Educating for Democracy: Paideia in an Age of Uncertainty

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Alan M. Olson, David M. Steiner, Irina S. Tuuli
Rowman & Littlefield, 2004 - Education - 307 pages
The central conflicts of the world today are closely related to cultural, traditional, and religious differences between nations. As we move to a globalized world, these differences often become magnified, entrenched, and the cause of bloody conflict. Growing out of a conference of distinguished scholars from the MiddleEast, Europe, and the United States, this volume is a singular contribution to mutual understanding and cooperative efforts on behalf of peace. The term paideia, drawn from Greek philosophy, has to do with responsible education for citizenship as a necessary precondition for effective democracy. The problems discussed here are crucial, but not simple. How can we find shared ethical principles on which to build international consensus? How can religious tolerance make inroads in societies accustomed to restrictive fundamentalism? What might bring about de-dogmatization of education in the Middle East as a necessary condition for free and rational inquiry and the broader vistas required by democracy? All of these issues highlight the underlying question, "What is education really for?" Finally, the volume confronts the promises and perils of economic globalization. Noting that one third of the world's population lives in abject poverty, business has become a battlefield where ethics and trust are clearly at stake.
 

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Contents

Introduction Paideia in Philosophy and Religion
5
Paideia Anachronism or Necessity?
11
Paideia as the Unity of Knowledge and Enlightenment
25
Science Education and the Transformation of Civilization in the Twentyfirst Century
31
The Noospheric Imperative for Paideia in the Twentyfirst Century
43
Paideia Critical Thinking and Religion in Education
51
Interreligious Dialogues during the Middle Ages and Early Modernity
59
The Impact of Modernity on Jewish Life
85
Paideia in an Age of Uncertainty
149
After NATO Paideial
163
Liberal Education in the Face of Antidemocracy
171
Prescribing Orthodoxy
179
Dedogmatizing Reason
193
Education and Democratization in an Age of Islamism
203
Education to Conscience and Political Disobedience The Role of the Role Model
221
Face to Face with Eudaimonia The PostSoviet Teachers Identity Crisis
233

Paideia and Adab in Islam
97
The Changing Face of Islamic Radicalism
103
ChristianIslamic Dialogue in the Twentyfirst Century
115
Paideia and Education
129
Introduction Paideia and Education
131
Paideia Anachronism or Necessity?
137
Reformatting the Idea of a University
247
Paideia and Economics
263
The Ethics of Political Economy A Roundtable Discussion
265
About the Contributors
301
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