The volume documents, and makes an original contribution to, an astonishing period in twentieth-century philosophy—the progress of Arne Naess's ecophilosophy from its inception to the present. It includes Naess's most crucial polemics with leading thinkers, drawn from sources as diverse as scholarly articles, correspondence, TV interviews and unpublished exchanges. The book testifies to the skeptical and self-correcting aspects of Naess's vision, which has deepened and broadened to include third world and feminist perspectives. Philosophical Dialogues is an essential addition to the (...) literature on environmental philosophy. (shrink)

The apparently simple question, ‘Does philosophy of education have a future?’, is without a simple answer. Like so many other questions, it all depends on what we mean, and in this case, what we mean by the expression ‘philosophy of education’. I shall look at it in all of three ways: as a social institution, as an academic activity and as an intellectual pursuit. By doing so, it will become evident that consideration of each of them in turn will give (...) somewhat different answers, which not only adds to the complexity of the question, but also adds to the richness of the answer. From this we, as individuals and as members of a particular community, can begin to reflect on the sort of future philosophy of education might have and what, if anything, we ought to do about it. (shrink)

This short note takes two quotations from Snooks’ recent editorial on neuroeducation and teases out some further details on the philosophy of neuroscience and neurophilosophy along with consideration of the implications of both for philosophy of education.

community reflecting on itself, uncovering its history, exploring its present predicament, and contemplating its future. [2] One aspect of this awakening is a process of philosophical reflection. As a philosophical approach, a social ecology investigates the ontological, epistemological, ethical and political dimensions of the relationship between the social and the ecological, and seeks the practical wisdom that results from such reflection. It seeks to give us, as beings situated in the course of real human and natural history, guidance in facing (...) specific challenges and opportunities. In doing so, it develops an analysis that is both holistic and dialectical, and a social practice that might best be described as an eco-communitarianism. (shrink)

The inaugural collection in an exciting new exchange between philosophers and geographers, this volume provides interdisciplinary approaches to the environment as space, place, and idea. Never before have philosophers and geographers approached each other's subjects in such a strong spirit of mutual understanding. The result is a concrete exploration of the human-nature relationship that embraces strong normative approaches to environmental problems.

In considering philosophy of education now and in the future, this paper explores the issue from an Australasian perspective. While philosophy of education in this part of the world has strong international links there is an absence of indigenous influences. A number of philosophical strands have developed including naturalism and postmodernism which have informed thinking about education policy and practice. The institutional side of philosophy of education has witnessed both the promotion of philosophers to professorial positions and the slow decline (...) in numbers as departing staff are not replaced. How philosophy of education will fare in the future will depend on the survival of an academic community, the opportunity to teach papers in the subject to undergraduate and postgraduate students (and so replace ourselves) and convincing teachers and policy makers that philosophy of education makes an indispensable contribution to improving policy and the educational experiences of students. (shrink)

This paper seeks to explain learning by examining five theories of learning—conceptual analysis, behavioural, constructivist, computational and connectionist. The first two are found wanting and rejected. Piaget's constructivist theory offers a general explanatory framework but fails to provide an adequate account of the empirical mechanisms of learning. Two theories from cognitive science offering rival explanations of learning are finally considered; it is argued that the brain is not like a computer so the computational model is rejected in favour of a (...) neurally‐based connectionist model of learning. (shrink)

Attempts to find an authentically ecological outlook in Marx’s philosophy of nature are ultimately unsuccessful. Although Marx does at times point the way toward a truly ecological dialectic, he does not himself follow that way. Instead, he proposes a problematic of technological liberation and mastery of nature that preserves many of the dualisms of that tradition of domination with which he ostensibly wishes to break.

Those in education committed to folk psychology reject the advances of neuroscience as the way to explain learning. Winch is one of the most determined defenders of folk psychology. Yet his account of folk psychology is weak and his rejection of neuroscience is deeply flawed. This article sets out Winch’s Wittgensteinian theory of learning then proceeds to critically examine a number of issues, including the folk psychology/cognitive science dualism, problems with folk psychology, the advantages of cognitive science and why folk (...) psychology should be replaced by cognitive science. (shrink)

Social justice is a key concept in current education policy and practice. It is, however, a problematic one in its application to schooling. This paper begins with a critique of the account of social justice offered by Gewirtz followed by an alternative philosophical notion based on the perfect world argument and the just society where equality is to the fore. This leads on to an exploration of what it is to be an educated citizen, consideration of the just school and (...) discussion of the place of the school as an instrument for attaining social justice. The conclusion draws attention to the importance of the policy web as a way of developing coherent and unified policy designed to achieve social justice for all. (shrink)

This paper seeks to explain learning by examining five theories of learning—conceptual analysis, behavioural, constructivist, computational and connectionist. The first two are found wanting and rejected. Piaget's constructivist theory offers a general explanatory framework (assimilation and accommodation) but fails to provide an adequate account of the empirical mechanisms of learning. Two theories from cognitive science offering rival explanations of learning are finally considered; it is argued that the brain is not like a computer so the computational model is rejected in (...) favour of a neurally‐based connectionist model of learning. (shrink)

Arne Naess's ?rules of Gandhian nonviolence? might usefully be applied to recent debates in ecophilosophy. The ?radical ecologies? have increasingly been depicted as mutually exclusive alternatives lacking any common ground, and many of the hostile and antagonistic attitudes that Naess cautions against have become prevalent. Naess suggests, however, that fundamental differences concerning theory and practice can coexist with a respect for one's opponents, an openness to the views of others, and a commitment to cooperation in the pursuit of mutually held (...) goals. I raise questions about the scope of deep ecology in the light of Naess's non?ideological, ?deep questioning? approach. First, I ask whether an expanded consideration of the social institutional implications of deep ecology would not increase its depth, relevance, and appeal to proponents of other ecologies. Second, I pose the question of whether certain tendencies to define deep ecology in stark opposition to other ecophilosophies have not impeded the original aims of the movement. And, finally, I suggest that possible answers to these questions are implicit in Arne Naess's ecophilosophy. (shrink)

In 1964, Richard Peters examined the place of philosophy in the training of teachers. He considered three things: Why should philosophy of education be included in the training of teachers; What portion of philosophy of education should be included; How should philosophy be taught to those training to be teachers. This article explores the context of the time when Peters set out his views, describes philosophy of education at the London Institute of Education at one period in Peters? time there, (...) and then discusses the current state of philosophy of education, using New Zealand as an example of opportunities and challenges. Finally, asking whether Peters was nearly right about the place of philosophy in the training of teachers, it is concluded that he was right about its importance but got it wrong about his conception of philosophy. (shrink)

Medicine is faced with a number of intractable modern challenges that can be understood in terms of hyper-intellectualization; a compassion crisis, burnout, dehumanization, and lost meaning. These challenges have roots in medical philosophy and indeed general Western philosophy by way of the historic exclusion of human emotion from human reason. The resolution of these medical challenges first requires a novel philosophic schema of human knowledge and reason that incorporates the balanced interaction of human intellect and human emotion. This schema of (...) necessity requires a novel extension of dual-process theory into epistemology in terms of both intellect and emotion each generating a distinct natural kind of knowledge independent of the other as well as how these two forms of mental process together construct human reason. Such a novel philosophic schema is here proposed. This scheme is then applied to the practice of medicine with examples of practical applications with the goal of reformulating medical practice in a more knowledgable, balanced, and healthy way. This schema’s expanded epistemology becomes the philosophic foundation for more fully incorporating the humanities in medicine. (shrink)

Elämme historian vaihetta, jossa uuden poliittisen visioinnin tarve on tulossa polttavan kiireelliseksi. Tyytymättömyys perinteisiä poliittisia vaihtoehtoja kohtaan ja uskon puute muodollista demokratiaa kohtaan kasvavat teollistuneissa länsimaissa. Tyytymättömyys on toistaiseksi näkynyt ennen kaikkea epäpolitisoitumisena, johon on sisältynyt dramaattinen luottamuksen menetys suhteessa poliittisiin puolueisiin sekä laajamittaista äänestämättä jättämistä. Idässä marxilaista oikeaoppisuutta haastaa toisinajattelun liikehdintä, joka ilmenee usein hiljaisena uskollisuuden ja yhteistyön hylkäämisenä, toisinaan taas dramaattisina aika ajoin toistuvina kapinoina. Lisäksi niin idässä kuin lännessäkin on kulttuurista vastarintaa, joka heikosti – mutta kenties profeetallisesti (...) – osoittaa tarpeen uudelle, erilaisia ääniä yhdistävälle visiolle. (shrink)

Knowledge of the entanglement properties of the wave functions commonly used to describe quantum many-particle systems can enhance our understanding of their correlation structure and provide new insights into quantum phase transitions that are observed experimentally or predicted theoretically. To illustrate this theme, we first examine the bipartite entanglement contained in the wave functions generated by microscopic many-body theory for the transverse Ising model, a system of Pauli spins on a lattice that exhibits an order-disorder magnetic quantum phase transition under (...) variation of the coupling parameter. Results for the single-site entanglement and measures of two-site bipartite entanglement are obtained for optimal wave functions of Jastrow-Hartree type. Second, we address the nature of bipartite and tripartite entanglement of spins in the ground state of the noninteracting Fermi gas, through analysis of its two- and three-fermion reduced density matrices. The presence of genuine tripartite entanglement is established and characterized by implementation of suitable entanglement witnesses and stabilizer operators. We close with a broader discussion of the relationships between the entanglement properties of strongly interacting systems of identical quantum particles and the dynamical and statistical correlations entering their wave functions. (shrink)

Neuroscience and education is a developing area which has come in for some serious philosophical scrutiny. One of the biggest and most intractable problems concerns the bridging of the ‘is-ought’ gap between the descriptive claims of neuroscience and the prescriptive aims of education. A distinction needs to be drawn between learning and education. Advances in neuroscience might tell us more about learning as a neural process such as where in the brain particular learnings might take place and how such learnings (...) take place. But from this nothing follows about what we ought to do to improve learning until such time as judgements are made about what is to be learned. Education, as a normative activity about what is worthwhile and what it is to be an educated person, cannot be reduced to learning even though learning is required in order to become educated. Neuroscience has a very limited role in education which amounts to no more than providing some empirical evidence which can be drawn upon to inform normative decisions about the educational worth of learning. (shrink)

On December 22, 1988, Chico Mendes, the leader of the struggle to preserve the Amazonian rainforest, stepped out of the back door of his house and was assassinated. Chico was a seringueiro, a rubber tapper who collects latex from the trees of the forest. He had a vision of the people of the rainforest living in balance with the natural world, supporting their communities through harvesting the natural, renewable forest products in a sustainable manner. It was for this vision that (...) he was murdered by the powerful ranchers of the region, who wish to burn the forests and expand their vast estates. And it is also for this vision that he has become for many throughout the world a hero of the earth, a saint of ecology. (shrink)

Attempts to find an authentically ecological outlook in Marx’s philosophy of nature are ultimately unsuccessful. Although Marx does at times point the way toward a truly ecological dialectic, he does not himself follow that way. Instead, he proposes a problematic of technological liberation and mastery of nature that preserves many of the dualisms of that tradition of domination with which he ostensibly wishes to break.

Postmodernism has established a significant hold in educational thought and some of the most important ideas are to be found in the writings of Michael Peters. This paper examines his postmodern stance and use of Lyotard's account of knowledge, and from a naturalist point of view raises a number of objections centred on science as a metanarrative, the unity of the empirical and the evaluative, and reason, truth and the growth of knowledge. It is concluded that postmodern epistemology, unlike naturalism, (...) does not serve education well. (shrink)

Postmodernism has established a significant hold in educational thought and some of the most important ideas are to be found in the writings of Michael Peters. This paper examines his postmodern stance and use of Lyotard's account of knowledge, and from a naturalist point of view raises a number of objections centred on science as a metanarrative, the unity of the empirical and the evaluative, and reason, truth and the growth of knowledge. It is concluded that postmodern epistemology, unlike naturalism, (...) does not serve education well. (shrink)

A major essay on the basis of individualist thought, with reference to the major influence of Stirner.