Education and Conversation: Exploring Oakeshott’s Legacy

Description

Since Michael Oakeshott spoke of education as initiation into ‘the conversation of mankind’ more than fifty years ago, the idea has inspired a diverse array of thinkers and continues to be invoked today by those seeking to resist the influence of managerialism and narrow instrumentalism in educational policy and practice. The papers in this volume, written by scholars from both the analytic and continental philosophical traditions, offer a variety of perspectives on the implications of Oakeshott’s educational ideas. The metaphor of the conversation of mankind is explored, together with the roots of Oakeshott’s thinking in his early philosophical work, the relevance of his ideas to the concept of Bildung, and the significance of his political conservatism in evaluating the seemingly progressive potential of his educational ideas. In addition, concepts prominent in Oakeshott’s thought are taken up and brought to bear on contemporary philosophical discussions about education, learning and development, including the nature of initiation, the phenomenology of listening, and the value of the liberal arts tradition. Education and Conversation shows how the idea of conversation illuminates both the character and the ends of education, yielding insight into the scope and limits of the philosophy of education and the character of philosophical inquiry more generally. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Acknowledgement Notes on Contributors Introduction David Bakhurst and Paul Fairfield 1 Education and Conversation David Bakhurst Voices Conversation Many voices, one subject Truth Initiation Conclusion Notes 2 Experience in Experience and its Modes Barry Allen Experience Philosophical experience Present experience From modes of experience to the conversation of mankind Notes 3 Oakeshottian Pragmatism – Conversation or Inquiry? Cheryl Misak Oakeshott and classical pragmatism Cambridge pragmatism Pragmatism: inquiry or conversation? Notes 4 Bildung, Post-Kantian German Idealism and the Conversation of Mankind James Scott Johnston Bildung and the conversation of beauty Kant, Bildung and the education of taste Hegel, beauty and the end of art Rival discourses of art and Bildung Oakeshott and the conversation of mankind Bildung and the conversation of mankind 5 Conservatism, Perfectionism and Equality Christine Sypnowich Oakeshott’s theory of education Oakeshott’s conservatism Conservatives and progressives – antagonisms Conservatives and progressives – affinities Autonomy and equality Conclusion Notes 6 Oakeshott, Bonnett, Derrida and the Possibilities of Thought Emma Williams Introduction Bonnett’s critique of Oakeshott A traditional subject Thinking beyond representation with Derrida Oakeshott and the possibilities of thought Notes 7 A Turn in the Conversation Paul Standish Acknowledgement 8 A Phenomenology of Listening Paul Fairfield Notes 9 Conversation and Processes of Recognition Shaun Gallagher Interaction as a dynamical process of sense- making From recognition to responsiveness Conversational imperialism and the real dynamics of conversation Notes 10 Old Directions for New Minds Nancy Salay The metaphor Conversation and the brain The conversation of mankind Conclusion Acknowledgement Notes 11 Education and Autonomy Sebastian Rödl Introduction Autonomy: what it is Education: the kind of passion it is The idea that education turns the child from an animal into a person, its inconsistency with the idea that the end of education is autonomy The idea of changing into a person, its incoherence Education as self-activity Notes 12 Getting to Hogwarts – Michael Oakeshott, Ivan Illich and J. K. Rowling on ‘School’ Babette Babich Oakeshott and the language of appetite Ivan Illich The university and the twelfth century Getting to Hogwarts Monastery and greenwood Notes References Index