Philosophy and Modern Liberal Arts Education

Transcription

1

2 Philosophy and Modern Liberal Arts Education

3 This page intentionally left blank

4 Philosophy and Modern Liberal Arts Education Freedom Is to Learn Nigel Tubbs University of Winchester, UK

5 Nigel Tubbs 2014 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act First published 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan areregisteredtrademarksin theunitedstates, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tubbs, Nigel. Philosophy and modern liberal arts education : freedom is to learn / Nigel Tubbs. pages cm Summary: In the age that announces the death of metaphysics, that is alive to the existence of the other, and defends democratic citizenship against the privilege of masters, what future can there be for a liberal arts education grounded in the pursuit of first principles? This book explores the tradition of first principles within liberal arts education, retracing the themes of discipline and freedom within its history from antiquity to RM Hutchins. It then offers a challenge to the logic of that tradition as it appears within metaphysical, natural and social relations, arguing that this ancient logic is no longer fit for purpose. Philosophy and Modern Liberal Arts argues for a modern version of liberal arts education, exploring first principles within the divine comedy of a modern educational logic, reforming the three philosophies of metaphysics, nature and ethics upon which liberal arts education is based. At a time when there is something of a resurgence of liberal arts education in Europe, and a crisis around liberal arts education in the USA, this book offers a profound transatlantic philosophical and educational challenge to its students and practitioners Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN (hardback) 1. Education, Humanistic Philosophy. 2. Education, Higher Philosophy. I. Title. LC1011.T dc

6 Socrates of our age!, you can no longer have effect like Socrates Herder, This Too a Philosophy If there were nothing but dichotomies, doubt would not exist, for the possibility of doubt resides precisely in the third, which places two in relation to each other Kierkegaard, Philosophical Fragments/Johannes Climacus

7 This page intentionally left blank

8 Contents Preface Acknowledgements viii xi Introduction 1 Part I Introduction 7 1 Antiquity: Finding Virtue in Necessity 11 2 The Seven Liberal Arts: Varro s Secret Path 25 3 Renaissance Humanism 37 4 Bildung and the New Age 50 Conclusion to Part I 63 Part II Introduction 73 5 Metaphysical Education 83 6 Natural Education 98 7 Social Education 112 Part III The Song That Dialectic Sings Divine Comedy of Barbarian Virtue The Work of Education 146 Notes 160 Bibliography 189 Index 196 vii