Government cannot make people free; only education can do that —Rudolf Steiner, 1884 What is the purpose of education? It is possible to propose a thousand answers to this question ranging from the most material to the most sublime. Perhaps it is to render myself more attractive to employers. Perhaps it is for prestige. Perhaps it is to render myself capable of contributing to society. I would like to explore a traditional answer to this question without necessarily rejecting any one of the answers that people are want to venture. Indeed, I think I can show how the answer that I will attempt to lay out actually affirms all of them by integrating them into a larger whole, just as my thumb becomes more itself the more it is a part of me, and were it parted from me, would ultimately cease to be a thumb at all. Since Plato’s day, Philosophers have affirmed that the purpose of education is to make us more free. Seneca, for instance, observeres:
thank you for the kind words. I am applying for a visiting professorship position at Alaska Pacific Univiersty (now I just teach there on a course-by-course basis as an adjunct) and the hiring committee required that I perform a teaching demonstration and these were some thoughts I put together around the theme I presented yesterday.
The passage from Steiner in the footnotes is somewhat difficult for me to comprehend. On the one hand, I intuitively nod when reading that, just as the caterpillar has certain tasks assigned to him by the seasons, so man has certain tasks or imperatives within his epoch. But how to discern those tasks seems entirely open to question. The conservative or perennialist will say that our current task is to restore a lost order. The futurist will say that we need to push forward into greater and greater freedom from biology through technology. There are plenty of other perspectives on offer. How is one to align oneself with the right tasks and discern the true development from the false?
for me, studying Barfield’s and Steiner’s conceptions of the evolution of consciousness has been immensely illuminating. it can’t possibly be false that consciousness evolves over the course of history and hence each time has a unique task in a manner analogous to individual development. when we are young, we learn to coordinate our limbs and sense organs; later we put them to further work but to do this, it is necessary to have done the first thing.
Excellent article, have you encountered von Humboldts educational ideal of Bildung?, if not I recommend J. Niederhauser's video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48jB8M8HXJw
this is brilliantly written. so many beautiful images. truly, a work of art. thank you.
Your quickly becoming one of my favorite ‘people’. Thank you for being you.
thank you for the kind words. I am applying for a visiting professorship position at Alaska Pacific Univiersty (now I just teach there on a course-by-course basis as an adjunct) and the hiring committee required that I perform a teaching demonstration and these were some thoughts I put together around the theme I presented yesterday.
Thank you very much for this essay.
The passage from Steiner in the footnotes is somewhat difficult for me to comprehend. On the one hand, I intuitively nod when reading that, just as the caterpillar has certain tasks assigned to him by the seasons, so man has certain tasks or imperatives within his epoch. But how to discern those tasks seems entirely open to question. The conservative or perennialist will say that our current task is to restore a lost order. The futurist will say that we need to push forward into greater and greater freedom from biology through technology. There are plenty of other perspectives on offer. How is one to align oneself with the right tasks and discern the true development from the false?
for me, studying Barfield’s and Steiner’s conceptions of the evolution of consciousness has been immensely illuminating. it can’t possibly be false that consciousness evolves over the course of history and hence each time has a unique task in a manner analogous to individual development. when we are young, we learn to coordinate our limbs and sense organs; later we put them to further work but to do this, it is necessary to have done the first thing.
Excellent article, have you encountered von Humboldts educational ideal of Bildung?, if not I recommend J. Niederhauser's video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48jB8M8HXJw
thank you for the recommendation. i am vaguely familiar but look forward to learning more.
forgive me: I discovered my typo. I meant "vaguely familiar" and not "vaguely animal" of course.
Max makes me want to go back to university and study philosophy all over again. So long as Max was the professor!