Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

Categories


All categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Add to Google

Subscribe with Bloglines

Sunday, July 14. 2013

Saving Liberal Education From 'The Humanities'

From the article by Lawler. One quote:



 The humanities, in the old view, are about the purposes or ends of being human.  Technology is about the means--money and power--that should be subordinate to those ends.  Instrumental reason, by its very name, should be at the service of properly philosophical and theological reflection. So those with a technical education should be taking orders from those with a fully liberal education, as they have been, in fact, through most of our history.   Jefferson and Lincoln had a deep appreciation of the place of technology in American flourishing.  But they understood the difference between cultivation of the means for the pursuit of happiness and happiness itself.  When Jefferson thought of happiness, we learn from his letters, he gave us two exemplars:  the philosopher Epicurus and his version of the Jesus of the Bible.  And of course "the self-evident truths" could only be genuinely evident to a self who has reflected seriously--with the help of the key books of the West--about who each of us is.


Posted by The Barrister in Education at 13:20 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

Interesting. Question, why is it that so many, the majority in fact, with the "fully liberal education" can't seem to come to the acceptance that Marxism, Socialism or whatever flavor we are calling it this week, is evil and murderous? That its very purpose is to deny men freedom and liberty, to enslave them?

Explain that, then I might entertain the idea the we should be lead by the "fully liberal" educated.

QUOTE:
It is possible for the mind to indulge in false logic, to make the worse appear the better reason, without instant exposure. But for the hand to work falsely is to produce a misshapen thing—tool or machine —which in its construction gives the lie to its maker. Thus the hand that is false to truth, in the very act publishes the verdict of its own guilt, exposes itself to contempt and derision, convicts itself of unskilfulness or of dishonesty.


Oddly, the "fully liberal" educated work so terribly hard to avoid not only exposure but even acceptance of their false logic. We, the supposedly not fully liberal educated will oppose or so-called "betters' lest we die by the millions in the ovens or the killing fields, or in the purges, the "Great Leap Forwards", etc.
#1 JKB on 2013-07-14 13:52 (Reply)
That report has a different definition of democracy than what most Americans think the US is all about. Plus anytime the business representatives are largely defense contractors and utility companies you are likely to get business advocating for a corporatist view of a collaborative public/private partnership economy. Precisely what that report did.

No wonder Paul Ehrlich now says the desired human behavioral changes he is seeking globally are best attained by turning attentions to the humanities. Use them to change values and beliefs and create influential false guiding beliefs.

Clearly fits with AACU's Essential Learning Outcomes document that is supposed to be the compass for all 21st century learning.

These people truly do want to redesign via education what it means to be human. Unfortunately it is a collective, common good orientation.
#2 Robin (Link) on 2013-07-14 14:35 (Reply)
"Instrumental reason, by its very name, should be at the service of properly philosophical and theological reflection."

To the degree that philosophical and theological reflection is untethered from the consequences of its practical application, this attitude is mendacious at best, evil at worst. But our self-appointed Betters want precisely that: a pass on the effects of their ruminations when acted upon, owing to their good intentions. This is why our self-appointed Betters seek to obscure history and marinate our populace in collective amnesia regarding our origins. This frees them from accountability for the myriad prior attempts to do to the people what they are doing by erasing that knowledge from the consciousness of the people. This is a resounding confession of our self-appointed Betters that their prescriptions cannot stand up to fair and open inquiry. Their attitude is an affront to Reason.

The proclamation that "instrumental reason" is somehow inferior to the diktat of people itching for the status of philosopher-kings is a blood libel. At least "instrumental reason" accepts that consequences are inevitable and must be examined. For the most part, these poseurs cannot employ religion or faith as alibis for their hauteur, for they have, with few exceptions, implicitly proclaimed themselves to be gods whom their alleged inferiors should worship. Were this not true, they would be obligated to pay some obeisance to the historical record.

This is the oldest con game in the world, and people keep falling for it.
#3 Walking Horse on 2013-07-14 18:49 (Reply)
Well said,WH. Though in a way it's all a con, IFYKWIM. Seems to me the best we can hope for is what does the most actual good for the greatest number.
#3.1 XRay on 2013-07-14 19:28 (Reply)

Add Comment
(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)

By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email
addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications.

Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u],
[url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here.

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

BBCode format allowed
 
 
A Chris Southern Consulting website.