in-
ral equality of human intelligence, the unity of the tellectual education, if the worker possesses it, has no
progress of reason and the progress of industry, the direct effect at all on his wages, that education alto-
natural goodness of man, and the omnipotence of gether depends on life conditions, that by moral edu-
education are the main factors of his system. . . cation the bourgeois understands the drumming into
It requires no great acuteness to see from the the head of bourgeois principles, and that, finally, the
teachings of materialism on such matters as the origi- bourgeois class has neither the means nor, assuming
nal goodness and equal intellectual endowment of it had them, (even the desire to) apply them so as to
men. the omnipotence of experience, habit, educa- offer the people a real education.
tion, and the influence of environment on man, the We confine ourselves merely to raising a purely
great importance of industry, the justification of en- economic point.
joyment, etc.. that there is a necessary connection The actual meaning of education m the minds
between materialism and communism and socialism. of philanthropic economists is this: Every worker
If man derives all knowledge, sensation, etc., from the should learn as many branches of labor as possible, so
WOTld of the senses and sense experience, follows it that if, either through the application of new machin-
that the empirical world must he so constructed that ery or through a changed division of labor, he is
in it he experiences the truly human and becomes thrown out of one branch, he can easily be accommo-
aware of himself as a man. If properly understood in- dated in another.
terest is the principle of all morality, follows that the it
private interests of men coincide with the interests of

humanity. II 'man is unlive m the material sense, thai
Education and Juvenile and Child Labor
is. free, not through the negative power of avoiding [From "Instructions lor the Delegates of the I'tovi
this or that, butthrough the positive power of assert- sional General Council (ol the first International).
ing his true individuality, follows that crime mustit The Different Questions." Written in English at the
not he punished in the individual hut that antisocial end of August 1866; published in the International
••i crime must he destroyed and each man Courier, Februarj 20 and March 13, 1867.]
ope for Ins essential life (
We consider the tendencj "i modern industry
II tr ial, he will develop his true na io make children and juvenile persons oi both sexes
332 CHAPTER 9
cooperate in the great work of social production as a laws, enforced by the power of the state. In enforcing
progressive, sound,and legitimate tendency, although such laws the working class does not fortify govern-
under capital it was distorted into an abomination. In mental power. On the contrary, they transform that
a rational state of society every child whatever, from power, now used against them, into their own agency.
the age of 9 years, ought to become a productive la- They effect by a general act what they would vainly
borer in the same way no able-bodied adult per-
that attempt by a multitude of isolated individual efforts.
son ought to be exempted from the general law of Proceeding from this standpoint we say that no
nature, viz., to work in order to be able to eat, and parent and no employer ought to be allowed to use ju-
work not only with the brain but with the hands too. venile labor except when combined with education.
However, for the present, we have only to deal By education we understand three things.
with the children and young persons of both sexes be- Firstly: Mental education.
longing to the working people. They ought to be di- Secondly: Bodily education, such as is given
vided into three classes, to be treated differently; in schools of gymnastics, and by military training.
the first class to range from 9 to 12; the second from Thirdly: Technological training, which im-
13 to 15 years; and the third to comprise of ages 16 and parts the general principles of all processes of pro-
1 7 years. We propose that the employment of the first duction, and, simultaneously, initiates the child and
class in any workshop or housework be legally re- young person in the practical use and handling of the
stricted to two; that of the second, tofour; and that of elementary instruments of all trades.
the third, to six hours. For the third class, there must A gradual and progressive course of mental,
be a break of at least one hour for meals and relaxation. gymnastic, and technological training ought, to corre-
It may be desirable to begin elementary school spond to the classification of the juvenile laborers.
instruction before the age of 9 years; but we deal here The cost of the technological schools ought to be
only with the most indispensable antidotes against partly met by the sale of their products.
the tendencies of a social system which degrades the The combination of paid productive labor, men-
workingman into a mere instrument for the accumu- tal education, bodily exercises, and polytechnic train-
lation of capital, and transforms parents by their ne- ing will raise the working class far above the level of
cessities into slaveholders, sellers of their own the higher and middle classes.
children. The right and juvenile persons
of children It is self-understood that the employment of all
must be vindicated. They are unable to act for them- persons from 9 and to 17 years (inclusively) in night-
selves. It is, therefore, the duty of society to act on work and all health-injuring trades must be strictly
their behalf. prohibited by law.

If the middle and higher classes neglect their
duties toward their children, it is their own fault.
Sharing the privileges of these classes, the child is

Elementary Education and Children
condemned to suffer from their prejudices. in Factories
The case of the working class stands quite dif- [From Capital (1887), Vol. 1, Chapter 15, Section 9.)
ferent. The working man is no free agent. In too many From the factory system budded, as Robert
. . .
cases he even too ignorant to understand the true

is Owen has shown us in detail, the germ of the educa-
normal condition of human
interest of his child, or the tion of the future,an education that will, in the case
development. However, the more enlightened part of of every child over a given age, combine productive
the working class fully understands that the future of labor with instruction and gymnastics, not only as one
its class, and, therefore, of mankind, altogether de- of the methods of adding to the efficiency of produc-
pends upon the formation of the rising working gen- tion, but as the only method of producing fully devel-
eration. They know that, before everything else, the oped human beings.
children and juvenile workers must be saved from the Modern Industry, as we have seen, sweeps
crushing effects of the present system. This can only away by technical means the manufacturing division
be effected by converting social reason into social of labor, under which each man is bound hand and
force, and, under given circumstances, there exists foot to a single detail operation. At the same time, the
no other method of doing so than through general capitalistic form of that industry reproduces this
same division of labor in a still more monstrous shape; fariousness of his employment, is a necessary step in
by converting the workman into
in the factory proper, the development. On that groundwork each separate
a living appendage of the machine; and everywhere branch of production acquires empirically the form
outside the factory [in small-scale operations and that is technically suited to it, slowly perfects it,
cottage industries where machines are hand-driven and, as soon as a given degree of maturity has been
rather than power-driven], partly by reestablishing reached, rapidly crystallizes that form. The only thing
the division of labor on a fresh basis by the general in- that here and there causes a change, besides new raw
troduction of the labor of women and children, and of material supplied by commerce, is the gradual alter-
the cheap unskilled labor. ation of the instruments of labor. But their form, too,
The antagonism between the manufacturing once definitely settled by experience, petrifies, as is
division of laborand the methods of Modern Industry proved by their being in many cases handed down in
makes itself forcibly felt. It manifests itself, amongst the same form by one generation to another during
other ways, in the frightful fact that a great pari of the thousands of years. A characteristic feature is, that,
children employed in modern factories and manufac- even down into the eighteenth century, the different
tures are from their earliest years riveted to the most trades were called "mysteries" (mysteres); into their
simple manipulations and exploited for years without secrets none but those duly initiated could penel rat e.
being taught a single sort of work that would after- Modern Industry rent the veil thai concealed from men
wards make them of use, even in the same manufac- their own social processes of production, and that
tory or factory. In the English letterpress printing turned the various spontaneously divided branches of
trade, for example, there existed formerly a system, production into so many riddles, not only to outsiders,
corresponding to that in the old manufactures and but even to the initiated. The principle which is pur-
handicrafts, of advancing the apprentices from the sued, of resolving each process into its constituent
easy to more and more difficult work. They went movements, without any regard to their possible exe-
through a course of teaching till they were finished cution by the hand of man, created the new science
printers. To be able to read and write was for every of technology. The varied, apparently unconnected,
one of them a requirement of their trade. All this was and petrified forms of the industrial processes now
changed by the printing machine. It employs two resolved themselves into so many conscious and sys-
sorts of laborers, one grown up, tenters, the other, tematic applications of natural sciences to the attain-
hoys mostly from 11 to 17 years of age whose sole ment of given useful effects. Technology also discovered
business is either to spread the sheets of paper under the few main fundamental forms of motion, which,
the machine or to take from it the printed sheets. despite the diversity of the instruments used, are
They perform this weary task, in London especially, necessarily taken by every productive action of the
for 14. 15, and 16 hours at a stretch, during several human body; just as the science of mechanics sees in
days in the week, and frequently for 36 hours, with the most complicated machinery nothing but t lie con-
only '1 hours' rest for meals and sleep. A great part of tinual repetition of the simple mechanical powers.
them cannot read, and they are. as a rule, utter sav- Modern Industry never looks upon and treats
ages and very extraordinary creatures \s soon as the existing form of a process as final. The technical
they get too old for such child's work, hat t is about 17 basis oft hat industry is therefore revolutionary, while
at the latest, they are discharged from the printing es- all earlier modes of production were essenl iall\ on I
tablishment. They become recruits of crime. Several servative. By means of machinery, chemical processes
attempts to procure them employment elsewhere and other methods, it is continually causing changes
were rendered to no avail by their ignorance and bru- not only in the technical basis of production, bul also
tality, and by their mental and bodily degradation m the functions of the laborer, and in the social com
with the division of labor in the interior of lunations of the labor process \t the same time, n
the manufacturing workshops, so it is with the divi- thereby also revolutionizes the division ol labor
sion of labor in the interior of society.
So long as hand- within the society, and incessantly launches n
icraft and manufacture form the general groundwork of capital and of Workpeople from one branch of
of social production, the subjection of the produi erto production to another Bul il Modern Industry, bj its
one branch exclusively, the breaking up of the mull i verj nature, therefore neci u ial \< m ol labor,
.
334 CHAPTER 9
fluency of function, universal mobility of the laborer, capital, is limited to combining elementary education
on the other hand, in its capitalistic form, it repro- with work in the factory, there can be no doubt that
duces the old division of labor with its ossified par- when the working class comes into power, as in-
ticularizations. We have seen how this absolute evitably it must, technical instruction, both theoreti-
contradiction between the technical necessities of cal and practical, will take its proper place in the
Modern Industry, and the social character inherent in working-class schools. There is also no doubt that
its capitalistic form, dispels all fixity and security in such revolutionary ferments, the which
final result of
the situation of the laborer; how it constantly threat- is the abolition of the old division of labor, are diamet-
ens, by taking away the instruments of labor, to ricallyopposed to the capitalistic form of production,
snatch from his hands his means of subsistence, and, and to theeconomic status of the laborer corre-
by suppressing his detail function, to make him su- sponding to that form. But the historical development
perfluous. We have seen, too, how this antagonism of the antagonisms, immanent in a given form of pro-
vents its rage in the creation of that monstrosity, an duction, is the only way in which that form of produc-
industrial reserve army [of the unemployed], kept in tion can be dissolved and a new form established. . .
misery in order to be always at the disposal of capital; [Handicraft wisdom became sheer nonsense from the
in the incessant human sacrifices from among the moment the watchmaker Watt invented the steam
working class, in the most reckless squandering of engine, the barber Arkwright the throttle, and the
labor power, and in the devastation caused by a social working jeweller, Fulton, the steamship.
anarchy which turns every economic progress into a So long as Factory legislation is confined to
social calamity. This is the negative side. But if, on the regulating the labor in factories, manufactories, etc., it
one hand, variation of work at present imposes itself is regarded as a mere interference with the exploiting
after the manner of an overpowering natural law, and rights of capital. But when it comes to regulating the
with the blindly destructive action of a natural law so-called "home labor," it is immediately viewed as a
that meets with resistance at all points, Modern In- direct attack on the patria potestas, on parental au-
dustry, on the other hand, through its catastrophes thority.The tender-hearted English Parliament long
imposes the necessity of recognizing, as a fundamen- affected to shrink from taking this step. The force of
tal law of production, variation of work, consequently facts, however, compelled it at last to acknowledge
fitness of the laborer for varied work, consequently that modern industry, in overturning the economic
the greatest possible development of his varied apti- foundation on which was based the traditional family,
tudes. It becomes a question of life and death of this and the family labor corresponding to it, had also un-
law. Modern Industry, indeed, compels society, under loosed all The rights of the
traditional family ties.
penalty of death, to replace the detail worker of children had to be proclaimed. The final report of
today, crippled by lifelong repetition of one and the the Children's] Employment] Commission] of 1866,
same trivial operation, and thus reduced to the states: "It is, unhappily, to a painful degree apparent
mere fragment of a man, by the fully developed indi- throughout the whole of the evidence, that against no
vidual, fit for a variety of labors, ready to face any persons do the children of both sexes so much re-
change of production, and to whom the different quire protection as against their parents." The system
social functions he performs are but so many modes of unlimited exploitation of children's labor in general
of giving free scope to his own natural and ac- and the so-called home labor in particular is "main-
quired powers. tained only because the parents are able, without
One step already spontaneously taken toward check or control, to exercise this arbitrary and mis-
effecting this revolution is the establishment of tech- chievous power over their young and tender off-
nical and agricultural schools, and of "ecoles d'en- spring. . . . Parents must not, possess the absolute
seignement professionnel," in which the children of power of making their children mere 'machines to
the workingmen receive some little instruction in earn so much weekly wage.' .... The children and
technology and in the practical handling of the vari- young persons, therefore, in all such cases may justi-
ous implements of labor. Though the [English] [vic- fiably claimfrom the legislature, as a natural right,
tory Act, that first and n Leager concession wrung from that an exemption should be seemed to them, from
what destroys prematurely their physical strength, absolute and final as il would be to apply that char
and lowers them in the scale of intellectual and moral acter to the ancient Roman, the ancient Greek, or the
beings." It was not, however, the misuse of parental Eastern forms which, moreover, taken together form
authority that created die capitalistic exploitation, a series in historical development. Moreover, it is ob-
whether direcl of indirect . of children's labor; but, on vious that the fad of the collective working group
the contrary, it was the capitalistic mode of exploita- being composed of individuals of both sexes and all
tion which, by sweeping away the economic basis of ages must necessarily, under suitable conditions, be-
parental authority, made its exercise degenerate into come a source of humane development; although
a mischievous misuse of power. However terrible and in its spontaneously developed, brutal, capitalistic
disgusting the dissolution, under the capitalist sys- form, where the laborer exists for the process of pro-
tem, of the old family ties may appear, nevertheless, duction, and not the process of production for the la-
modern industry, by assigning asdoes an important

it borer, that fact is a pestiferous source of corruption
part in the process of production, outside die do and slavery.
mestic sphere, to women, young persons, and to
to
children of both sexes, creates a new economic foun-

Source: Karl Marx. On Education, Women, and Children
dation Cora higher form of the family and of the rela-
I L975), Vol. 6 of The
Karl Marx Library, edited bj Sau] K
tions between the sexes. is, of course, just as absurd
It
Padover,pp.20,2] -22,25,91-92,112 L13,and 11 L18.Re 1
to hold the Teutonic-* Jhristian form of the family to he produced with permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
MH
SELECTED READINGS
Bowles, Samuel, and Gintis, Herbert. Schooling in Capitalist Awe ri'<< t: Educational Re
form and the 'ontradictions oj Economic Life. New York: Basic Books, 1976. A leading
<
example of the application of Marxist ideas to education in the United States. The authors
articulate the point of \ iow that schools serve capitalistic society by reproducing essential
elements and values of the workplace.
Brosio, Richard A. A Radical Democratic Critique of Capitalist Education Countei .
points: Studies in Postmodern Theory of Education, vol. 3. New York: Peter Lang Publish
ing. L994. Assesses the conflict between capitalism and democracj and the problems this
conflict presents for education. Brosio maintains that Marxism continues to be a relevant
perspective lor educational theory and i

tract ice.
Margonis, Frank. "Marxism, Liberalism, and Educational Theory," Educational Theory

3| hi 19
I 165, ball L993. The author maintains thai recent views that Marxism is dead are
premature. Despite the theory's deficiencies in interpret mi', human differences and con
temporary movements. Marxism
political still has merit because people have not advanced
beyond the conditions thai spawned it.
Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich; and Lenin, V. I. The Essential Left Eon, 'lassie Tea ts on <
the Principles of Socialism. New York: Barnes and Noble. 1965. Selections ol someclas
sic works of Marxisl philosophy, including the Manifesto oj the < 'am mum si Party, bj Marx
and Engels, and Lenin's The state and Re\ olution.
www.mmndsm.org d ^pril 5, 2002) V site devoted exclusively to the manj
of Marxism Contains a number ol listings for other Marxist sites, including archives of Marx
and Engels
336 CHAPTER 9
ONLINE RESEARCH
Companion
Prentice Hall Foundations Web site found at www.prenhall.com/ozmon, answer the
Website following question with a short essay: What are some of the essential components
of Marxist philosophy and what kinds of education do they propose? You can write
and submit your essay response to your instructor by using the "Electronic Blue-
book" section found in any of the topics of the Prentice Hall Foundations Web site.
—
10
Philosophy, Education,
and the Challenge
of Postmodernism
At present words with the prefix post- are heard frequently postindustriai, post-
,
liberal, poststructural, —
and even postphilosophy but the most commonly heard
term is postmodern. Proclamations about the postmodern fill the air, and the way
the term is used often creates confusion: Is this a new historical epoch after \ lie mod-
ern, something akin to the great epochs of past history? Does it merely mean a change
in artistic and literary styles in the modern era itself, such as occurred with the rise
of modern art and the modern novel? Or is postmodernism something else an in- —
between period in which old ways of thinking are being questioned while a new era,
hidden beyond the horizon, is yet to be born? In other words, reasonable questions
can be raised about whether the modern era is dead or dying, whether postmod-
ernism is ruly an epochal watershed in human thought and culture, or whether he
t t
apparent change is merely aperiodic fluctuation in, say, the artistic, literary, and the-
oretical tastes of intellectuals. Whatever the case, an intellectual upheaval is occur
ring, and needs to he studied for what it portends.
it
POSTMODERN VARIETY
In virtually any scholarly journal devoted to literary or social criticism within the pasl
few decades are writings aboul something called the 'postmodern, but the term itself
is not easily defined or described. Frederic Jameson maintains thai the reason posl
modernism is a hotly contested concepl lies in its parasitica] relationship with mod-
ernism. Indeed, practically anj characteristic of the postmodern can be attributed as
easily to themodern, but Jameson argues thai an important factor in the arrival ofposl
modernism was the upheavals of the 1960s, when the assumed truths of the time were
brought into question and various experiments in "offensive" lifestyles and outlooks be
came prominent. For example, Thud World countries threw off the yokes of colonial
ism, and minorities and people on the margins of dominant cultures took up new
identities. Old-style Communism began its slide to oblivion under de-Stalinization,
8 :\ 7
338 CHAPTER 10
hopes were raised for a new left and new Communism, and opposition in the United
States to the Vietnam War set a new generation on radical social and political paths.
Today, however, it is apparent that the promised liberation of the Third World
was an oversimplification, that the new leftist movements retreated or died in the
face of aggressive neoconservatism, that the Vietnam War opposition and its radical
intensity are now but a memory, and that many of the offensive lifestyles so promi-
—
nent in the abrasive 1960s the art forms and modes of thought that served as a kind
of high culture— have been brought down to the level of the mass production of com-
modities and ordinary aspects of daily life. In Jameson's view, then, what at first held
so much promise had by the 1980s been co-opted, sidetracked, or made banal. Dis-
illusionment and exhaustion followed.
Todd Gitlin claims that the search for unity that once characterized intellec-
tual thought apparently has been abandoned, and a bewildering array of styles and
interpretations are present. Concern about difference, diversity, and marginality
juxtaposed against power and privilege are prominent, and traditional claims to uni-
versality are deconstructed and made to appear superfluous. If modernism is dis-
integrating now, postmodernism is fascinated with the residue.
Roger Mourad gives a more positive view: Postmodernism is still in its infancy
but is nonetheless a significant influence on contemporary thought in the sciences,
the visual and performing arts, literature, religious studies, cultural studies generally,
and, of course, philosophy. Although its primary philosophical underpinnings come
from French philosophers such as Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean-Francois
Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, and Jacques Lacan, it has had its American contributors
as well, such as Richard Rorty and Calvin Schrag. In no small part, postmodernism
has come from a rejection of the Enlightenment and its concern with objective sci-
ence and claims to universal values, morality, law, and art. In philosophy, scholarly
debate breaks down into two camps: defenders of modernism who want to reform it,
and postmodernists who want to displace it.
It should be noted that postmodernists resist being characterized as a school
of thought. The postmodernists' dislike of encompassing narratives might be one

reason for this, and philosophers who identify with postmodern views seek no con-
sensus on an overriding philosophical doctrine. In general, the postmodern conscious-
ness embraces the proposition that no single cultural tradition or mode of thought can
serve as a metonarrative, a universal voice for all human experience. As Lyotard puts
it in The Postmodern Condition, a simple definition of the postmodern is "incredulity
toward metanarratives." One view that postmodernism has called into question most
is modernism's Eurocentric metanarrative and its claims to universal rational struc-
tures by which to judge the good, the true, or the beautiful. In philosophy, this out-
look is what Richard Rorty attacked in Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, when
he declared that philosophy simply could not serve as an objective "mirror" against
which all knowledge claims are measured. In a similar vein, in Paradigms Lost: Im-
ages of Man in the Mirror of Science, John Casti critiques scientific rationalism for
its claims of detached objectivity although scientific investigation relies to a consid-
erable degree on hunches, intuition, and even aesthetic enjoyment rather than pure
methodological procedures that yield universal "laws" of science.
PHILOSOPHY, EDUCATION, & THE CHALLENGE OF POSTMODERNISM 339
Thus, postmodernism celebrates an iconoclastic outlook that breaks with mod-

ern claims of universality, and it rejects claims of objective certainty that seek to end
discussion and debate. One result is that the defining boundaries of human thoughl
that once seemed so clear now appear to be fading, including the knowledge bound-
aries between the academic disciplines. A case in point is how recenl philosophical
study has affected other disciplines and how those disciplines have affected philos-
ophy. Such cross-fertilization has been perhaps most notable in Ihe interchange be-
tween philosophy and the social sciences, history, language and literature, and also
the theory of education.
For example, Stanley Aronowitz and Henry Giroux. in Postmodern Education:
Politics. ( 'ulture, and Social Criticism, write thai pari of the difficulty in clarifying
postmodernism is the ambivalence of postmodern conditions. They propose an

"emancipatory" postmodern education that answers for its choices, however provi-
sional those choices are. One feature that Aronowitz and Giroux oiler is a radical ap-
proach to education and democracy to replace old-style master narratives found in
the liberal arts, modern science, and philosophical positivism. Traditions of knowl-
edge that see the curriculum grounded in traditional cultural canons, in scientific
1
laws or first principles, are challenged as forms of continuing domination. The au-
thors promote a curriculum that includes "marginal" knowledge and "discourses of
difference" organized around such issues as gender, race, ethnicity, and class identi-
ties, elevating these marginal voices to equitable or even superior standing with tra-
ditional curriculum canons. Traditional knowledge is not ignored, but when is it
studied, the efforl should be to examine the content —

to "deconstruct" the "text"
to see how it shapes one's notions of difference (race, gender, and so on) and con
tributes to elevating some segments of society to power and affluence but reduces
others to subaltern status. This "rubs against the grain" of traditional-minded cur-
riculum theorists.
POSTMODERNISM AND PHILOSOPHY

Postmodernism is not solely a brainchild of philosophers, but certainly philosophers
have contributed a fair share to its genesis and development. Some postmodernists
prefer the word theory to philosophy because they want to avoid traditional meta-
narratives and false separations between fields of knowledge, such as the boundary
linos thatkeep traditional academic disciplines remote from each other. is reason- It
able to speak of postmodern philosophy, however, if is understood as not signifj

it
ing an overriding agreemenl or unitg of thought. If postmodernism, generally

speaking, is parasitic on the modern, then this is no loss true of postmodern philoso
phy. which soon is fascinated with, even if highly critical of. w li.it 'loin philosophy
has wrought. So. ;i is in oof

brief review sketch to provide context.
i ;i
\n earlier chapterexamined the philosophj of pragmatism, which rejects

metaphysical views of a block universe, recognizes thai knowledge is provisional and
uncertain, and involves a commitment to ameliorating or solving human problen
commitment in which education takes a central role [ts< hiel proponents express* !
340 CHAPTER 10
optimistic hope for the future and the need for human action to solve problems. Prag-
matism went into decline by the mid-twentieth century, but in its recent resurgence,
neopragmatism identifies with certain postmodern themes in philosophy and educa-
tion, such as a rejection of metanarratives and aversion to objective certainty, views
that also were present in classic pragmatism's rejection of the "quest for certainty"
The postmodern consciousness responds negatively to behaviorism for its to-
talizing view of scientific objectivity and its reduction of human intentions and ac-
tions to a technology of behavior. Postmodernism also responds negatively to analytic
philosophy because of its affinity with positivism and objectivism; however, post-
modernism responds positively to analytic philosophy's sensitivities to language, par-
ticularly the later works of Ludwig Wittgenstein, who saw language as having a
multiplicity of usages and meanings.
The influence of existentialism, phenomenology, and hermeneutics also was ex-
plored, including the perspectives of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger,
and Jean-Paul Sartre. Nietzsche challenged conventional philosophy with his radi-
cal moral and political views. Heidegger promoted the examination of singularity
and particularity, not history writ large, as Hegel or Marx would have it. Sartre de-
veloped the view that people must fashion their own meaning in the world, and his
acceptance of Marxism was qualified by an insistence that no objective determinism
could exist. Postmodernists find some support in these views, particularly the re-
jection of universal objectivity —
and the emphasis on particularity themes that find
sympathetic reception in postmodern philosophy and philosophy of education.
A previous chapter sketched a picture of Marx and how the mantle of Western
Marxism eventually was passed to critical theory. A new outlook emerged that re-
jected class conflict as the central struggle and looked to structural changes in West-
ern societies and conflicts among dominant and subordinate cultural groups.
Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Jurgen Habermas developed interdiscipli-
nary studies of society and culture, and the term critical theory came to be applied.
In turn, critical theory has been an important component of postmodern philosoph-
ical and educational theory.
For the most part, modern philosophy presents themes and ideas from which
many postmodernists draw sustenance, although disagreement and repulsion exist,
as well. With this background in mind, it is possible to understand better the context
for postmodern philosophers because they criticize as well as adopt elements from
their predecessors.
Postmodern Philosophy and Its European Backgrounds

Most generative postmodern ideas have come out of European philosophy, particu-
larly from French thinkers. Although many philosophers have contributed important
elements to the postmodern thrust, for purposes of illustration, the work of two lead-
ing French philosophers will be considered briefly: Foucault and Derrida. Although
they rarely if ever referred to their own works as postmodern, their ideas have gen-
erated much commentary and stimulated philosophical thought that is characteris-
tic of postmodernism.
Michel Foucault (1926-1984)

Michel Foucault is perhaps besl known on how no-
for writing philosophical histories
tions about truth have their origins in historical conflidand struggle, and how these
truth notions exercise power over institutions, social systems, and personal identi-
ties. For example, in The Order of Things, Foucault conducts an "archaeology of the
human sciences" (psychology, sociology, and anthropology) to show how the modern
view of man developed, not as a child of God or as a thinking being but as an object
of study with predictable traits of behavior. This view did not appear until the con-
cepts and methods of modern science were applied to the human sciences in the
nineteenth century. In part, it was an outgrowth of the norms demanded by indus-
trial society, but it was also a result of changing views of objective knowledge and
truth. Foucault suggests that the modern concept of humanity may have run its
course, because the human sciences that give it universality and objectivity mask all
sorts of modern techniques of manipulation, domination, and power techniques —
that control how people see themselves and discipline themselves to fit into various
roles demanded by the existing political, social, and economic order.
In other studies, Foucault examines the rut li/power connection in specific con-
t
texts, conducting what he calls a "genealogy" of how people use techniques of power
and control to constitute themselves as subjects (selves) and objects of knowledge
(tilings). His approach develops historical understandings from within specific his-
torical events, or what he calls "eventalization." Rather than attempting to find uni-
form principles or objective anthropological traits to explain history as the way
events necessarily had to occur, eventalization looks at breaches in the historical
How — singular historical events that become highly significant in how people define
and organize themselves. For example, in Madness and Civilization, he examines
how people came to define insanity and then built asylums to treat it; in Discipline
and Punish, he does the same with criminality and prisons. His intent is to reveal
how people developed institutions around particular notions of insanity and crimi-
nality when other ways of seeing these conditions might have been chosen at the
time. In other words. Foucault attempts to understand how connections, strategies,
meanings, and social forces and processes come together in historical events to send
us in certain directions rather than in others.
By emphasizing singular events, Foueault is not looking simply for breaks in an
otherwise-seamless weave of history; rather, specific historical events are made by
multiple processes, including past practices, presenl variations, and social inven
tiveness. Rather than trying to find universal causal forces to explain history, the task
is to look for multiple influences within historical events. For example, in his study
of criminality and imprisonment, Poucaull argues thai people made the connection
of imprisonment with schooling practices and military discipline. It is not thai one of
these influences caused the other (the existence of schools did not cause prisons to
appear); raider, analysis of the processes internal to the historii al development of
prisons leads not to causes, but to a "polymorphism" of relations that induce people
to conduct and govern themselves in particular was i al thai historic moment. In
other words, the ways people come to relate to each other in one social institution
(such as how teachers and students relate to each other in school) establish patterns
—
342 CHAPTER 10
of relations that induce them to act in similar patterns in new institutional frame-
works they might develop. These patterns, because they are familiar and appear to
be the natural way of doing things, may not fit the new frameworks.
For example, prisons came about due to several factors. One was technology that
resulted in new forms of architecture (such as buildings made of concrete and steel)
that permitted secure forms of incarceration and surveillance of prisoners. Another
was the development of strategies and tactics to control criminal behavior, without the
public brandings, mutilations, and cruel executions that sometimes resulted in violent
public disorder in the past. New theories also had impacts, such as ideas about hu-
manitarian reform and the rehabilitation of criminals. All of these techniques, prac-
tices, and ideas were connected with reform ideas about schooling and military
discipline, and they led to new ways to organize and operate prisons and to treat those
incarcerated in prisons. Foucault maintains that the development of prisons did not
come about by some external causal force; rather, prisons were rational and calculated
measures connected to prevailing concepts of knowledge, truth, and the proper way
to run institutions. The new institutions were meant to address perceived needs of the
time, and existing ideas were reshaped into new narratives or discourses about the way
to run institutions (or what counts as truth and knowledge in operating them). The re-
sult was a new "regime of truth" that exercised power and control over people and in-
stitutions. Power in this sense is not something people possess, nor is it imposed from
without; it is found in the ways people conduct and govern themselves and how they
perceive and define themselves and the society in which they live.
It could be argued that Foucault merely creates another narrative about human
history and how historical events shape and are shaped by notions of truth and
power, but the way he uncovers the subtleties of the relations of truth, knowledge,
and power, and how individual and social identities are formed as a result, has pro-
vided new ways of viewing historical processes, ways not burdened by old metanar-
ratives of unfolding causal forces such as Hegel or Marx envisioned. Indeed, for
Foucault all disciplines are involved with power — political, economic, cultural, edu-
cational, and so Postmodernists take Foucault to mean that the situations
forth.
people face today, such as power regimes that pass themselves off as necessary and
historically determined, are not the result of inevitable destiny but of human inven-
tion in specific historical contexts. If conditions are to be changed, then they must
once again —be changed by human invention, and this will involve what is considered
at the time to be true knowledge and how people define and exercise power as a re-
sult. Great care must be taken in making changes, however, because people might
carry over into the new situation unconscious or assumed "true" patterns of relations
that may lie at the heart of their difficulties with the status quo. Moreover, even when
people create truly new patterns to escape old conditions, they might only be creat-
ing new power relations that will control them in ways they are unable to predict.
Jacques Derrida (1930- )

Jacques Derrida has contributed significant philosophical critiques of the logo-
centrism of Western philosophy, and he has had an important influence on several
i&% fields, including literature and literary criticism. In Of Grammatology Derrida holds ,
— }
that the philosophical quest of traditional metaphysics was to understand logos

(from the Greek, meaning "speech, word, or reason," the central controlling rational
principles of the universe). Philosophers have assumed at least since Aristotle that
the human mind has a direct representational connection with the external world,
and logos is the organizing rational principle of that world. Philosophers (or any
speakers or writers, for that matter) use speech and writing to represent (or signify
something. Words and combinations of words are the representations (or signs) that
stand for things, ideas, or any objects of thought. So, philosophers provide analyses,
orderings, and descriptions of what they purport to be accurate representations of
logos; that is, what appears to the mind or intellect is reported or described as rep-
resentative of logos.
This metaphysical quest has resulted in contradictions and paradoxes. As
Derrida sees it, this is because philosophers' representations do not belong to some
external logos hidden from the rest of the people, but to the language people use
that is, to discourses, writings, or texts. To put it simply, language comes before
knowledge, and word meanings are unstable and difficult to control with any cer-
tainty. Derrida sought to uncover and illuminate the instabilities and contradictions
of language and tried to demystify them. Any universal meanings are withheld from us
because of the vagaries of words and meanings, under which circumstances it is im-
possible to achieve exacting and universal clarity. In short, all people have is text and ,
nothing more. What is needed, then, is to "deconstruct" texts rather than try to make
them reflect logos with exacting accuracy. The critic must work from inside a text,
but not in order to get an objective view of logos or even of what the speaker/aut 1 u ir/
philosopher really means; rather, the critic looks at how the vagaries of language ci in-
fuse central meanings of texts. Part of the difficultyis that people never an fully in
1
control of the language they use because words are representations with variable
shades of meaning. When one defines a word, one recognizes that could have sev- ii
eral meanings and finds that it also relates to other words and their meanings. The
author and the readers/listeners bring to a discourse their own shades of meanings
shaped by experience, and the context in which the writing and reading occurs can
further influence the understanding of readers/listeners. In other words, what people
get when they encounter a text is not an objective account of logos or even what the
author necessarily meant, but rather their currenl interpretation or understanding
of that text. This understanding becomes, SO to speak, their own "text" of the text.
A Derridian scenario can be stated this way: Consider a womari trying to shape
an idea or understanding. As the woman seeks clarity and understanding, she tries
to pi it the idea into words. As she struggles with the project, she
is confronted with
choosing exactly the convex as precisely as possible jusl how she per
right words to
ceives the matter, bul as soon as she chooses a w<.rd. she finds that it Only implii
relates tO other WOrdS. She might feel the need to talk with Other people, I" lolled
aloud, and to receive criticism. In the process ol discussion, she revises, discard-..
changes words and descriptions, and receives suggestions i"i additional char
she might try to commit her thoughts to paper, and once again she onfronts
t i
word and slippery meanings, h tins thinker is like most thinkers, she probably will
,
not \«- satisfied, She might put tin' paper aside and resolve t<> come back t<> latei it
344 CHAPTER 10
but even then, the words she previously wrote might strike her with variant mean-
ings, and so she revises more.
At each step her picture changes, but now it is composed of written statements.
Chances are that when she stops, the results will convey something different from her
original thoughts. As soon as she chooses words and composes sentences, they sug-
gest other words and meanings, and the meaning of her project gets broadened, re-
stricted, or redirected. Now suppose she publishes her work or orally delivers it before
an audience. Will her audience grasp what she really meant? It is not likely, because
her own intended meaning has changed and probably will change in the future; in ad-
dition, her readers/listeners each will bring their own sets of experiences and related
meanings to the encounter. Her words will strike them in somewhat different ways
than she intends, and they will impute their own shades of meaning and inference,
perhaps discuss her remarks with their friends, and even be inventive and enlarge her
remarks to suit their own contexts. As Derrida puts it in Of Grammatology in this ,
kind of situation the writing has become "enlarged and radicalized"; it "no longer is-
sues from a logos." This thinker's assumed apprehension of logos, including her origi-
nal thought and its later refinements, has been deconstructed of its original "truth."
Derrida coined a term for this kind of dilemma: dijferance It is a combination
.
of difference and defer to indicate how one's efforts at speech and writing always
confront differences in interpretation and the relations of meanings. This exists not
only in how one word implies other words, but also in how people understand or use
words. People find themselves having to defer to the complexities and interplay of
meanings encountered in any attempt to establish a central meaning. A system of
signs and symbols — or language —
simply cannot accomplish the task with absolute
precision. Philosophers, in their efforts to find logos (central or universal principles
and structures) have, in effect, merely played with words, substituting one version
of logos for another. The result has been interminable disputes about nature and cul-
ture, mind and body, subject and object, being and becoming, and so on.
From Derrida's standpoint, philosophers have celebrated the signifier (reason,
mind, consciousness) over the signified (words, signs, language), when it is the sig-
nified — —
the words and signs that shape our thinking. In other words, philosophers
have gotten it backwards, or at least out of kilter. Think of it this way: Philosophers
have assumed a "metaphysics of presence" wherein the mind, the rational "organ,"
has a presence to logos such that it can apprehend it and "read" its intelligible fea-
tures. Language is seen then as merely a tool, a medium by which to report philo-
sophical findings about logos. The assumption is that mind precedes language (or
words and signs), but as Derrida might ask, what would happen if we assumed that
—
language precedes minds that is, that we have minds because we have language?
Another way to say this is that what we call mind comes from our cultural texts and
how we read or interpret them. As Derrida puts it, all we have is text and all we know
,
is text.
Critics might say that Derrida merely elevates language over thought and that
1
the "deconstruction" of cultural texts only reduces texts down to their "destruction."
As some critics of postmodernism point out, the postmodern consciousness seems too
prone to nihilism and relativism, too ready to say that because no central truth exists,
PHILOSOPHY. EDUCATION, & THE CHALLENGE OF POSTMODERNISM 345
everything is and any interpretation is legitimate;

relative leads to an ethical rela-
it
tivism where everything is permissible. However, this is not what lerrida argues, for I
he insists on a greater sensitivity to the dispersal and interplay of meanings through-

out language, of how words refer to other words and meanings, and how each of us in-
terprets meanings as a result. Furthermore, the thoughts thai people have arise oul of
their historical context, their cultural epoch, their language and fund of meanings, and
the uses to which they put these things. In short, what we think we know is unstable.
This does not mean that we cannot develop understandings and take moral positions
on issues we deem important; rather, our understandings and positions have no spe-
cial privileged status over others'. does not mean thai wecannol communicate with
It
each other, but it does mean that communication is problematic and inexact.
Criticisms of Postmodernism
In some respects, key postmodern themes are echoes of previous philosophical

views. Postmodernists' disaffection with the status quo reflects elements of both
Marxism and pragmatism. However, Marxism had a Utopian vision of a new socialist
society and pragmatism had a vision of a more democratic society, but post-
modernism seems to have no comparable vision, at least where its Marxist and prag-
matisl critics are concerned.
InAgainst Postmodernism, Alex Callinicos uses a Marxist perspective to cri-
and its acceptance of a subjectivism
tique post modernism's rejection of objectivity
composed of "incoherent sub- and trans-individual drives and desires." 'ontrary to (
its anti-realism claims, postmodernism embraces changes in the socioeconomic world
that it moving away from industrial mass production toward a post-

interprets as
industrial system where theoretical research is "the engine of growth." Callinicos ar-
gues thai this view is based on false assumptions because mass production and mass
communications are still present, but he also sees how the view has an obvious appeal
to the generation that came of age during the "revolutionary" l'.tiitis. By the 1980s,
many of its members were disillusioned that a socialist revolution would occur, hut
now occupying middle class professional, managerial, or aclniiriistrative positions, and
relatively comfortable with their material possessions, thej became obsessed with
consumerism, "discriminating" taste, and narcissistic preoccupation with "youthful"
physique and appearance. Vpocalyptic in tone, postmodernist intellectuals of this
generation anticipated imminent collapse of the existing social order, but with their
hope in a socialist revolution now gone, they seem unable to develop a positive belief
in any future system. The "revolutionary resistance" of their youth now reduced i<>
consumption and an attitude of ironic distance from the fate of the world, thej find
solace in philosophical pronouncements of apparenl profunditj bul genuine obscu
my claiming nothing can be done Callinicos dismisses such postmodern philoso
phers as akin o intellectuals
i who fiddle while R burns.
Neopragmatism projects a more optimistii countenance, however, andaltho
it fmd agreemenl with soup- postmodern themes
. also finds major pome, ol dis
il
reemenl Richard Bernstein calf, for finding common ground iel the crucial
i
"ethical-political needs ol the presenl day. Where postmodernists see ruptures in

346 CHAPTER 10
philosophical thought, Bernstein finds hope, not gloom, and he calls for contempo-
rary philosophers to see themselves as fallible but engaged thinkers who are part of
a community of inquirers. In a similar vein, Cornel West maintains that what is needed
is a helpful response to contemporary issues, particularly cultural diversity and the
need to include marginal groups in mainstream social life. Likewise, Richard Rorty
argues that the lack of a great unifying theory does not mean that people should sink
into negative despair but that they should seek solidarity with others to overcome
cruelty in the world. These critics agree that philosophical arguments should be
tested for how well they help solve problems in social life, not how well they repre-
sent the universal or find fault with claims about it.
Much criticism has been directed at the rather arcane and "transgressive" jar-
gon postmodernists often use, a language as confusing to many philosophers as it is
to the general public. Postmodernists' concern with fragmentation and overbearing

rationalism might promote misleading "either-or" thinking, as can be seen in the call
to escape the current nostalgia for wholeness and to "wage a war on totality," as if the
only choice is either to yearn for wholeness or to war against totality. As Jurgen
Habermas points out, the postmodern suspicion of totality is hardly new because
classic pragmatists long ago warned against all-encompassing universals, opting for
a fallibilistic consciousness rather than either absolute certainty or despairing ni-
hilism. Rorty's postmodernist features are obvious, but he argues that postmodern
leftists are so fearful of complicity with bourgeois liberalism that they have forgotten
to fear political impotence, and they have abandoned electoral politics for cultural
politics. Although their concern about class, race, and gender is admirable, their
"politics of difference" and fear of liberalism lead them to avoid the mundane world
of real politics where weak" and "the rich
battles against "the strong depriving the
ripping off the poor" must be fought. If postmodern up on democratic
leftists give
politics because they think the system is irredeemable, they risk becoming like the
cynical critics who always knew democracy simply could not work.
POSTMODERN PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION

Variety is characteristic of postmodern philosophy of education, although its
strongest element seems to be derived from the Western Marxist tradition of critical
theory. Giroux is among the most prominent exponents of postmodern critical the-
ory in philosophy of education. In addition, Peter McLaren developed an ethno-
graphic approach closely aligned with Giroux, calling it "critical pedagogy." Others in
the postmodern vein include Cleo Cherryholmes, who developed a poststructuralist

critical pragmatism, and C. A. Bowers, who distances himself from critical theory and
champions what he calls postliberalism. Numerous other contributors to postmodern
education could be included, such as William Stanley, who joins postmodern critical
pedagogy to the social reconstructionist tradition in education.
Critical theory contains strong elements of Marxism, but the postmodern sus-
picion of metanarratives also is directed at Marxist thought, so postmodern critical
theory has made some adjustments. In Border Crossings, Henry Giroux credits
Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis for energizing radical education in the late 1970s
with their Marxist interpretation ofeducationasaformofsocial reproduction. Pierre
Bourdieu provided a similar Influence with his Gramscian perspective that schools 1
reproduce "cultural capital" for those occupying positions of advantage. In Giroux's

opinion, both views were too heavily influoneod by Marxist theories of class conflict
as the explanatory principle for domination, and they lacked a larger view of power
along the lines of Foucault. Old-style Marxism has receded, but Giroux maintains it
is still important to understand Marxist tradition in order to develop an effective criti-
cism of modernism, even as is also necessary to avoid the totalizing language of tra-
it
ditional Marxism. From Giroux's perspective, the philosophical task is to rethink the
purpose and meaning of education as a convergence of modernism and postmodern-
ism. On the one hand, he wants to retain the modernists' belief in human reasoning
to overcome suffering (but without its pretensions to universality), and he values the
modernists' emphasis on ethical, historical, and political discourse. On the other hand,
he seeks social change and justice by emphasizing marginal discourses and the poli-
1
ics of difference to redefine relations between the margins and the center of society.
t
Critical theorist Michael Apple takes exception and maintains that class is more
significant than postmodernists recognize, and that gender and race cannot be sep-
arated from class. He notes that a significant factor among people on the margins of
American culture is the greater percentage of low incomes and unemployment
among women and people of color. This showsthat race and gender are no1 separate
from class, and postmodernists err when they fail to recognize this. From Apple's
more orthodox perspective, attention should be given to material conditions, class
conflict, and the social structures that support them; educational theory that fails to
do so is thereby weakened.
McLaren notes that although critical theorists have much in common, such as a
Marxist background, they also show divergence—particularly the difference between 1
the highly theoretical Aronowitz/Giroux approach and McLaren's ethnographic ap-

proach of"critical pedagogy." h\.Life in Schools, McLaren argues that critical pedagogy
is not a singular set of ideas; rather, its common objective is to empower the powerless
and to overcome inequities and injustices. Critical pedagogy challenges the way schools
support dominant power elites and maintain existing inequities, and envisions it
schools as agencies in which self- and social empowerment can be enhanced. Thus, crit-
ical pedagogy is "irrevocably committed to the side of the oppressed." opposes pos It
itivistic, ahistorieal. and depolituizeel education and is particularly attuned to the
politics of power relations found in schools thai are part of the larger society. McLaren
has increasingly called for greater unil\ among critical pedagogy advocates, and using
elements of Marxist concern for socioeconomic conditions, he urges less cultural crit-
icism and more social activism regarding educational and social transformati
'hern holmes prefers the term poststructuralism over postmodernism,
(
pri
tnarilybecause he sees structuralism as the major obstacle to overcome in modern

education, an argument he develops in Pou er and 'riticism Poststructural In <
ligations in Education As Cherryholmi Btru< turalism isa form of post
tivism with its roots in the Enlightenment tradition ol rational control over human
affairs. Structuralism ]
the larger problem because it has been so intrusive in
348 CHAPTER 10
modern education, with its theory of rational linear progress and control. This is seen
in the emphasis on a rigidly structured curriculum, the reliance on testing and sort-
ing, and the extent of bureaucratic control. Simply described, structuralist theory de-
fines social systems by the interconnections of the various parts with each other and
with the whole, and it seeks to uncover the rational principles for the structural
framework of social systems and schools. As such, structuralism is a metanarrative
that says that structure is the key to logos.
Cherryholmes's version of poststructuralist thought, on the contrary, uses the
work of Foucault and Derrida to analyze and deconstruct the assumptions of struc-
turalism. The need is to go beyond mere negation, however, and Cherryholmes uses
elements of Dewey and Rorty to develop what he calls "critical pragmatism" as a pos-
sible response to structuralist assumptions in education. He differentiates critical
pragmatism from the vulgar pragmatism that uncritically accepts conventional dis-
courses and uses education for functional and utilitarian purposes. Critical pragma-
tism emphasizes a sense of postmodern crisis and a thoroughgoing examination of
standards of value and belief, how institutions are organized and conducted, and how
people perceive and treat others.
Bowers takes a different stance from the other authors, and although he stands
outside the tenor of the postmodern radical Left, he can be placed under the post-
modern umbrella of variety. In Elements of a Post-Liberal Theory of Education, he
examines the works of Carl Rogers, B. F. Skinner, Paulo Freire, and John Dewey, a di-
vergent group of individuals that he believes represent various points within the lib-
eral spectrum. Although he recognizes important contributions of liberalism, he claims
that it stands as a "regime of truth," like those Foucault criticizes. Bowers's intent is to
go beyond liberalism because he believes that its conceptual framework is too limiting
and might contribute to the crisis in people's sense of social purpose and cultural au-
thority This gives his thought a postmodern thrust but one that includes cultural con-
servation, as well as negation. He attempts to update liberalism by using its "language
of possibility" in contexts unknown to its founders, such as the ecological crisis.
Like the critical theorists, Bowers wants a "language of empowerment," but he
distances himself from neo-Marxist critical theory because he believes that it is
untested and inadequate to provide a basis for the radical empowerment needed to-
day. He accepts Dewey's view of social intelligence and wants to preserve progres-
sive liberal achievements in politics and education, but he believes that liberal
individualism encourages the pursuit of self-interest, which accounts for such prob-
lems as the ecological crisis. What Bowers wants is a theory of education that con-
serves the "community of memory" of significant cultural achievements and that
builds a reflective community that looks to the future. This includes a conception of
individualism based on political participation and the common good.
Aims of Education
Giroux stresses that ethics must be a central concern to critical education, particu-
larly the different ethical discourses that offer students a richer fund of meanings and
help them relate to diversity in the wider society. This enables students to under-
PHILOSOPHY. EDUCATION, & THE CHALLENGE OF POSTMODERNISM 349
stand how an individual's experience

influenced by different ethical discourses and
is
how formed hotween the self and others, including others of dif-
ethical relations are
ferent background, origin, and perspective. The basic function of this process is to
engage students in social discourse that helps them reject needless human suffer-
ing and exploitation, and the purpose is to developa social sense of responsibility for
others, including those considered ••outsiders" on the margins of social life. Pul an-
other way, the aim is to develop student identities that enable them to struggle
against inequality and to expand basic human rights. In this sense, then, the aim of
education is emancipation from oppression.
Social discourse is a crucial consideral inn. In Border 'rossings, Giroux main-
(
tains that postmodern critical theory views tin 1

production of meaning as more im-
portant than the production of labor in shaping the boundaries of human existence.
The Marxist theory of inevitable class conflict and labor fails to e\
between capital
plain human circumstances, mainly because social conditions based on religion, gen-
der, race, and ethnicity have dynamics that cannot be reduced simply to class
conflict. How personal identities are influenced by language— by narratives and dis-
—
courses is more significant, so postmodernist critical theory concentrates on "the
world of the discursive," in which signifying terms and practices affect how persons
relate to themselves, to others, and to the surrounding physical and cultural envi-
ronment. In this sense, then, the world of conscious life is a "textual" world a "text" —
(or discourse") that can be interpreted, analyzed, and reshaped or "reinvented." It
is a text from which people develop their sense of self and their sense of social and
cultural relations.
The discursive world
is complex, not a simplistic world that can be explained
neatly by binary oppositions such as class conflict or by rule-bound determinism

found in the "laws" of science and economics. Recognition of the importance of signs
and meanings does not imply ignoring political and economic forces, instead, it
means giving the discursive an important place m understanding how personal and
social identitiesand meanings are made and how they play powerful roles in shaping
privilege, oppression, and conflict. In Giroux's perspective, the postmodernist aim of
emancipation from oppression strives "to de-territorialize the map of dominant cul
tural understanding."
McLaren makes the poinl tins way: Education should result in self and social
empowerment. He criticizes the American radii ion in which schools attempl

t to de
velop a democratic and egalitarian society, with the traditional humanities curricu
Inn informing si ndei its about humane values and ethical standards. As McLaren sees
i
it.contemporary schools do precious little to promote even the Western humanist

tradition, and the assumption that schooling produces social and economic mobility
must be compare. againsl an actual record "I serving the interests of the affluent
i
This latter condition is seen in recent conservative reforms, where aims and ur i
riculum are geared to the marketplace and international economic competition

Dominanl interests in control of education assume that exi icational
arrangements are rt< iols should serv< th< status quo, and all people
citizens, policj maker and educators

. should relj on < ientific predictability and
measurement to make educational decisions Thej believe that students need to
350 CHAPTER 10
become educated in social and technical knowledge before they can become effec-
tivemoral agents. McLaren, commenting negatively on some postmodern excessive-
ness in criticism of cultural texts, wants critical pedagogy, on the contrary, to assume
that education for self- and social empowerment is ethically prior to accumulation
of knowledge, although knowledge acquisition occurs along with empowerment.
McLaren's point is that the primary aim of self- and social empowerment is to develop
students' commitment to a social transformation that elevates marginalized groups,
particularly the oppressed poor.
Cherryholmes also sees emancipation from oppression as an important aim of
education, but in Power and Criticism, he highlights some notes of caution in the
work of Foucault (who stressed that knowledge and truth claims are historically rela-
tive) and Derrida (who showed that meanings are dispersed and in constant play).
Cherryholmes develops his argument along these lines: The prevailing discourse that
supports existing educational arrangements as necessary are connected to the
knowledge and truth claims of existing political power, and that particular discourse
is simply unstable ideology, not timeless truth and knowledge. For Cherryholmes,
then, an appropriate education would examine prevailing discourses to uncover the

claims and instabilities of the dominant order and to recognize those discourses that
oppress and those that can be built upon to liberate and expand human possibilities.
He cautions, however, that combating oppression might involve other kinds of op-
pression and coercion, because people who hold power and status might not want to
relinquish their privileges. Overcoming a discourse of power and its knowledge/truth
claims might involve creating new discourses of power and privilege that themselves
become oppressive regimes of truth, as Foucault stressed. Likewise, Derrida's con-
clusions about the instabilities of meanings and discourses should alert people that
emancipation from an oppressive discourse could lead to a new one. Thus, Cherry-
holmes's critical pragmatism emphasizes helping students reflect on received as well
as marginal knowledge and truth, and it is committed to helping students develop
new discourses of emancipation. He also emphasizes Dewey's view of the experi-
mental nature of education and of human fallibility; that is, the conclusions people
draw and the choices they make also have political, moral, and ethical consequences.
Those conclusions and choices must be subjected to frequent evaluation and re-
adjustment or reconstruction.
Bowers advocates the restoration of community as the essential aim of educa-
tion. He gives historic liberalism a culturally conservative analysis, but he also pro-
motes a radical "bioregional" education that emphasizes building a culture in
harmony with the natural environment. Important educational objectives include
knowledge of worthwhile cultural traditions for a "community of memory"; under-
standing the self as a social being, including understanding historical forces that help
constitute personal identity and social consciousness; and educating individuals for
effective membership in a social and natural ecological community. He stresses the
need to move beyond the liberal view of the autonomous individual to a view of the
is the constituting ground
individual as a social-cultural being. In this view, language
and should be the starting point for education. People need to stop
of individual being
defining knowledge and learning in terms of traditional literacy; instead, oral com-
.
iiuinication should be included as an important feature of literacy, with emphasis on

a shared language, how people use language and how it uses them, and communica-
tive competence as preparation for membership in a political community.

Generally, postmodernists hold that the curriculum should not be viewed as discrete
subjects and disciplines, but should include issues of power, history, personal and
group identities, cultural politics, and social criticism leading to collective action.
Rather than pretending that education has no connection with politics, postmod-
ernists connect educational materials and processes (means) with the imperatives of
a democratic community (ends). They envision a curriculum that is successful when
itempowers people and transforms society, not when it maintains privileged eco-
nomic and political interests. It is a curriculum that organizes itself from the inside
out, so to speak —
that is, from the concrete personal identities, histories, and ordi-
nary experiences of students outward to the more abstract meanings of culture, his-
tory, and politics rather than the other way around. In this respect, postmodernists
who follow this line of reasoning harken back to a central Deweyan concept of mak-
ing the learner's experience the basic starting point
Aronowitz and Giroux have treated extensively the debate about education
among conservatives, liberals, and radicals in Education Under Siege and in Post-
modern Education. They note an aggressive conservatism that has taken the initia-
tive in education, redefining the curriculum by waging a cultural war in the schools
against liberal and leftist ideas. Conservatives understand the school as a political site
thatcan be used to help make their ideas dominant across the culture. For example,
Allan Bloom, in The Closing of the American Mind, promotes the immersion of
higher-education students in a curriculum that in his words is "universalistic" and
"imperialistic" and whose main reason for existence is to preserve Western culture.
In Giroux's opinion, works like Bloom's are unwittingly helpful to the radical Lefl be-
cause the rteoconservative political agenda might help educators see schools as
active arenas of cultural politics rather than simply as places where cultural dom-
ination and hegemony are reproduced.
The conservative ascendancj has led to school reforms that maintain tradi-
tional Curricula, CUl school budgets, and demand Dial schools cater to business
needs. .Asa result, education as cultural politics has taken on added meaning for post-
modern radical educators who question conservative reforms, just as thej question
the status of the scientific paradigm of thought in curriculum and evaluation. Posl
modernists rejeel distinctions between high and low culture and maintain that the
popular culture (such as the entertainment media, popular novels, and rock music)
is deserving of study not lor emulation but as material to be analyzed and decor
show how
ICted lo helps or hull'
it
Because postmodernists rejeel master narratives, thej favor narratives from

those wIk, suffer marginali/.aiion because of race, gender, class, ethnic identity, or
ial orientation They value the study of people who are <>n the margins lor the
i tic histories and cultural contributions each can bring to the educational setting,
352 CHAPTER 10
curricular inclusions that help students understand the boundaries that often affect
personal and social well-being. In addition, postmodernists spurn intellectual elites
who set themselvesabove history and attempt to "get it right" for the rest of the
people, so they promote a plurality of voices in the curriculum by including margi-
nal narratives that in Giroux's words "represent the unrepresentable." Along with
Foucault, they see reason and knowledge from within particular historical contexts
of status and power, and students are encouraged to identify themselves in relation
to the human struggles of those contexts. They want a variety of narratives to be in-
cluded in the curriculum to help enlighten and liberate human possibilities.
An important aspect of curriculum for critical pedagogy is the inclusion of the or-
dinary, everyday experience of students as legitimate elements for study. This includes
the competing identities, cultural traditions, and political outlooks that students bring
with them, and it refuses to reduce the issues of power, justice, and equality to a sin-
gle master discourse. Critical pedagogy recognizes that students' personal identities
develop over time and are influenced by many factors, including personal experience.
Thus, the everyday experience of students can be used (in addition to officially sanc-
tioned knowledge) as serious objects of study. In critical education, the curriculum is
developed as part of the ongoing engagement of students with a variety of narratives

that can be reinterpreted and reformulated culturally and politically.
From a postmodernist critical perspective, then, the issue is not simply an ar-
gument for or against a curriculum composed of established canons of knowledge,
but one that remakes the meaning and use of canons of knowledge. Generally, criti-
cal pedagogy emphasizes the need to break down traditional disciplinary boundaries
in favor of interdisciplinary studies and a conception of knowledge that does not de-
pend on traditional subject-matter disciplines. In some respects, this resembles what

pragmatists recommended, especially the "problems" approach to the curriculum in
which knowledge is drawn from many disciplines and integrated around a particular
problem or issue. As Giroux puts it in Border Crossings, the curriculum must be "re-
claimed as a cultural politics" and "a form of social memory." The traditional disci-
plines of history and literature, for example, with their various theories of history and
interpretations of literary genres, always have served as forms of cultural politics and
social memory. However, from Giroux's perspective, cultural politics involves under-
standing the production, creation, and interpretation of knowledge as part of a
broader attempt to create public cultures. What is meant by "social memory" includes
the everyday and the particular as a basis for learning, and from this one can proceed
to traditional knowledge and popular culture as elements for study and critical
evaluation to inform personal experience. An important consideration crucial to
postmodernist critical theory is that such a curriculum must elevate the "silenced"
narratives on the margins in order to avoid a totalizing outcome that maintains ex-
isting arrangements of power and privilege. A curriculum of this kind creates in stu-
dents a social memory that is neither singular nor totalizing, but an enlarged
understanding that includes voices ranging from the center of culture to the margins.
A major concern of postmodern pedagogy is to overcome the Enlightenment
belief that the "universal laws of Nature" can, with the cold light of reason, be read
from the face of an intelligible universe. According to Giroux, such a view of rea-
son is not innocent because il promotes a "hidden curriculum" that, with its soil-
power of objective rationalism, exercises a totalizing form of
confident belief in the
power over thought and knowledge. Critical pedagogy urges educators to he skepti-
cal of claims to "objective" and "universal" knowledge, because such claims pui
knowledge outside the history of human experience, timeless and untainted by ide
ology, beyond criticism and dialogue. Giroux argues thai people must regain a sense
of alternatives by combining a language of critique and possibility. Postmodern fem-
inism, for example, exemplifies such an alternative in its critique of patriarchy thai
has opened many people's eyes to gender inequalities and to new forms of identity
and social relations for women. Such critiques help extend human understanding of
individual freedom and social responsibility, awakening people to new understandings
of the oppression of individuals and groups on the basis of gender. 'rilicisms from the(
margins help promote useful Utopian thought, not a distopianism thai looks only hack
ward and offers no viable options for how to extend human freedom and social re-
sponsibility in the present and future. Through a critical approach, the future is kepi
open with new possibilities, not frozen over by views thai are ahistorical and closed.
Bowers combines elements of Freire and Dewey in a perspective thai recog-
nizes the danger of accepting received knowledge and existing conditions as in-
evitable. Unlike the radical perspective of the critical theorists, however, Bowers
gives greater emphasis to cultural conservation. He recognizes thai conservation
must proceed with care and hat education in critical awareness musi accompany he
I I
emphasis on social responsibility. He faults Dewey and Freire for their emphasis on
"living forward" at the expense of historical understanding and appreciation of whal
he calls "the community of memory." He argues thai this continuous forward move-
menl is a weakness of lihoralism generally because encourages indh iduals to es
il
cape community restraints and to make moral judgments merely a concern of

relativistic individual interpretation.
According to postmodernists, liberalism promotes a view of individuality as
self-interesl thai leads to the exploitation of other people and the environment. Asa
remedy, Bowers wants the authority of "the community of memory" (of importanl
traditions and social norms) to be joined with critical reflection as an integral elemenl
in making moral and ethical judgments. This recognizes the relation of knowli
truth, and power in Foucault's sense because individuals are always located in his
torical events or contexts. This differs from Girouxs notion of social memorj because
Bowers is nol so intent on the radical liberation of self, and because Bowers wants
the community of memory to provide the restraints of substantive traditional values
He differentiates Ins view of cultural conservation from conservative extremism
because the communitj of memory, with its expansive fund of useful meanings, can
liberate and empower the self.
Role of the Teacher

G i \nBordei Crossings, Gramsci helped pave the waj for seeing thi
significance hegemonic
"i power in culture, and more recently such figure! Boui .1
dieu have reintroduced it. Grams< i's theon showed how dominant int< resb depend
354 CHAPTER 10
less on overt force than on hegemonic leadership that wins the consent of subordi-
nate groups to maintain the existing social order. This consent is organized in many
ways, but in schools it is found in the ways curriculum and pedagogical processes are
used to support the status quo. To counter this, teachers should use the issue of dif-
ference in an ethically challenging and politically transforming way. For example,
personal-social differences can be incorporated into critical pedagogy to foster un-
derstanding of how personal identities are constructed in multiple and contradictory
ways. This involves students exploring their own individual histories; using self-
reflection on race, gender, and class; and studying how human experiences and iden-
tities are made in different historical and social conditions. Critical pedagogy focuses
on how group identities are developed in social relations, how they are defined
around differences, how these factors become significant, and how such differences
affect a democratic society.
In Teachers as Intellectuals, Giroux calls for a critical pedagogy that views
teachers as "cultural workers" who are "transformative intellectuals" occupying spe-
cial political and social roles. Rather than define teachers in a technical language of
professionalism, critical pedagogy wants to clarify the role of teachers as cultural
workers who produce more appropriate social ideologies and practices. In this view,
teachers are scholars and practitioners, and their role is not simply to teach a body
of knowledge but to help students understand how curricular knowledge may serve
ideological and political interests in various ways. It involves not only how knowl-
edge can be used to totalize and objectify but also how it can be used to liberate stu-
dents to become critical and responsible members of a democracy. For example,
feminist scholars have made persuasive arguments that politics is local and per-
sonal, and this line of reasoning may be combined with politics in its more global as-
pects, not simply by collapsing the political into the personal or exploding it to the
global sense, but by using a political focus to help students bridge gaps between the
personal and the political and to understand themselves in relation to such forces as
institutional forms of racism, sexism, and class exploitation in the wider society. Be-
ing a "transformative intellectual" means helping students develop a critical con-
sciousness that connects schooling with the public spheres of culture, history, and
politics.
From another perspective, Cherryholmes looks at classroom interaction be-
tween students and teachers as a crucial consideration in teaching. An asymmetry
exists because teachers have authority by virtue of their official position and greater
education and experience. These factors work to limit any symmetry in the
teacher-student relationship. From a critical pragmatist perspective, however,
greater symmetry can be had if students learn to express themselves and if they gain
sufficient confidence to explore, experiment, and take responsibility for their per-
sonal and social actions. A primary condition for improving this symmetry is for
teachers to be committed to critical discourse with and among students. This in-
volves helping students move from dependence on positivistic knowledge to genuine
experiment, critical reflection, and judgment. Teachers do nol relinquish responsi-
bility for management; knowledge
rather, they discourage reification of authoritative
and encourage students to analyze received arguments to help make their own ar-
—
guments and judgments. Cherryholmes points to the need for good arguments and
judgments based on the Deweyan view of helping students express responsible con-
cern for the daily problems of the community. Making good arguments and judgments
involves values —
such as human dignity, liberty, equality, and concern for others
that are necessary standards for a democratic community.
The concern with teacher-studenl interaction is also important for Bowers,
and he highlights the school's role in socialization. Historically, primary socialization
of the young was conducted mostly in families, religious institutions, and occupa-
tional settings such as apprenticeships, in accordance with the traditions governing
those settings. Today, schools carry a much larger burden in the socialization
process, and Bowers sees this as an important opportunity Tor teachers to help stu-
dents question prevailing assumptions, explore complex understandings, and shape
perceptions. Success in this opportunity, however, depends to a large extent on
teachers understanding their roles and the political nature of education. For exam-
ple, teachers must be sensitive to heir influence over the language process and how
t
itshapes the way students think. Teaching and language have important political
roles in what Bowers calls "communicative competence"; that is, students learning
not only explicit knowledge and spoken and written language, hut also body lan-
guage and attitudinal expressions of approval and disapproval, all of which transmit
culture and influence student socialization. The essential functions of teaching in-
clude helping students become competent communicators, conservers of meaning-
ful traditions, and questioners of received knowledge. Education should make
explicit the beliefs and practices that are socially and individually harmful, and it
should help students think aboul social and cultural problems that make up the
crises they face today.
CRITIQUE OF POSTMODERNISM IN EDUCATION

The confusing nature postmodernism and its relative newness make assessment
of
difficult. Critics might postmodern educational recommendations are
note that
largelj untested as yet, hut this judgment could he made againsl many theoretical
perspectives in education. Despite its newness, the postmodern view has some obvi-
ous strengths. One is the attention given to moral and ethical education, such as the
stance by Girouxand McLaren on the inclusion of difference and marginal M J and how
"the other" (outcasts on the margins of cult ure) can add important dimensions to a
learning community. The emphasis OH social discourse adds a powerful moral di-
mension by including students from the center to the margins not to indoctrinate
in a single culture hut to develop personal and social identities based on deeper
understandings of cultural differences. The emphasis on diversity and social dis

course has t lie add it lonal \ ill ue of promoting education for a pluralistil democratic
community that can counteract the development ofsociallj destructive self inten
The sense of postmodern ensis applies not onlj to cult ure hut to the environmei
well, and sensitivity to the natural environment is an added dimension for develop
ing social responsibility. Postmodern approaches to education pr se toencoui
356 CHAPTER 10
a sense of personal, social, and ecological responsibility that is missing from many
other educational perspectives.
The attention given to the political nature of education is another strength, but
connections between education and politics have been recognized for a long time.
Plato's Republic is an early example of the use of education for political ends, and
Marxist theory has promoted a political view of education, as well. The postmodern
emphasis on the politics of difference (race, class, and gender), however, is wedded
to a view of the curriculum as a type of cultural politics. Attention given to the politi-
cal nature of schooling and the relations of power within the schooling process pro-
vide some essential new insights. They shed light on how personal and social
identities are formed by the subtle power narratives in the curriculum and the school
structure. New understandings gained from these insights can help liberate students
more adequately, just as they also might help educators become sensitive to the
broader dimensions of their work.
The postmodern attention to language, to discourse and narrative that shape
people's minds, calls for greater attention to how the curriculum and the teaching-
learning process serves to liberate or oppress. Developing students' sense of mem-
bership in a political community, including a community that is dedicated to
empowerment and freedom from cultural oppression, and one that understands and
protects the bioregion, has strong potential for enhancing ethical and political
growth. However, the reminder by Cherryholmes that discourses of difference might
lead to new oppressive regimes is a healthy reminder for constant attention to the
ethical and moral directions that discourses in education can take.
Finally, the crucial role of the teacher as a transformative intellectual whose
role is to help students take personal and social responsibility for their futures is an
important ingredient in the postmodern view of education. The tension between the
radical views of Giroux and McLaren on social memory and the view of Bowers on
conserving the community of memory illustrates postmodern variety, but in other re-
spects, this brings attention to the crucial role that teachers play in helping students
develop identity and a sense of historical place. The emphasis on transformation
points to a key element of postmodern thought in education, and this is the need to
go beyond the mere transmittal of received knowledge to an activist stance on pos-
sibility and future directions. Despite the variety, the postmodern emphasis on em-
powering students to understand their past and present circumstances and on

preparing them with articulated goals for the future is clearly a strength.
Some weaknesses are also troubling. Postmodernists highlight the crisis in cul-
ture and promote student identity with those who are different, but their language
of possibility academic and, as critics frequently point out, difficult to decipher.
is
One wonders how well people on the margins can identify with it, not to mention
those in the mainstream culture who control policy and perhaps could be persuaded
to the strengths of some postmodern arguments if those arguments were made in
more palatable language. For postmodern philosophy of education to have an impact
on the "real" world of education, attention must be given, as critics point out, to a
public language that communicates and persuades.
In some respects, postmodernists are more conscious of whal they oppose than
what they promote; this is revealed in the lack of attention to the sometimes particu
larly negative tone of their delivery. Greater attention to the positive aspects of their
message and to making that language more in tune with normal discourse could add
to the attractiveness of their proposals for ordinary citizens. The "real" world of edu-
cation is indeed a political worldwhich the power of persuasion
in is also a term of
empowerment for t hose who advocate new directions. However, as critics point out,
postmodernists seem so intent on "cultural" politics that they forgel "real" politics,
where policies and processes are hammered out. It is one thing to engage in acade-
mic arguments and another thing to inform public opinion, win elections, and change
policies and directions.
Another troublesome feature is the desire of postmodern critical theorists to
forms of control over education represent
politicize schooling. Certainly, the existing
entrenched political interests, but as Cherryholmes notes, if people have learned any-
thing from Foucault and Derrida, it is that the creation of new truth regimes and
power discourses might lead to unintended consequences. Postmodern critical the-
ory seems to maintain a lingering Marxist tendency that claims that all views except
its own are mere ideology. Thus, they critique other viewpoints as "totalizing theo-
ries" or "ideologies of power and control" and place themselves on the moral high
ground. Perhaps this is an inevitable outcome of any sort of theory, but postmod-
ernism could be strengthened by more attention to these kinds of problems.
Sensitivity to human differences and oppression is among postmodernism's
strongest moral qualities; in celebrating human differences, though, postmodernists
might fail to recognize important commonalities. Perhaps their fascination with rup-
tures and fragmentation blinds them human beings hold
to the characteristics that
in common. The human nature
rejection of totalizing metanarratives about universal
need not imply a rejection of commonalities that exist across the human spectrum.
Certainly postmodernists, in rejecting universals and in recognizing human diver-
sity, would not want to suggest that human differences imply species differences
among humans, because the drumbeat emphasis on difference mighl serve to anchor
fragmentation and separateness rather than promote a healthy recognition of com
mon humanity. Moreover, the postmodern desire for empowerment and freedom
from oppression seems to have a universal ring to it. as does its emphasis on "the
world of the discuTsivi
seems to be no stretch of reason to suggest that '/// people need a sense of
It
personal and social worth nurtured in a democratic community; a reasonable sense

of security regarding safety and health; and opportunities to fulfill basic needs for
food, clothing, and shelter, variations might occur from one part ol a communitj to
another (or from one part of the globe to another) on the best ways to meet tl
needs, but is pointless to deny the great deal thai humans share in common, and
it
this commonality has a universal significance thai postmoderni »m n in its
own discourses. Moreover, a discourse that minimizes or ignores the common h
of humanity can become a form of totalizing narrative b< i au e il marginal] 01 dis
counts the common, and therefore "universal," connections of humanity.

358 CHAPTER 10
Finally, despite postmodernists' aversion to defining narratives and universal

truths, their fascination with discourse and deconstruction shows an affinity for a tra-
dition in philosophical idealism that says humans are removed from ultimate truth
—
and are limited to their texts, words, languages, and representations human ideas.
This reflects Plato's view that the human knower never could grasp fully the ultimate
or universal, but only poor representations filtered through the imperfections of the
knower's material existence. Indeed, the better part of philosophical valor might be
to reserve judgment on whether some universal truths, philosophical or scientific, ex-
ist. People would ignore them at their own peril if they were engaged in a headlong
rush to deconstruct or discount every claim. In short, postmodern thought might be-
tray a tendency for a negative idealism. What postmodernists project as their envi-
sioned new society is sketchy, distinguished as much by what they oppose as by what
they advocate. If they embrace a multicultural society, then they are short on the socio-
cultural glue that will hold it together. Of course, this also could be said of several re-
form-minded philosophies, such as the pragmatists' view of the social reconstruction
role that education could play, but at least they wrote extensively about democracy
as their end in view. The discordant voices in the postmodern pantheon seem unable
to focus as well as, for example, Dewey. In addition, when postmodernist educators
push the view that education for self- and social empowerment is ethically prior to
accumulation of knowledge, they assume a chicken-or-egg style of argument, an ar-
gument pragmatists would counter by saying that the learner's ethical growth occurs
along with a growth in knowledge and capacity to act. Generally, postmodernists
spurn those intellectual elites who set themselves above history and attempt to "get
it right" for the rest of us, but postmodernists appear to play a similar role when they
use high-blown rhetoric and arcane jargon in their own discourses, when they insist
that teachers must be "transformative intellectuals," when they assert that a plural-
ity of voices rather than a common voice is the desired path education should culti-
vate, and when they elevate marginal narratives over others to "represent the
unrepresentable" as the correct mode of curriculum development. Surely, their edu-
cational recommendations have brought a fresh ingredient into educational debate,
but all of us — —
postmodernists included need to avoid hubris.
GIROUX
BORDER PEDAGOGY AS POSTMODERN RESISTANCE
In the following selection, Henry A. Giroux provides a context in which postmodern thought
can have an impact on education. Although he speaks specifically to the issue of racism, his
comments also can be extended to additional forms of "Otherness, " including gender and class
identities. Notice his emphasis on how the totalizing nature of Eurocentric discourses freezes
out other discourses and how inclusion of the voices of Others can enrich not only the lives of
students but the lives of teachers and the larger society, as well.
.
Within the currenl historical conjuncture, the the legitimate and unifying practice of a one-dimen-
politicaland cultural boundaries thai have long con- sional historical and cultural narrative. Postmod-
stituted the meaning of race and culture arc begin- ernism radicalizes the emancipatory possibilities of
ning to shift. . . . First, the population of America's teaching and learning as a pari of a wider struggle for
subordinate groups are [sic] changing the landscapes democratic public life and critical citizenship. does It
of our urban centers. .Second, while people of color . . this by refusing forms of knowledge and pedagogy
are redrawing the cultural demographic boundaries wrapped in the legitimizing discourse of the sacred
of the urban centers, the boundaries of power appear and the priestly; its rejecting universal reason as a
to be solidifying in favor of rich, white, middle and Foundation for human affairs; claiming that all narra-
upper classes. . . . tives are partial; and performing a critical reading on
The dominant discourses of modernity have all scientific, cultural, and social texts as historical
rarely been able to address race and ethnicity as and political constructions.
an ethical, and cultural marker in order to

political, In this view, the broader parameters of an anli
understand or self-consciously examine the notions racist pedagogy are informed by a political project
of justice inscribed in the modernist belief in change that links the creation of critical citizens to the de-
and the progressive unfolding of history. In fact, race velopment of a radical democracy; that is, a political
and ethnicity have been generally reduced to a dis- project that lies education to the broader struggle for
course of the other, a discourse that regardless of its a public life in which dialogue, vision, and compassion
emancipatory or reactionary intent, often essential- remain critically attentive to the rights and conditions
ized and reproduced the distance between the cen- that organize public space as a democratic social re-
ters and margins of power. Within the discourse of lorn rather than a regime of terror
i and oppression. It
modernity, the Other not only sometimes ceases to be is important to emphasize that difference and plural-
a historical agent, but is often defined within totaliz- ism in this view do not mean reducing democracy to
ing and universalis! ic theories that create a transcen- the equivalency of diverse interests; on the contrary,
dental rational white, male. Eurocentric subject that what is being argued for is a language in which differ-
both occupies the centers of power while simultane- ent voices and traditions exist and flourish to the de-
ously appearing to exist outside time and spaa Read gree that they listen to the voices of Others, engage in
against this Eurocentric transcendental subject, the an ongoing attempt to eliminate forms of subjective
Oilier is shown to lack any redeeming community and objective suffering, and maintain those COndi
traditions, collective voice, or historical weight and — tionsm which the act of communicating and living ex-
is reduced to the imagery of the colonizer. . . tends rather than restricts the creation of democratic
If the construction of anti-racist pedagogy is to public spheres. This is as much a political as it is a
escape from a notion of difference that is silent about pedagogical project, one thai demands ihat anli-
other social antagonisms and forms of struggle, it racisl pedagogical practices he developed within a
must be developed as wider public disclo- part of a discourse thai combines a democratic public philOSO
sure thai is Simultaneously about the discourse of an phv with a postmodern theory of resistance
engaged plurality and the formation of critical citizen- \\ hat is being called for here is a notion ol bor
ship This must he a discourse thai breathes life into dei- pedagogy provides educators with theoppor
thai
i he notion of democracy by stressing a notion of lived tunity to rethink the relationship between the centers
community thai is not al odds with the principals of and the margins ol power Thai is, such a pedagogy
justice, liberty and equality Such a discourse must be must address the issue ol ra< ism as one that calls into
informed by a postmodern concern with establishing question nol only forms of subordination thai create
the material and ideological conditions that allow inequities among differenl groups as they live oul
and heterogeneous ways of life to
multiple, specific, their lues but, as have mentioned previously, also
I
come into play as pan of a border pedagogy ol posl challenges those institutional and ideological bound
mod. rn resistance This points to the need for edu ariesthal have historically masked their own relations
" prepare students lor a l\ pe o| mi izi ol power behind complex forms ol distinction and
that di ia' l rights from the realm privilege Whal does this suggest foi the way wede
not define i ommunitj as velop the basii elements ol an anti raw isl pedaj
360 CHAPTER 10
First, the notion of border pedagogy offers mapping domination to the politically strategic issue
students the opportunity to engage the multiple refer- of engaging the ways in which knowledge can be
ences that constitute different cultural codes, ex- remapped, reterritorialized, and decentered, in the
periences, and languages. This means providing the wider interests of rewriting the borders and coordi-
learning opportunities for students to become media lit- nates of an oppositional cultural politics, educators
erate in a world of changing representations. It means can redefine the teacher-student relationship in
offering students the knowledge and social relations ways that allow students to draw upon their own per-
that enable them to read critically not only how cultural sonal experiences as real knowledge.
texts are regulated by various discursive codes, but also At one level this means giving students the op-
how such texts express and represent different ideo- portunity to speak, to locate themselves in history,
logical interests. In this case, border pedagogy estab- and to become subjects in the construction of their
lishes conditions of learning that define literacy inside identities and the wider society. It also means defining
the categories of power and authority. This suggests de- voice not merely as an opportunity to speak, but to
veloping pedagogical practices that address texts as engage critically with the ideology and substance of
social and historical constructions; it also suggests de- speech, writing, and other forms of cultural produc-
veloping pedagogical practices that allow students to tion. In this case, "coming to voice" for students from
analyze texts in terms of their presences and absences; both dominant and subordinate cultures means en-
and most important, such practices should provide stu- gaging in rigorous discussions of various cultural
dents with the opportunity to read texts dialogically texts, drawing upon one's personal experience, and
through a configuration of many voices, some of which confronting the process through which ethnicity and
offer up resistance, some of which provide support. power can be rethought as a political narrative that
Border pedagogy also stresses the necessity for challenges racism as part of [a] broader struggle to de-
providing students with the opportunity to engage mocratize social, political, and economic life. In part,
critically the strengths and limitations of the cultural this means looking at the various ways in which race
and social codes that define their own histories and implicates relations of domination, resistance, suffer-
narratives. Partiality becomes, in this case, the basis ing, and power within various social practices and how
for recognizing the limits built into all disclosures. At these are taken up in multiple ways by students who
issue here is not merely the need for students to de- occupy different ethnic, social, and gender locations.
velop a healthy skepticism towards all discourses of In this way, race is never discussed outside broader ar-
authority, but also to recognize how authority and ticulations, nor is it merely about people of color.
power can be transformed in the interest of creating a Second, a border pedagogy of postmodern re-
democratic society. sistance needs to do more than educate students
Within this disclosure, students engage knowl- to perform ideological surgery on master-narratives
edge as a border-crosser, as a person moving in and based on white, patriarchal, and class-specific inter-
out of borders constructed around coordinates of ests. If the master-narratives of domination are to be
difference and power. These are not only physical effectively deterritorialized, it is important for educa-
borders, they are cultural borders historically con- tors to understand how such narratives are taken up
structed and socially organized within maps of rules as part of an investment of feeling, pleasure, and de-
and regulations that serve to either limit or enable sire. There is a need to rethink the syntax of learning
particular identities, individual capacities, and social and behavior outside the geography of rationality and
forms. In this case, students cross over into borders reason. For example, this means that racism cannot
of meaning, maps of knowledge, social relations, and be dealt with in a purely limited, analytical way. An
values that are increasingly being negotiated and anti-racist pedagogy must engage how and why stu-
rewritten as the codes and regulations which orga- dents make particular ideological and affective in-
nize then become destabilized and reshaped. Border vestments and occupy particular subject positions in
pedagogy decenters as it remaps. The terrain of regard to issues concerning race and racism. This
learning becomes inextricably linked to the shifting means attempting to understand the historical con-
parameters of place, identity, history, and power. By text and substance of the social and cultural forms
reconstructing the traditional radical emphasis of thai produce in diverse and multiple ways the often
contradictory subject positions that give students a which dialogue, vision, and compassion remain criti-
sense of meaning, purpose, and delight. As Stuart cally attentive to the liberating and dominating rela-
Hall argues, this moans uncovering both for ourselves tions that organize various aspects of everyday life.
as teachers as well as for the students we are teach- This suggests that teachers use their authority
ing "the deep structural which have a tendency
factors to establish classroom conditions in which differenl
persistently not only to generate racial practices and views about race can he aired hut not treated as sim-
structures but to reproduce them through time and ply an expression of individual views or feelings. . . .
which therefore account for their extraordinarily im- An anti-racist pedagogy must demonstrate that the
movable character." In addition to engaging racism views we hold about race have different historical and
within a politics of representation, ideology, and plea- ideological weight, forged in asymmetrical relations
sure, it is also important to stress that any serious of power, and that they always embody interests that
analyses of racism also has to be historical and struc- shape social practices in particular ways. In other
tural. It has to chart out how racist practices develop, words, an anti-racist pedagogy cannot treat ideolo-
where they come from, how they are sustained, how gies as simply individual expressions of feeling, hut as
they affect dominant and subordinate groups, and how historical, cultural, and social practices that serve to
they can be challenged. This is not a discourse about either undermine or reconstruct democratic public
personal preferences or dominant tastes but a dis- life. These views must be engaged without silencing
course about economics, culture, politics, and power. students, but they must also be interrogated next to
Third, a border pedagogy offers the opportunity a public philosophy that names racism for what it is
for students to air their feelings about race from the and (alls racist ideologies and practices into accounl
perspective of the subject positions they experience as on political and ethical terms.
constitutive of their own identities. Ideology in this Fourth, educators need to understand how the
sense is treated not merely as an abstraction but as experience of marginality at the level of everyday life
part of the student's lived experience. This does not lends itself to forms of oppositional and transforma-
mean that teachers reduce their role to that of an in- tive consciousness. For those designated as Others
tellectual voyeur or collapse his or her authority into a need both reclaim and remake their histories,
to
shabby form of relativism. Nor does it suggest that stu- voices, and visions as part of a wider struggle to
dents merely express or assess their own experiences. change those material and social relations that deny
Rather, it points to a particular fonn of teacher au- radical pluralism as the basis of democratic political
thority grounded in a respect for a radically decen- community. It is only through such an understanding
tered notion of democratic public life. This is a view of that teachers can develop a border pedagogy which
authority that rejects the notion that all forms of au- opens up the possibility for .students to reclaim their
thority are expressions of unwarranted power and op- voices as part of a process of empowerment and not
pression. Instead, it argues for tonus of authority that merely what some have called an initiation into the
are rooted in democratic interests and emancipatory cult lire of power. It is not enough for students to learn
social relations, forms of authority that, m this case, how the dominant culture works to exercise power,
begins [sic] from a standpoint from which to develop they must also understand how to power which
resist
an educational project that reflects politics as aesthet- is oppressive, which names themthat under
iri a waj
ics, that retains instead the significance of the knowi- mines their ability to govern rather than serve, and
edge/power relationship as a discourse of criticism and prevents them from struggling againsl forms of power
politics necessary for the achievement of equality, that subjugate and exploit. This is not h,
freedom, and struggle. This is not a form of authority that the authority o| white dominant culture is all ot
based <m an appeal to universal truths, it is a form of one piece, nor is this meant to imply that should net it
authority that recognizes its own partiality while si- be the object of stud) What is at stake here is forging
multaneously asserting a standpoint from which to en a notion of power thai does not collapse intoa form >>t
gage die discourses and practices of democracy, domination, hut is critical and emancipatory, thai al
freedom, and domination. Put another way, this is a no lows students to both locate themselves in historj and
Hon of authority rooted m a political project that ties to critically, not slavishly, appropriate tine cultural and
education to the broader struggle lor public life in political codes "i theii own and other traditions
362 CHAPTER 10
Moreover, students who have to disavow their own and organization of knowledge is [sic] related to forms
racial heritage in order to succeed are . . . being posi- of authority situated in political economy, the state,
tioned to accept subject positions that are the source and other material practices. We also need to under-
of power for a white, dominant culture. The ability of stand how circuits of power produce forms of textual
white, male, Eurocentric culture to normalize and authority that offer readers particular subject posi-
universalize its own interests works so well ... as a site tions, that is, ideological references that provide but
of dominant narratives, [that it prevents] . . . black stu- do not rigidly determine particular views of the world.
dents from speaking through their own memories, his- In addition, educators need to explore how the read-
I and experiences
ories, [We must illuminate] more ing of texts [is] linked to the forms of knowledge and
clearly how power works in this society within the social relations that students bring to the classroom.
schools to secure and conceal various forms of racism In other words, we need to understand in terms of
and subjugation. Power is multifaceted and we need a function and substance those social and cultural
better understanding of how it works not simply as a forms outside the classroom that produce the multi-
force for oppression but also a basis for resistance and ple and often contradictory subject positions that stu-
self and social empowerment. Educators need to fash- dents learn and express in their interaction with the
ion a critical postmodern notion of authority, one that dominant cultural capital of American schools.
decenters essentialist claims to power while at the notion of border peda-
Finally, central to the
same time fighting for relations of authority and gogy are a number of important pedagogical issues
power that allow many voices to speak so as to initiate regarding the role that teachers might take up in mak-
students into a culture that multiplies rather than re- ing a commitment to fighting racism in their class-
stricts democratic practices and social relations as rooms, schools, communities, and the wider society.
part of a wider struggle for democratic public life. The concept pedagogy also helps to locate
of border
Fifth, educators need to analyze racism not teachers within social, political, and cultural bound-
only as a structural and ideological force, but also in aries that define and mediate in complex ways how
the diverse and historically specific ways in which it they function as intellectuals who exercise particular
emerges. This is particularly true of the most recent forms of moral and social regulation. Border peda-
and newest expressions of racism developing in the gogy calls attention to both the ideological and the
United States and abroad among youth in popular partial as central elements in the construction of
culture, and in its resurgence in the highest reaches teacher discourse and practice. In part, this suggests
of the American government. This also suggests that that to the degree that teachers make the construc-
any notion of an anti-racist pedagogy must arise out tion of their own voices, histories, and ideologies
of specific settings and contexts. Such a pedagogy problematic they become more attentive to Other-
must allow its own character to be defined, in part, by ness as a deeply political and pedagogical issue. In
the historically specific and contextual boundaries in other words, by deconstructing the underlying prin-
which it emerges. At the same time, such a pedagogy ciples which inform their own lives and pedagogy, ed-
must disavow all claims to scientific method or for ucators can begin to recognize the limits underlying
that matter to any objective or transhistorical claims. the partiality of their own views. Such a recognition
As a political practice, an anti-racist pedagogy has to offers the promise of allowing teachers to restructure
be constructed not on the basis of essentialist or uni- their pedagogical relations in order to engage in open
versal claims but on the concreteness of its specific and critical dialogue questions regarding the knowl-
encounters, struggles, and engagements. . . . edge taught, how it relates to students' lives, how stu-
Sixth, an anti-racist border pedagogy must re- dent scan engage with such knowledge, and how such
define how the circuits of power move in a dialectical practices actually relate to empowering both teach-
fashion among various sites of cultural production. ers and students. Within dominant models of peda-
We need a clearer understanding of how ideologies gogy, teachers are often silenced through a refusal or
and other social practices which bear down on class- inability to make problematic with students the val-
room relations ('merge from and articulate with other ues that inform how they teach and engage the mul-
spheres of social life. As educators, we need a clearer tifaceted relationship between knowledge and power.
understanding of how the grounds for the production Without the benefit of dialogue, an understanding of
PHILOSOPHY, EDUCATION, & THE CHALLENGE OE POSTMODERNISM 363
the partiality of their own beliefs, they are cul off develop a power-sensitive discourse thai allows them
from any understanding of the effects their pedago- to open up their interactions with the discourses of
gies have on students. In effect, their infatuation with various Others SO thai their classrooms can engage
certainty and control serves to limit the possibilities rather than block OUl the multiple positions and ex-
inherent in their own voices and visions. In this case. periences thai allow teachers and students to speal
dominant pedagogy serves not only to disempower in and with many complex and differenl voices.
students, bul teachers as well. In short, teachers need
to take up a pedagogy that provides a more dialecti-
cal understanding of their own politics and values; Reprinted by permission from Postmodernism,
Feminism, and Cultural Politics Redrawing Educa
they need to break down pedagogical boundaries thai
tional Boundaries b} Henrj \ Giroux(Ed ),theStatel ru
silence them in the name of methodological rigor or versity of New York Press© 1991, State niversitj ol New 1
pedagogical absolutes; more important, they need to York. All rights reserved
NUYEN
LVOTARI) AS MORAL EDUCATOR
Contrary to many prevailing
views on postmodernism, A. 71 Nuyen insists thai moral rules
ij the grand metanarratives of modernity fail to pro
hdi e a place in postmodern theory, even
vide genuine universal guidance to moral choices. He maintains that -lean Francois Lyotard
dreu "Iras from Wittgenstein and Kant that give direction to Ins ethical views. For Nuyen,
Lyotard's vieu on "presenting the unpresentable" confronts contemporary injustice and helps
people nnsii er the question Oj Why then should be moral at all.
The Ethical Question tween the "small discourses," Or "language games"

. . . Admittedly, for many of Lyotard's critics, the (fields reids). in which differenl people are en
phrase "Lyotard's postmodern ethics" isa kind of oxy- gaged. The historj ofphilosophj is replete with meta
moron, insofar as ethics is aboul the right and the discourses '•such as the dialectics of Spirit, the
just, the good and the obligatory, and insofar as Ly- hermeneutics of meaning, the emancipation of the
otard advocates a pluralism without universal rules. rational or working subject, or the creation of
a postmodernism without "metanarratives." Vgainsl wealth". . . . The appeal to a uieladiscoiil se is all
Lyotard's critics, n can be shown that there is a line of attempl to legitimate one's own dis rse Legitima
thought m Lyotard's postmodernism thai is decidi dlj Hon. according to Lyotard, ischara* teristi< ol ler
ethical, a line of thought consistent and robusl nitj Indeed, he uses the term "modei n to designate
enough to be called an ethics \s in anj ethics, there any science thai legitimates itself with refi
is a clear identification of an ethical problem. metadi '
this kind " Lyotard's mam argumenl

In The Postmodern Condition Lyotard de- in The PostmocL lion is thai the modernisl
incredulity toward metanarra practice ol legitimation ultimate!) fails This
\ metanarrative in turn is a "metadisi miliar argumenl thai in the postmodern condition,
which contains universal rules and print iples to which metadi I ave tost then authority, and is no II
appeal to resolve a dispute that maj aris< be ioal i" rules and prin< ipl<
364 CHAPTER 10
apply across discourses. In the postmodern condi- question 'Auschwitz' is also the question 'after
tion, there are no universal rules and principles. Auschwitz"?". . . .
There are only language games, or small discourses, Lyotard has been most consistent about the
each defined by its own set of rules. ethical demand in the postmodern condition in the
In the absence of metadiscourses, a conflict various writings since the late seventies, even though
between language games cannot be resolved to the the contexts of the separate discussions do not always
satisfaction of all parties to the conflict. Without uni- make it clear that mind the same ethical
he has in
versal rules and principles, all that we have are rules problem. However, the link enough to be seen,
is clear
and principles internal to each game, or each small and even the language remains more or less the same
discourse. To apply the rules internal to one dis- throughout. Thus, toward the end of the essay "An-
course in the case of a conflict is not to resolve it: it is swering the question: what is postmodernism?" Ly-
to allow that discourse to dominate others that are in otard warns us that "we can hear the mutterings of the
conflict with it, or to allow it, as Lyotard puts it, to "to- desire for a return of terror," and urges that what must
talize" the field. Thus, either a conflict remains unre- be done is to "wage a war on totality" and to be "wit-
solved, or it is dissolved into a totality dominated by nesses to the unpresentable" (The Postmodern Con-
one of the discourses in conflict. Lyotard calls this dition, 82). In a recent book, The Inhuman, Lyotard
kind of conflict the differend, defining it as "a case of declares that the question of presenting the unpre-
conflict, between (at least) two parties, that cannot sentable is "the only one worthy of what is at stake in
be equitably resolved for lack of a rule of judgment life and thought coming century" (127). Lyo-
in the
applicable to both arguments" (The Differend, 1988, tard has identified an ethical problem, an urgent one
ix) If the postmodern condition means the death of
. "worthy of what is at stake in life and thought." In the
metanarratives, then the differend is its effect. . . . first half of Just Gaming, we find anticipated the ar-
. Lyotard's intention is clear: He wants to
. . guments of The Postmodern Condition and The Dif-
stress the prevalence of wrongs in the postmodern ferend. In a claim that is to become the theme of The
world and to make the normative claim that we have Postmodern Condition, Lyotard says that there is
to do something about these wrongs, that we cannot "no metalanguage, and by metalanguage, I mean the
let them go unnoticed. In giving us one example after famous theoretical discourse that is supposed to
another and in returning again and again to the Holo- ground political and ethical decisions that will be
caust, Lyotard wants to strengthen the normative taken as the basis of its statements." Then, anticipat-
claim. To repeat, the normative claim is that "[e]very ing the argument in The Differend, Lyotard argues
wrong ought to be able to be put into phrases," that that "languagegames are not translatable, because, if
"in the differend, something 'asks' to be put into they were, they would not be language games." Since
phrases, and suffers from the wrong of not being able language games, or small discourses, are not translat-
to be put into phrases right away." Given the ethical able, "to import into a language game a question that
demand that wrongs be put into phrases, the post- comes from another one and to impose it" amounts to
modern condition throws up an ethical problem: How "oppression." Given the fact that there is a multiplic-
can wrongs be put into phrases? It is a problem be- ity of language games, the ethical problem is how to
cause, as we have seen, the wrong arises in the first avoid oppression. Failing to do so gives rise to the
place by virtue of the fact that the victim's rules of dis- problem of injustice, a problem that any ethical the-
course are not valid, or not recognized, within the to- ory worth its salt must aim to solve, to resolve. Failing
talizing discourse.As Lyotard puts it, the victim's case to do so will perpetuate wrongs, such as the wrong
isunpresentable within the dominating discourse. suffered by the Jewish people under Nazism, or the
Thus, the ethical problem for postmodernity is how to wrong suffered by oppressed people everywhere.
present the unpresentable, how to "bear witness to What is the lesson from Lyotard? If Lyotard is
differends" (V-i). Furthermore, Lyotard leaves the right, at the ethical core of all conflicts, ranging from
reader in no doubt that we have to face this ethi- conflicts in the school yard Leading to bullying to con-
cal problem with the utmost urgency, that what is flicts in the Balkans leading to ethnic cleansing, is the
at stake is the question of life and death itself. For, problem of "presenting the unpresentable." When we
what happened to the Jews can happen again: "the say that people are talking "at cross purposes," that
PHILOSOPHY. EDUCATION, & THE CHALLENGE OE POSTMODERNISM 365
they are not "on the same wavelength," thai they can- the practical power ol his conception of injustice, Ly-
not "empathise" with each other and so on, we arc in otard claims that we can use it to denounce the role of
Eact referring to the same ethical problem identified the Americans in Vietnam and thai of the French in \l
by Lyotard. The lesson we should learn from Lyotard geria. Forthej "were doing something that prohibited
is that the problem of presenting the unpresentable thai the whole of reasonable beings could continue to
can have the greatest ethical consequences. This is an exist. In other words, the Vietnamese or the Algerians
important lesson for moral educators in the post- saw themselves being placed m a position where the
modern condition. pragmatics of obligation was forbidden them."
\ question arises at this point, one thai seems to
have escaped Lyotard's notice is whether the nega- It
Moral Pragmatics tive rule aboul what is unjust, or the non-exclusion

Lyotard's postmodernism has many different kinds of rule, is itself coherent. For, in applying it against ter-
educational implications. We have seen that for
. . . rorism, are we not excluding the terrorist from play-
Lyotard the moral question is the problem of pre- ing his or her terroristic game'.' Does the rule not
senting the unpresentable in the postmodern condi- preclude its own application? While Lyotard does not
tion. But Lyotard does not just give us a diagnosis of seem to be aware of this <|iiestioii. he niadveri eul |\
the ethical problem in the postmodern condition. In renders inoperative bj his answer to another ques-
il
various writings, he also suggests a response to the tion,namely: is il sufficient just to have a negative rule
problem. This response consists of a political strategy aboul wlial is unjust Should such a rule not be based
.'
and what might be called a reflective strategy. If lam on. or grounded in, some positive concept ion of jus-
right in thinking that Lyotard has ottered us both a re- tice? Lyotard himself puts the question this way: <
Ian
"
flective strategy and a political strategy lor dealing we have a politics without the Idea of jusl ice.
1
Faced
with the wrongs of differends, then it follows that to wiih ilns question, Lyotard admits thai he hesitates
educate Tor such ethical problems is to educate in between two positions: the "pagan position" of nol
both of these aspects. To see Lyotard as a moral edu- grounding the negative rule, regarding as something it
cator, we need to examine his political and reflective we have made up as we went along, and the "Kantian
Strategies lor dealing with the ethical problem and to position" of regarding it as something grounded in a
draw educational implications from them. Kantian regulative Idea such as the Idea of justice as
The political strategy can be found in Just the proliferation of games, or the maximization of
Gaming. Here. Lyotard offers a strategy to avoid one games. Taking the "pagan position" means that we re-
discourse totalizing the others. The aim of the strat- gard the maximum "multiplication of small narra-
egy is to "maximize as much as possible the multi- tives" simplj as a conventional rule. The problem with
plication of small narratives." Toward this aim, we i he "pagan position" is thai there is nothing that pie
ought to declare as an injustice the preventing of game vents the society from making up differenl rules, for
playing, and to prohibit any activity thai effectively re- example, a rule that accepts rather than rules out ter-
stricts game playing. Lyotard writes: "Absolute injus- rorism: "

\ rule bj convention would require thai one
iuld occur if the pragmatics of obligation, thai accepl . evenNazism tfter all, since there wa
is. the possibility ol continuing to play die game of the una in n ill > upon il. from where could one judge dial il
just, were excluded." w hat is advocated is similar to is nol just?" Thus, a politics thai rule oul terrorism is
the libertarian strategj of prohibiting activities which noi possible without some Kantian Idea of i
nan e
Harm to others. Indeed, Lyotard himself de- With the Kantian position, we havi itor,
scribes his position as "libertine or libertarian Lj per ol tin- pragmati s "I obligation
i onception of injustice allows us to declare I low ever, how can we take the Kantian position withoul
unjust, for install' e, terrorist ai tivities sui h ommitted to the Kantian metadis* "in .<
'
in the
;nng. kidnapping, blackmailing, and inflicting end. Lyotari I u a modified Kantian position in
terroi itself Terrorism is unjust because it prevents winch the lo> the proliferatioi
from playing their games The people whom idea ralhei tliai
[the terrorist | ma all no longer be able to plaj terminate idea, th led in
me of the just and the unjust." To demoi ndental n noumenalily,

.
366 CHAPTER 10
Kantian finality. we act as if we are dealing

. . . Rather, representing the totality of all there is. While this is not
with a community of rational beings who have come to yet the terror of one totalizing grand narrative what , it is
accept the rationality of the idea of maximizing game sets the course toward such terror. Thus, the war
playing. With this as a regulative idea, we have a solu- against totality is the struggle to raise and maintain the
tion to the question not noticed by Lyotard, namely consciousness of what is not presented in the existing
how to apply the negative rule against terrorism with- discourses; it is to present the unpresentable. The first
out contradiction. We
can say to the terrorist that his crucial step is to develop the consciousness of the un-
or her game is excluded because it minimizes rather presentable. Since it cannot be put into phrases, we
than maximizes game playing. It is true that in apply- have to develop afeeling for it. This feeling can be gen-
ing the rule against terrorism, we exclude it, but there erated if we reflect on our thinking. This feeling is a re-
is no inconsistency because the rule is not applied for flective judgment. "Reflective judgment" is a phrase
its own sake but rather for the sake of the regulative used by Kant in the Third Critique to refer to an aes-
Idea of maximum game playing. Terrorism is ruled out theticjudgment which is reflective, because it arises
because it is destructive of all other games; indeed, it when thinking reflects on itself. It is not surprising that
is destructive of terrorism itself, as one terrorist group Lyotard turns to Kant for insights for a strategy to de-
invariably tries to exclude other terrorist groups. By velop the consciousness of the unpresentable. . .
contrast, in excluding terrorism, the only thing we ex- From The Cri-
Lyotard's explorations of Kant's
clude is terrorism. tique of Judgment, two lessons can be drawn. As
What we can learn from Lyotard's political strat- Lyotard explains it in his Lessons on the Analytic of
egy is that it must be part
aim of education to in-
of the the Sublime, Kant's account of the sublime can be
still in the learner the idea that we must accept certain taken as an account of the presentation in thought of
restrictive rules and regulations as necessary for maxi- the unpresentable ideas of reason. Thus, in the feel-
mum game playing. What the strategy implies is that ing of the sublime, we have a solution to the problem
there is a need for those elements of education that of presenting the unpresentable. Learning from Lyo-
strengthen the idea of citizenship and the idea of ac- tard, we can say that there is a need for inculcating in
ceptable and unacceptable behavior. One problem the learner the feeling for the sublime. . . . But the
frequently encountered here is the resistance to rule- mind is able not only to present unpresentable (that
following,which is typically seen as restrictive and is, undemonstrable) ideas of reason, but also to pre-
undermining individuality and subjectivity. However, sent unpresentable (that is, inexponible) aesthetic
what we can also learn from Lyotard is that such rules ideas. This where the imagination comes to the
is
and regulations do not necessarily undermine individ- foreground. The role of the imagination has been
. . .
uality and subjectivity, because they are regulative widely recognized by educators .... In moral educa-
rather than determinant. Being regulative with the aim tion in particular, the imagination has long been rec-
of ensuring maximum game playing, inventive individ- ognized as a vital ingredient in moral development.
uals would be free to vary rules and regulations, thus in- For instance, would be hard to imagine a better way
it
venting new games. Indeed, to take Lyotard seriously is of teaching the Golden Rule, "Do unto others," and its
to make it part of the aim of education to encourage in- negative form, "Do not do unto others," without ask-
ventiveness. One effective way to prevent one game to- ing the learner to use his or her imagination, thus
talizing the field is to have a proliferation of games. imagining what it would be like to be in the other per-
In addition to the political strategy I have out- son's shoes. However, it is Lyotard who has drawn our
lined, we can discern in Lyotard's writings what I call a attention to the fact that a great deal more is at stake,
reflective strategy. To guard against totalization, we and hence to the urgency of developing the imagina-
need to reflect on what is not there in the games we tive powers to their fullest possible extent.
play, what is not presented in the familiar discourses.

Just because something is not there, not presented,
does not mean that it does not exist, or has no right to The Normative Question
exist. Silence does not mean absence or irrelevance. By "the normative question"mean the age-old ques-
I
The failure to reflect in this way amounts to taking one's tion "Why should be moral?" To ask this question is
I
own discourses, or at best all the existing discourses, as to ask for a justification of morality's claims on us, or
for a justification of the obligations of morality. . . . spearean choice between to be or nol to be, the
The frequency with which the normative question choice iet ween to exist or o commit suicide. One is
1 I
arises in the educational context is notorious. Teach- here reminded of the Sartrean paradox that to exist
ers (and parents) cannot help but notice the persis- is to be condemned to he free. To press home the
tence and stubbornness of the question "Why should point against the skeptic. We can remind him or her
1 do that?" The ability to supply an answer to the that simply to raise the normative question, to ask
question is the mark of a moral educator. "Why should I be moral'.'" is already to be playing a
. . . Lyotard's view is that in the postmodern game: the game of communication. As such, the skep-
condition, we can no longer appeal to a metanarra- tic is already committed to obeying certain rules, to
tive to justify universal rules, including moral rules. accepting certain obligations. . . .
But does not follow that there are no rules to fol-

it As we saw earlier, lyotard's ethics has a rule
low, no obligations to be had. For instead of meta- against behavior that denies others the "pragmatics
narratives we have the petite recits, the little games, of obligation," or behavior that presents others from
the small discourses, each with its own rules. To play playing their games, such as terroristic and murder
a game entails obeying the rules of the game. Indeed, ous behavior. The question is how we can justify this
it may be said that a game player is committed not rule. Again as we saw earlier, Lyotard is content to
just to the rules of the game but also to the kind of rest the case lor such a rule on the regulative idea of
behavior that is beneficial to the game, or at least to maximum game playing. I [owever, we still have to jus-
the avoidance of behavior that is destructive of the tify this regulative idea. For it is open to terrorist sand
game. ... It is likely that any game whatsoever must murderers to claim that they do not see the desirabil-
include some rules that are moral in the traditional ity of maximum game playing, or the undesirability of
sense. For instance, the rule against cheating seems preventing some people from playing their games.
necessary for any game, for the simple reason that What Lyotard needs is an argument to show that the
no game can meaningfully be played if cheating is rule of just gaming is binding on all game players.
rampant. Also, there an certain minimum obliga- 1
I think a plausible one can he constructed. Notice
tions that a game player must take on. such as the that instead of relying on human reason and placing
obligation to respect any legitimate move mad'' by one's hope on its universal ability to lead us all into
another player of the game, or to respect other per- the [Kantian] Kingdom of Ends, postmodern ethics
sons as players of the game. With this in mind, we stresses the connection between game playing and
can justify a whole host of rules traditionally seen as Observing the rules of a game. The source of norma
moral rules. . . . tivity is not in some mysterious and sacred
located
The Brsl step in answering the normative ques- place, such as autonomous human rationality. Rather,
tion, then, is to say that each game has its own rules itis located righl there in the very games hat we are i
and to play it we must obey Us rules Sonic of these playing. Instead of the Kingdom of finds, whal we
rules are moral in the traditional sense of the word. have is a community of game players. With this in
The rules are binding hut the real source of norma mind, n is possible to show thai the binding fore oi
tivity. of the force of obligation, lies in the agent him- the rule of just gaining, its normal i\ us. lies in I he verj
self or herself who chooses to play a certain game, idea of game playing itself, and that for there to be
thus chooses to play by the ver.\ rules that define the game playing at all, certain games iiiusl he rule. I oul
game. One ought to do certain things because that is and certain other games should be encouraged
how the game is played, just as a member of a club In arguing for the rules of jusl gaming, what
ought to observe club rules. However, the moral skep we need is o establish the claim that the rules of jusl
i
tic is bound lo ask Why can't I choose any

not to play gaming are the necessary meta rules ,,i game play-
game at all. thus choosing to follow no rules and to ing itself, in other words, the rules ol jusl gaming
plac.- myself under no obligations whatsoever? '
n guarantee the conditions ol possibility ol game plaj
fortunately for the skeptic, not playing anj gameal .ill tins was the
,i [aim establishes itsell insofai
,
is not an intelligible option, indeed nol really a choice. ,r, to plaj .iic. .•..Hue is to h<' . ommitted to th<
For simply to exist, to be, is to plaj some game or bilitj oi game playing \ murderer, in playing die mui
other ltimateiv th(
I
the Shake- immitted to the possibility
368 CHAPTER 10
of game playing. The more terrorists and murderers player is to be committed to the rules of just gaming,
insist on playing their games, the more they show and this means to have a pragmatic obligation to game
their commitment to game playing. What is it to be playing generally. This obligation translates into the
committed to game playing? At the very least, it is to obligation to bear witness and to present the unpre-
accept the conditions that make game playing itself sentable, to wage a "war on totality."One could go fur-
possible, or in other words to accept the rules of just ther and say that there is an obligation to be a virtuous
gaming. To put the matter differently, it can be said game player in making every effort to entrench the
game player at all is to play the game, or
that to be a conditions of possibility of game playing, in strength-
meta-game, of game playing, the rules of which are ening one's commitment to the rules of just gaining.
none other than the rules of just gaming. A game Deepening one's sensitivity to the unpresentable is
player is committed to observing these rules by one way of becoming a virtuous game player. Becom-
virtue of being agame player. If this is so then cer- ing less dogmatic about one's own discourses is an-
lain games must be ruled out because playing them other. If I am right in my reading of Lyotard, his
breaks the rules of just gaming. Such games are im- postmodern ethics can be said to provide a plausible
possible games in the context of game playing. What answer to the normative question. In summary, the
games break the rules of just gaming? Arguably they answer goes something like this. If the skeptic who
are, as Lyotard puts it in Just Gaming, the games asks "Why should be moral?" is really interested in
I
that prohibit "that the whole of reasonable beings the answer, then we can say that he or she is already
could continue to exist," games that place "the a game player and as such should obey the rules of tl te
whole of reasonable beings ... in a position where game. He or she may be playing many other games and
the pragmatics of obligation [is] forbidden them," in as such should obey the rules of such games. Some of
other words, games that prevent others from being the rules are moral in the traditional sense. Also, to be
game such as terroristic and murderous
players, a gameplayer is to be playing the game of game play-
games. We have seen that a murderer cannot coming, hence to be committed to the rules of game play-
plain that the rules of just gaming are inconsistent ing, namely, the rules of just gaming. This is why one
because they prevent him or her from playing the should not engage in certain acts, such as murderous
murderous game. This is so because such rules do and terroristic acts, and why one should cultivate cer-
not prevent the murderer from being a game player tain virtues, such as being sensitive to the unpre-
as such, only from being a murderer, whereas by sentable. The alternative is not to be a game player at
contrast the murderous game prevents others from all, which is equivalent to not existing. As for those
being game players insofar as it prohibits that others skeptics who are not really interested in our answer,
"could continue to exist." who are like Pontius Pilate who asked "What is truth?"
If it is accepted that to be a game player at all is and then turned his back and walked away, our answer
to play the meta-game of game playing then it also fol- will not have any effect. But then, their question is not
lows that Lyotard's "presenting the unpresentable" is really a question at all.
a postmodern moral imperative. This is so because not have argued that Lyotard has a coherent
I
presenting the unpresentable, not bearing witness to ethics. From his postmodern ethics, important moral
it, just is to privilege one's own discourse, to accept lessons, as well as practical lessons for moral educa-
that it alone has authority, that it constitutes the to- tion, can be drawn. If I am right, Lyotard is a moral
tality. It is to ignore the possibility of there being educator.
claims intelligible only in different rules of discourse,
thus effectively preventing "reasonable beings" from
Source: A. T. Nuyen, "Lyotard as Moral Educator," Lyotard:
being game worse than marginalizing
players. It is
Just Education, edited by Pradeep Dhiflon and Paul Stan-
them: it is placing them "in a position where the prag- dish. New York: Routledge, 2000, pp. 97 -109. By permission
matics of obligation [is] forbidden them." To be a game of the publisher.
SELECTED READINGS
Aronowitz, Stanley, and Giroux, Henry A. Postmodern, Education: Politics, Culture,
iind Social C-iticisin Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1991. One of the load-
ing statements on postmodern educational theory. Tins work seeks to develop a radical dis-
course in opposition to the dominant narratives thai tend to define the issues of the day,
particularly CUITenl educational reform thai is driven by market needs rather than focused
on the needs of the community.
Dhillon, Pradeep, and Standish, Paul, eds. Lyotard: -lust Education Routledge Interna-
tiona] Studies in the Philosophy of Education. New York: Routledge, 2000. A collection ol
13 articles written from various viewpoints assessing the value of Lyotard's thoughl for ed-
ucational theory. An international cast of authors and a varietj of viewpoints make this an
informative collection of writings.
Hoeveller, David J., Jr. The Postmodern Turn: American Thought and Culture in the
1970s New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996. A historical analysis of the origins ofpostmod
ern thought. The author highlights major developments in literature, art, political theory.
and philosophy, and critiques the impacts these had on thought and culture.
Peters, Michael, ed. Education and the Postmodern Condition, with a Foreword by .lean-
Francois Lyotard. Critical Studies in Education and Culture Series, Henry Giroux and Paulo
Freire, eds. Westport, CN: Bergin and Garvey, 1995. A collection of interpretive and de
senptive essays concerning the impact of postmodernism on education, particularly the
thought of Lyotard bul also other contemporary thinkers, as well. The emphasis is on the
value of postmodern insights for educational theory, but analysis is included thai helps pro
vide critical perspectives on many postmodernist ideas.
carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/postmodern.html (accessed April 5, L!U()2). A

feature of the page for the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Denver.
Their philosophy page devoted to "Contemporary Philosophy, Critical Theory, and Posl
is -
modern Thought." with resources and readings on key ideas and people.
ONLINE RESEARCH
m
Companion
Website
1 ulizing some of the
the Prentice Hall Foundations
Web sites included in this
Web site
swer the following question with a short essay: What
do postmodernists find wrong in contemporary
found
book, as well as Topics 2 and 3 of
uyww.prenhaU.com bzmon, an
ai
is postmodernism and what
educational beliefs and practices?

"ion can write and submit your essay response to \<>ur instructor DJ using the
"Electronic Btuebook" section found in any of tin- topics of the Prentice Hall Poun
dalions Web site.
Useful Web Sites
and Internet Links
Because electronic media and particularly computer access to the World Wide Web and the Inter-
net are becoming such important tools of access to knowledge and information, students should be-
come familiar with the technology and learn to use those resources that offer source materials fast
and conveniently. and learning, this comprehensive listing of some
In order to assist student access
worthwhile sources is included. Many if not most of the sites listed and annotated will direct stu-
dents to articles, analyses, and classic texts in philosophy and philosophy of education. In addition,
students who use the sources effectively will locate many additional resources not listed here. The
following site addresses are organized alphabetically after the www prefixes. Because Web sites are
upgraded frequently and pages are moved sometimes to new addresses, please understand that
the addresses were operative at the time this book went to press, but some might have changed by
the time readers seek access to them.
www. american-philosophy. org (accessed 04/05/02) . Homepage for the Society for the Advance-
ment of American Philosophy. This site provides useful links to a number of Web sites students
might find helpful.
analytic.ontologically.com (accessed 04/05/02). Home page of Analytic, a Web site providing nu-
merous options and links to sources on analytic philosophy, including persons and works. Its
"links" option provides access to electronic journals and texts in the field.
www.apa.udel.edu/apa/index.html (accessed 04/05/02). Homepage for the American Philosophi-
cal Association, a leading professional organization for philosophers. Provides access to some
electronic books and journals, but students might need proxy authorization through their
school's electronic library for access.
ask.elibrainj.com/index.asp (accessed 04/05/02). eLibrary is a useful source of electronically
availablebooks and journals, providing material on a number of subjects, including philoso-
phy and education. To receive its full benefits, students should access it through their college
or university library, but the general public can access such services as eLibrary's Free
Encyclopedia.
www.bfskinner.org (accessed 04/05/02). Homepage of the B. F. Skinner Foundation. General in-
formation about the foundation, with brief documents concerning operant conditioning and
other topics.
www.Britannica.com (accessed 04/05/02). A general reference work thai also contains consider-
able material on philosophy, ranging from entries on individual philosophers and schools to var-
ious other philosophical topics. Additional source materials can lie accessed, such as magazine
articles and links to other Web sites. Unless students are subscribers, however, they might need
access through their college or university electronic library.
370
USEFUL WEB SITES AND INTERNET LINKS 371
carbon.cudenver.edu mryd r, itcjdata postmodern

-
wunv.greatbooks.org/index.html (accessed hi (
lit ml (accessed 14 (>o. Oil ). A feature of the homepage

(
Site lor The (ireat Books foundation. Provides in-
for the School of Education at the University of Col formation on the foundation, its programs, and its
orado at Denver. Their philosophy page

devoted is publications.
to "Contemporary Philosophy, Critical Theory, and wunv.hegel org (accessed 04/05/02). Homepage of the
Postmodern Thought," with access to numerous ma- legel Society of America. This site has a "Hegel links
1
terials and links to Other sites, as well as additional throughout the Internet" that students might find in
pages featuring other theoretical fields. formative, including Hegelian influences on philoso
www.cuvp.uchicago.edu ids links. htm (accessed phy of education.
04/05/02). Homepage of the John Dewej Society umnv.h nowdeep.org/est istentialism (accessed it I
This site contains numerous Internet links for mate- Pro\ ides approximately 50 connections to papers, ar-
rial by and about John Dewey and other pragmatisl ticles, lectures, and other sources on existentialism
philosophers, and on pragmatism, progressivism, and wunv.marxism.org/ (accessed 04/05/02). A site de-
related topics. voted to the many varieties Of Marxism. Contains a
ditcxt inn/ (accessed (>-l/0-"Vl)2 ). Homepage of Digital number of listings for other Marxist sites, including
Text International, it contains a variety of sites link- archives of Marx and Kngels.
ing students to digital books available on the Internet. naks.ucsdedu accessed 1/05/02). Homepage of the
i
This provides access to works of and about certain in- North American Kant Society. Provides links to rele
dividual philosophers as well as options such as the vanl texts and electronic sources.
Meta-Encyclopedia q) Philosophy. Also contains iin w.ndedu Departments/Maritain ndjmc htm (ac-
links to numerous other sources and search engines cessed Ml Y>). Web Site of the Jacques Mai
I ):">/( 1 1. 1 in
a n n earlham edu %7Epeters/philinks.htm#jobs ('enter at the University of Notre Dame. This site
(accessed 04/05/02). Provides a helpful resource in provides access to papers, articles, and readings bj
peter Suber's "Guide to Philosophy on the Internet" Maritam and others on Thomisl and realist philoso-
through the Hippias and Noesis search engines. This phy and philosophy of education,
Site Offers many sources for researchers and students. pages.yahoo.com/nhp 'h entertainment _ arts
varum easternreligions.cornJ (accessed 04/05/02). Pro- humanities/philosophy (accessed 05/02 \ Yal 1 >
vides background and selected textual

historical Geocities site with links to sources on major philo io
material on Buddhism. 'oiifucianism, Taoism, Hindu-
< phies and leading philosophers. Topics range from
ism, and Zen, including philosophical and religious Ancient Greek and Eastern philosophies to existen
views Additional links also are provided. tialism and philosophj of mind, as well as issues such
duiuc.edu/EPS/Educational Theory (accessed as nihilism and objectivism.
ii } n." 02 i
Site for accessing back issues of the jour- ii ii ii paideia •
>rg (accessed 04/05/02) Iom< I
nal Educational Theory The mosl recenl articles the National Paideia Jenter This site promotes the
<
callable in abstracts, and older issues are pro educational philosophy of Mortimei Vdler. II pro\ ides
vided m full text. An index of articles and authors is brief explanatorj materials bul also links to other
liable to help students locate specific material. sites that might supporl the Centei ' objei i ive
unit ed.uiuc.edu/EPS/PES yearbook ( accesse d u // a philosophy oj educati

m05/02) Site f,,r the Philosophy of Education Soci Homepage for the Philosophj ol Education Societj
yearbooks, a source of presentations and re in Greal Britain It provides information
spouses at the society's annual meetings This source the Societj bul also contains a lisl of links to addi
provides 'valuable resource material, as well as an il tional philosophj Web sites studi I I find
lustration of how ideas are debated and critiqued in helpful.

the annual meetings. // // a philosophyofeducati
I/O The En 02) Homepage ol the Philosophj ol Education S ity,
nci wort on the

r< i
S \ In addition to information on the Society, this
Internet thai provides useful material on a number of site contains links to the journal Edu att mat The
including philosophy and philoi i
i h< i and to the Phi I Edut atior Soi
\n iin Y\ art ks, two importai nicallj
portanl site for material on leading philo tophei dlable material (see related site entri<
•
mi. along with numerous philo a a a pragn ite for
problems and topi< i

i ompreh the ;
a helpful soun e witl
Hon of n >i in tures ihai include thi
brarj ol L impanion n>

.
372 USEFUL WEB SITES AND INTERNET LINKS
Pragmatism," and numerous links to philosophical of general information and descriptions of philosophy
"nodes on the Web." and philosophers. Contains good background mater-
www. radicalacademy. com/homepage, htm (accessed ial for beginning students, as well as helpful aid for
04/05/02). Site with a traditional realist orientation the more experienced.
but with many other materials as well. The Radical vig.prenhall.eorn/. Homepage for Prentice Hall, Incor-
Academy supports and defends classical realism, but porated, offering resources for students and faculty
it also provides source materials on other philoso- using this textbook. Readers are encouraged to
phies in Western thought and history. browse the site for useful material. Of special inter-
www.spep.org/resource.html (accessed 04/05/02). est for students is the page, "Resource Central,
Homepage of the Society for Phenomenology and Higher Education Students" at www.prenhall.com/
Existential Philosophy, a professional organization resource_central/students/index.htm, and instruc-
devoted to supporting philosophy inspired by Con- tors can use www.prenhall.com/resource_central/
tinental European traditions. SPEP also promotes professors/index, html These pages offer online tools
such traditions as critical theory, feminism, German and references, as well as links to other sites.
Idealism, hermeneutics, and post-structuralism. www.vlib.org/ (accessed 04/05/02). A Web catalog long
plato. Stanford, edw'contents, html (accessed 04/05/02) recognized for its sources and services provided by a
Site of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. This number of servers around the world. The Virtual Li-
source provides a large selection of materials and op- brary provides links to many Web sites on philosophy
tions on philosophy, philosophers, topics, and issues from ancient times to the present, with access to
and problems. leading works that are available electronically. Stu-
plato. Stanford, edu/entries/behaviorism/ (accessed dents may need to access this source through a sub-
04/05/02). An example of a specific entry in the Stan- scribing college or university library.
ford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. This particular page www.wfs.org (accessed 04/05/02). Homepage for the
devoted to the philosophical roots of behaviorism.
is World Future Society. This site emphasizes social and
www. thoemmes. com/american/links. htm (accessed technological developments that could shape the fu-
04/05/02). Examines a wide selection of leading ture, and provides access to interviews, book re-
thinkers and influential developments in American views, and Web forums that students might find
philosophical thought. Provides access to articles, helpful.
bibliographies, and numerous links to other Web www.xrefer.com (accessed 04/05/02). Home page for
sites. xrefer, a Web site containing encyclopedias, dictio-
www.utm.edu/research/iep/ (accessed 04/05/02). Site naries, thesauri, and books of quotations from the
of the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a source world's leading publishers.
Selected Bibliography
Adler, Mortimer J. Paideia Problems and Possibilities. New York: Macmillan, 1982.
. The Paideia Proposal: in Educational Manifesto New York: Macmillan, 1982
, and Mayer, Mill on. The Rei olution in Education Ihicago: fniversity of Chicago Press,
I I i
Adorno,Theodor'W. Negative Dialectics, translated bj E. B. Ashton. New York: Seabury Press, 1973
Alcott, Amos Bronson 'conversations with 'hildren on the Gospels. Boston: James Monroe and
( I
Co., 1836.
.Journals. Boston: Little. Brown. l!)-'i8.
Alinsky, Saul Rulesfot Radicals New York: RandomHouse, 1971.

Apple, Michael W. "Can Critical Pedagogies Interrupt Rightists Policies?" Educational /
(2): 220-254, Spring 2000.

, editor. ( 'ultural and Economic Reproduction in Education. Essays on < 'lass, Ideology, and
the State New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, H)82.
. "Education, and Class power: Basil Bernstein and the Neo Mai xisl Sociologj of Edu
' Julture,
cation," Educational Theory 12(2):127 16, Spring 1992 I
.OfficialKnou ledge Democratic Education in a Conservative \ge New York: Routli

:
Aquinas, Thomas. Basic Writings. New York: Random House, r

.Sin, nun Theologica, vols. 3, translated bj Fathers ol the English
1 (ominican Province, New I
York: Benziger Brothers, 1947.

. The Teacher—The Mind. Chicago: Henry Regnery, 19
Arato, Andrew, and Gebhardt, Kike editors. The Essential Frankfurt School Readei New York:
Urizen Books, 1978.

!tJe 77m Wicomachean Ethics oj iristotle, translated bj DavidRoss NewYork Oxfordl ni
1975
. Politics, translated bj Benjamin Jowetl New York Colonial Pn
Aronowitz, Stanley. TheCrisis in Historical Materialism Class, Politics, and Culture in \4ai
ist Theory, 2d ed Minneapol itj ol Minnesota Pr<
. The Politics of Identity Class, Culture, Social Mov* ArYorl Routled

,
Education Under Siege TYu
and Giroux, Henrj \ alDe
bate Over Schooling Westporl CT BerginandGai
,and Giroux, Henrj \ Postmodern Education Politics, Cultun Mir
neapolis I niversitj ol Minnesota Pre is, 1991
Augustini " tion bj Thomai Mi
lern Librai
'
37 :\
374 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
. Concerning the Teacher (De magistro) and on . "Varieties of Pluralism," American Journal of Ed-
the Immortality of the Soul (De importalitate ani- ucation 95(4):509-525, August 1987.
mae), translated from the Latin with the addition of Berry, Thomas. Religious of India: Hinduism, Yoga,
a preface by George G. Lockie. New York: Apple) on- Buddhism. New York: Bruce Publishing Co., 1971.
Century-Crofts, c. 1938. Best, Steve, and Kellner, Douglas. The Postmodern. Turn,.
. Confessions, translated by Edward B. Pusey. New New York: The Guilford Press, 1997.
York: Modern Library, 1949. Blake, Nigel; Smeyers, Paul; Smith, Richard; and Stan-
Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, translated by Maxwell dish, Paul. Education in an Age of Nihilism. New
Staniforth. Baltimore: Penguin, 1964. York: Routledge/Falmer, 2000.
Ayer, Alfred Jules. Language, Truth and Logic. New Bloland, Harland G., "Postmodernism and Higher Educa-
York: Dover, 1952. tion,"Journal ofHigher Education, 66 (5):521-539
. Russell and Moore. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Uni- (September-October 1995).
versity Press, 1971. Bloom, Allan. The Closing of the American Mind. New
Bacon, Francis. Advancement of Learning and Novum York: Simon and Schuster, 1987.
Organum. New York: Colonial, 1889. Bode, Boyd. Progressive Education at the Crossroads.
Balun, Archie J. Comparative Philosophy: Western, New York: Newson, 1938.
Indian, and Chinese Philosophies Compared, rev. Boisvert, Raymond D. Johu Dewey: Rethinking Our
ed. Albuquerque, NM: World Book, 1995. Time. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998.
Banerjee, M. Invitation to Hinduism. New Delhi, India: Bowers, C. A. Elements of a Post-Liberal Theory of
Printsman, 1978. Education. New York: Teachers College Press, 1987.
Barber, Benjamin. An Aristocracy of Everyone: The Bowes, Pratima. Hindu Intellectual Tradition. Colum-
Politics of Education and the Future of America. bia, MO: South Asia Books, 1977.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Bowker, John, editor. Oxford Dictionary of World Reli-
Bayles, Ernest. Pragmatism, and Education. New York: gions. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Harper & Row, 1966. Bowles, Samuel, and Gintis, Herbert. Schooling in
Baynes, Kenneth, et al. After Philosophy End or Trans-
': Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the
formation? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987. Contradict ioi/s of Economic Life. New York: Basic
Beck, Clive. Educational Philosophy and Theory: An Books, 1977.
Introduction. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. Brameld, Theodore. Education as Power. New York:
Bellah, Robert N., et al. The Good Society. New York: Al- Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965.
fred A. Knopf, 1991. . Patterns of Educational Philosophy. New York:
Bender, Frederic L., editor. The Betrayal of Marx. New Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.
& Row, 1975.
York: Harper . Toward a Reconstructed Philosophy of Educa-
and Engelmann, Siegfried. Teaching Dis-
Bereiter, Carl, tion. New York: Dryden, 1956.
advantaged Children in the Pre.-Sch.ool. Upper Brosio, Richard A. A Radical Democratic Critique of
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1966. Capitalist Education New York: Peter Lang, 1994.
.
Bergson, Henri. Creative Evolution, translated by Broudy, Harry S. Building a Philosophy of Education.
Arthur Mitchell. New York: Modern Library, 1944. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1961.
Berkeley, George. Principles of Human Knowledge ."Philosophy of Education Between Yearbooks,"
New York: E. P. Dutton, 1910. Teachers College Record 81:130-144, 1979.
Berlin, Isaiah. Karl Marx: His Life and Environ- .The Real World, of the Public Schools. New York:
ment. Home University Library of Modern Knowl- Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972.
edge, No. 189, 3rd ed. London: Oxford University Brubacher, John S. "The Challenge to Philosophize
Press, 1963. About Education," Modern Philosophies and Edu-
Bernstein, RichardJ. The New Constellation: The Eth- cation. The Fifty-Fourth Yearbook of the National
ical-PoliticalHorizons of Modem il ///Post n/oder- Society for the Study of Education, part I, chapter
nity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992. VII. Chicago: National Society lor the Study of Edu-
Philosophical Profiles. Cambridge, UK: Polity

.
ction. L942, pp. 289-322.
Press, 1986. . Modern Philosophies of Education . New York:
Praxis and Action: Contemporary Philosophies
.
McGraw-Hill, 1!).'!!).
ofHuman Activity. Philadelphia: University of Penn- Buber, Martin. / and Thou, translated by Ronald (J.
sylvania Press, li)71 Smith. New York: Charles Scribner's, 1958.

. "The Resurgence of Pragmatism," Social Research Burnett, Joe E. "Some Observations on the Logical Im-
59(4):813-840, Winter 1992. plications of Philosophic Theory lor Educational The-
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 375
ory and Practice," Philosophy oj Education, 1958. Comte, Auguste I General Vieu q) Positivism, trans
Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting ofthe latedbj J. H. Bridges New York: R Speller, i
Philosophy of Education Society. Edwardsville, IL: Conant, -lames Bryant Education and Liberty Cam
Philosophy of Education Society, 1958. bridge, M V Harvard niversitj Press, L9 I
Burns, Hobarl W. "The Logic ofthe 'Educational Impli- Confucius. The Analects of Confuscius A Philosophi
cation,'" Educational Theory 12:53-63, 1962. cal Translation translated, with an introduction, bj .
Butler, J. Donald. Four Philosophies. New York: Roger T Ames and Henry Rosemont, Jr, New York:
Harper. 1951. Ballantine Books, 1999
.Idealism in Education . New York: Harper & Conze, Edward, editor. Buddhist Texts Through the
Row. 1966. <4#es. Oxford, UKiOne World, 1995
Calm. Steven M. ( 'lassie a ml 'ontemporary Rood mas
< .A Short History oj Buddhism. New York G
in the Philosophy oj Education. New York: McGraw Ulen& I num. L980
Hill. 1997. Copernicus, Nicolaus. The Revolutions oj the Heai
Callinicos, Alex. Against Postmodernism: A Marxist enly Spheres, translated by A. M luncan. New York: I
Critique. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1990. Barnes and Noble, 1976.
Camus, Albert The Myth of Sisyphus, translated by Corbin, Henry. History oj Islamic Philosophy New
.lustin ( )'Brien. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1955. Kegan Paul International. 1993.
York:
. The Rebel, translated by Anthony Bower. New York: Counts, leorge S. The 'hallenge oj So, iet Education
( <
Alfred A Knopf. 1978. Westport.cT McGraw-Hill, 1957

Camoy, Martin, editor. Schooling in a Corporate Soci Dare the Schools timid a Xcn Social Ordei 'New
.
ety: The Political Economy oj Education in Amer York: Amo Press. 1969.
tea New York: David McKaj Co., 1972. ('reel, Herrlee G.What Is Taoism? (and Othei Studies
and Levin. Henry M. The Limits oj Educational Re-
,
in Chinese Cultural History) Chicago Universitj
form. New York: David McKay Co., 1976. of Chicago Press. 1970.
Caspary, William R. Dewey on Democracy. Ithaca: Cor- I >al list rand. Frederick C. Amos Bronson Ucott. An In
nell University Press. 2000. tellectual Biography. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh
Casti, John L. Paradigms Lost: Images oj Man in the Dickinson University Press. 1982.
Minor oj Science. New York: William Morrow and I arwin, iharles R. On the Origin oj Species by Weans
I
Co., 1989. oj Natural Selection. New York: Oxford niv I
Chai, ('h'u. and Chai, Winberg. The Story oj Chinese Press, 1958
Philosophy. New York: Washington Square Press, 1961. I akening the Buddha ll ithin Eight steps
fas.Surya.. [v.
Chamberlin, Gordon. The Educating Act A Phenome- New York: Broadway Books, 1997
to Enlightenment.
nological View. Lanham, MD: University Press of David Ned, Alexandra, luiddh/sm Its Doctrines and
America. 1981. [ts Methods. New York: Si Martin's Press. 1977.
Chennakesavan, Sarasvati. A Critical Study oj Hin- Dawkins, Richard The Selfish Gene NewYork Oxford
duism. New York: Asia Publishing House. 1974. I niversily Press, 1989
Cherryholmes, Cleo. Powei and Criticism Poststruc Dawson, Raymond Stanley. Confucius Oxford, 1 K Ox
tn ml Investigations in Education New York Teach . ford i
niversitj Press 1981
College Press, l DeBary, Theodore, editoi The Buddhist Trade
ChUds,John Lawrence. American Pragmatism and Edu India. China, and Japan New York: Modem Li
cation New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston brary, 1969

Edm aim,, ami the Philosophy oj Experimental I lerrida, Jacques. Oj Grammatology, translated b
Vort Appleton Jentury, 1931. ' atri Chakravortj Spivak Baltimore Johns Hopkins
(Ihuang-tzu linn, iq ti u Basic Writings, translated bj
( I Iniversitj Press, 1976
Durton Watson New York: Columbia Universitj Rend \ I ' Method and Medita
Press 1964 lions, translated bj Laurence J Lofleur Indian.
Lorraine Epistemic Responsibility Hanover, Bobbs M.i I960 i ill
Ml i
niversitj Press of New England, 1987 Dewej John [CommonFaith New Haven Yal< i
ni
CoOegeEnti Academic Prepa

dnation Board
rain, a for College What Students Need to Knou \i i a Ea i"
and Be Able to Do NewYorl College Board 1983 Tin i h dd and the I 'a i i n id n m a ml tin S
o, of <
Collins, Marva Ordinary Children Extraordinary hi' •
Norfolk, VA Hampton Roads Publishing 1 1, .

New \><\Y Mai
null
. Essays in Experimental Logic. New York: Feng, Yu-Lan. The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy. West-
Dover, 1953. port, CT: Greenwood Press, 1970.
. Experience and Education. New York: Mac- Fischer, Ernst,and Marek, Franz, editors. The Essential
millan, 1938. Lenin, translated by Anna Bostock. New York: Herder
. Experience and Nature. LaSalle, IL: Open and Herder, 1972.
Court, 1929. Fosnot, Catherine Twomey. "Constructivism: A Psy-
. How We Think. Boston: D. C. Heath, 1933. chological Theory of Learning" in Constructivism:
. Human. Nature and Conduct. Carbondale: South- Theory, Perspectives, and Practice, edited by
ern Illinois University Press, 1988. Catherine Twomey Fosnot, editor. New York: Teach-
. The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy and ers College Press, 1996.
Other Essays in Contemporary Thought. New ,
Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives, and
editor.
York: Henry Holt, 1910. Practice. New York: Teachers College Press, 1996.
. Moral Principles in Education. Carbondale: Foucault, MicheL Discipline and Punish. New York:
Southern Illinois University Press, Arcturus Books Vantage Books, 1979.
Edition, 1975. . Madness and Civilization: A History of Insan-
. "My Pedagogic Creed," School Journal 54(3): ity in the Age ofReason. New York: Vintage Books, 1973.
77-80, January 16, 1897. . The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the
. The Need for a Recovery in Philosophy, in On Human Sciences. New York: Vintage Books, 1973.
Experience, Nature, and Freedom: Representa- Frank, Daniel and Leaman, Oliver, editors. History of
tive Selections, edited by Richard J. Bernstein. New Jewish Philosophy. Vol.2 of Routledge History of
York: Library of Liberal Arts, Bobbs-Merrill, 1960, World Philosophies. New York: Routledge, 1997.
pp. 16-69. Freire, Paulo.Education for a Critical Consciousness.
. The School and Society. Chicago: University of New York: Seabury Press, 1973.
Chicago Press, 1915. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, translated by Myra
.
. Theory of the Moral Life. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Bergman Ramos. New York: Seabury Press, 1970.
and Winston, 1960. Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Its Discontents,
Dhillon, Pradeep A., and Standish, Paul, editors. Lyo- translated by James Strachey. New York: W. W. Nor-
tard: Just Education. New York: Routledge, 2000. ton, 1962.
Durkheim, Emile. Socialism and Saint-Simon, edited Froebel, Friedrich. The Education of Man, translated
by Alvin W. Gouldner and translated by Charlotte by W. N. Hailman. New York: A. M. Kelley, 1974.
Satler. Yellow Springs, OH: Antioch Press, 1958. Garrison, James W., editor. The New Scholarship on
Eastwood, Gordon. "Paradigms, Anomalies, and Analy- Dewey. Boston: Kluwer Academic, 1995.
sis: Response to Jonas Soltis," Philosophy of Edu- Gavin, William J., editor. Context Over Foundation:
cation, 1971. Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh Dewey and Marx. Norwell, MA: Kluwer, 1988.
Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of Education Soci- Gentile, G. The Reform, of Education. New York: Har-
ety. Edwardsville, IL: Philosophy of Education Soci- court, Brace, 1922.
ety, 1971, pp. 47-54. George, Paul S. The Theory Z School: Beyond Effec-
Edel, Abraham. "Analytic Philosophy of Education at the tiveness. Columbus, OH: National Middle School As-
Crossroads," Educational Theory 22:131-153, 1972. sociation, 1983.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Essays. New York: Houghton Geuss, Raymond. The Idea, of Critical Theory: Haber-
Mifflin, 1883. mas and the Frankfurt School. Modern European
Engels, Friedrich. Dialectics of Nature, translated and Philosophy Series. New York: Cambridge University
edited by Clemens Dutt, with a preface and notes Press, 1981.
by J. B. S. Haldane. New York: International Publish- Gilson, Etienne. The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy,
ers, 1940. translated by A. H. C. Downes. Notre Dame, IN: Uni-
. Herr Eugen Duhring's Revolution in Science versity of Notre Dame Press, 1991.
(Anti-Duhring), translated by Emile Burns and Giroux, Henry A. Border Crossings: Cultural Work-
edited by C. P. Dutt. New York: International Publish- ers and the Politics of Education. New York: Rout-
ers, 1966. ledge, 1992.
Erasmus, Desiderius. The Education of a Christian . Ideology, Culture, and the Process of Schooling.
Prince, translated by Lester K. Born. New York: Co- Temple University Press, 1981.
Philadelphia:
lumbia University Press, 1924. "Marxism and Schooling: The Limits of Radical
.
Feibleman, James K. Understanding Oriental Philoso- Discourse". Educational Theory 34(2)413-136,

phy. New York: Horizon Press, 1976. Spring 1984.
,
.
Teachers as Intellectuals: Toward a < 'ntical Ped- William Wallace. New York: Oxford University Press,
agogy of Learning. New York: Bergin and Garvey, 1892.
I ! (88 . The Phenomenology qf Mind, translated by J. B.
Gitlin,Todd. "Postmodernism: Roots and Practices," Baillie. New York: Allen Unwin, 1949
Dissent 36:100-108, Winter 1989. . Philosophy of Right, translated by T. M. Knox New
Goodlad, Johll I. A Place Called School: Prospects for York: Clarendon, 1957.
the Future. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984. Heidegger, Martin. The Basic Problems oj Phenomenol
Gopalan, Subramania. Outlines ofJainism. New York: ogy. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1982.
John Wiley & Sons, 1973. . Being ami Time \ Translation oj Sein und Zeit
Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from the Prison Note translated by Joan Stambaugh. Albany: State Univer-
books ofAntonio Gramsci, edited by Quintin Hoare sity of New York Press, 1996.
and Geoffrey N. Smith. New York: [nternational Pub- Herndon, James. How to Sun n ein YourNative Land
lishers, 1971. New York: Bantam Books, 1971.
Greene, Maxine. "A Constructivist Perspective on Teach- llerrigel, Eugen. Zen and the Art of. [rchery. New York:
ing and Learning in the Arts," in Construct ir ism: Pantheon Books, Inc., 1!)!):}.
Theory, Perspectives, ami Practice, edited by Hermstein, Richard J. and Murray, Charles. The Hell
Catherine Twomev Fosnot. New York: Teachers Col- Curve: Intelligence and 'lass Structure in Amen (
lege Press. l!)!)ti. can Life. New York: Free Press, 1994.
.
Landscapes of Learning. New York: Teachers Col- I linnells. .1. R., and Sharpe, E. J. Hinduism. New last le (
lege Press, IK Upon Tyne, England: Oriel Press, 1972.

.
Teacher us Slra uger: Educational Philosophg for Jr. Cultural Literacy: What EveryAmeri
Hirsch, E. D.
the Modem Age. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1973. can Needs to Know. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987
Gribble. James Introduction to Philosophy ofEduea Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan revised student edition. ,
tion. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1969. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996
Guastello. Stephen J. Chaos, ( 'utustrophe. and Human . Selections, edited by Frederick J. Iv Woodbridge.
Affairs Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associ- New York: Charles Seribner's, 1930.
ates, 1!»" Hoff, Benjamin. The Too of Pooh. New York: Penguin
(iuillaume, Alfred. The Tradition "/ Islam New York: Books, 1982.
Books for Libraries, 1980. Hook, Sidney. Education for Modern Man New York
Gutek, Gerald L. Historical and Philosophical Foun- Knopf, 1963.
dations of Education. A Biographical Introduc- Horkheimer, Max. Dawn and Decline. New York: Con
tion. 2d ed. Ipper Saddle River. N.I: Merrill/I'rentiee
1 tinuum. 1978
Hall. 1997. .Eclipse of Reason. New York: Continuum, 1973
.Philosophical and Ideological Perspectives on and Adorno, Theodor. Dialectic oj Enlightenment,
,
Education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1988. translated by John Cumming. New York: Herder and
rlabermaS, Jlirgen. Communication and tin- He, hi Herder, 1969
lion qj Society, translated and with an introduction Home. Herman II The Democratic Philosophy oj Edu
by Thomas McCarthy Boston: Beacon Press, 1979. cation New York: Macmillan, I
( in tin' Logic of the Social Sciences, translated bj Hossein, Sayyed Nasi, and Leaman,< lliver, editors History
Shierry Weber Nicholsen and Jerry A. Stark. Cam- oj Islamic Philosophy Vol.] of RouUedge Hish
bridge, MA MIT Press. 1988. World Philosophies NewYork Routledge, 1996
.Tim Philosophical Discourse of Modernity. Cam- Howie, John, and Buford. Thomas eds. 'ontempor (
) .
'
bridge, MA MIT Press. L987 ary Studies in Philosophical Idealism Cap<

Theory and Practice Boston Beacon Press, 1973. MA: nide Stark and Company, 1975
(
'I.
Hackett, Stuart C Oriental Philosophy. Madison, WI: Hullfish, Henry Cordon, and Smith, Philip ii Reflective
Universitj of Wisconsin Press, 1979. Tli inking The Mcltiod Oj Hducutiau New York
Moral Education in the Common
William Torre-, Dodd, Mead I
S< hoo\s" hiModern Philosophies ofEdut ation, edited Hume. David Treatise Upon Human Watun
bj John Paul Strain New York Random House, 1971 Ybrt '
ixford i
niversitj Press lull
irger. Luther 11 . and Mourant. John A Judaism Husserl, Edmund Ideas New fork Macmillan, I
and imi Traditions Hutchins, Robert Maynard The I 'onflu t in I
m Allyn and Bacon, 1968 \ew fori Harpej & R
. W F The Logic of Hegel, from the Hm n Great Books The Foundations of a Liberal Edu
Philosophy, at s inslated l>\ i uium New 'ioiI- Simon and S< huslei I
.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Ban- Klein, Margrete S. The Challenge of Communist Edu-
tam, 1932. cation: A Look at the German Democratic Repub-
. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. New lic. East European Monographs. New York: Columbia
York: Harper, 1956. University Press, 1980.
Hyppolite, Jean. Studies on Marx and Hegel, translated Kneller,George F. Existentialism and Education. New
with introduction, notes, and bibliography by John York: John Wiley, 1958.
O'Neill. New York: Basic Books, 1969. .Movements of Thought in Modern Education.
Illich, Ivan. Deschooling Society. New York: Harper & New York: John Wiley, 1984.
Row, 1970. Kohlberg, Lawrence. "Moral Education Reappraised,"
Jacoby, Susan. Inside Soviet Schools. New York: Hill and The Humanist 38(6), November/December 1978.
Wang, 1974. ."Stages of Moral Development as a Basis for Moral
Jaini, Padmanabh S. The Jaina Path of Purification. Education," in Moral Education: Interdisciplinary
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1979. Approaches, edited by Clive M. Beck, et al. Toronto:
James, William. Pragmatism, a New Namefor Some Old University of Toronto Press, 1971.
Ways of Thinking. New York: Longmans, Green, 1931 Kohn, Alfie. Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with
. Talks to Teachers. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other
Winston, 1899. Bribes. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Koller, John M. Oriental Philosophies. New York:
Longmans, Green, 1902. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970.
Jameson, Frederic. The Ideologies of Theory: Essays Kuhn, Thomas. The Structure ofScientific Revolutions,
1971-1986. Two volumes. Volumes 48 and 49, Theory 2d ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.
and History of Literature, edited by Wlad Godzich Lenin, Vladimir Materialism and Empirio-Criticism.
I.
and Jochen Schulte-Sasse. Minneapolis: University of New York: International Publishers Co., 1970.
Minnesota Press, 1988. Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Under-
Jaspers, Karl. Philosophy of Existence, translated by standing. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1961.
Richard F. Grabau. Philadelphia: University of Penn- . John Locke on Education, edited by Peter Gay.
sylvania Press, 1971. New York: Teachers College Press, 1964.
Jencks, Christopher. Inequality: A Reassessment of the .Some Thoughts Concerning Education, edited
Effect of Family and Schooling in America. New by F W. Goforth. New York: Barron's Educational Se-
York: Basic Books, 1972. ries, 1964.
Jervis, Kathe, and Montag, Carol, editors. Progressive Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Postmodern Condition: A
Education for the 1990s: Transforming Practice. Report on Knowledge, translated from the French
New York: Teachers College Press, 1991. by Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi, foreword by
Kallen, Horace. Culture and Democracy in the United Frederic Jameson. Vol. 10 of Theory and History of
States. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1924. Literature, Series. Minneapolis: University of Minne-
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Practical Reason, trans- sota Press, 1984.
lated by Lewis White Beck. New York: Liberal Arts Marcel, Gabriel. The Philosophy of Existentialism,
Press, 1956. translated by Manya Harari. New York: Citadel
.Critique of Pure Reason. Chicago: University of Press, 1968.
Chicago Press, 1949. Marcuse, Herbert. An Essay on Liberation. Boston:
.Education, translated by Annette Churton. Ann Beacon Press, 1969.
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1960. .One Dimensional Man. Boston: Beacon Press, 1964.
Kellner, Douglas. Critical Theory, Marxism, and .Reason and Revolution: Hegel and the Rise of So-
Modernity. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University cial Theory. Boston: Beacon Press, 1960.
Press, 1989. Margonis, Frank. "Theories of Conviction: The Return
Kierkegaard, Soren Abye. Kierkegaard's Atta,ck Upon of Marxist Theorizing," Educational Theory, 47(4)
"Christendom," translated, with an introduction by 85-102, Fall 1997.
Walter Lowrie. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Maritain, Jacques. Education at the Crossroads. New
Press, 1968. Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1943.
. Fear and Trembling, and the Sickness Unto Marler, Charles D. Philosophy and Schooling. Boston:
Death, translated by Walter Lowrie. Princeton, NJ: Allyn and Bacon, 1975.
Princeton University Press, 1954. Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy.
Kilpatrick, William Heard. Education for a Changing Vol. I. of The Process of Capitalist Production,
Civilization. New York: Maemillan, 1927. edited by Friedrich Engels and translated from the
third German Samuel Moore and Edward

edition by McClellan, -lames E. "In Reply to Professor Solus." in
Aveling. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1965. Philosophy Oj Ed nad ion. 1971 Proceedings of the
. The Communist Manifesto, translated by Samuel Twenty-Seventh Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of
Moore. London: Penguin, 1967. Education Society. Edwardsville, IP Philosophy of
.Economic arid Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Education Society. 1971, 5
edited and with an introduction by Dirk .1. Strnik, McLaren. Prior. Life in Schools: An Introduction to
translated by Martin Milligan. New York: Interna- Critical Pedagogy in the Foundations oj Educa
tional Publishers, 1964. lion. New York: Longman. 1994.
The Essential Writings, edited by Frederic
. L. Ben- . "Revolutionary Pedagogy in Post-Revolutionarj
der Boulder. CO: West view Press, 1986. Times: Rethinking the Political Economj of Critical
.
The Grundisse, edited and translated by David Education," Educational Then,,/, 18(4): I'd 162,
McLellan. New York: Harper and Row, 1972. Fall 1998.
. Karl Mare: Selected Writings. London: Oxford McLuhan, Marshall. The Global Village. New York: Ox
University Press, 1977. ford University Press, 1989.
. Marx: Early Political Writings, edited and trans- Meadows. Donella H. Beyond the Limits. Confronting
lated by Joseph 1'Malley with Richard A. Davis. New
( Global Collapse, Envisioning a Sustainable Fu
York: Cambridge University Press. 1994. lure. Post Mills. VT Chelsea Green Publishers, 1992.
Mure Later Political Writings, edited and trans-
. , et al. The Limits oj (iron lie New York: Universe
lated by Terrell Carver. New York: Cambridge Inh ei I Books. L972
sity Press, 1996. Mehring, Franz. Karl Marx: TheStory oj lies Life, trans-
Education, Women, end Children Vol. 6 of

. On lated by Edward Pitzgerald. Atlantic Highlands, N.I:
The Karl Marx Library, edited and arranged by Humanities Press, 1981.
Saul K. Padover. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1975. Menand, Louis. The Metaphysical Club. Now York
. On end
Social Change, with Selections
Society Farrar, Straus, and (iiroux, 2001.
tin Friedrich Engels, edited by Neil J. Smelder. Merieau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology oj Percep
i
lucago: University of Chicago Press, 1973. lion, translated by Colin Smith. Atlantic Highlands,
The Portable Karl Marx, selected, translated in
.
N.J: Humanities Press International, 1981
part, and with an introduction by Eugene Kamenka. . Primacy of Perception, edited bj James M Edie
New York: The Viking Press, 1983. and translated by William Cobb, el al. Evanston, II.
Writings oj the Young Men on Philosophy and
. Northwestern University Press. 1964.
Society, translate and edited by Lloyd Easton and I I >. Mesarovic, Mihajlo »., and Pestel, Eduard. Wank ind at
I
Kurt H.Guddat. Garden City, NY Anchor Books. 1967. the Turning Point The Second Report to the 'lub (
and Engels, Friedrich. The 'ommunist Manifesto,

,
< of Rome. New York: I >utton, 1974.
edited and with an introduction by David McLellan. Montessori, Maria. The Secret oj Childhood, tran
New Oxford University Press, 1992
York: by Barbara Barclay Carter. New York: Longmans,
and Engels, Friedrich. The German Ideology Pari
, Green, L936
One, with Selections from /'arts Two and Three, Moore. George Edward. Philosophical Papers Now
Together u ith Maris "Introduction to a Critique York: Allen and Unwin, 1959
oj Political Economy, " edited and with an introdu .
Selected n i itings, edited bj Th as Baldwin In
lion by C.J, Arthur New York: International Publish- ternational Librarj ol Philosophy Series New York
I ! r7l i
Routledge 1993
and Engels, Friedrich. Karl Man and Friedrich
,
Morris,Van Cleve Existentialism inEducation New
Engels Selected Works, in One Volume New York Yori Harpi & Row, 1966 i
International Publishers, 1968. . and Par Young Philosophy and Uu

: Engels, Friedrich; and Lenin, V I The Essential School, 2d ed Boston Houghton Mifflin, 1976
Left Eon i Classit Texts on the Principles oj So- Mourad, Roger P Ji Postmodern Philosophical Cr%
Barnes and Noble, L9i fori tique and the Pursuit oj Knowledge in Highei
Maalow, Abraham II Motix alion and Personalit Education Critical Studies in Education and
York Harper and Row, 1987. < 'utt me s, , ies, edited by Henrj V. Giroux Westport,
Matthi :. Education in the Sot iet Inion CN Bergin and Gai
Policies ami Institution Stalin London Nakamura, Hajime Wa is oj Thinking
Allen and I num. L9 /./, s India, ( 'hina, Tibet Ja\ I
i diU d bj
guistii Analysis and the Philosophy ol Plnhp p Wienei Honolulu, II \ i
1970 Press 1964

National Commission on Excellence in Education. A . Utopias and Education. Minneapolis: Burgess,

Nation The Imperative for Educational.
at Risk: 1969.
Reform,. Washington, DC: Government Printing Of- Packard, Vance Oakley. The Hidden Persuaders. New
fice, 1983. York: Pocket Books, 1981.
National Society for the Study of Education. Modern Paringer, William Andrew. John Dewey and the Para-
Philosophies of Education. The Fifty-Fourth Year- dox of Liberal Reform. Albany, NY: State University
book of the National Society for the Study of Educa- of New York Press, 1990.
tion, edited by Nelson B. Henry. Chicago: National Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich. Conditioned Reflexes, trans-
Society for the Study of Education, 1955. lated by G. V Anrap. New York: Dover Press, 1960.
. Philosophies of Education. The Forty-First Year- Peddiwell, J. Abner [pseud.]. The Saber-Tooth Curricu-
book of the National Society for the Study of Educa- lum. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1939.
tion, edited by Nelson B. Henry. Chicago: National Peirce, Charles Sanders. Philosophy and Human Na-
Society for the Study of Education, 1942. ture. New York: New York University Press, 1971.
. Philosophy and Education: The Eightieth Year- Perkinson, Henry J. The Possibilities of Error: An Ap-
book of the National Society for the Study of Educa- proach Education. New York: David McKay, 1971.
to
tion, edited by Jonas Soltis. Chicago: National Society . Teachers Without, Goals, Students Without
for the Study of Education, 1981. Knowledge. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.
Neill, Alexander Sutherland. Summerhill: A Radical Pestalozzi, Johann H. How Gertrude Teaches Her
Approach to Child Rearing. With a Foreword by Children, translated by Lucy E. Holland and Francis
Erich Fromm. New York: Hart Publishing Co., 1960. C. Turner. Syracuse, NY: George Allen and Unwin,
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. Basic Writings of Nietz- 1894.
sche, translated and edited and with commentaries by Peters, Michael, editor.Education and the Postmod-
Walter Kaufmann. New York: Modern Library, 1968. ern Turn, foreword by Jean-Francois Lyotard. West-
. Beyond Good and Evil. New York: Viking Pen- port, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 1995.
guin, 1990. ,editor. Naming the Multiple: Poststructuralism
. Beyond Good and Prelude to a Philosophy
Evil: and Education. Critical Studies in Education and
of the Future, translated by Walter Kaufmann and R. Culture Series, edited by Henry A. Giroux. Westport,
J. Hillingdale. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. CT: Bergin and Garvey, 1998.
. Cm
the Genealogy of Morality, edited by Keith and Education. London: Allen and
Peters, R. S. Ethics
Ansell Pearson and translated by Carol Diethe. New Unwin, 1965.
York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. . The Philosophy of Education. London: Oxford
. Thus Spake Zarathustra, translated by A. Tille. University Press, 1973.
New York: E. P. Dutton, 1958. Plato. The Laws, vols. 1 and 2, translated by R. G. Bury.
. The Will to Power, translated by Walter Kauf- New York: G. P. Putnam's, 1926.
mann and R. J. Hollingdale. New York: Random .The, Meno of Plato, edited by E. Seymer Thompson.
House, 1967. New York: Macmillan, 1901.
Olssen, Mark. Michel Foucault: Materialism and Edu- .The Republic, translated by B. Jowett. New York:
cation. Critical Studies in Education and Culture Se- Modern Library, 1941.
ries, edited by Henry Giroux. Westport, CT: Bergin Plotinus. The Enneads, edited by John Dillon and trans-
and Garvey, 1999. lated by Stephen MacKenna. New York: Viking Pen-
Oldenberg, Hermann. Buddha: His Life, His Doctrine, guin, 1991.
His Order. Delhi, India: Indologial Book House, 1971. Popkewitz, Thomas S., and Brennan, Marie, editors.
Organ, Troy Wilson. Western Approaches to Eastern Foucault's Challenge: Discourse, Knowledge, and
Philosophy. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1975. Power in, Education. New York: Teachers College
Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1949. Press, 1998.
Oxtoby, Willard World Religions: Eastern
G., editor. Popp, Jerome A. "Philosophy of Education and the Edu-
Traditions. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. cation of Teachers," Philosophy of Education,
. World, Religions: Western Traditions. New York: 1972. Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual
Oxford University Press, 1996. Meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society. Ed-
Ozmon, Howard. Contemporary Critics of Education. wardsville, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, 1972,
Danville, IL: Interstate, 1970. pp. 222-229.
.Dialogue in Philosophy of Education. Columbus, Popper, Karl. The Open Society and Its Enemies.
OH: Charles E. Merrill, 1972. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1966.
.
Pratte, Richard. "Analytic Philosophy of Education: A Rickover, Hyman G. Education and Freedom New
Historical Perspective," Teachers College Record York: New American Library, L96 I
81:145-165, 1979. Rogers, Carl. Freedom to Learn. 3rd ed., updated bj

. Contemporary Theories of Education. Scranton, Jerome Freiberg [Rogers & Freiberg] I
pper Saddle
PA International Textbooks, 1971. River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall, 199-4
. Ideology and Education. New York: David Rorty, \melie Oksenberg Philosophers on Education
McKay, 1977. Historical Perspectives. New York Routledge L998
Price. Ronald F. Marx and Education in Late 'apitol- (
Rorty, Richard ( 'onsequences oj Pragmatism Essays (
ism. Loin Ion: ('room Helm, 1986. 1972-1980) Minneapolis: I niversitj of Minnesota
.
Marc and Education in Russia and China. To- Press. 1982
towa. N.I: Roman and Littlefield, 1977. . Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. New York:
Prigogine, llya. and Stengers, [sabelle. Order Out of ( lambridge I
Iniversitj Press, L989
Chaos. New York: Bantam Hooks. Inc.. 1984. . "Intellectuals in Politics: Toe Par In? Too Far < >ut?
Putnam, Hilary. The Maui/ Faces of Realism The Paul Dissent 38:483 190, Fall 1991
Cams Lectures. LaSalle, IL Open Court, 1987. . Philosophical Tapers, vols l and 2. Cambridge
.Pragmatism. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publish- I fniversity of < lambridge Press, 1991
ers, 1995 . Philosophy and the Mit rot oj Nature Prin
. Realism with a Human Face. Cambridge, MA: N.I Princeton, University Press. 1979
Harvard I'niversity Press, li)i)(). . Philosophy and Social Hope New York: I'
.Reason. 'Truth, and History. New York: Cambridge Books. 1999.

I 'Diversity Press. 1981. .
"Two Jheers for the iultural Left," South itlantic
( <
. Renewing Philosophy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Quarterly 89:227 234, Winter L990
I niversity Press. 1992. Rosen, Jonathan. The Talmud and the Internet New
. Representation and Reality. Cambridge, MA: MIT York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.
Press. 1988. Roshi, Eido Shimano Golden Wind, edited bj Janis
. Words and Life Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer- Levine. Tokyo: Japan Publii at ions, L979
sity Press, 1994. Roszak, Theodore \luh ing ofai. 'ounter 'ulture New <
Putnam. and Putnam. Ruth Anna "Education in a

Hilary, York: Doubleday, L969.
Multicultural Democracy: Two Deweyan Perspec- Rousseau, -lean Jacques Emile. translate.! bj Man
tives," Educational Theory 43( 1):361 376, Fall L993. Bloom. New York: Basic Books, 1979
Rader, Melvin. Marx's Interpretation oj History. New .On the Social Contract, edited bj Roger D Mas
York: Oxford I'niversity Press. 1979. ters and translated bj Judith R Masters New Yori
Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli, editor. History oj Philoso SI Mar! in. L978
—
phy Eastern and Western, vol. L. London: Brad- Royce, Josiah. Lecture on Modern Idealism New
ford and Dickens, Drayton House, 1952 Haven, CT Yale I
niversitj Press, 1964
Rafferty, Max. Staffer Little children. New York: New Education and the Modern
Russell. Bertrand
American Library, I! NewYork: W Y\ Norton, I
. What Am
The, i Doing to Your Children Education and the Social Ordei London: Ulen
York New American Library, 1 I and num. I" I
Ravitch, I Kane Left Bat k: A ( 'entury oj Ended School . Our Emm ledge oj the Extt
m New York Simon and Schuster, 2000. for Scientific Method iii Philosopl Mien
lelen, editor and translator Sonet Educators on and I nwin 19
iet Education NewYork Free Press, 1964 /'/ inciples oj Sew iai London
William L Dictionary oj Philosophy and Reli and num. 1916
Ml. -n I
and Western Thought, enlarged edi Religionand

Hon Atlantic Highlands, NT Humanities Press, 1996 Pr<
Reitman Sanford \\ The Educational Messiah Com Ryle, Gilberl * !olle( ted Papei wis i
a. Faith in the Culturally Redemp Barnes and Noble 191 I
Schooling Sai ramento, CA laddo

' . The Concept "I [find New \
Gaj Noble 1949

Richards, Janet Radcliffe The Sceptical Feminist \ imp, Herman J
Philosophical Enq\ in Routled Philosopher /.'
Paul. !'.<- Vanderbill '

<
Saksena, Shri Krishna. Essays on Indian Philosophy. with an introduction by Kathryn Sutherland. New
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1970. York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Sartre, Jean-PauL Being and Nothingness, translated by Smith, Terry L. Behavior and Its Causes: Philosophi-
Hazel Barnes. New York: Philosophical Library, 1956. cal Foundations of Operant Psychology Boston: .
.Critique of Dialectical Reason, translated by Alan Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994.

Sheridan-Smith. New York: Schocken Books, 1976. Soil, Ivan. "Hegel as a Philosopher of Education," Educ-
. Existentialism and Human Emotions, translated ational Theory 22:26-33, Winter 1973.
by Hazel Barnes. New York: Philosophical Library, 1947. Soltis, Jonas F "Analysis and Anomalies in Philosophy of
. Search for a Method, translated by Hazel Barnes. Education," Philosophy of Education, 1971. Pro-
New York: Random House, 1968. ceedings of the Twenty-Seventh Annual Meeting of
Sarup, Madan. Marxism and Education. New York: the Philosophy of Education Society. Edwardsville,
Routledge Kegan Paul, 1978. IL:Philosophy of Education Society, 1971, pp. 28-46.
. Marxism/Structuralism/Education: Theoretical . An
Introduction to the Analysis of Educational
Developments in the Sociology of Education. Lon- Concepts, 2d ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1977.
don: Falmer Press, 1983. ."Philosophy of Education for Educators: The Eight-
Schaff, Adam. Marxism and the Human Individual, iethNSSE Yearbook, " Teachers College Record 81:
edited by Robert Cohen and translated by Olgierd 225-247, 1979.
Wojtasiewicz. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970. . "Philosophy of Education: Retrospect and Pros-
Scheffler, Israel. Conditions of Knowledge: An Intro- pect," Philosophy of Education, 1975. Proceedings
duction to Epistemology and Education. Chicago: of the Thirty- First Annual Meeting of the Philosophy
University of Chicago Press, 1983. of Education Society. San Jose, CA: Philosophy of Ed-
. The Language of Education. Springfield, IL: ucation Society, 1975, pp. 7-24.
Charles C. Thomas, 1960. . "Philosophy of Education Since Mid-Century,"
Schubring, Walther. The Doctrine of the Jainas, trans- Teachers College Record 81:127-129, 1979.
lated by Wolfgang Buerlen. Delhi, India: Motilal Ba- Spencer, Herbert. Education: Intellectual, Moral,
narsidass, 1962. Spiritual. Paterson, NJ: Littlefield, Adams, 1963.
Schumacher, Stephen, and Woerner, Gert, editors. The .Herbert Spencer on Education, edited and with an
Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Reli- introduction by Andreas Kazamias. New York: Teach-
gion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Zen, ers College Press, 1966.
translated by Michael H. Kohn, Karen Ready, and Curriculum for Utopia: Social Re-
Stanley, William B.
Werner Wunsche. Boston: Shambhala Publications, constructionism and Critical Pedagogy in the
Inc., 1994. Postmodern Era. Albany: State University of New
Searle, John The Construction of Social Reality.
R. York Press, 1992.
New York: Free Press, 1995. Strain, John Paul. "Idealism:A Clarification of an Edu-
. "Is There a Crisis in American Higher Education?" cational Philosophy," Educational Theory 25:263-
Partisan Review 60(4):693-709, Fall 1993. 271, 1975.
."Rationality and Realism: What Is at Stake?" Dae- Suda, Jyoti Prsad. Religions in India: A Study of Their
dalus 122(4):55-83, Fall 1993. Essential Unity. New Delhi, India: Sterling Publish-
The Rediscovery of the Mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT
.
ers Pvt., 1978.
Press, 1992. Suzuki, Daisetz T The Awakening of Zen, edited by
. "The Storm Over the University," New York Review Christmas Humphreys. Boulder, CO: Prajna Press, 1980.
of Books 32:34-42, December 6, 1990. . The Essentials of Zen Buddhism. Westport, CT:
Shimahara, Nobuo, editor. Educational Reconstruc- Greenwood Press, 1962.
tion: Promise and, Challenge. Columbus, OH: Ta Hui. Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lec-
Charles E. Merrill, 1973. tures of Zen Master Ta Hui (Tsung-kao) translated
,
Shourie, Arun. Hinduism: Essence and Consequence. by Christopher Cleary. New York: Grove Press, 1977.
New Delhi, India: Vikas Publishing House, 1979. Task Force on Education for Economic Growth Action
Singh, Iqbal. Guatama Buddha. New York: Oxford Uni- for Excellence: A Comprehensive Plan to Improve
versity Press, 1994. Our Nation's Schools. Denver, CO: Education Com-
Skinner, B.F Beyond Freedom and Dignity. New York: mission of the States, 1983.
Hackett Publishing Company, 2002. Task Force on Federal Elementary and Secondary Edu-
Walden Two. New York: Macmillan, 1976.
. cation Policy. Making the Grade: Report of the
Smith, Adam. An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on Federal
of the Wealth of Nations, selected and edited and Elementary and Secondary Education Policy,
with a background paper by Paul E. Peterson. New Michael Cole, et al. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer
York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1983. Sity I 'less, 1!)78.
Taylor. Charles, et al. MuUiculturalism: Examining Watson. John Broadus. Behaviorism, Chicago: Univei
the Politics of Recognition, edited, with an intro- sity of Chicago Press, 1957
duction by Amy Gutmann. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Weber, Max. The Relation oj I mlm. Now York Free
University Press, 1994. Press, 1958
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. The Phenomenon of Man. Werner, Harold Cognitive Therapy. New York: Free
I >.
New York: Harper. 1959. Press, 1982.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden and Civil Disobedi- West, Cornel. The American Evasion oj Philosophy: A
ence. New York: Norton. 1966. (ienealof)/) oj I'ragmatism Madison: University of
Thorensen. Carl E., editor. "Behavior Modificat ion in Educa- Wisconsin Press, 1!)89.
tion" The Seventy-Second Yearbook oj the National White, Theodore Harold. The Making Oj the President.
Societyfor the Study oj Education,parti. Chicago: Na- 1972 New York: Atheneum, 1973.
tional Society for the Study of Education. 1973. Whitehead, Alfred North. The Aims Oj P.il ncal em end
Tillich, Paul. The Courage to Be. New Haven, CT: Yale Other Essays. New York: Macmillan, 1929.
University Press, 1952. .Science and the Modern World New York Macmil-
Toffler, Alvin. Future Shock. New York: Random lan. 1967.
House, 1970. . and Russell. Hertrand. Pr/nci/ua Mothematica

. Learning for Tomorrow: The Role of the Future New York: Cambridge University Press. 1968.
m Education,. New York: Vintage Books, 1974. Wilson, Edwin 0. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis.
. The Third Wave. New York: William Morrow and (
'ambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard 1 Iniversitj
Co., 1980. Press, 1975.

Troutner, Lee. "Making Sense Out of "Existential Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Preliminary Studies for the
Thought and Education: A Search for the Interface," "Philosophical investigations," Generally Known
Philosophy oj Kd neat ion, 1975. Proceedings of the as the Pine and /Iron n Books 2nd ed New York:
Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of Edu- Barnes and Noble, 1969.
cation Society. San Jose, CA: Philosophy of Educa- ,
Culture and Value, edited by G. II. Von Right,
tion Society, 1975, pp. 185 199 translated by Peter Winch. Chicago: University of
Tucker. Robert C. Philosophy ami Myth in Karl Mara Chicago Press, 1980
New Cambridge University Press, 1961.
York: .Philosophical Inresln/alions, translate! by G. F M I
Usher, Robin, and Edwards, Richard. Postmodernism Anscombe. New York: Macmillan. 1968
ami Education New York: Rout ledge, 1994. . Tractatus Logico Philosophicus, translated bj D
Vandenberg, Donald. Being ami Education An Essay F. Pears and B. F McGuinness Atlantic Highlands,
in Pi istential Phenomenolofj.ij. 'pper Saddle River,
1 NJ: Humanities Press. L961
N.I Prentice Hall, 1971. Yang, C. K. Religion in Chinese Society. Berkelej I
ni
. and Phenomenological Influence in Edu-

"'Existential versity of < Jalifornia Press, L961
cation," Teachers College Record 81:166-191, 1979. Yu, David ('., and Thompson, Lauren* eG Guide to < 'hi
von Glaserfield, Ernst. "Introduction: Aspects of Con- nese Religion Boston: G. K. Hall, 19
strii* tivism," in Constructivism Theory, Perspec- Zajda, Joseph. Education inthel SSR New York Peig
tives, and Practice, edited by Catherine Twomey anion Press, 1980
not. New York Teachers !ollege Press, 1996.
( Zeldin, I >avid The Educational Ideasoj < 'harles P
Vygotsky, Lev s Mind in Society The Derelo/mwni New York: \ M Kelley, 1969
oj Higher Psychological Processes, edited by
1
Index
Abelard, Peter, 33 methods of education, 289-291 materialism and, 202-203

Abraham, 108 role of the teacher, 291-292 philosophical aspects of, 206-212
\dln-. Mortimer, 69-70 Andreae, Johann Valentin, 168 philosophical bases of, 201-206
Adorno, Theodor, 315-316, 327 Apple, Michael, 327, 329-330, 347 positivism and, 204-206
Aesthetic development according to Aquinas, Thomas, 53-56, 60, 65, realism and, 201-202
John Dewey, 141 66, 78 Behaviorism as a philosophy of educa-
Aims of education, 1 13-1 15 Aristotelian realism, 48-53 tion, 212-220
analytic philosophy and,286-289 Aristotle, 3, 48-56, 58, 60, 65, 66, aims of education, 212-215
behaviorism and, 212-215 78, 201 critique of, 220-224
character development, 31-32 Politics mid Ethics of Aristotle methods and curriculum, 215-219
existentialism and phenomenology (The) (reading), 81-86 role of the teacher, 219-220
and, 247-252 Aronowitz, Stanley, 12, 317, 321, Bell, Terrel H., 70
idealism and, 28-32 339, 351 Bellah, Robert, 1
Marxism and, 317-322 Atomic sentences, 272 Bellamy, Edward, 168

postmodernism and, 348-351 Atomism, logical, 272 Bereiter, Carl, 218
I
iragmatism and, 145- 48 1 Augustine, 18-20, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, Bergson, Henri, 49
realism and, 65-71 38, 53, 55, 168 Berkeley, George, 21-22, 28, 30, 130
reconstructionism and, 185-186 Aurelius, Marcus, 168 Berne, Eric, 249
search for truth, 28-30 Aurobindo, Sri, 97 Bernstein, Richard, 142, 143, 345-346
self-realization, 30-31 Axiology, 3 Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skin-
Albee, Edward, 249 Ayer, Alfred Jules, 274, 276-277 ner (reading), 228-232
Alcott, A. Bronson, 27-28 Bhagavad-Gita (reading), 118-121
Alcott, Louisa May, 27 Babeuf, Francois Noel, 168 Bildung, 247, 250
Alienation, 310-311 Bacon, Francis, 8, 52, 56-58, 0.r,-!i7, Bloom, Allan, 76, 351
Alinsky, Saul, 174 128-129, 132,201,282, Bodhidharma, 106
Allah, 1 1 1 304-305 Border Pedagogy as Postmodern
A mill -els, 103 Barber, Benjamin, 187 Resistance, Giroux (reading),
Analytic movemenl in philosophy, Barrow, Robin 358-363
269-282 Docs the Question "What Is Edu- Bourdieu, Pierre, 347
linguistic analysis,277-282 cation?" Make Sense? (read- Bowers, ( A., 346, 348, 350, 353, 355
!.
logical positivism and analysis, ing), 298-302 Bowles, Samuel, 321-322, 347
274-277 Beckett, Samuel, 240 Bradley, Francis Herbert, 27
realism and, 270-274 Behavioral engineering, 200 Brahe, Tycho, 57
Analytic philosophy, 269 Behaviorism, 200 Brahman, 93
Analytic philosophy in education, early, 203-204 Brahmins, 95
282-202 good society through cultural de- Brameld, Theodore, 168,
aims of education, 286-289 sign, 209-212 171 180, 187
critique of, 292 295 human nature according to, Brosio, Richard, 329
curriculum 291 207-209 Broudy, Harry 1 1, 77, 294
384
.
INDEX 385
Brubacher, John s 6 -7 ., Curriculum 1

1'Souza, I tinesh, 76
Brute tacts. 64 analytic philosophy and. 291 DuBois.W E B. 1 13
Buber, Martin. 234, 236-237, behaviorism and. 215 219
253, 258 Eastern thought and, 15 1 Eastern thought, 91
Buddha, 98 existentialism and phenomenology development Oi
Buddhism. 5)8-100 and, 255-257 Eastern thought and philosophy of
Burgess, Anthony, 218 idealism and, 35 : >«'>
education, 113 116
Butler. . I Donald, 27, 30, 32, 34, 41 Marxism and, :il!2 325 aims of education, 13-1 15 1
postmodernism and. 351 353 critique of, 1 16 1 18

Callinicos, Alex, 345 pragmatism and. 150-151 methods and curriculum, 1 15
Calvin, .lolui. Ill realism and. 74-75 role ol the teacher, 1 16
Campanella, Thomas, 168 reconstructionism and, 187-189 Eastwood, Cordon. 289 290
Camus, Albert, 259 Ecclesiastei
Camap, Rudolph. 27-i Dalai Lama. 100 Educating the Youngestfoi 7bn
Carnoy, Martin. 324,327 Dalits, 97 row, Shane and Shane (read
Caspary, William, 142 Dare the Schools Build a New So- ing). 1 6 199
Casti, John, 338 cial Order Counts reading), '
i Education
Centrality of experience pragmatism 193-195 aims of. See Anns of education
and. 129- 132 I>aruma, 106 curriculum. See < lurriculum
Chamberlin, Cordon, 249-250, 254 Darwin, Charles, 8, 133 134 developing a philosophical perspi i
Chaos theory. 179-180 Dasein, 238, 244-245, 246 tive on, 12 13

Character development. 31-32 David, King, 109 methods of. See Method: oJ
Chardin. Teilhard de. 17!) Dawkms. Richard, 222 education
Cfoerryholmes, Cleo, 346-348, 350, Defoe. Daniel. 13] multicultural. 188, 191
Deity, Descartes'. 21 open, 68
Chinese thought, Krj-106 Democracy and Education, 1 tewej philosophy of. See Philosophj ol
Confucianism. Hrd-104 (reading). 161- 165 education
Taoism, 104-106 Derrida, Jacques, 11,342 345,350,357 teacher's role Se< Teacher
Christ. 110 Descartes, Rene\8, 11,20-21,30, theorj and practice in, 6 10
Christianity. 110-111 132,202,243,281,282,305 Education, Kanl (reading). 1 1 16
Chuang-tzu, 106 I 272
lescriptions, theory of, Einstein, Albert, 38
Clark. Kenneth. 182 Ileterministic philosophy, 313 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 27,
< I.issk al traditions of realism, 4<s Dewey, John, 5, 7,8,9, 11,39,63,67, 66, 143
Cognitive theory, 219 7<s. 128, 130 133, 135 I 16 Empirical approach, 273
JO 21,244 169 17i). 177. 190, 191,252, Empiricism, 22 23
Coleman, .lames. 191 283,288,294,322,358 Engelmann Siegfried, 218
Comenius, John Amos, 74. 7!) aesthetic development according Engels, Friedrich, 308
Comte, Auguste, 132 133, 204 to, 111 Epics, 96 97
Conant, James Bryant, 71.7!) Democracy and Education (read Epistemology, 3, 6
Condillac, Btienne, 305, 318 ing). 161 I Existentialism, 23 I
Confucianism. 103 104 experimentalism and instrumental m modern life, 2 1 1 243

Confucius, 103 104 ism according to, 138 139 philosophers and their thought,
Const iousness, 2 individuality and sociality according 234 241
iaBst,317 to, 139 Existentialism and Human
Constructivism 222 moral development according to, Sartre I
reading), 261
•!ontemporar) realism, 1 10 ill tentiali&m and phenomenology in
<out ingenues of reinforcement, 210 nature and experience ac< ording philosophj "i i dui ation,
ilaus, 57 to, 136 138
Com - 171 172, 181, 185, religious experieni e i rding ainr. "i edui atioi
191,318 319 to. 1 111 critique ol
Dare the S d a Neu So Dialectii .
15 16, 19,25 I nun uli i:
reading), 307 methods ol education

196 Dialectical materialism, 31 1,
• nil' al pragma! II 1
Critical theorj 340 I kens

)i< ' lharles, 77 I to John I (ewey,
m and origir Doctrine hi substani i
117 I )oi trine ol yaduada 102 Mn.it i-.ni ,md i

entralil
< ultural di ••>
through. < a
I
212 in i Bai row rimentalism ai i ording to John
'ultural pluralism. 188, 191 I
i.
wi
1
386 INDEX
Facts Hegemony, 315 Instrumentalism according to John

brute, 64 Hegira, 1 1 Dewey, 138-139
institutional, 64, 65 Heidegger, Martin, 142, 234, 237-238, Intentionality, 64
social, 64 244-246, 250, 340 Internal realism, 62, 63
Far Eastern and Indian thought, Heisenberg, Werner, 38, 1 79 Introspection, 281
92-108 Helvetius, Claude Adrien, 305, 318 Intuition, original, 243
Faulkner, William, 69 Hemingway, Ernest, 69 Ionesco, Eugene, 249
Feigl, Herbert, 274 Herbart, Johann F, 71, 73, 75 Islam, 111-113
Feuerbach, Ludwig, 308 Hermeneutics, 237
Five Constant Virtues, 103, 104 phenomenology and, 246-247 Jacob, 108
Five Pillars of Islam, 1 12-1 13 Herndon, James, 176 Jacoby, Susan, 319, 321
Fosnot, Catherine, 222 Hernstein, Richard, 222 Jainism, 100-102
Foucault, Michel, 11, 341-342, Hinduism, 93-97 James, William, 10, 63, 128, 135, 143
350, 357 Epics, 96-97 Talks to Teachers (reading),
Four Causes, Aristotle's, 51 modern, 97-98 156-161
Four Noble Truths, 98-99 Upanishads, 94-96 Jameson, Frederic, 337-338
Fourier, Charles, 168, 306 Vedas, 94 Japanese thought, 106-108
Frankfurt School, 314, 315-317 294
Hirst, Paul, 290, Shintoism, 106
Freire, Paulo, 39-40, 184-185, Hobbes, Thomas, 201, 202-203, 305 Zen Buddhism, 106-108
250, 320 The Leviathan (reading), 224-228 Jaspers, Karl, 234
Freud, Sigmund, 203 Hocking, William, 27 Jencks, Christopher, 191
Froebel, Friedrich, 27, 72, 74-75, 131 Hook, Sidney, 146 Jesus Christ, 110
Fuller,Buckminster, 174 Horkheimer, Max, 315-316 Jina, 102
Future shock, 1, 175 Home, Herman, 27, 28, 30-32, 36, 39 Jinas, 100
Human crisis, reconstructionism and, Jiva, 100
Gadamer, Hans-Georg, 246-247, 250 180-183 Joshua, 108-109
281
Galileo, 57, 79, 202, Human nature, behaviorist philosophy Judaism, 108-110
Gandhi, Mahatma, 97 on, 207-209
Generalization, stage of, 72 Hume, David, 22, 130 Kant, Immanuel, 11, 22-24, 27-29, 32,
Gentile, Giovanni, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 40 Husserl, Edmund, 234, 243-245 60, 179,274
George, Paul S., 176 Hutchins, Robert, 69 Education (reading), 44-46
Gintis, Herbert, 321-322, 347 Huxley, Aldous, 169, 218, 221 Karma, 95
Giroux, Henry, 12, 321, 324-325, 328, Hyndman, Henry, 314 law of, 95
329, 339, 346-349, 351-356 Katz, Michael, 191
Border Pedagogy as Postmodern Idealism, 14 Kaufmann, Felix, 274
Resistance (reading), 358-363 development of, 14-20 Kepler, Johann, 57, 202
Gitlin, Todd, 338 development of modern, 20-27 Kierkegaard, Soren, 234, 235-236, 242
Golden Mean, 50-51,53 Platonic, 15-18 Kilpatrick, William Heard, 147, 150
Goodman, Paul, 182 religious, 18-20 Kimball, Roger, 76
Gotama, Siddhartha, 98-100 Idealism, as a philosophy of educa- Klein, Margrete, 319, 323
Gott, Samuel, 168 tion, 27-37 Knox, John, 111
Gramsci, Antonio, 314-315, 353 aims of education, 28-32 Koan, 107
Green, Thomas Hill, 27 critique of, 37-41 Koerner, James, 68
Greene, Maxine, 222, 250-251, curriculum, 35-36 Kohl, Herbert, 182
254-256, 258 methods of education, 32-35 Kohlberg, Lawrence, 140-141
Landscapes of Learning (read- role of the teacher, 36-37 Kohn, Alfie, 223-224
ing), 264-267 Idols, 57-58 Koran, 112
Guastello, Stephen J., 179 Illich, Ivan, 177-178, 182, 184 Krupskaya, Nadezhda, 319, 323
Guru, 95 Implication, 272 Kshatriyas, 95
Gyatso, Tenzin, 100 Independence, principle or thesis of, 48
Indian thought, 93-102 Laissez-Jt i />(', 130
Habermas, Jurgen, 11,315-316 Buddhism, 98-100 Landscapes of Learning, Greene
Hall, G. Stanley, 131-132 Hinduism, 93-97 (reading), 264-267
Hamm, Russell, 73 Hinduism, modern, 97-98 Lao-tzu, 104-105
Hard data, 61 Jainism, 100-102 Law of karma, 95
Hare Krishna movement, 97 Individuality according to John Laws of Righteous Conduct, 95
Harris, William Torrey, 27, 28, 30, 31, Dewey, 139 Lenin, Vladimir ffich, 308, 313-314,
36, 40 Induction, 58 318,321,323-324
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 11, Inductive method, 56-57, 128-129 Leviathan (The), Hobbes (reading),
24-27,30-32,39,307-308 Institutional fads, 64, 65 224-228
1 1 1 1 1 "
INDEX 387
Levin, Henry, 324, 327 French, 305 Neo Marxism See Western Marxism
Linguistic analysis. 277-282 Hegel, Feuerbach, and, 307 308 Neopragmatism, ill ill
Locke, John, 58-69, 65-67, 71, 72. 74. Marxism and, 304 305 postmodern, 1
129-132, 145, 169,305,318 Materialistic interpretation of history, Newton, Isaac, 21 57 ,
Thoughts Concerning Edu- 311-312 Nexus, 60

cation (reacting i
Si >
89 Matthews. Mervyn, 319 Niebuhr, Reinhold, 13,241 1
Logic 3 McLaren. Peter. 346, 347, 349-350, Nietzsche. Friedrich Wilhelm,

Logical analysis. 273 ^rK 356 23 1 235,242,340
Logical atomism, 272 Mi Luhan, Marshall, L79 Nirvana, 98
Logical positivism, 205, 270 Mead, George Herbert. 128 Nuyen, V T
analysis and. 274 277 Herman, 29
Melville, Lyotard as Moral Educator (read-
Logos. 343-344 Memes, 222 ing),363 368
Loyola, Ignatius. 1 1 Menand, Louis, 134
Lukacs, Georg, 314-315 Merleau Ponty, Maurice, 234, 245 246 (
lecasions, 60
Luther. Martin. 11 Metaneeds, 241 On Education, Marx (reading).
Lyotard, Jean-Francois, 338 Metaphysics, 3, 62
'
, I
II
Lyotard as Moral Educator, Nuyen Methods of education On the Reduction <>i "Knowing
368 I analytic philosophy and, 28!) 201 Thai" in "Knowing How,

Lysenko, Trofim, 324 behaviorism and. 21". 219 Martin (reading), 295
Eastern thought and. 15 1 ( )pen education movement 68 .
Magnus, Ubertus, 53 existentialism and phenomenologj Original intuition, 2 13

Mahavira, Vardhamana, 100-101 and,252 255 Orwell, George, 169,218,220,
Makarenko, Anton, 80, 319, 326 idealism and. 32 284 285
Mann. Horace, 169 Marxism and. 322-325 Owen, Robert, 168,306
Marcel, Gabriel, 241, 242 243 postmodernism and, 351-353
Marcuse, Herbert, 315-316 pragmatism ami, 148-150 Packard, Vance, 285
Margonis, Frank. 329 realism and, 71-74 Paideia approach. 69 70
Martin, .lane R. reconstructionism and. 18(i-187 Paradigms, 289
On the Reduction "Knowing oj Middle Eastern thought. 108-113 Paringer, William, I i i
Thai" in "Knowing Hou " Christianity. 10-111 1 Parker, Francis W.. 131
(reading), 295 Islam. Ill 113 Parsvanatha, loi
Marx. Karl. 2. 11,29, 168-169,242, Judaism, 108-110 Paul. 18
304 307 Mills, ('. Wright, 143 Pavlov, Ivan, 203
On Education (reading),3 Modern idealism, development of, Peabody, Elizabeth P.. 27
interpretations of, 312-313 20 27 Peddiwell, Vbner, 17".
philosophj of, 307 ;i I Modern realism, developmenl of. I'ciK e, < 'harles Sanders, 130,
the"real,"308 310 56 -v." 134 135 l l I
Marxism. 304 Moksha, 95 Pestalozzi, Johann, 7 1 75, 131

310-311
alienation, Molecular sentences, 272 Pel els. R S.,286 28S
materialism and, 304 Montessori, Maria, 75, 132 Phenomen
materialistic interpretation of his- Montessori method. 75 Heidegger and. 2 1
31 1 312 Moore, George Edward, 27o 271. 271 hei mi neutics and, ! 16
origins of, 304 Moral developmenl according to John philosophers and then thought,
philosophy of Karl Marx 307 31 1 Dewey, no ill 24 I 2 17
1-olitn al economj and 306 307 More. Thomas, 108 Phenomenologj and existentialism in
ialism and, Morns. Van Cleve, 2-"2 philosophj "i edu< ation,
Western, 31 1 317 Moses, 108 Hi: i
. philosoph Mosque, 12 1
anus "I edui ation ! 11
tlol Mourad, Roger, Mill. | i
4 '-'lii' at inn, 311 Muhammad. IS Ml 112 i in i ii ulun

critiqueol Multicultural education 188, I'M methods ol education
curriculun Mumford, Lewis, 1
7 I 1 III.- I. -a. h(
methods of edui atioi Mm ray, < lharles, 222 Philool Alexandria, 0'''
ml.- ofth< '

iphj
i
Leninism, 113 :i 1 Ralph, 171 bram I
iham II . :i 211 Nature ai 1 ording to John I ><
136 138 : .
dU( .iii"ii
: 1 analytii pi
ning "i i
dialectical, 311, 313, II I Neiman, Vlven l i' belt

1
388 INDEX
Philosophy of education, continued Prabhupada, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Martin, On the Reduction of

critique of analytic philosophy in, Swami, 97 "Knowing That" to "Knowing
292-295 Pragmatic realism, 63 How, " 295-298
critique of behaviorism in, 220-224 Pragmatism, 127 Marx, On Education, 330-335
critique of Eastern philosophy in, American, 134-144 Nuyen, Lyotard as Moral Educa-
116-118 centrality of experience, 129-132 tor, 363-368
critique of existentialism and phe- critical, 348 Plato, The Republic, 41-43
nomenology in, 247-258 as new way of thinking, 128-129 and Hu-
Sartre, Existentialism,
critique of idealism as, 37^41 prophetic, 143 manism, 261-263
critique of Marxism as, 326-330 roots of, 127-134 Shane and Shane, Educating the
critique of postmodernism in, science and society, 132-134 Youngest for Tomorrow,
355-358 Pragmatism as a philosophy of educa- 196-199
critique of pragmatism in, 154-156 tion, 144-154 Skinner, Beyond Freedom and
critique of realism as, 77-81 aims of education, 145-148 Dignity, 228-232
critique of reconstructionism in, critique of, 154-156 Suzuki,Zen Mind, Beginner's
190-193 curriculum, 150-151 Mind, 122-125
Eastern thought and, 113-1 16 methods of education, 148-150 Realism, 48
existentialism and phenomenology role of the teacher, 151-154 analytic movement and, 270-274
in, 247-258 Pratte, Richard, 9 Aristotelian, 48-53
idealism as, 27-37 Praxis, 250, 308, 318, 320, 327, 330 behaviorism and, 201-202
Marxism as, 317-326 Precision, stage of, 72 classical traditions, 48-56
need for, 1-2 Prehensions, 60 contemporary, 59-65
postmodernism and, 346-355 Pressey, S. J., 217 development of modern, 56-59
pragmatism as, 144-154 Prigogine, Ilya, 179 internal, 62, 63
quest 10-12
in, Principle of independence, 48 pragmatic, 63
realism as, 65-77 Principle of verifiability, 206 religious, 53-56
reconstructionism as, 180-190 Principle of verification, 274, 276 Realism, as a philosophy of education,
Piaget, Jean, 35, 222 Pring, Richard, 291 65-77
Plato, 4, 6, 8, 11, 14-18, 27-30, 33, 38, Process, 60 aims of education, 65-71
48-49,51,52,65,167-169, Prophetic pragmatism, 143 critique of, 77-81
282, 358 Pseudo-self-actualization, 242 curriculum, 74-75
Republic (The) (reading), 41-43 Putnam, Hilary, 59-60, 62-63, 77 methods of education, 71-74
Platonic idealism, 15-18 Putnam, Ruth Anna, 77 role of the teacher, 75-77
Pluralism, cultural, 188, 191 Pygmalion effect, 80 Reality, social, 64
Poincare, Jules Henri, 179 Pythagoras, 92 Reconstructionism, 167
Political economy and Marxism, historical background of, 167-170
306-307 Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli, 97 philosophy of, 167, 171-180
Politics and Ethics of Aristotle (The), Rafferty, Max, 67 Reconstructionism as a philosophy of
Aristotle (reading), 81-86 Rationalism, 22-23 education, 180-190
Popp, Jerome, 290 Ravitch, Dianne, 156 aims of education, 185-186
Popper, Karl, 173 Readings critique of, 190-193
Positivism Aristotle, The Politics and Ethics curriculum, 187-189
behaviorism and, 204-206 of Aristotle, 81-86 education and the human crisis,
logical, 205, 270, 274-277 Barrow, Does the Question "What 180-183
Postman, Neil, 178, 182, 190 IsEducation?" Make Sense? methods of education, 186-187
Postmodernism, 63, 76-77, 337 298-302 role of the school, 183-185
criticisms of, 345-346 Bhagavad-Gita, 118-121 role of the teacher, 189-190
European backgrounds of, Counts, Dare the Schools Build a Reductive approach, 273
340-345 New Social Order? 193-195 Rcification, 315
philosophy and, 339-346 Dewey, Democracy and Educa- Reinforcement, contingencies of, 210
variety within, 337-339 tion, 161-165 Reitman, Sanford, 155
Postmodern neopragmatism, 1 Giroux, Border Pedagogy as Post- Religious experience according to
Postmodern philosophy and educa- modern Resistance, 358-363 John Dewey, 140
tion, 346-355 Greene, Landscapes of Learning, Religious idealism, 18-20
aims of education, 348-351 264-267 Religious realism, 53-56
critique of, 355-358 Hobbes, The Leviathan, 224-228 Representation, 65, 343
methods and curriculum, James, Talks to Teachers, 156-161 Republic (The), Plato (reading),
351-353 Kant, Education, 44-46 41-43
role of the teacher, 353-355 Locke, Some Thoughts Concern- Ricardo, David, 306
Poststructuralism, 347 ing Education, 86-89 Rickover, Ilyman, 67, 71
1 1
INDEX 389
Ricoeur, Paul. 246 247 Socialism, 306 Thales, i)2
Righteous Conduct, Laws of, 95 Socialist consciousness, 317 320 Theater of the absurd, 249
..Carl. JUS. 241 Socialist society, 320-322 Theory of descriptions. 272
Romance stage of, 72 Sociality according to John Dewey. 139 Thesis of independent e, 48
Horn. Richard. 11. 142-143,294, Social reality, 64 Thoreau, Henrj David, 66, L69,
338,346 Sockett, Hugh, 291 174,215
Roszak, Theodore, 259 Socrates, 1 1 15,34,92,243,257,258 Thorndike, E. L., 80, 204
Rousseau, -lean Jacques, 74. 131 -132, Soft data, id Tillich. Paul, 241, 243
137, 145, 169 26
Soil, Ivan, Tirthankaras, 100
Royce, Josiah, 26-27, 40 Solomon, 109 Toffler. \l\in. 1. 17:., 179
Russell. Bertrand, 59, 61-62, 65, 78, Soltis. Jonas, 290 Torah, 109
169,271 -274 Some Thoughts 'oncerning Educa < Torres, Carlos, 39-40
Ryle, Gilbert, 8, 206, 280-283, 287 tion, Locke ^reading), 86 89 Transcendentalism. 27. tit;
Spencer, Herbert, 67, 71 Trilling, Lionel. 1 f,

Saint-Simon, Comte <1<\ 168 Spinoza, Baruch, 130 Truth, search for, 28 30
Saint-Simon, Henri. 306 Stage of generalization, 72 Tyack. David, 191
Samsara, 99 Stage of precision, 72
Sanzen, 107 Stage of romance, 72 Untouchables, 95, 97
Sartre, Jean-Paul, 2, 8, 181,234, Stanley, William, 346 / 'panishads, 94-96
238 241,247,249,257,260, Strain,John Raul. 39

308,340 Substance, doctrine of, 59 Vaisyas, 95
E.i istentialism and Humanism Sudras, '.to Vandenberg, Donald, 251,253, 256, 260
ding), 261-263 Suzuki, Shunryu Vedas, 94
Samp. Madan,327 Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind Verifiability, principle of, 206
Satori, Rt7 (reading), 122-127, 276
Verification, principle of, 274,
Schaff, Adam, 309 Syaduada, doctrine of, 1112 Vienna Circle, 270, 274, 275 276
">2
S( heffler, Israel, 289 Syllogism. Voltaire, 29
Schiller, F.C.S., 134 Symbolization, 65 Vygotsky, Lev, 222
Sri, lick. Moritz,274 Synthetic a priori judgments, 23
Si holastii ism, 5 1 Watson.. I..I in B .211". 294
Sc hool, reconstructionism and role of, Tabula rasa, 58, 129 Weingartner, Charles, 190
is:; Tagore, Rabindranath, 97 West. Cornel. 12 113, 346 1
Schopenhauer, Arthur. 9 Taislu.Shotoku, 106 Western Marxism, origins ol "critical

Schweitzer, Albert, 102 Talks la Teachers, -lames (reading), theory" and, 314 H7 :
and society, pragmatism and. lot; lei White, Theodore, 285

132 134 Talmud. 199 Whitehead, \llled North. 18,59 '12,
Searle.JohnR.,59 76 77 Tao, 105 65,71,72,78,201,271
Self-actualization, pseudo, 2 12 Taoism, 104 106 Wide-awakeness, 250
Self-realization, 30 31 7bo TeChing, 104 105 Wilson. Edward 0., 221 222
Shane. Harold Teacher Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 12, 270, 1
Educating the Youngest fo analytic philosophj and role 1

'I 27:. 276,287, 288, !94,340
I reading), 196 199 2!) 292 I later works 1.1,27s 280

Shane. June Grant behaviorism and role of, 219-220 Wordsworth, William, 27, 66
Educating the Youngest i Eastern thought and role of, 16 I
in ding I, L96 199 existentialism and pli'in uneiiology Yahweh, 109

Shimahara, Nobuo, is.: and role ol 25' Yatis, 101
Shintoism, L06 idealism and role "I 16 17
Sin> lair. I
pton, 174 Marxism and ink ol Zajda Ji 1
< ph. 321
Skinner, I'. P L69 200 206 221, postmodernism and roll 1 il Zazen, 107
224 Zen Buddhism, 106 108
in nmi Dignity pragmatism and role of, 151 15 Zen \lind, Beg d, Suzuki
realism and role ,,| 75 77
Smith insi ructionism and roll Zwingli, Huldreii h, 111
L89 190
About the Authors
Howard A. Ozmon is professor emeritus of education in the Division of Educational

Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received a bachelor of arts in phi-
losophy from the University of Virginia and a doctorate from Teachers College, Co-
lumbia University. Dr. Ozmon has taught in elementary and secondary schools, as
well as at several colleges and universities. He has published numerous books and ar-
ticles dealing with philosophy and education.
Samuel M. Craver is a professor in the Division of Educational Studies at Virginia

Commonwealth University. He received his doctorate from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and has taught at the secondary and university levels. He is
the author of numerous papers on historical and philosophical issues in education
and currently teaches courses on the history of education, the philosophy of educa-
tion, and professional ethics in education.
390
Related Titles
I
*i. Kubow and Paul R. Fossum
Comparative Education:
Exploring Issues in International Context
°>BN: 0-13-0868''"
John D. Pulliam and James Van P;

.J>X.:illi ** •
History of Education in America, Eighth Edition

ISBN: 0-13-061894-2
L. Dean Webb, Arlene Metha, and K. Forbis Jordan
Foundations ofAmerican Education, Fourth Edition

ISBN: 0-13-045232-7
To view the website that accompanies this text,

please go to http://www.prenhall.com/ozmon
misa
5j>p3
*\'J*b^
Us W@&
tfj&jL ISBN 0-13-042399-8
r£/j?£. j
III ill
90 00 o> m
III
Op
Pearson
Education 1
j
J I 1
^s** !lfe& ^
7
80 130 M 4239 93
~^£3? sSjEfiSS :
<
i
»--•

Philosophical Foundations of Education, 7th Edition by Ozmonr

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Philosophical Foundations of Education, 7th Edition by Ozmonr

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Philosophical Foundations of Education, 7th Edition by Ozmonr

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Digitized by the Internet Archive

Upper Saddle River, \c\\ Jersey

LB14.7 .096 2003

Vice President and Publisher: Jeffery W. Johnston

Design Coordinator: Diane C. Lorenzo

Production Manager: Pamela D. Bennett

Pearson Education Ltd.

regarding permission(s), write to: Rights and Permissions Department.

was conceived as an introductory text in the philosophy of education, but leads it

Thestudj of philosophy of education should help sharpen students' ideas about

Organization of the Book

• How past philosophy developed.

scheme but to help develop the educator's thinking capacities.

New Features of the Seventh Edition

• Its historical development.

• A critique of its loading ideas.

Taken together, these chapters provide a chronological development of philosophy

The Prentice Hall Companion Website: A Virtual Learning

For the Professor —

For the Student —

Idealism and Education 14

Realism and Education 48

Critique of Realism in Education 77

O Eastern Philosophy, Religion,

Aims of Education 113 • Methods and

4 Pragmatism and Education 127

D Reconstructionism and Education 167

Methods of Education 186 • Curriculum 187

Critique of Reconstruct ionism in Education 190

6 Behaviorism and Education 200

Early Behaviorists 20.) • Behaviorism and

Phenomenology and Hermeneuties 246

Role oj the Teacher 255

Greene: Landscapes of Learning 264

8 Analytic Philosophy and Education 269

Aims of Education 286 • Methods of

Role of the Teacher 291

9 Marxism and Education 304

10 Philosophy, Education, and the Challenge

Useful Web Sites and Internet Links 370

Selected Bibliography 373

THE NEED FOR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

The traditional view of philosophy is that ii is composed of four major branches:

questions such as the following. "Whal is real?" "Whal is the meaning of

These divisions of philosophy relate directly to education. For example, in

gins of knowledgeand what is, how

phy. Logic as a philosophical discipline helps students communicate and think

used is to push problems back to their metaphysical, epistemological, logical, and a\

nous of a metaphysical, epistemological, axiological, and logical nature To answer

problems that philosophers have pondered the relationship of individual freedom

THEORY AND PRACTICE IN EDUCATION

Many new questions must be confronted then —

education contains generalizations thai are applicable to many situations. Theory be

Darwin connected many different observations into a coherent, comprehensive sys-

and continuity. In this sense, philosophy can be considered educational theory in

Theoretical discourse invites argument and counterargument; otherwise, it

These, then, are some practical aspects of theory. A prescription of detailed

THE QUEST IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

lished philosophical and cultural assumptions forcefully. Critical philosophers, such