I'm pretty certain Sid'd be very disappointed at how matters have turned out, most especially in how the present iteration of POTUS
falls so far short of manifesting two of his ideals: liberal education and anti-totalitarianism.
http://onlinephilosophyclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1349
falls so far short of manifesting two of his ideals: liberal education and anti-totalitarianism.
http://onlinephilosophyclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1349
Quote:Commentary on sidney hooks what is a liberal education
Post by wanabe » December 1st, 2008, 9:34 pm
To summarize Sidney Hooks “what is a liberal education?”. Hook asks: “What should modern man know, in order to live intelligently in the world today?” hook answers this briefly in his last paragraph. “the knowledge imparted by [study] should be acquired in such a way [that it] strengthenthe skills of reading and writing, of thinking and imaginative interpretation of criticism and evaluation.”
With the spirit of that paragraph fresh in mind, my interpretation of that paragraph says that the point of a liberal education is to show that it is not the number of facts that one knows that makes them wise and learned, but how to apply what they know to many things.
hence It's not what you know, but how you think about what you know. In addition, “knowing what you don't know is more important than knowing what you know ”i read that some where.
We should know everything in order to live intelligently. Or as Hook says in so many words, we should know: science, math, language, history, social science, art, and Lastly but perhaps most importantly, know the distinctions between the subjects, and the distinction between knowledge and wisdom.
Hook recognized the importance of a multifaceted education. noting a problem in his day (1902-1989) that seems to continue into ours. Hook states “it is commonly recognized that the sciences today are taught as if all students enrolled in science courses were preparing to be professional scientists” this is not only the case with science but with all subjects. In-essence, the problem is, they lack proportion and moderation
In most introductory courses, the subject being studied is given precedence above all others (by the teacher in most cases). Ignoring that many of the students are not actually making the subject at hand their primary course of study. With an attitude like that, it is rare to have pointed out, the relevance of that subject, to all other subjects. the symbiotic/interdependent, relation of knowledge between one class and all other classes is rarely addressed.
For example: an English 100 student who is a biology major, may not at all times, see the point in further learning English because their major is science; English being generally unrelated to science.
Studying any language, is to study communication. a scientist cannot communicate his findings well if he has not learned the ways in which people tend to understand information.
Thus making him inept in his carrier, compared to those in the same carrier, who have studied language. bringing to mind “knowledge is power”.
hook believes that our studies must emphasize the methods of study. Students must be able to criticize evidence, relevance and validity, of things being shown to them. students must have the ability to, and practice, independent reflection.
This will prevent them from succumbing to propaganda, and enable them to come up with sound solutions to problems. Hook adds that few institutions have this as their priority. noted that hook is comes from an earlier time period, in my experience to date hook is still right.
Few classes truly achieve this, to me most classes are hardly more than a memorization of facts to make students appear more intelligent than they actually are. Rarely is there an actual discussion about what a given fact may mean, or how it can be used, and possible opposing facts.
The practice of debate and discussion is what creates meaningful knowledge. what should be taught is how to decide if some thing is actually a fact and how to come to a reasoned conclusion.
Granted this will take much longer to produce professionals, however in our current system the class of professional is a title given much too soon.
