Philosophy of Education: Some Recent Contributions

Transcription

1 Research Report With this issue we introduce a new category, Research Reports. The Editors welcome reviews of research in progress, state of the arts, and other field notes that do not fall within our regular format and length stipulations. Philosophy of Education: Some Recent Contributions ISRAEL SCHEFFLER, Harvard University Philosophy has in the past been considered the handmaiden of theology. More recently it has been thought of as the handmaiden of policy. Philosophy, however, is neither art nor technique but the pursuit of wisdom. Its function is not to facilitate policy but rather to enlighten it by pressing its traditional questions of value, virtue, veracity, and validity. The following remarks illustrate some recent philosophical contributions to the critique of educational research, the analysis of teaching and curriculum, the theory of mind, and social theory and history of philosophy. I attempt no systematic survey; my purpose is only to give some examples of what has been done in each of these areas. Educational Research If philosophy is not a handmaiden of policy, neither is it a handmaiden of the social sciences. Rather, drawing upon its own resources, it confronts these sciences with questions of meaning and method, of sense and significance. Philosophical critiques of educationally important research have appeared in abundance over the past two decades, based for the most part on logical and epistemological considerations, but in some cases also on considerations drawn from moral theory. Under the leadership of R. S. Peters of the University of London Institute of Education, there has been extensive consideration of developmental psychological theory with special attention to Freud 1 and Piaget. The work of the London group is represented in the massive recent collection edited by R. F. Dearden, P. H. Hirst, and R. S. Peters, Education and the 1 See R. S. Peters, The Concept of Motivation (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958). See also R. Wollheim, ed., Freud (New York: Anchor Books, 1974). This paper was originally presented as part of a symposium, "Philosophy of Education: State of the Art," at a regular meeting of the National Academy of Education, Harvard University, October Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 50, No. 3, August Copyright by President and Fellows of Harvard College /80/ $00.60/0 402

2 Research Report ISRAEL SCHEFFLER Development of Reason. 2 Critiques of Piaget have been offered by various philosophers in the United States as well, by Gareth Matthews 3 and by Matthew Lipman, 4 for example, both of whom have increasingly concerned themselves with philosophical aspects of children's thought. Under the guidance of Lipman's Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children, 5 a new journal devoted to the study of children's thinking has been inaugurated: Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children. A major focus of philosophical attention has been the research on moral education by Lawrence Kohlberg. Every aspect of his work has received philosophical scrutiny in innumerable studies. Of note are papers by W. Alston, J. Margolis, D. C. Phillips, and R. S. Peters as well as the collection Moral Education, edited by Clive M. Beck, B. S. Crittenden, and E. V. Sullivan. 6 The increasing interest of philosophers in the field of testing and, in particular, intelligence testing should be noted; The IQ, Controversy by Ned Block and Gerald Dworkin constitutes a contemporary example. 7 Teaching and Curriculum Over the past twenty years, philosophers of education have built up a substantial analytical literature on teaching and related educational processes. This is an area in which both Thomas Green and I have worked, 8 along with many others, including, for example, B. O. Smith, R. S. Peters, Gilbert Ryle, John Passmore, Paul Komisar, Jane Martin, and James McClellan. 9 A general critique of the curriculum field has been offered by Joseph Schwab in several provocative papers; 10 I have responded to some of them in a recent publication. 11 Schwab has contributed important ideas on the role of science in the cur- 2 R. F. Dearden, P. H. Hirst, and R. S. Peters, Education and the Development of Reason (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972). 3 Gareth Matthews, "On Talking Philosophy with Children," in Growing Up with Philosophy, ed. M. Lipman, and A. M. Sharp (Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press, 1978). 4 Matthew Lipman, Growing Up with Philosophy, pp Located at Montclair State College, Montclair, N. J. The Institute is responsible for the volume, Growing up with Philosophy, cited in fn. 3. See also M. Lipman, A. M. Sharp, and F. S. Oscanyan, Philosophy in the Classroom (Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press, 1980). 6 See Clive M. Beck, B. S. Crittenden and E. V. Sullivan, eds., Moral Education (Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1971); and W. P. Alston, "Comments on Kohlberg's 'From Is to Ought,' " in Cognitive Development and Epistemology, ed. T. Mischel (New York: Academic Press, 1971); J. Margolis, "Does Kohlberg Have a Valid Theory of Moral Education?," in Growing Up with Philosophy; D. C. Phillips and J. Nicolayev, "Kohlbergian Moral Development," Educational Theory, 28 (1978), ; R. S. Peters, Authority, Responsibility and Education, rev. ed. (London: Allen & Unwin, 1973), chap Ned J. Block and Gerald Dworkin, The IQ Controversy (New York: Pantheon, 1976). 8 Thomas F. Green, The Activities of Teaching (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971); Israel Scheffler, The Language of Education (Springfield: Thomas, 1960); and Israel Scheffler, Reason and Teaching (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1973). 9 For Smith, Peters, and Komisar, see C. J. B. Macmillan and Thomas W. Nelson, eds., Concepts of Teaching: Philosophical Essays (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1968); and B. P. Komisar and C. J. B. Macmillan, eds., Psychological Concepts in Education (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1967). Ryle and Passmore have contributions in R. S. Peters, ed., The Concept of Education (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967); see also Jane R. Martin, Explaining, Understanding, and Teaching (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970); and James E. McClellan, Philosophy of Education (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976). 10 Joseph J. Schwab, The Practical: A Language for Curriculum (Washington, D.C.: National Education Assn., 1970); Joseph J. Schwab, "The Practical: Arts of Eclectic," School Review, 79 (1971), ; and "The Practical 3: Translation into Curriculum," School Review, 81 (1973), See "The Practical as a Focus for Curriculum: Reflections on Schwab's View," in Israel Scheffler, Reason and Teaching,

3 Harvard Educational Review riculum, on the status of practice in college education, 12 and on the nature of liberal studies. A collection of his major articles on these and other topics has recently appeared. 13 Harvey Siegel has offered a critical study of the implications of Thomas Kuhn's conceptions of science for the science curriculum. 14 Frederick Olafson has written on the status of the humanities. 15 Paul Hirst of Cambridge University has provided critical studies of general and liberal education and offered an influential theory of curriculum in terms of forms of thought. 16 Philosophers have also produced acute critical examinations of various curriculum movements; thus Jane Martin has criticized the "disciplines" movement in curriculum 17 and Joseph Lukinsky, the related notion of "structure." 18 The recent doctoral dissertation of Ormond Smythe offers a critical examination of the "experiential education" movement." As to basic notions used to conceptualize educational content, for example, "belief," "skill," and "capacity," philosophers have offered various interpretations. The influence of Oxford philosophers has been felt strongly here, in particular the work of Ryle and John Austin. 20 I have attempted to work out some general relations between epistemological and educational notions several years ago; 21 Jonas Soltis, Jane Martin, and Michael Martin have each published significant work on this theme. 22 An important study now in progress is that of Vernon A. Howard, which is devoted to an analysis of skill, craft, and art in the context of a theory of symbols. Only a small part of this work has as yet appeared in print, notably a chapter in the David Perkins and Barbara Leondar volume, The Arts and Cognition, itself a major contribution to the theory of art education. 23 Howard's study illuminates our general concepts of learning and teaching, and deepens our understanding of the tasks of aesthetic education. Theory of Mind Philosophers have studied the concepts of mind and mental process with great intensity in recent decades. The "logical behaviorism" of Ryle's The Concept of Mind has ex- 12 Joseph J. Schwab. College Curriculum and Student Protest (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1969). 13 Joseph J. Schwab. Science, Curriculum, and Liberal Education Selected Essays, ed. I. Westbury and N.J. Wilkof (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. 1978). 14 Harvey Siegel. "Kuhn's Philosophy of Science and Science Education." Diss. Harvard Univ Frederick A. Olafson, "Philosophy and the Humanities," The Monist. 52(1968) ; and Ethics and Twentieth Century Thought (Englewood, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973). See also Frederick A. Olafson, The Dialectic of Action: A Philosophical Interpretation of History and the Humanities (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1979). 16 P. H. Hirst. Knowledge and the Curriculum (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975). 17 Jane R. Martin. "The Disciplines and the Curriculum," in Readings in the Philosophy of Education: A Study of Curriculum, ed. Jane R. Martin (Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 1970). 18 J. Lukinsky, " 'Structure' in Educational Theory," Educational Philosophy and Theory, 3 (1971), Ormond Smythe, "Practical Experience and Liberal Education: A Philosophical Analysis." Diss. Harvard Univ Gilbert Ryle. The Concept of Mind (London: Hutchinson House, 1949); J. L. Austin, Philosophical Papers (Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1961); and J. L. Austin, How to do Things with Words (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1962). 21 Israel Scheffler, Conditions of Knowledge (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1965/1978). 22 Jonas Soltis, An Introduction to the Analysis of Educational Concepts (Reading. Mass.: Addison- Wesley, 1978); Jane R. Martin, Explaining, Understanding, and Teaching: Michael Martin, Concepts of Science Education (Glenview, Ill.: Scott. Foresman, 1972). 23 David Perkins and Barbara Leondar, eds.. The Arts and Cognition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. 1977). 404

4 Research Report ISRAEL SCHEFFLER ercised a large, though now waning, influence. Younger philosophers, for a time greatly influenced by Noam Chomsky's mentalism and innatism, seem now perhaps more interested in the functionalistic views of Hilary Putnam, Daniel Dennett, and others more closely associated with the field of computer science. 24 A landmark contribution is that of Nelson Goodman, whose Languages of Art and, more recently, Ways of Worldmaking, 25 represent one of the most important developments in semiotic since Charles S. Peirce. Goodman's focus on the theory of symbols akin to that of G. H. Mead and E. Cassirer, though more precise and systematic sheds new light on the human mind, emphasizing common cognitive strands that underlie the variety of symbolic modes in everyday life, the sciences, and the arts. Partly through the continuing research of Project Zero, which he founded at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and partly through its widening influence on others concerned with education, Goodman's conceptions may have a telling effect on general educational theory. Social Theory and History of Philosophy Analytical social and political theory, virtually moribund until the late fifties or early sixties, has undergone a miraculous revival. No doubt a combination of social and theoretical causes, too elaborate for brief speculation, would need to be invoked to explain the miracle. On the theoretical side, it was clearly the work of John Rawls 26 that had the largest influence, stimulating innumerable papers on the topic of justice and related themes. Utilitarianism, long dominant, came under increasing fundamental criticism, and contract notions experienced a rebirth. The work of Robert Nozick was widely noted in these connections, and the title of Ronald Dworkin's recent book, Taking Rights Seriously, expresses well the basic tendency. 27 In philosophy of education, independent but parallel trends were at work. Peters's Ethics and Education 28 applied to the sociopolitical aspects of education a Kantian treatment of basic moral principles. The right to an education as a special rather than a human right was developed in a provocative interpretation by Olafson, and disputed by A. I. Melden. 29 In a doctoral thesis, Francis Lewis explored the topic of human rights as it bears on education. 30 The rights of children received new attention in a special issue of the Harvard Educational Review that included a philosophical survey 24 See H. Putnam, Mind, Language and Reality, II (Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1975); Daniel Dennett, Content and Consciousness (Atlantic Highlands, N. J.: Humanities Press, 1969); and Daniel Dennett, Brainstorms (Montgomery, Vt.: Bradford Books, 1978). See also George Pollack, "Reading and the Comprehension of a Text: A Philosophical Study." Diss. Harvard Univ Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1976); and Goodman, Ways of Worldmaking (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1978). A symposium on the latter book by Hilary Putnam, C. G. Hempel, and Israel Scheffler was held at the meetings of the American Philosophical Association in December Putnam's paper appears in Journal of Philosophy, 76 (1979), The papers of Hempel and myself are forthcoming in Synthese. 26 John Rawls, A Theory ofjustice (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1971). 27 Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (New York: Basic Books, 1974); and Ronald Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1977). 28 R. S. Peters, Ethics and Education (London: Allen & Unwin, 1966/1970). 29 Frederick A. Olafson, "Rights and Duties in Education," and A. I. Melden, "Olafson on the Right to Education," both papers in Educational Judgments, ed. James Doyle (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973). 30 Frances William Lewis, "Human Rights: The Contemporary Philosophical Discussion." Diss. Harvard Univ

5 Harvard Educational Review of the issues by Victor Worsfold. 31 The new journal, Philosophy and Public Affairs, itself an evidence of the revival of interest in social and political theory, included treatments of topical issues bearing on education, affirmative action, and reverse discrimination, as well as related theoretical issues. Normative ethics in general as distinct from metaethics had a rebirth, and links with classical figures of the history of philosophy were progressively rediscovered. These figures, read as offering theories of human nature, provided new inspiration to the revival of normative interests. Finally, the history of philosophy itself received a new impetus and many younger philosophers have undertaken serious work in this area. In educational philosophy proper, perhaps the most significant venture was the founding of a new journal, Paidaes, edited by Albert Grande and George Simmons, and devoted to scholarly studies of major figures in philosophical history, with emphasis on their educational thought. Two issues of the journal have appeared thus far, one on Plato and one on Aristotle. A third, on medieval thought, is now in preparation. 32 The reworking of the past and rethinking of the present thus go hand in hand; each is indeed a condition and a symptom of the other See Victor Worsfold," Obligations and Rights in Education." Diss. Harvard Univ. 1975; see also Victor Worsfold, "A Philosophical Justification for Children's Rights," Harvard Educational Review, 44 (1974), The journal is based at State University College at Buffalo, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, N. Y A recent historical study of nineteenth-century British idealism and its influence on education is Peter Gordon and John White, Philosophers as Educational Reformers (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979). For a wide array of contributions to recent philosophy of education in the United States, see the several volumes of the annual Proceedings of the Philosophy of Education Society. The 80th National Society for the Study of Education Yearbook, ed. James F. Soltis, to appear in 1981, will be devoted to philosophy of education. See also Teachers College Record, 81, (1979), , which is an issue devoted to "Philosophy of Education since Mid-Century." 406

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