Reading R. S. Peters Today: Analysis, Ethics, and the Aims of Education (Journal of Philosophy of Education)

257 Pages·2011·1.17 MB·English

by  Stefaan E. Cuypers

Reading R. S. Peters Today
TheJournalofPhilosophyofEducationBookSeries
TheJournalofPhilosophyofEducationBookSeriespublishestitlesthatrepresentawidevariety
ofphilosophicaltraditions.Theyvaryfromexaminationoffundamentalphilosophicalissues
in their connection with education, to detailed critical engagement with current educational
practiceorpolicyfromaphilosophicalpointofview.Booksinthisseriespromoterigorous
thinking on educational matters and identify and criticise the ideological forces shaping
education.
Titlesintheseriesinclude:
TheGoodLifeofTeaching:AnEthicsofProfessionalPractice
ChrisHiggins
ReadingR.S.PetersToday:Analysis,Ethics,andtheAimsofEducation
EditedbyStefaanE.CuypersandChristopherMartin
TheFormationofReason
DavidBakhurst
WhatdoPhilosophersofEducationdo?(Andhowdotheydoit?)
EditedbyClaudiaRuitenberg
Evidence-BasedEducationPolicy:WhatEvidence?WhatBasis?WhosePolicy?
EditedbyDavidBridges,PaulSmeyersandRichardSmith
NewPhilosophiesofLearning
EditedbyRuthCigmanandAndrewDavis
TheCommonSchoolandtheComprehensiveIdeal:ADefencebyRichardPringwith
ComplementaryEssays
EditedbyMarkHalsteadandGrahamHaydon
Philosophy,MethodologyandEducationalResearch
EditedbyDavidBridgesandRichardDSmith
PhilosophyoftheTeacher
ByNigelTubbs
ConformismandCritiqueinLiberalSociety
EditedbyFriedaHeytingandChristopherWinch
RetrievingNature:EducationforaPost-HumanistAge
ByMichaelBonnett
EducationandPractice:UpholdingtheIntegrityofTeachingandLearning
EditedbyJosephDunneandPa´draigHogan
EducatingHumanity:BildunginPostmodernity
EditedbyLarsLovlie,KlausPeterMortensenandSvenErikNordenbo
TheEthicsofEducationalResearch
EditedbyMichaelMcnameeandDavidBridges
InDefenceofHighCulture
EditedbyJohnGingellandEdBrandon
EnquiriesattheInterface:PhilosophicalProblemsofOn-LineEducation
EditedbyPaulStandishandNigelBlake
TheLimitsofEducationalAssessment
EditedbyAndrewDavis
IllusoryFreedoms:Liberalism,EducationandtheMarket
EditedbyRuthJonathan
QualityandEducation
EditedbyChristopherWinch
Reading R. S. Peters Today
Analysis, Ethics, and the Aims of Education
Edited by
Stefaan E. Cuypers and
Christopher Martin
AJohnWiley&Sons,Ltd.,Publication
Thiseditionfirstpublished2011
OriginallypublishedasVolume43,Supplement1ofTheJournalofPhilosophyofEducation
Chaptersr2011TheAuthors
Editorialorganizationr2011PhilosophyofEducationSocietyofGreatBritain
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
ReadingR.S.Peterstoday:analysis,ethics,andtheaimsofeducation/editedbyStefaanE.
Cuypers,ChristopherMartin.
p.cm.–(Journalofphilosophyofeducation)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-4443-3296-4(pbk.)
1. Education–Philosophy. 2. Peters, R. S. (Richard Stanley), 1919- I. Cuypers, Stefaan E.,
1958-II.Martin,Christopher.
LB1025.2.R3972011
370.1–dc22
2011013209
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OnlineLibrary(9781444346497);ePub(9781444346473);Kindle(9781444346480)
Setin9on11ptTimesbyMacmillanIndiaLtd.
012011
Contents
Notes on Contributors vii
Preface xi
Paul Standish
Introduction
ReadingR.S. Peters onEducationToday
StefaanE. Cuypers andChristopher Martin 1
I.The Conceptual Analysisof EducationandTeaching
1Was PetersNearly RightAbout Education?
RobinBarrow 6
2Learning Our Concepts
MeganLaverty 24
3On Educationand Initiation
MichaelLuntley 38
4Ritual, Imitationand EducationinR. S. Peters
Bryan Warnick 54
5Transformation and Education:the Voice of the Learner inPeters’ Concept
of Teaching
Andrea English 72
II.The Justification ofEducationalAims andtheCurriculum
6 R. S.Peters’ Normative Conception of EducationandEducational Aims
MichaelKatz 94
7 On the Worthwhileness ofTheoretical Activities
MichaelHand 106
8 Why GeneralEducation? Peters, Hirstand History
John White 119
9 The Good, the Worthwhile and the Obligatory: Practical Reason and Moral
Universalismin R. S. Peters’ Conceptionof Education
Christopher Martin 138
10OvercomingSocialPathologies in Education: On the Conceptof Respect in
R.S. PetersandAxel Honneth
KrassimirStojanov 156
III.Aspects ofEthical Development andMoralEducation
11ReasonandVirtues: The Paradoxof R.S. PetersonMoral Education
GrahamHaydon 168
12Autonomyin R. S.Peters’ Educational Theory
Stefaan E.Cuypers 185
IV.Peters inContext
13RichardPetersandValuing Authenticity
Mike Degenhardt 205
14VisionandElusivenessinPhilosophyofEducation:R.S.PetersontheLegacy
ofMichael Oakeshott
KevinWilliams 219
Index 237

Notes on Contributors
Robin Barrow is Professor of Philosophy of Education at Simon Fraser University,
wherehewasDeanofEducationforovertenyears.HewaspreviouslyReaderatthe
University of Leicester. His recent publications include Plato (Continuum) and An
IntroductiontoMoralPhilosophyandMoralEducation(Routledge)and,asco-editor,
The Sage Handbook of Philosophy of Education (Sage). In 1996 he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
StefaanE.CuypersisProfessorofPhilosophyattheCatholicUniversityofLeuven,
Belgium.Heworksinphilosophyofmindandphilosophyofeducation.Hisresearch
interestsareautonomy,moralresponsibilityandR.S.Peters.HeistheauthorofSelf-
Identity and Personal Autonomy (Ashgate, 2001), the co-author, together with
Ishtiyaque Haji, of Moral Responsibility, Authenticity, and Education (Routledge,
2008)andaninvitedcontributortoTheOxfordHandbookofPhilosophyofEducation
(2009), edited by Harvey Siegel.
Mike Degenhardt taught philosophy of education at Borough Road and Stockwell
CollegesofEducation,inLondon,andsubsequentlytheUniversityofTasmania.He
is the author of Education and the Value of Knowledge (Routledge, 1982) and of a
rangeofpapersinthephilosophyofeducation,withparticularreferencetoethicsand
teaching. Recently his attention has been turned towards a more historical
examination of the roots of the ideas that he has explored in the course of his
research and teaching.
Andrea English is Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Faculty of
Education, Mount Saint Vincent University. Her research areas include theories
of teaching and learning, John Dewey and pragmatism, continental philosophy of
education, especially Herbart, the concept of negativity in education, listening and
education. She recently published: with Barbara Stengel, ‘Exploring Fear: Rousseau,
DeweyandFreireonFearandLearning’,EducationalTheory60:5(2010),pp.521–542
and‘ListeningasaTeacher:EducativeListening,Interruptions,andReflectivePractice’,
Paideusis:InternationalJournalofPhilosophyofEducation18:1(2009),pp.69–79.
Michael Hand is Reader of Philosophy of Education and Director of Postgraduate
Research Programmes at the Institute of Education, University of London. He has
research interests in the areas of moral, political, religious and philosophical
education. His books include Is Religious Education Possible? (Continuum, 2006),
PhilosophyinSchools(Continuum,2008)and,intheImpactpolicy-relatedpamphlet
series Patriotism in Schools (PESGB, forthcoming).
GrahamHaydonisVisitingFellowattheInstituteofEducation,UniversityofLondon,
whereuntilrecentlyhewasReaderinPhilosophyofEducation.Hismanypublications
onmoraleducationincluderecentlyValuesforEducationalLeadership(Sage,2007)and
Education,PhilosophyandtheEthicalEnvironment(Routledge,2006).
MichaelS.KatzisProfessorEmeritusofSanJoseStateUniversityandpastPresident
of the North Amereican Philosophy of Education Society. Much of his recent
research has focused on ethical issues in teacher-student relationships. Trained at
Stanfordinanalyticphilosophy, hehasfocused recentworkonintegratingfilm and
literaturewithinmoralanalysesofconceptssuchascaring,integrity,trustworthiness,
fairness,andrespectforpersons.HeistheleadeditorofavolumeentitledEducation,
Democracy and the Moral Life (Springer, 2009), which includes his own analysis of
viii Notes on Contributors
‘the right to education’. He previously was also the lead editor of a volume, along
with Nel Noddings and Kenneth Strike, entitled Justice and Caring: The Search for
Common Ground in Education (Teachers College Press, 1999).
MeganJ.LavertyisAssociateProfessorinthePhilosophyandEducationProgramat
TeachersCollege,ColumbiaUniversity.Herresearchinterestsinclude:philosophyof
education, moral philosophy and its significance for education, philosophy of
dialogue and dialogical pedagogy, and philosophy with children and adolescents in
schools.SheistheauthorofIrisMurdoch’sEthics:AConsiderationofherRomantic
Vision (Continuum, 2007) and recently published in Educational Theory and, with
Maughn Gregory, in Theory and Research in Education.
Michael Luntley is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. Recent
teaching responsibilities include Wittgenstein, the philosophy of thought and
language. His research interests are Wittgenstein, philosophy of mind, and
philosophy of education. He is the author of Wittgenstein: meaning and judgement
(Blackwell, 2003) and recently published: ‘Understanding expertise’, Journal for
Applied Philosophy 26:4 (2009), pp. 356–70, ‘What’s doing? Activity, naming and
Wittgenstein’s response to Augustine’, in Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations:
A Critical Guide, ed. A. Ahmed, Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 30–48,
‘Expectations without content’, Mind & Language 25:2 (2010), pp. 217–236, and
‘What do nurses know?’ Nursing Philosophy 12 (2011), pp. 22–33.
ChristopherMartinisaresearcherintheFacultyofMedicine,MemorialUniversityof
Newfoundland.HeisalsoalecturerintheFacultyofEducationandtheDepartmentof
English at Memorial University. A former school principal, he holds a PhD in
philosophy of education from the Institute of Education, University of London. His
researchisfocusedontheethicalandpoliticalfoundationsofeducation.Hismostrecent
work deals with the relationship between the humanities and medical education. His
publications includearticles in the Journal of Philosophy ofEducation and Educational
Theory,andhisbookEducationasMoralConcept(Continuum)isforthcoming.
Krasimir Stojanov is Professor of Theory and Philosophy of Education at the
Bundeswehr University of Munich, Germany. His topics of teaching and research
include educational justice, education as a concept of social philosophy, ideology
critique. Hislast monographBildungundAnerkennung. SozialeVoraussetzungen von
Selbst-Entwicklung und Welt-Erschlie(cid:2)ung (Verlag fu¨r Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesba-
den,2006)dealswiththerelationbetweeneducationandrecognition.Currentlyheis
writing a book on ‘Bildung’ as a Social Phenomenon.
BryanR.WarnickisanAssociateProfessorofPhilosophyofEducationintheSchool
of Educational Policy and Leadership at The Ohio State University. His current
research and teaching focus on questions related to the ethics of educational policy
and practice, learning theory, philosophy of educational research, and educational
technology. He is the author of Imitation and Education (SUNY, 2008) and has
published articles in Harvard Educational Review, Educational Researcher, Teachers
College Record, Educational Theory, and many other venues.
John White is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Institute of
Education,UniversityofLondon,wherehehasworkedsince1965.Hisinterestsare
in the aims of educationand in educational applications of the philosophy of mind.
HisrecentbooksincludeTheChild’sMind(2002),Intelligence,DestinyandEducation
(2006), What Schools are For and Why (2007), Exploring Well-being in Schools: A
guide to making children’s lives more fulfilling (2011), and The Invention of the
Secondary Curriculum (forthcoming).