Humanity Educating Philosophy ABSTRACT: In what follows, I focus on the partiality and fallibility of each of us as individuals, and explore what that means for us as epistemic agents. When we examine the tradition of Western European thought, we note that most epistemological theories assume individuals can know the answer, and are able to critique what is passed down to others as socially constructed knowledge. Many have made the argument that while humanity can be deceived, one individual
Philosophy Educating Humanity? ABSTRACT: Over two millennia of Western philosophy has not yet contributed much to the education of humanity. Philosophy has almost always been the exclusive domain of a small group of men. This elite character makes the assumption that philosophy could contribute to the education of human beings towards humanity — a humanity of human rights — improbable. If we want to educate human beings towards humanity, we will first have to teach them a sense of responsibility
Teaching Meditation to Classes in Philosophy ABSTRACT: In alignment with the overall theme of the congress, "Philosophy Teaching Humanity," this paper proposes that teachers of philosophy consider instructing their students in simple techniques of meditation. By meditation I mean the practice of mindfulness which typically begins by paying clear, steady, non-reactive attention to the sensations of one's own breathing, and then extending this attention to embrace all bodily sensations, feelings
by philosophy in the classical sense? In this paper I explore this question in greater detail. The thesis of this essay is that philosophy is at an important crossroads at the end of the twentieth century in its role as paideia—philosophy educating humanity. An unprecedented challenge and opportunity for philosophy today is to mediate, and enhance understanding of the relationship, between science, ethics and faith. A central question arises: What can philosophy contribute to the emerging dialogue
the title of the World Congress of Philosophy, Paideia: Philosophy Educating Humanity, reflect hubris, irony or a pragmatic optimism? How is it possible for philosophy to educate the human community in the twenty-first century? More specifically, at a time when few people besides academic philosophers read philosophy, in what sense can philosophy educate humanity? In this essay I examine one possible way philosophy can educate humanity advanced by Derek Bok, former president of Harvard University. In
around the world: the revolution in information technologies, the crisis of the welfare state, and the globalization of a consumer capitalist economy. In the face of such powerful developments on a massive scale, philosophy's efforts toward "educating humanity" (1) can seem both presumptuous and quixotic: presumptuous, because much of philosophy has given up global theorizing of sort ... ... middle of paper ... ...n producers and consumers, or among consumers. (10) Jon Van Tils Mapping the
been ignored. In the resulting vacuum, the various subcultures that have grown up around the digital computer (the so-called "digital culture") have been actively defining and shaping popular conceptions of what it means to be human and the place of humanity in the digital era. Here one finds an implicit view of human nature that includes recurrent themes such as: an emphasis on mind as information independent of the physical body, the obsolescence of the human body, the elimination of human particularity
themselves by the five-leveled notion of paideia articulated here will again experience the power of philosophy to confer well-being upon themselves and the world. The main theme of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, "Paideia: Philosophy Educating Humanity," challenges philosophers to assess what impact philosophy is having and should be having in the world today. The use in the title of the classical term paideia suggests that conference organizers believe that philosophy should have both an
Coping with Existential Threats and the Inevitability of Asking for Meaningfulness ABSTRACT: How philosophy is educating humanity will be explained regarding an actual example concerning the new public health paradigm or health promoting research. The central point of reference is the discussion of the decisive substantiation of the work of medical sociologist, Aaron Antonovsky; his approach to salutogenesis is opposed to the usual approach of pathogenesis. Here, emphasis is put on "Sense of
the Border(s) ABSTRACT: This essay explores my own situation of teaching philosophy in a more or less traditional undergraduate setting but in a way that is especially relevant to the theme of this Congress, namely, the theme of "philosophy educating humanity." In my case, I teach philosophy but from a perspective that is non-traditional and which undercuts the standard questions originating from and orienting around a "philosophia perennia." Specifically, I teach philosophy of religion from the
The Very Idea of Humanity Why should we believe in such a thing as humanity? Should we accept appearances or take authority as our guide? Should we point to some pragmatic advantage to be gained by believing it, or is there proof? Philosophy offers such proof, contained in the dream hypothesis of the Buddha and Plato (and, more famously, Descartes). The dream hypothesis reveals our common ground. It refers to a familiar experience in terms of which young people of every time and place can understand
international conference that takes Philosophy Educating Humanity as its theme does well to revisit the liberal arts tradition. Although the liberal arts are most often assimilated to studies brought together as the Humanities, the old usage included the arts which employed artificial languages in mathematics, music, and astronomy, as well as the literature and letters of the various natural languages. The current conflation of liberal education with the humanities does violence to the historical tradition
to take Humanities courses, and are encouraged to discover the rationale behind studying the humanities. For some, this course is just one required for that individual to obtain their overall degree, and for others, this course can be life altering, because it allows an individual to gain a broader knowledge of the world that they live in. The studies of Humanities is essential for modern society to understand their past, present, and to use as a guide for future generations. Humanities can touch
Contributing to the Education of Humanity and Societal Well-Being ABSTRACT: For the sake of humanity, outward compulsion must change into inward check. This is possible with the help of "paideia." I use "paideia" instead of the equivocal German word "Bildung," which comprises the meanings of "education," "formation," and "cultivation." The core of my recently developed concept of "paideia" is that the educating individual does what has to be done in a certain situation. He or she works alone or
Narrativity, Modernity, and Tragedy: How Pragmatism Educates Humanity ABSTRACT: I argue that the modernist notion of a human self (or subject) cannot easily be post-modernistically rejected because the need to view an individual life as a unified 'narrative' with a beginning and an end (death) is a condition for asking humanly important questions about its meaningfulness (or meaninglessness). Such questions are central to philosophical anthropology. However, not only modern ways of making sense
Philosophy of Education as a Means to Educate Humanity in a Diverse South Africa ABSTRACT: In pre-democratic South Africa, people never learned to listen to the stories of their fellow human beings because that was seen as a threat rather than a challenge. With the long-awaited political and constitutional changes taking place, a different societal structure is being established and a new democratic value system formally and officially being embraced. It would, however, be naive to imagine that
Compare how Nichols and Alvi explore the issue of identity in Hurricane Hits England and Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan In this essay I aim to compare the two poems Compare how Nichols and Alvi explore the issue of identity in “Hurricane Hits England” and “Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan” In this essay I aim to compare the two poems “Hurricane Hits England” by Grace Nichols and “Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan” by Moniza Alvi. I aim to analyse the language and structure shape
The Quarrel About Historical Explanation The discussion of the philosophical question of historical explanation is in reality a disagreement concerning the nature of the philosophic method. There are primarily two sides taken in this argument, those who agree with Carl Hempel and those that do not. According to Hempel a historical event is only sufficiently explained when it logically fits a set of confirmed pre-existing conditions along with some universal laws. Certainly all things cannot easily
William Golding's The Lord of the Flies The Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding and is a story about a group of boys stranded on an island
ColorSet-1ColorPos-1StyleSet-1StylePos-1 Krista Wallover 4/03/05 Humanities ACT 5 Scene 1 Hamlet: Woe is me. I miss my dear Ophelia. Where is my beautiful maiden? I cannot believe I will never see her again. Well, at least not until I am dead and buried. Ophelia: Hamlet what are you babbling about? I’m right here. I’ve been waiting for you for like an entire hour. I was really beginning to think you stood me up. Did you totally forget we had