QUOTATIONS ARE CATEGORIZED ACCORDING TO AUTHOR AND ACCORDING TO THEME (quotations theme)
AUTHORS: Jacob Bronowski, Jerome Bruner, Geoffrey and Renate Numella Caine, Fritjof Capra, John Cremin, John Dewey, Jack Forem, Paulo Freire (problem-posing education), Robert Fritz, Erich Fromm, John Gatto, Norman Goble, Paul Goodman, Kevin Harris, Karen Horney, Ivan Illich, William James, Lawrence Kohlberg, Alfred Korzybski, Abraham Maslow, Ron Miller, Maria Montessori, Henry Overstreet, Jean Piaget, David Purpel, Carl Rogers, Rudolph Steiner, Roger Walsh...
Jacob Bronowski. The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination New Haven: Yale University Press 1978
Bronowski, J. Ascent of Man, London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1973.
"Progress is the exploration of error" (Jacob Bronowski The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination. London, New Haven: Yale University Press 1978 112)
"Progress comes only when accepted values are challenged... Dissent is an instrument of intellectual evolution" (Bronowski 60
science... A science necessarily values truth. "Truth is central to science" (Bronowski, 56)
The search for truth requires independence of mind which safeguards originality - the tool with which new discoveries are made. Independence of mind and originality must be allowed expression and thus 'dissent' must be valued. "The high moments of dissent are monuments in our literature: the writings of Milton, the Declaration of Independence, the sermons of John Wesley and the poetry of Shelley. (Bronowski 58
"There cannot be a philosophy, there cannot even be a decent science, without humanity." (Bronowski, Ascent of Man, London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1973. page 5)
"The understanding of nature has as its goal the understanding of human nature, and of the human condition within nature." (Bronowski, Ascent of Man, London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1973. page 5)
"My ambition ...to create a philosophy of nature rather than of science. Its subject is a contemporary version of what used to be called Natural Philosophy." (Bronowski, Ascent of Man, 5)
Role of imagnation in cognition... "The act of imagination is the opening of the system so that it shows new connections. Every act of imagination is the discovery of likenesses between two things which were thought unlike... creative mind ... creative mind and maverick personality often go together. (Jacob Bronowski. The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination London, New Haven: Yale University Press 1978, page 111)
Human ability for tool making... The human organism is the only animal which uses tools with foresight - makes tools for future use. Goodall's observations with chimpanzees: None made a probing stick in preparation for future (to probe the ants nests). Probing sticks were only made once the ants' nest had been found. (Jacob Bronowski. The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination. London, New Haven: Yale University Press 1978. page 33)
Jerome Bruner Process of Education. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1966.
....... The Relevance of Education. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. 1971
"The objective of education is not the production of self-confident fools." (Bruner, Jerome. Process of Education. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1966. 65)
Jerome Bruner questions the scientific nature of a 'pedagogical theory.' "It is even questionable whether it (pedagogical theory) is principally a scientific theory in the explanatory sense." (100) "A theory of instruction is a political theory in the proper sense that it derives from consensus concerning the distribution of power within the society - who shall be educated and to fulfill what roles? In the very same sense, pedagogical theory must surely derive from a conception of economics, for where there is division of labor within the society and an exchange of goods and services for wealth and prestige, then how people are educated and in what number and with what constraints on the use of resources are all relevant issues. The psychologist or educator who formulates pedagogical theory without regard to the political, economic and social setting of the educational process courts triviality and merits being ignored in the community and in the classroom."(1971 Bruner Relevance of Education 100)
"What is most unique about man is that his growth as an individual depends on the history of his species - not upon a history reflected in genes and chromosomes but, rather, reflected in a culture external to man's tissue and wider in scope than is embodied in any one man's competency. Perforce then, the growth of mind is always growth assisted from the outside. And since a culture, particularly an advanced one, transcends the bounds of individual competence, the limits for individual growth are by definition greater than what any single person has previously attained. For the limits of growth depend on how a culture assists the individual to use such individual potential as he may possess." (Jerome Bruner, The Relevance of Education. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. 1971 page 5)
"Is there some sense in which principles of pedagogy can be derived from our knowledge of man as a species - from knowledge of his characteristic growth and dependence, of the properties of his nervous system, of his modes of dealing with culture?" (Jerome Bruner, 1971, Relevance of Education 118)
"It is even questionable whether it (pedagogical theory) is principally a scientific theory in the explanatory sense." (100) "A theory of instruction is a political theory in the proper sense that it derives from consensus concerning the distribution of power within the society - who shall be educated and to fulfill what roles? In the very same sense, pedagogical theory must surely derive from a conception of economics, for where there is division of labor within the society and an exchange of goods and services for wealth and prestige, then how people are educated and in what number and with what constraints on the use of resources are all relevant issues. The psychologist or educator who formulates pedagogical theory without regard to the political, economic and social setting of the educational process courts triviality and merits being ignored in the community and in the classroom."(1971 Relevance of Education 100)
"...educational reform confined only to the schools and not to the society at large is doomed to eventual triviality." (Jerome Bruner. The Relevance of Education. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc. 1971 p. 98)
RENATE NUMMELA CAINE and GEOFFREY CAINE
Caine, Renate Nummela and Caine, Geoffrey Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1991
During the twentieth century, the system of education has been based on a set of assumptions which have obscured the importance of the brain's natural capacities. "With the rise of industrialization and the consequent focus on the economy, schools have had to provide a work force for the hierarchical and mechanical workplace of the factory, of business and of industry. Hierarchical and mechanical school environments have been modeled on the basis of the school's function to provide a work force for the economic infrastructure of the society." (Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine, Making Connections. 20-21.)
"...a new model for educational theory and practice is desperately needed."
"What is needed is a framework for a more complex form of learning that makes it possible for us to organize and make sense of what we already know" about educational theory and methods. (viii) "Such a framework has to have a 'bottom line' integrity; for us that means it must integrate human behaviour and perception, emotions and physiology. To make our point, we borrow heavily from cognitive psychology, education, philosophy, sociology, science and technology, the new physics, and physiological responses to stress, as well as the neurosciences....
Wholistic education is based on a reconceptualization of the 'traditional' teaching methodologies. Wholistic education is based on the acknowlegement of the brain's natural rules for meaningful learning. Known as brain-based learning, wholistic learning uses to full advantage the brain's capacity to make connections. A reconceptualization of teaching for brain-based learning "requires a framework with 'bottom line' integrity.... that means it must integrate human behaviour and perception, emotions and physiology... borrowing heavily from cognitive psychology, education, philosophy, sociology, science and technology, the new physics, and physiological responses to stress, as well as the neurosciences." (Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine, Making Connections p.viii )
The integration of behavior, perception, emotions and physiology is a natural outcome of the integrated functions of the human brain.
"We must not forget that much of what happens in the school is in the context of a larger society in action... one cannot underestimate the impact of the world beyond the school... cannot be underestimated. In terms of immersion and how the brain learns, all of society participates in education. In terms of how the brain learns, we need to think in new, global ways about education generally." (125)
"The research of the neuroscientists and psychobiologists, together with the knowledge and intuition of educators and psychologists, points to the need for a more deliberate involvement of the whole brain in the process of learning." (Caine Making Connections p.7)
BRAIN
"Three major layers or 'brains' were established successively in human evolution. The oldest is the reptilian system or R-complex, the second the limbic system, and the third the neocortex. Each has a separate function but all three layers interact. Each can become dominant depending on the circumstances. The R-complex consists largely of the brain stem. Its function is related to physical survival and body maintenance. It is involved with digestion, reproduction, circulation, breathing, stress responses, territorial instincts, social dominance etc. Behaviors associated with the R-complex are automatic, ritualistic and resistant to change. When threat is perceived, the need for survival and safety needs predominate and the R-complex is activated. The limbic system functions in primal activities related to food and sex, and in activities related to the expression and mediation of emotions and feelings, including emotions linked to the attachment and care of young. Included in the limbic system are the 'amygdala' which functions in the association of events with emotion, and the 'hippocampus' which functions in spatial memory. Protective and loving feelings become increasingly complex when the limbic system interacts with the thinking part of the brain. Five sixths of the brain is the cerebral cortex, neocortex or 'neomammalian brain.' two millimeters in thickness, covers the two cerebral hemispheres. The numerous morphological subdivisions are based on the numerous neurological functions, seat of language, speech, thought and sensory processing. These include motor-control and some associative events. Sensory-receiving areas and motor-control areas are well-defined. Areas involved with associative events are less well-defined. The cortex is considered to be the structural and functional 'interface' between input of environmental stimuli and brain output. The interaction of the three brain layers forms the biological basis for the interaction of concepts, emotions and behaviors which make up the learning process." (Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine, Making Connections, Alexandria, Va. ASCD, 1991, 51-58.)
For reasons unknown, there was rapid brain growth during the last 250,000 years." "Three major layers or 'brains' were established successively in human evolution (Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine, Making Connections, Alexandria, Va. ASCD, 1991, 51-58.)..
The brain's natural function is the search for meaning in experience. 'Brain-based learning' is confluent with the brain's natural rules for meaningful learning. (Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine, Making Connections, (Alexandria, Va.: ASCD, 1991), 79-88.)
"In general the findings in brain research indicate that effective learning results from the wholistic response of the whole brain to incoming stimuli.Wholistic brain-based learning for natural knowledge has meaning for the present and for the future".
"The brain has an immense capacity to learn and remember in the context of the 'here and now' of space and time. The brain naturally learns and remembers the moment-to-moment events that constitute life experience. In order to make sense of new experience, the brain attempts to categorize and pattern new information with the information which is already stored in memory. The brain's mechanism of 'patterning' allows for the rapid processing of complex stimuli. At a very high rate of speed, the brain processes new experiential information in the context of previous patterns. Creating spatial maps and patterns, the brain naturally thrives on complexity. In its attempt to process new information from complex sensory input, the brain automatically recalls previously stored programs and formulates new programs. It formulates 'programs' which provide it with crucial information about the surroundings. Allowing for the instant memory of experiences, new information is rapidly processed in the 'spatial memory system' located in the brain's hippocampus. Necessary for survival, the spatial memory system drives the brain's innate search for meaning and is constantly monitoring and comparing the present with past surroundings and experiences. Learning and memory are most effective when facts and skills are 'embedded' in the natural spatial memory and in the context of real life experiences. New learning experiences are naturally 'embedded' in previous learning experiences. With continued learning and experience, the spatial memory system is enriched over time." (Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine, Making Connections, Alexandria, Va.: ASCD, 1991, 40-42.)
As a product of human evolution through natural selection, the human brain can best be understood as an organ of learning, necessarily adapted for the survival of the species. The aim of brain research is to describe the functioning of the mind and the learning process. The aim of brain research is the search for the neural basis of mental phenomena, which include urges, desires, subconscious forms of learning, emotions and affect as well as conscious thought, imagination and creativity. Brain research is based on the assumption that this is possible once there is sufficient explanation for the specific functions of individual neurons and their connections. Mental events can be explained by patterns of nerve impulses in the brain
Learning is a physiological function of the brain involving the transmission of signals along nerve cells - neurons - and across their junctional connections - synapses. Learning involves the modification of the synapse. Learning occurs as a result of changing the effectiveness of synapses so that their influence on other neurons also changes.
"One of the most important lessons to derive from brain research is that in a very important sense, all learning is experiential. What we learn depends on the global experience, not just on the manner of presentation. We do not automatically learn enough from our experience. What matters is how experience is used. ...in deliberately teaching for the expansion of natural knowledge, we need both to help students have appropriate experiences and to help them capitalize on the experiences." (Caine Making Connections 104)
'Teaching to the brain' is teaching for 'natural knowledge'. Natural knowledge is personal perceptual knowledge which provides meaning to one's world and purpose. Knowledge becomes natural when it is connected with previously acqured knowledge. Meaningful learning is creative learning. Engaging the imagination, creative learning is inherently joyful, challenging and absorbing. It is learning for understanding. Memorization becomes a part of the creative learning process. New information is related to knowledge already acquired. Successful teaching methodologies are those which recognize and encourage the learning process as a natural phenomenon. "Teaching to the brain is teaching with the brain's rules." (Renate Nummela and Tennes M. Rosengren. What's Happening in Students' Brains May Redefine Teaching. Educational Leadership May 1986 )
Fritjof Capra The Turning Point
Thesis of book: the various 'crises' are all different facets of one and the same crisis. This is a crisis of perception. "Like the crisis in physics in the 1920s, it derives from the fact that we are trying to apply the concepts of an outdated world view - the mechanistic world view of Cartesian-Newtonian science - to a reality that can no longer be understood in terms of these concepts."
"The current crisis, is not just a crisis of individuals, governments or social institutions, it is a transition of planetary dimensions....during the phase of rebirth it will be important to make the transition as painless as possible. It will therefore be crucial to go beyond attacking particular social groups or institutions, and to show how their attitudes and behaviour reflect a value system that underlies our whole culture and that has now become outdated. It will be necessary to recognise widely communicate the fact that our current social changes are manifestations of a much broader and inevitable cultural transformation. Only then will we be able to approach the kind of harmonious, peaceful cultural transition described in one of humanity's oldest books of wisdom, the Chinese 'I Ching', or book of Changes: 'After a time of decay comes the turning point. The powerful light that has been banished returns. There is movement, but it is not brought about by force...The movement is natural, arising spontaneously. For this reason the transformation of the old becomes easy. The old is discarded and the new is introduced. Both measures accord with the time; therefore no harm results."
"The Chinese philosophers saw reality, whose ultimate essence they called Tao, as a process of continual flow and change. In their view all phenomena we observe participate in this cosmic process and are thus intrinsically dynamic. The principal characteristic of the Tao is the cyclical nature of its ceaseless motion; all developments in nature-those in the physical world as well as those in the psychological and social realms-show cyclical patterns. The Chinese gave this idea of cyclical patterns a definite structure by introducing the polar opposites 'yin' and 'yang', the two poles that set the limits for the cycles of change: 'The yang, having reached its climax retreats in favor of the yin; the yin having reached its climax retreats in favor of the yang.' In the Chinese view, all manifestations of the Tao are generated by the dynamic interplay of these two archetypal poles, which are associated with many images of opposites taken from nature and from social life. It is important, and very difficult for us Westerners, to understand that these opposites do not belong to different categories but are extreme poles of a single whole. Nothing is only yin or only yang. All natural phenomena are manifestations of a continuous oscillation between the two poles, all transitions taking place gradually and in unbroken progression. The natural order is one of dynamic balance between yin and yang." (Capra 35)
"The polar opposites 'yin' and 'yang' are the extreme poles of a single whole cycle; they are not two separate categories. classical mechanics versus quantum mechanics: In quantum theory individual events do not always have a well defined cause. For example, the jummp of an electron from one atomic orbit to another, or the disintegration of a subatomic particle, may occur spontaneously without any single event causing it. We can never predict when and how such a phenomenon is going to happen; we can only predict its probability. This does not mean that atomic events occur in completely arbitrary fashion; it means only that they are not brought about by local causes. The behavior of any part is determined by its nonlocal connections to the whole, and since we do not know these connections precisely, we have to replace the narrow classical notion of cause and effect by the wider concept of statistical causality. The laws of atomic physics are statistical laws, according to which the probabilities for atomic events are determined by the dynamics of the whole system. Whereas in classical mechanics the properties and behavior of the parts determine those of the whole, the situation is reversed in quantum mechanics; it is the whole that determines the behavior of the parts. " (Capra Turning Point 86)
"Relativity theory has made the cosmic web come alive, so to speak, by revealing its intrinsically dynamic character; by showing that its activity is the very essence of its being. In modern physics the image of the universe as a machine has been transcended by a view of it as one indivisible, dynamic whole whose parts are essentially interrelated and can be understood only as patterns of a cosmic porcess. At the subatomic level the interrelatons and interactions between the parts of the whole are more fundamental than the parts themselves. There is motion but there are, ultimately, no moving objects; there is activity but there are no actors; there are no dancers, there is only the dance." (92)
"One of the most powerful and influential images of the psyche is found in Plato's philosophy. In the Phaedrus the soul is pictured as a charioteer driving two horses, one representing the bodily passions and the other the higher emotions. This metaphor encapsulates the two approaches to consciousness - the biological and the spiritual - which have been pursued, without being reconciled, throughout Western philosophy and science. This conflict generated the 'mind-body problem' that is reflected in many schools of psychology, most notably in the conflict between the psychologies of Freud and Jung. In the seventeenth century, the mind-body problem was cast into the form that shaped the consequent development of Western scientific psychology. According to Descartes, mind and body belonged to two parallel but fundamentally different realms, each of which could be studied without reference to the other. The body was governed by mechanical laws, but the mind - or soul - was free and immortal. The soul was clearly and specifically identified with consciousness and could affect the body by interacting with it through the brain's pineal gland. Human emotions were seen as combinations of six elementary 'passions' and described in a semimechanical way. As far as knowledge and perception were concerned, Descartes believed that knowing was a primary function of human reason, that is, of the soul, which could take place independently of the brain. Clarity of concepts, which played such an important role in Descartes' philosophy and science, could not be derived from the confused performance of the senses but was the result of an innate cognitive disposition. Learning and experience merely provided the occasions for the manifestation of innate ideas." (Cartesian doctrine) (166)
"Hobbes and Locke refuted Descartes' concept of innate ideas and maintained that there was nothing in the mind that was not first in the senses. At birth, the human mind was, in Locke's famous phrase, a 'tabula rasa', a blank tablet upon which ideas were imprinted through sensory perceptions. This notion served as the starting point for the mechanistic theory of knowledge, in which sensations were the basic elements of the mental realm and were combined into more complex structures by the process of association."(167)
"The modern science of psychology was a result of nineteenthcentury developments in anatomy and physiology. Intensive studies of the brain and the nervous system established specific relations between mental functions and brain structures, clarified various functions of the nervous system, and brought detailed knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the sensory organs. As a result of these advances, the ingenious but naive mechanistic models outlined by Descartes were formulated in modern terms, and the Newtonian orientation of psychology became firmly established." (169)
"The world view and value system that lie at the basis of our culture and that have to be carefully reexamined were formulated in their essential outlines in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Between 1500 and 1700 there was a dramatic shift in the way people pictured the world and in their whole way of thinking. The new mentality and the new perception of the cosmos gave our Western civilization the features that are characteristic of the modern era. They became the basis of the paradigm that has dominated our culture for the past three hundred years and is now about to change. Before 1500 the dominant worldview in Europe, as well as in most other civilizations, was organic. People lived in small, cohesive communities and experienced nature in terms of organic relationships, characterized by the interdependence of spirirtual and material phenomena and the subordination of individual needs to those of the community. The scientific framework of this organic world view rested on two authorities - Aristotle and the Church. In the thirteenth century Thomas Aquinas combined Aristotle's comprehensive system of nature with Christian theology and ethics, and in doing so, established the conceptual framework that remained unquestioned throughout the Middle Ages. The medieval outlook changed radically in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The notion of an organic, living and spiritual universe was replaced by that of the world as a machine, and the world machine became the dominant metaphor of the modern era. This development was brought about by revolutionary changes in physics and astronomy, culminating in the achievements of Copernicus, Galileo and Newton. The science of the seventeenth century was based on a new method of inquiry, advocated forcefully by Francis Bacon, which involved the mathematical description of nature and the analytic method of reasoning conceived by the genius of Descartes. Aknowledging the crucial role of science in bringing about these far-reaching changes, historians have called the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Age of the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution began with Nicolas Copernicus, who overthrew the geocentric view of Ptolemy and the Bible that had been acceptex dogma for more than a thousand years. After Copernicus the earth was nolonger the center of the universe but merely one of the many planets circling a minor star at the edge of the galaxy, and man was robbed of his proud position as the central figure of God's creation. Copernicus was fully aware that his view would deeeply offend the religious consciousness of his time; he delayed its publication until 1543, the year of his death, and even then he presented the heliocentric view merely as a hypothesis. Copernicus was followed by Kepler , a scientist and mystic, who searched for the harmony of the spheres and was able through painstaking work, with astronomical tables to formulate his celebrated empirical lawws of planetary motion which gave further support to the Copernican system. But the real change in scientific pinion was brought about by Galileo Galilei, who was alreacdy famous for discovering the laws of falling bodies when he turned his attention to astronomy. ..He discredited the old cosmology beyond any doubt and established then Copernican hypothesis as a valid scientific theory. He was he first to combine scientific experimentation with the use of mathematical language to formulate the laws of nature he discovered, and is therefore considered the father of modern science." (54)
The empirical approach with the use of a mathematical description of nature have remained important criteria of scientific theories up to the present day. The scientist's obsession with measurement and quantification during the past four hundred years has exacted a heavy toll. Experiences of feelings, motives, intentions, consciousness, spirit, values have been ignored. "Since Bacon, the goal of science has been knowledge that can be used to dominate and control nature, and today both science and technology are used predominantly for purposes that are profoundly antiecological."(56)
DESCARTES a brilliant mathematician, usually regarded as the founder of modern philosophy, affected by the new physics and astronomy. "He did not accept any traditional knowledge but set ut to build a whole new system of thought....At age twenty three,he experience an illumnaing vision that was to shape his entire life....in a suddenf lash of intuition he perceived ' the foundations of a marvellous science' which promised the unification of all knowledge....the firm belief in the certainty of scientific knowledge- Cartesian belief in scientific truthTo carry out his plan of building a complete and exact natural science, he developed a new method of reasoning which he presented in his most famous book, ..an introduction to science. Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and Searching the Truth in the Sciences. The crux of Descartes' method is doubts. He doubts everything he can manage to doubtall traditional knowledge, the impressions of his senses, and even the fact that he has a body - until he reaches one thing he cannot doubt, the existence of himself as a thinker. In his celebrated statement, "Cogito, ergo sum," "I think, therefore I exist." From this Descartes deduces that the essence of human nature lies in thought, and that all the things we conceive clearly and distincty are true. The "conception of the pure and attentive mind" he calls 'intuition' and he affirms that "there are no paths to the certain knowledge of truth open to man except evident intuition and necessary deduction.... Descartes' method ('Cartesian method') is analytic. It consists in breaking up thoughts and problems into piecs and in arranging these in their logical order. This analytic method of reasoning is probably Descartes' greatest cntribution to science. ...Overemphasis on the Cartesian method has led to the fragmentation that is characteristic of both our general thinking and our academic disciplines , and to the widespread attitude of reductionism in science - the belief that all aspects of complex phenomena can be understood by reducing them to their constituent parts. (59) ...The Cartesian division between mind and matter has had a profound effect on Western thought. It has taught us to be aware of ourselves as isolated 'egos' existing 'inside' our bodies; it has led us to set a higher value on mental than on manual work; ...Descartes based his whole view of nature on this fundamental divisian between two independent and separate relms ; that of mind or 'res cogitans' the 'thinking thing' and that of matter, res 'extensa', the 'extended thsing'. Both mind and matter were the creations of God ....in subseuent centuriesa scientists omitted any explicit reference to God and developed their theories according to the Cartesian division, the humanities concentrating on the 'res cogitans' and the natural sciences on the 'res extensa.' For Descartes the world was a machine....governed by mathematical laws....the mechanical picture of nature was the paradigm of science in the period following Descartes.(60)
The organic world view of the Middle Ages had implied a vlaue system conducive to ecological behavior. ...The Cartesian view of the universe as a mechanical system provided a 'scientific' sanction for the manipulation and exploitation of nature that has become typical of Western culture. Descartes himself shared Bacon's view that the aim of science was the domination and control of nature..... (61)
Montesqieu wrote "Descartes has taught those who came after him how to discover his own errors."(62)
Descartes created the conceptual framework for seventeenth science but his view of nature as a perfecyt machine remained a vision during his lifetime. ...The man realized the Cartesian dream and completed the Scientific Revolution was Isaac Newton, born in England 1642, the year of Galileo's death. Newton developed a complete mathematical formulation of the mechanisticview of nature, and thus accomplished a synthesis of the works of Copernicus, Kepler, Bacon, Galileo, and Descartes. Newtonian physics, crowning achievment of seventeenth century science, provided a consistent mathematical theory of the world that remained the solid foundation of scientific thought well into the twentieth century.... Kepler had derived empoirical laws of planetary mootion by studying astronomical tables , and Galileo hasd performed ingenious experiments to discover the laws of falling bodies. Newton combined those two, discoveries by formulating the general laws of motion governing all objects in the solar system, from stones to planets. According to legend, the decisive insight occurred to Newton in a sudden flash of inspiration when he saw an apple fall from a tree. He realized that the apple was pulled toward the earth by the same force that pulled the planets toward the sun, and thus found the key to his grand synthesis. (63) ...
Newton presented his theory to the world in great detail in his Mathematicalk Principles of Natural Philosophy. The Principia, as the work is usually called for short after its original Latin title, comprises a comprehensive system of definitions, propositions, and proofs which scientists regarded as the correct description of nature for more than two hundred years (64)....
Before Newton there had been two opposing trends in seventeenth century science; the empirical inductive method represented by Bsaacon and the rational, deductive method represented by Descartes. Newton in his Principia, introduced the proper mixture of both methods, emphasizing that neither experiments without systematic interpretation nor deduction from first principles without experiemental evidence will lead to a reliable theory. Going beyond Bacon in his systematic experimentation and beyond Descartes inhis mathematical analysis, Newton unified the two trends and developed the methodology upon which natural science has been based ever since. ...The stage of the Newtonian universe , on which all physical phenomena took place, was the threedimensional space of classical Euclidean geometry. All changes in the physical world were described in terms of a separate dimension, time,which again was absolute having no connection with the material world and flowing smoothly from the past through the present to the future. Thge elements of the Newtonian world which moved in this absolute space and absolute time were material particles....The Newtonian model of matter was atomistic...all the particles were thought to be made of the same material substance. ..The motion of the particles was caused by the force of gravity which acted instantaneously over a distance....both the particles and the force of gravity created by God...(65)
.The physical phenomena themselves were not thought to be divine in any sense, and when science made it more and more dificult to believe in such a god, the divine disappeared completly from the scientific worldview, leaving behind the spiritual vacuum that has become characteristic of the mainstream of our culture. (66)
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries used Newtonian mechanics with tremendous success. ...The picture of the world as a perfect machine, which had been introduced by Descartes, was now considered a proved fact and Newton became its symbol. (67).. Applying Newtonian mechanics to the sciences of human nature and human society, "Locke developed an atomistic view of spociety, describing it in terms of its basic building block, the human being. ...he attempopted to reduce the patterns observed in society to the behavior of its individuals. (69) ...
Locke's analysis of human behavior was based on that of an earlier philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, who had declared that all knowledge was based on sensory perception. ...Locke compared the human mind at birth to a 'tabula rasa', a completely blank tablet on which knowledge is printed once it is acquired through sensory experience.... According to Locke, 'natural laws ' were those which existed before any government was formed.Naurla laws included the freedom and equality of all individuals as well as the right to property, which represented the fruit of one's labor. Locke's ideas became the basis for the value system of the Enlightenment and had a strong influence on the develoment of modern economic and political thought. The ideals of individualism, property rights, free markets, and representative government, all of which can be traced back to Locke, contributed significantly to the thinking of Thomas Jefferson and are reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.(69)
At the end of the nineteenth century Newtonian mechanics had lost its role as the fundamental theory of natural phenomena. Maxwell's electrodynamics and Darwin's theory of evolution involved concepts that clearly went beyond the Newtonian model and indicated that the universe was far more complex than Descartes and Newton had imagined. Nevertheless, the basic ideas underlying Newtonian physics, though sufficient to explain all natural phenomena, were still believed to be correct. The first three decades of our century changed this situation radically. Two developments in physics, culminating in relativity theory and in quantum theory, shattered all the principal concepts of the Cartesian worldview and Newtonian mechanics. (74)
In physics the mechanistic paradigm had to be abandoned at the level of the very small (in atomic and subatomic physics) and the level of the very large (in astrophysics and cosmology).(101)
Educational crisis represents a 'paradigm shift' "The current crisis, is not just a crisis of individuals, governments or social institutions, it is a transition of planetary dimensions... during the phase of rebirth it will be important to make the transition as painless as possible. It will therefore be crucial to go beyond attacking particular social groups or iinstitutions, and to show how their attitudes and behaviour reflect a value system that underlies our whole culture and that has now become outdated. It will be necessary to recognise and widely communicate the fact that our current social changes are manifestations of a much broader and inevitable cultural transformation. Only then will we be able to approach the kind of harmonious, peaceful cultural transition described in one of humanity's oldest books of wisdom, the Chinese 'I Ching', or Book of Changes: "After a time of decay comes the turning point. The powerful light that has been banished returns. There is movement, but it is not brought about by force...The movement is natural, arising spontaneously. For this reason the transformation of the old becomes easy. The old is discarded and the new is introduced. Both measures accord with the time; therefore no harm results."
holistic science: "The Chinese philosophers saw reality, whose ultimate essence they called Tao, as a process of continual flow and change. In their view all phenomena we observe participate in this cosmic process and are thus intrinsically dynamic. The principal characteristic of the Tao is the cyclical nature of its ceaseless motion; all developments in nature-those in the physical world as well as those in the psychological and social realms-show cyclical patterns. The Chinese gave this idea of cyclical patterns a definite structure by introducing the polar opposites 'yin' and 'yang', the two poles that set the limits for the cycles of change: 'The yang, having reached its climax retreats in favor of the yin; the yin having reached its climax retreats in favor of the yang.' In the Chinese view, all manifestations of the Tao are generated by the dynamic interplay of these two archetypal poles, which are associated with many images of opposites taken from nature and from social life. It is important, and very difficult for us Westerners, to understand that these opposites do not belong to different categories but are extreme poles of a single whole. Nothing is only yin or only yang. All natural phenomena are manifestations of a continuous oscillation between the two poles, all transitions taking place gradually and in unbroken progression. The natural order is one of dynamic balance between yin and yang." (Capra 35) The polar opposites 'yin' and 'yang' are the extreme poles of a single whole cycle; they are not two separate categories.
"Relativity theory has made the cosmic web come alive, so to speak, by revealing its intrinsically dynamic character; by showing that its activity is the very essence of its being. In modern physics the image of the universe as a machine has been transcended by a view of it as one indivisible, dynamic whole whose parts are essentially interrelated and can be understood only as patterns of a cosmic porcess. At the subatomic level the interrelatons and interactions between the parts of the whole are more fundamental than the parts themselves. There is motion but there are, ultimately, no moving objects; there is activity but there are no actors; there are no dancers, there is only the dance." (92)
quantum theory "In quantum theory individual events do not always have a well defined cause. For example, the jummp of an electron from one atomic orbit to another, or the disintegration of a subatomic particle, may occur spontaneously without any single event causing it. We can never predict when and how such a phenomenon is going to happen; we can only predict its probability. This does not mean that atomic events occur in completely arbitrary fashion; it means only that they are not brought about by local causes. The behavior of any part is determined by its nonlocal connections to the whole, and since we do not know these connections precisely, we have to replace the narrow classical notion of cause and effect by the wider concept of statistical causality. The laws of atomic physics are statistical laws, according to which the probabilities for atomic events are determined by the dynamics of the whole system. Whereas in classical mechanics the properties and behavior of the parts determine those of the whole, the situation is reversed in quantum mechanics; it is the whole that determines the behavior of the parts. " ( 86)
John Dewey. Logic: The Theory of Inquiry. New York, London: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1938.
.... How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1933.
...... Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education New York: The Free Press 1966
Fairhope experiment, the Organic School discussed by John Dewey in "Schools of Tomorrow", NY l915 "The development of fundamental sincerity is the basis of all morality." (Marietta Johnson "Thirty years with an idea" Fairhope experiment, the Organic School discussed by John Dewey in "Schools of Tomorrow", NY l915 page l20)
"Preparation for possible action in situations not as yet existent in actuality is an essential condition of, and factor in, all intelligent behavior."(John Dewey. Logic: The Theory of Inquiry. New York, London: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1938. page 56)
reflective thinking makes for intelligent action. In the development of the human species, intelligent action - intentional acts - based on reflective thinking was of survival value. He made observations of certain facts which on reflection were perceived as signs of probable future events for which he could prepare. To plant seeds, to cultivate the soil, to harvest grain are intentional acts which were only possible after relective thinking. With intentional acts the individual controls the environment. Reflective thinking is possible when things have meaning based on experience. Reflective thinking require open mind - free from prejudice and other habits which make it unwilling to consider new problems and entertain new ideas." (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Refelective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1933. page 30)
"The crucial problem for the educator...is to utilize for intellectual purposes the organic curiosity of physical exploration and lingusitic interrogation". (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Refelective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company 1933. 39).
Curiosity as natural disposition "Every living creature, while it is awake, is in constant interaction with its surroundings. It is engaged in a process of give and take - of doing something to objects around it and receiving back something from them - impressions, stimuli. This process of interacting constitutes the framework of experience." (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Refelective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company 1933 page 36)
"Curiosity is the basic factor in enlargement of experience and therefore a prime ingredient in the germs that are to be developed into reflective thinking." (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Refelective Thinking to the Educative Process Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1933 page 37)
"The crucial problem for the educator...is to utilize for intellectual purposes the organic curiosity of physical exploration and lingusitic interrogation. (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Refelective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company 1933. 39).
"Curiosity on the intellectual plane is wonder." (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Refelective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1933 page 52)
"Arrested curiosity stays on the plane of interest in local gossip and prying inquisitiveness into other peoples' business. (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Refelective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company , 1933 40)
What is required is a thorough interest -'wholehearted interest'. "When a person is absorbed, the subject caccies him on. Questions occur to him spontaneously; a flood of suggestions pour in on him; further inquiries and readings are indicated and followed... The interest provides the impetus for thinking. Intellectual 'responsibility' requires the search for meaning. This comes naturally with wholehearted interest. Thoroughness depends on intellectual responsibility. Moral integrity comes naturally with wholehearted interest and willingness to explore new experiences. " (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1933 page 31)
Morality as a function of intelligence "A moral situation is one in which judgement and choice are required antecedently to overt action. The practical meaning of the situation - that is to say the action needed to satisfy it - is not self-evident. It has to be searched for. There are conflicting desires and alternative apparent goods. What is needed is to find the right course of action, the right good. Hence inquiry is exacted...This inquiry is intelligence." (Dewey The Quest for Certainty. page 255)
"We never educate directly, but indirectly by means of the environment. Whether we permit chance environments to do the work, or whether we design environments for the purpose makes a great deal of difference. And any environment is a chance environment so far as its educative influence is concerned unless it has been deliberately regulated with reference to its educative effect." ... much of what happens in the school is in the context of a larger society in action... one cannot underestimate the impact of the world beyond the school... In terms of how the brain learns, think globally about education...
"The act of imagination is the opening of the system so that it shows new connections. Every act of imagination is the discovery of likenesses between two things which were thought unlike... creative mind ... reflective thinking makes for intelligent action. In the development of the human species, intelligent action - intentional acts - based on reflective thinking was of survival value. He made observations of certain facts which on reflection were perceived as signs of probable future events for which he could prepare. To plant seeds, to cultivate the soil, to harvest grain are intentional acts which were only possible after relective thinking. With intentional acts the individual controls the environment. Reflective thinking is possible when things have meaning based on experience. Reflective thinking require open mind - free from prejudice anmd other habits which "make it unwilling to consider new problems and entertain new ideas." (John Dewey. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Refelective Thinking to the Educative Process. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1933. page 30)
"Where can relevant education be found?"
In "The Science of Being and the Art of Living" Maharishi Mahesh Yogi defines the purpose of education: "The purpose of education is to culture the mind of a man so that he can accomplish all his aims in life. Education, to justify itself, should enable a man to use the full potential of his body, mind and spirit. It should also develop in him the ability to make the best use of his personality, surroundings and circumstances so that he may accomplish the maximum in life for himself and for others. The purpose of education would be met if the schools provided educational methods of self-development by which the individual can "gain complete possession of of all his powers." Broadly speakly, education has two goals which are mutually dependent: cultivation and development of the individual and the improvement of society. But it is individuals who make up the society. Therefore the society improves with the improvement of the individuals who make it up. As Plato said, the individual is the heart of society. (See Robert Hutchins "Conflict in Education in a Democratic Society." New York: Harper, l953) John Dewey said, "...only by being true to the full growth of individuals who make it up, can by any chance society be true to itself." (John Dewey. My Pedagogic Creed cited in Wade Baskin, ed., Classics in Education, New York: Philosophical Library, l966 pp. l86 and l89)
.. The aim of education is not the formation of independent functions or processes. "It is not so important which facts one teaches the student, because very often these facts are obsolete by the time they can be used. It is more important to help him to develop his potentialities so that he can rely on his own ability to cope with the unexpected and to solve whatever new problems crop up. He must be helped to feel independent in his own world."
Kohlberg on Dewey "The cognitive-developmental approach was fully stated for the first time by John Dewey. The approach is called 'cognitive' because it recognizes that moral education, like intellectual education, has its basis in stimulating the active thinking of the child about moral issues and decisions. It is called 'developmental' because it sees the aims of moral education as movement through moral stages." (Lawrence Kohlberg "The Cognitive Developmental Approach to Moral Education" chapter 12 in Moral Education: It Comes With the Territory (Ed) David Purpel and Kevin Ryan, Berkeley,CA: McCutchen Publishing Co. 1976, 176) According to Dewey, ("What Psychology Can Do for the Tearcher" John Dewey on Education: Selected Writings, edited by Reginald Archambault. New York: Random House 1964)
"The aim of education is growth and development, both intellectual and moral. Ethical and psychological principles can aid the school in the greatest of all constructions - the building of a free and powerful character. Only knowledge of the order and connection of the stages in psychological development can insure this. Education is the work of supplying the conditions which will enable the psychological functions to mature in the freeest and fullest manner."
Dewey postulated three levels of moral development: 1. the 'premoral' or 'preconventional' level of 'behavior motivated by biological and social impulses with results for morals' 2. the 'conventional' level of behavior 'in which the individual accepts with little critical reflection the standards of his group' and 3. the 'autonomous' level of behavior in which 'conduct is guided by the individual thinking and judging for himself whether a purpose is good and does not accept the standard of his group without reflection'. Dewey's thinking about moral stages was theoretical."(Lawrence Kohlberg "The Cognitive Developmental Approach to Moral Education" chapter 12 in Moral Education: It Comes With the Territory (Ed) David Purpel and Kevin Ryan, Berkeley,CA: McCutchen Publishing Co. 1976, page 177)
Paulo Freire The Politics of Education South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985
..... Education as Practice of Liberation
A Pedagogy for Liberation: Dialogues on Transforming Education with Ira Shor and Paulo Freire, Bergin and Garvey Publishers, South Hasdley, Mass l987)
..... Education for Critical Consciousness. New York: Seabury Press. 1973
...... Education, Liberation and the Church
.... . Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Herder and Herder, 1971 (original Portuguese manuscript 1968, translated by Myra Bergman Ramos)
"It was while in exile that I realized I was truly interested in learning. What I learned in exile is what I would recommend to all readers of this book: each day be open to the world, be ready to think; each day be ready not to accept what is said just because it is said, be predisposed to reread what is read; each day investigate, question, and doubt. I think it most necessary to doubt." (Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed 181)
"The new sociology of education emerged in full strength in England and the United States in the early 1970s as a critical response to what can loosely be called the discourse of traditional educational theory and practice. The central question through which it developed its criticism of traditional schooling as well as its own theoretical discourse was typically Freirian: how does one make education meaningful in a way that makes it critical and hopefully, emancipatory?".
Freire's politics and pedagogy as a vision of liberated humanity: "Central to Freire's politics and pedagogy is a philosophical vision of a liberated humanity. By combining the dynamics of critique and collective struggle with a philosophy of hope, Freire has created a language of possibility that is rooted in what he calls a permament prophetic vision." (Henry Giroux in Paulo Freire The Politics of Education South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985 xvii)y.
'Pedagogy of the oppressed' as a humanistic pedagogy: a life-affirming humanizing pedagogy; a pedagogy of the practice of freedom, which "denies that man is abstract, isolated, independent, and unattached to the world; it denies that the world exists as a reality apart from men."
Pedagogy of the oppressed: brain based 'problem-posing' education; practice of freedom; liberating and humanizing education; mediated by 'dialogical theory of action' - action based on authentic dialogue, thought and action are consistent.
Central to humanistic pedagogy is a philosophical vision of a liberated humanity...
"Left critics provided theoretical arguments and enormous amounts of empirical evidence to suggest that schools were in fact, agencies of social, economic, and cultural reproduction. At best public schooling offered limited individual mobility to members of the working class and other oppressed groups, and in the final analysis they were powerful instruments for the reproduction of capitalist relations of production and the legitimating ideologies of everyday life." (Paulo Freire The Politics of Education South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985 xv)
Education as expression of power and politics:
"Freire understands that power as a form of domination is not simply something imposed by the state through agencies such as the police, the army and the courts. Domination is also expressed by the way in which power, technology, and ideology come together to produce forms of knowledge, social relations, and other concrete cultural forms that function to actively silence people. But the subtelty of domination is not exhausted by simply referring to those cultural forms that bear down on the oppressed daily; it is also to be found in the way in which the oppressed internalize and thus participate in their own oppression.... domination is subjectively experienced through its internalization and sedimentation in the very needs of the personality." (Henry Giroux p.xix)
Freire attempts to examine the psychically repressive aspects of domination and hence, the possible internal obstacles to self-knowledge and thus to forms of social and self-emancipation. (Henry Giroux p.xx)
Oppressors oppress, exploit, and rape by virtue of their power. They cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves. Only power that springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free both. In an attempt to 'soften' their power with a paternalistic false 'generosity', the oppressors perpetuate the injustice which creates the oppressed. True generosity is fighting to destroy the causes of injustice. This fight is an act of love. In the process of liberating the oppressors, the oppressed liberate themselves."
"In a class society, the power elite necessarily determine what education will be, and therefore its objectives. The objectives will certainly not be opposed to their interests. As we have already said, it would be supremely naive to imagine that the elite would in any way promote or accept an education which stimulated the oppressed to discover the raison d'etre of the social structure. The most that could be expected is that the elite might permit talk of such education, and occasional experiments which could be immediately suppressed should the status quo be threatened." (Freire, P. Education, Liberation and the Church. Study Encounter SE/38,9,I, 1973 World Council of Churches p.8)
"As a referent for change, education represents both a place within and a particular type of engagement with the dominant society. For Freire, education includes and moves beyond the notion of schooling. Schools represent only one important site where education takes place, where men and women both produce and are the product of specific social and pedagogical relations. Education represents, in Freire's view, both a struggle for meaning and a struggle over power relations. Education is that terrain where power and politics are given a fundamental expression, since it is where meaning, desire, language and values engage and respond to the deeper beliefs about the very nature of what it means to be human, to dream, and to name and struggle for a particular future and way of life. As a referent for change, education represents a form of action that emerges from a joining of the languages of critique and possibility. It represents the need for a passionate commitment by educators to make the political more pedagogical, that is, to make critical reflection and action a fundamental part of a social project that not only engages forms of oppression but also develops a deep and abiding faith in the struggle to humanize life itself. It is the particular nature of this social project that gives Freire's work its theoretical distinction." (Paulo Freire The Politics of Education South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985 Introduction Henry Giroux xiv)
There is a powerful relationship between power and knowledge. "People hold on to their domination in part because the oppressed do not have the critical intellectual skills to overcome the powerful continued forces of acculturation which lead the weak to internalize the ideology of the strong." (Freire 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed,. Trans. Myra Bergman Ramos, New York: Herder and Herder. 124)
Banking education as 'practice of domination' produces mechanistic frame of mind: education as expression of power and politics power as a form of domination: mythification of reality Ignorance and illiteracy are necessary ingredients of poverty, hunger, misery and oppression.
Banking education is education as the "practice of domination." (Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 69)
"Education in cultural action for domination is reduced to a situation in which the educator as 'the one who knows' transfers existing knowledge to the learner as 'the one who does not know.'" (Paulo Freire. The Politics of Education. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985 114)
Banking education "anesthetizes and inhibits creative power." It "attempts to maintain the submersion of consciousness." (Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. page 68)
"In the 'banking' concept of education, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing." (Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. page 58)
"The 'banking' concept of education mirrors the oppressiveness of society as a whole". (59) Banking education mythisizes reality and therefore fosters irrational thinking which creates further mythisizing.".(Pedagogy of the Oppressed 15)
Student-teacher contradiction is maintained. Students accept a passive role - they are the 'oppressed.' Their creative power is annulled." Serving the interest of oppression, the banking concept of education is based on a mechanistic and static view of consciousness. In attempting to control thinking and action, it inhibits creative thinking and transforms the student into a receiving object who is capable of adjusting to the reality created by the oppressors. Banking education "mythologizes reality." It "attempts to conceal certain facts which explain the way men exist in the world."(71)
The practices of 'banking' education: "the teacher teaches and the students are taught; the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing; the teacher thinks and the students are thought about; the teacher talks and the students meekly listen; the teacher disciplines and the students are desciplined; the teacher chooses and enforces his choice and the students comply; the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the teacher,; the teacher chooses the program content, and without being consulted, the students adapt to it; the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his own professional authority, which he sets in opposition to the freedom of his students; the teacher is the Subject of the learning process and the students are the objects." (59)
With banking education, the students accept the passive role imposed on them and adapt to the fragmented view of reality which is presented to them. (60)
Banking education "anesthetizes and inhibits creative power." It "attempts to maintain the submersion of consciousness." (68)
"Implicit in the banking concept of education is the assumption of a dichotomy between man and the world: man is merely in the world, not with the world or with others; man is spectator, not re-creator." (62)
The 'educated man' is the 'adapted' man, adapted to the world created by the oppressors; adapted without questioning it. The teacher of banking education fears communication with the student. And yet it is only through communiction that human life can have meaning (63)
The banking approach to education teaches the individual to accept without questioning. It prevents the individual from thinking. In the interests of the oppressors, banking education is the exercise of domination which stimulates the credulity of students. Often not perceived by educators , the ideological intent is to indoctrinate students to adapt to the world of oppression (65) This explains the almost instinctive reaction against educational 'experiments' which would stimulate the student's critical faculties and encourage a critical consideration of reality. By mythologizing, the banking method of education reinforces the individual's fatalistic perception of reality. He becomes resigned to his situation and perceives it as unalterable.
The practices of 'banking' education: "In the 'banking' concept of education, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing." (58)
'Student-teacher contradiction' is maintained. "The teacher presents himself to the students as their necessary opposite; by considering their ignorance absolute, he justifies his own existence. The students ... accept their ignorance as justifying the teacher's existence and never discover that they educate the teacher." (Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. page 58)
"Implicit in the banking concept of education is the assumption of a dichotomy between man and the world... man is merely in the world, not with the world or with others; man is spectator, not re-creator." (Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 62)
The 'educated man' is the adapted man - adapted to the world created by the oppressors; adapted without questioning it.
Students accept the passive role imposed on them and adapt to the fragmented view of reality which is presented to them. (Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. page 60) .. They accept a passive role - they are the 'oppressed.' Their creative power is annulled... the teacher teaches and the students are taught; the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing; the teacher thinks and the students are thought about; the teacher talks and the students meekly listen; the teacher disciplines and the students are desciplined; the teacher chooses and enforces his choice and the students comply; the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the teacher,; the teacher chooses the program content, and without being consulted, the students adapt to it; the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his own professional authority, which he sets in opposition to the freedom of his students; the teacher is the Subject of the learning process and the students are the objects." (Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 59)
"Generally speaking, the good student is not one who is restless or intractable, or one who reveals one's doubts or wants to know the reason behind facts, or one who breaks with preestablished models, or one who denounces a mediocre bureaucracy, or one who refuses to be an object. To the contrary, the so-called good student is one who repeats, who renounces critical thinking, who adjusts to models, and who 'thinks it pretty to be a rhinoceros'" (Paulo Freire The Politics of Education 117)
"The teacher of banking education fears communication with the student. And yet it is only through communiction (dialogue) that human life can have meaning" (Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 63)
Serving the interest of oppression, the banking concept of education is based on a mechanistic and static view of consciousness. In attempting to control thinking and action, it inhibits creative thinking and transforms the student into a receiving object who is capable of adjusting to the reality created by the oppressors. Banking education "mythologizes reality." It "attempts to conceal certain facts which explain the way men exist in the world." (Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 71)
The mechanistic frame of mind "sees" a dichotomy between consciouness and reality, subjectivity and objectivity, practice and theory. "It was while in exile that I realized I was truly interested in learning. What I learned in exile is what I would recommend to all readers of this book: each day be open to the world, be ready to think; each day be ready not to accept what is said just because it is said, be predisposed to reread what is read; each day investigate, question, and doubt. I think it most necessary to doubt."(181)
"The individualistic, bourgeois concept of existence cannot grasp the true social and historical basis of human existence. It is of the essence of humanity that men and women create their own existence in a creative act that is always social and historical even while having its specific, personal dimensions." (Paulo Freire The Politics of Education 129)
"Our advanced technological society is rapidly making objects of us and subtly programming us into conformity of the logic of its system." (Richard Shaull Foreward Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed 14)
Dehumanisation: " ... a distortion of being more fully human.""the result of an unjust order that engenders violence in the oppressors, which in turn dehumanizes the oppressed."(28)
Dehumanized because they dehumanize others, the oppressors cannot lead the struggle for freedom. The oppressed must first 'critically' recognize the causes for injustice and create a new situation to remove the causes for their oppression. Central problem: "how can the oppressed participate in developing the pedagogy of their liberation?" (Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed 33) They must first make the "critical discovery that both they and their oppressors are manifestations of dehumanization." The contradiction of the 'oppressor-oppressed' is superceded by the concept of the humanization of both oppressor and oppressed.
"The great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed is to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well."
" Freedom is "the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion." (Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed (31)
Propaganda as mythification of Reality
"Since they are unable to eliminate the human capacity to think, (the dominant classes) obscure the real world by a conditioned and specious reasoning about people and the world in general. This mystification of reality consists of making the world appear different from what it is, and in the process and by necessity, of imparting an artificial consciousness. In fact, it would be impossible to falsify the real world, as the real world of consciouness, without falsifying the consciousness of the real world. One does not exist without the other." Paulo Freire The Politics of Education South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985 (115)
"The mythical element... makes the critical application of peoples' thinking difficult by affording people the illusion that they think correctly. Propaganda establishes itself as an efficient instrument for legitimizing this illusion, and through it the dominant classes not only proclaim the 'excellent quality' of the social order but also impugn any expression of indignation toward the social order as 'subversive' and dangerous to the common welfare.' Thus, mystification leads to the 'sacredness' of the social order, untouchable and undisscusable. Any who questions the social order must be punished one way or another and they are labeled by similar means of propaganda as 'bad citizens in the service of the international demon.'" (Paulo Freire The Politics of Education South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985 116)
Declining motivation is at the heart of the educational crisis: "The problem of motivation is at the heart of the teaching crisis now in the States which has brought out a grand parade of official reports in the past three years" 5) (See Paulo Freire, The Politics of Education, Bergin and Garvey, South Hadley, Mass l985 chapter l3, pages l67-l73)
"The dominant curriculum treats motivation as outside the action of study. Tests, discipline, punishment, rewards, the promise of future jobs etc. are considerable motivating devices as alienated from the act of learning now... The carrot and stick approach to education - 'first learn the skills then you can get the education and then you can get the job'. Students do not cooperate because they are not encouraged to experience motivation while learning." (A Pedagogy for Liberation: Dialogues on Transforming Education with Ira Shor and Paulo Freire)
Students do not cooperate because they are not encouraged to experience motivation while learning.
"There is no such thing as a neutral educational process. Education functions either as an instrument which is used to facilitate the integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes the 'practice of freedom,' the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world. The development of an educational methodology that facilitates this process will inevitably lead to tension and conflict within our society. But it could also contribute to the formation of a new man and mark the beginning of a new era in Western history. (Richard Schaull in the introduction: Paulo Freire, 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed 15)
Libertarian education and problem-posing methods of teaching:
"The educator who makes a humanistic choice must correctly perceive the relationship between consciousness and world, and man and world."(Paulo Freire The Politics of Education South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985 115)
Methodology (of problem-posing education) is thematic investigation. Have the individual analyse significant dimensions of his contextual reality. This makes it possible for him to recognize the interactions between the various components of that reality and consequently to perceive them as different dimensions of that total reality. With the critical analysis of a situation, it is perceived as problematic and challenging, creating new depth .
'Libertarian' concept of education: education begins with the reconciliation of the student-teacher contradiction. (59) Freire's conviction: "every human being is capable of looking critically at this world in a dialogical encounter with others. Provided with the proper tools for such encounter, he can gradually perceive his personal and social reality as well as the contradictions in it, become conscious of his own perception of that reality, and deal critically with it. In this process, the old, paternalistic teacher-student relationship is overcome."(13) The 'word' takes on new power. Each person takes back the right to 'name the world,' gaining a new self-awareness and sense of hope, regaining human dignity.
Love as moral courage... creative dialogue Not sentimental, love is an act of courage, an act of freedom, an act of humility, an act of dialogue-(dialogical) requiring an intense faith in man -"faith in his vocation to be more fully human" Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Herder and Herder, 1971 79)
"The essence of dialogue is the 'word'... Two dimensions of the word are 'reflection' and 'action.' Without refelection, the word becomes 'activism. Without action, the word becomes 'verbalism.' Dichotomizing the word makes it false and results in inauthentic forms of thought and inauthentic forms of existence. Dialogue is an act of creation; "the united reflection and action of the dialoguers - in mutual trust- are addressed to the world which is to be transformed and humanized... Dialogue cannot exist in the absence of a profound love for the world and for people. (Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressederder and Herder, 1971 original Portuguese manuscript 1968, translated by Myra Bergman Ramos pp. 75-77)
Mutual trust is required for creative dialogue. Words which do not coincide with actions are false words and do not generate trust. Paulo Freire The Politics of Education South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985
"It is farcical to glorify 'democracy' and silence the people. Hope is required for creative dialogue and the stuggle for liberation from an unjust order. Creative dialogue depends on critical thinking and generates critical thinking. It requires and perception of reality as process and transformation and generates that objective perception. It requires solidarity between men and the world and fosters that solidarity."
Freedom and authority conflict in situations of either licence or authoritarianism. "The dialogical theory of action opposes both authoritarianism and license, and thereby affirms authority and freedom. There is no freedom without authority, but there is also no authority without freedom. All freedom contains the possibility that under special circumstances (and at different existential levels) it may become authority. Freedom and authority cannot be isolated, but must be considered in relationship to each other." (Paulo Pedagogy of the Oppressed 179)
"Education which is able to resolve the contradiction between teacher and student takes place in a situation in which both address their act of cognition to the object by which they are mediated... (dialogue)" (81)
"Without dialogue, there is no communication, and without communication there can be no true education." (Paulo Pedagogy of the Oppressed 81)
"Dialogue is indispensable to the act of cogniton which unveils reality."
Authentic thinking about reality only takes place in communication - 'action on the world.'(64) Authentic thinking is not possible without communication.
"Critical perception obliterates the simplistic dualism that establishes a nonexistent dichotomy between consciousness and the world." (Paulo Freire 115
Authentic liberation is humanisation.(66) 'Authentic reflection' considers "men in their relations with the world. In this relation consciousness and world are simultaneous." Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed 69) ( Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed 69)
Freedom as the pursuit of the right to be human: The pursuit of the right to be human is the pursuit of freedom. The process of humanisation is the process of achieving freedom. The liberation of the oppressed depends on their perception of reality as a limiting situation which they can transform. By liberating themselves, they liberate their oppressors. Oppressive acts prevent the individual's sel -faffirmation and right to be human.
Problem-posing education is 'liberating education': its function in the demythification of reality
"Problem-posing education de-mythisizes reality, transforming reality by unveiling its 'true' nature and thereby fostering rational thinking." Problem-posing education strives to demythologize.
"Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferrals of information. It is a learning situation in which the cognizable object (far from being the end of the cognitive act) intermediates the cognitive actors- teacher on the one hand and students on the other. Accordingly, the practice of problem-posing education entails at the outset that the teacher- student contradiction be resolved." (67):
"Problem-posing education does not and cannot serve the interests of the oppressor. No oppressive order could permit the oppressed to begin to question: why? Leaders must be revolutionary - that is to say, dialogical - from the outset." (Pedagogy 110)
Problem-posing education "strives for the emergence of consciousness and 'critical intervention' in reality. As the practice of freedom, it only works when the teacher student contradiction is resolved through dialogue - dialogical relations. Mediated by the world, students and teachers teach each other. They all grow in the joint responsibility for the learning process. The 'problem-posing method' eliminates the teacher-student dichotomy. The teacher does not regard the 'cognizable' material as his private property. He "presents the material to the students for their consideration, and re-considers his earlier considerations as the students express their own." (68) The students become critical 'co-investigators in dialog ue with the teacher.' "The role of the problem-solving educator is to create, together with the students, the conditions under which knowledge at the level of the 'doxa' is superseded by true knowledge, at the level of the 'logos.' Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed 68) "Students, as they are increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves in the world and with the world, will feel increasingly challenged and obliged to respond to that challenge. Because they apprehend the challenge as interrelated to other problems within a total context, not as a theoretical question, the resulting comprehenion tends to be increasingly critical and thus constantly less alienated. Their response to the challenge evokes new challenges, followed by new understandings; and gradually the students come to regard themselves as committed."(Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed 68-69)
It is natural education based on the brain's natural functioning. Critical faculties are developed. Students are made into critical thinkers. The individual learns to perceive critically his own mode of existence in the world in which he finds himself. His survival depends on his actions which depend on his decision making faculties based on accurate and objective perception of reality of his surroundings and his world. Perceiving reality with critical objectivism, he sees the world as a reality in process, in 'transformation.' His actions are based on his perception of the reality of his world. He seees his situation, not as fated but as limiting and therefore challenging. He can reflect on his situation critically and objectively and then act on his objective perception of a reality in process. He can make decisions on the basis of this objective perception and move and work to change his situation and transform his world. "Without dichtomizing relection of the world from their action in the world, students and teachers "establish an authentic form of thought and action." (Paulo Freire 71)
"Problem-posing education bases itself on creativity and stimulates true reflection and action upon reality, thereby responding to the vocation of men as beings who are authentic only when engaged in inquiry and creative transformation." (71) Man's historical vocation is to become more fully human. Banking education inhibits creativity, isolating consciousness from the world, denying the individual the ontological and historical vocation of becooming fully human."(71) "The unfinished character of men and the transformational character of reality necessitate that education be an ongoing activity."(72) "To study is not to consume ideas, but to create and re-create them." (4)
Conscientization: The word 'conscientization' originates in the word 'consciousness.'
"Through their own efforts people can remake the natural path where consciousness emerges as the capacity for self-perception." Paulo Freire The Politics of Education South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc. 1985 (115)
"Comprehension of the process of conscientization and its practice is directly linked to one's understanding of consciousness in its relations with the world." Conscientization involves a dialectic between objectivity and subjectivity, reality and consciousness, practice and theory." (168)
Deepening the individual's consciousness about his situation (conscientization), the problem-posing method presents the situation as one with limitations - as a problem which he is challenged to solve. The process of inquiry is stimulated. Preventing the individual from inquiring is preventing him from bedoming fully human, reducing him to an object and therefore is dehumanizing. It is an act of violence because it alienates the individual from his own brain-based function to think critically in order to make the decisions necessary for his own survival. Man's historical vocation is humanization. Becoming fully human is dependent on critical thought, inquiry and dialogue with his world. Humanization and dialogue requires the mediation of fellow human beings and therefore fellowship and solidarity with other human beings. The concept of 'individualism' does not mean 'in isolation' from one's fellow human beings. 'Individualism' does not mean having more and dehumanizing others - the meaning which the term has acquired in capitalist countries. Solidarity and dialogue are required for humanization. Problem-posing education , humanist and liberating - the individual must fight for freedom. It requires the elimination of teacher authoritarianism and alienating 'intellectualism.' It depends on the dialogue- dialogical relations- and is considered 'revolutionary' because the 'oppressed' individual (student of banking education) is not permitted by the oppreessor to ask "why?".
Responsibility of the educator... to foster individuality in the cultural context:
"If we are to accept our commitments seriously, educators have a special concern for helping us to be liberated from the various conditions that oppress us, particularly those of ignorance and illiteracy. There is a powerful relationship between power and knowledge. "People hold on to their domination in part because the oppressed do not have the critical intellectual skills to overcome the powerful continued forces of acculturation which lead the weak to internalize the ideology of the strong." "The educator - teacher and 'technical expert', is responsible for the state of the culture." The responsibility of educators is to empower all students, not just the few."(Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 124)
The criticism that liberating education has to offer emphatically is not the criticism which ends at the system of education. On the contrary, the criticism in the liberatory class goes beyond the system of education and becomes a criticism of society. Undoubtedly the Progressive Movement (also known as the New School Movement or the Modern School Movement) brought many good contibutions to the education process, but generally the criticism stayed at the level of the school and did not extend to the larger society... one characteristic of a serious position in liberating education is to stimulate criticism that goes beyond the walls of the school- in the last analysis, by criticizing traditional schools, what we have to critize is the capitalist system that shaped these schools... in a traditional educational system, those in power in the society shape the education in the schools. (Paulo Freire: ?35)
('Holistic perception' of reality required for congruence of thought and action necessary for survival in a changing environment. To have a rational and critical perception of one's reality means that one can perceive the various parts as constituent elements of a whole. Wholistic perception of reality means having a total vision of the context of the constituent fragments and thereby gaining a clearer perception of the reality in its totality).
ERICH FROMM
Fromm, Erich. Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics. Holt, Rhinehart, Winston New York l947
..... The Heart of Man
....... Preface to Sumerhill by A.S. Neill
...... Escape from Freedom New York: Rinehart, l94l
Science of ethics: human development and human values... virtue
"A scientific inquiry should be characterized by a faith in the truth of a rational vision; faith in the hypothesis as a likely and plausible proposition; faith in the final theory ...This faith is rooted in one's own experience, in the confidence in one's power of thought, observation and judgement...rational faith is rooted in an independent conviction based upon one's own productive observing and thinking." (Fromm, Man For Himself 205)
A 'science of ethics' and a 'science of education' are both concerned with the full development of the individual's powers and potentialities in the process of becoming fully human. They both depend on the knowledge of human nature as a basis for determining what constitutes man's 'true' self-interest. In order to achieve his full human potential as a human being, the individual is instinctively aware of his own basic biological and biologically based psychological needs. They must be satisfied in order for him to achieve his full humaness, his potential as a 'whole' human being. Consequently a 'science of ethics' and a ''science of education' both depend on the knowledge of human development for the knowlege of the real needs of the developing human being. Both depend on the 'science of man' (science of human nature) as a basis for determining what constitutes man's natural and real self-interest - "his natural interest in his real self, who wants happiness, not in terms of material success but in terms of an ethical and productive life." "A person's natural responsibility to his own biological and psychological existence and self-actualization constitutes the ethical value called 'virtue'."
The aim of ethics is virtue and the aim of education is productiveness. An educational system which encourages spontaneous productiveness simultaneously encourages virtue. In the social manifestation of a rational value system, man's social and political activities and institutions create conditions to foster the development of productiveness. Their only purpose and end is man's 'real' interest - man for himself.
The foundation of a science of ethics is the science of man. The concept of a 'science of ethics' rests upon the premise that there is a 'human nature' which is characteristic of the human species. The science of man involves an inquiry of human nature. The 'science of man' is a theoretical construction inferrred from observations of people's reactions to various individual and social conditions. The formulation of valid ethical norms by reason is based on the knowledge of human nature... inherent qualities of human nature which are manifest in the mature and integrated personality... result of mature growth or 'self-actualisation'... the 'productive' character. The productive character values the affirmation of the true human self... respect for the dignity of human existence, the moral norms of humanistic ethics.
"The drive to live is inherent in every organism.... the choice between life and death is more apparent than real; man's real choice is that between a good life and a bad life".
Human evolution "Human evolution is rooted in man's adaptability and in certain indestructible qualities of his nature which compel him never to cease his search for conditions better adjusted to his instrinsic needs." (Man For Himself 23)
"The emergence of man can be defined as occurring at the point in the process of evolution where instinctive adaptation has reached its minimum. But he emerges with new qualities which differentiate him from the animal: his awareness of himself as a separate entity, his ability to remembrer the past, to visualize the future, and to denote objects and acts by symbols; his reason to conceive and understand the world; and his imagination through which he reaches far beyond the range of his senses. Man is the most helpless of all animals, but this very biological weakness is the basis for his strength, the prime cause for the development of his specifically human qualities." (Man For Himself 39)
The integration of behavior, perception, emotions and physiology is a natural outcome of the integrated functions of the human brain. A theoretical framework for wholistic education is based on the biological knowledge of the human organism and the functioning of the human brain.
Rooted in the very existence of man are contradictions to, which he can react in various ways, the existential dichotomies inherent in the human situation. Each human being is unique in that he has his own way of solving his human problems, his own temperament and character. The combination of these inherited and acquired psychic qualities constitutes the personality. A person's character structure " represents a particular form in which energy is canalized in the process of living." (56)
"In Spencer's Ethics we find one of the most comprehensive and systematic discussions of the pleasure principle, which we can use as an excellent starting point for further discussion. The key to Spencer's view of the pleasure-pain principle is the concept of evolution. He proposes that pleasure and pain have the biological function of stimulating man to act according to what is beneficial to him individually, as well as to the human race; they are therefore indispensable factors in the evolutionary process." (Fromm Man for Himself, Holt, Rhinehart, Winston New York l947 p. l77)
Spencer points up the parallel between the biological function of pleasure and the social evolution of man and proposes that "remoulding of human nature into fitness for the requirements of social life must eventualy make all needful activities pleasurable, while it makes displeasurable activities at variance with these requirements." (Principles of Ethics 153) Also, "the pleasure attending the use of means to achieve an end, itself becomes an end." (Fromm Man For Himself 159) "Pains are the correletaives of actions injurious to the organism, while pleasures are correletives of actions conducive to its welfare." "Individuals or species are from day to day kept alive by the pursuit of the agreable and the avoidance of the disagreeable" ( The Principles of Ethics, New York , Appleton Co. 1902 vol.1 p.79, 82
The unity of the human race an be envisioned for the first time in history, but people are bewildered by the moral confusion of an irrational value system. As the result of a capitalist economic system, ethical norms are formulated on the premise that man is powerless and insignificant. People are influenced by the power of political leaders and become easy prey to the demands of a technological society. Without faith in the human capacity for dignity and courage, they are persuaded to make value judgements on the basis of material success.
Education and freedom The aim of education is the full development of human nature - human potential and human values. "Education is identical with helping the child realize his potentialities...The root of the word 'education' is 'e-ducare', literally to 'lead forth' or bring out something which is potentially present. Education in this sense results in existence, which means literally to stand out, to have emerged from the state of potentiality into that of manifest reality... The opposite of education is manipulation, which is based on the absence of faith in the growth of potentialities and on the conviction that a child will be right only if the adults put him into what is desirable and cut off what seems to be undesirable. There is no need of faith in the robot since there is no life in it either." (Man For Himself page 207)
"During the eighteenth century, the ideas of freedom, democracy and self-determination were proclaimed by progressive thinkers; and by the first half of the 1900s these ideas came to fruition in the field of education. The basic principles of such selfdetermination was the replacement of authoriity by freedom to teach the child without the use of force, by appealing to his curiosity and spontaneous needs, and thus to get him interested in the world around him. This attitude marked the beginning of progressive education and was an important step in human development." (Erich Fromm Preface to Sumerhill)
The achievement of maturity and of self-realization is the outcome of the productive use of the individual's inherent primary potentialities. The resultant productive orientation is the basis for freedom, for virtue and for happiness. "Virtue is proportional to the degree of productiveness achieved." (229)
Education for happiness and virtue: The fundamental aspect of an individual's education is his inner development. The inner state of consciousness is translated into the outer structure and expression of life. This has been stated by many great thinkers throughout human history (Buddha 'your thoughts make the world'). In dealing with problems of society and education, the tendency is to deal with outer structures and forms. But the structures and forms are created by individuals and depend on their levels of consciousness. Thus a more intelligent approach would be to deal with the implementation of methods which would enable individuals to improve themselves through their own inner development, the basis for their success and happiness. Education should provide the individual with a foundation for successfully living in the world. There is a need for depth education - education of the 'whole' individual. Specialization of knowledge must be accompanied by full human development. Albert Einstein said that "the school should always have as its aim that the young man leave it as a harmonious personality, not as a specialist. The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgment should always be placed foremost." (Albert Einstein. "Out of my Later Years" New York: Philosophical Library, l960) ( Fromm 59)
As virtue is the same as spontaneous productiveness, an educational system which encourages natural productiveness simultaneously encourages virtue. "The freedom to realize that which one potentially is, to fulfill the true nature of man according to the laws of his existence" is the necessary condition for happiness and virtue. (247)
The moral problem of man and society today: making people virtuous. The conditions must be created which foster the development of productiveness. The first and foremost of these conditions is that the unfolding and growth of every person is the aim of all social and political activities, that man is the only purpose and end, and not a means for anybody or anything except himself." (229)
"Positive freedom ...is identical with the full realization of the individual's potentialities, together with his ability to live actively and spontaneously." (Man For Himself 270) Maharishi writes "As long as the mind does not function with its full potential and is not in position to use all the faculties it has, its freedom is restricted. Therefore the first important step in making the mind really free is the full unfoldment of its potentialites." ('The Science of Being and Art of Living' 234-235 cited by Fromm Man For himself page 270)
Man can become free by being himself (Man For Himself 257) In this context 'freedom' means self-realization. "The realization of the self is accomplished not only by an act of thinking, but also by the realization of man's total personality, by the active expression of his emotional and intellectual potentialities. These potentialities are present in everybody; they become real only to the extent which they are expressed. In other words, positive freedom consists in the spontaneous activity of the total, integrated personality."(Man For Himself 258)
"The ideas of freedom and democracy deteriorate into nothing but irrational faith once they are not based upon the productive experience of each individual but are presented to him by parties and states which force him to believe in these ideas" (Fromm Man For Himself 210)
"'Freedom' is one of the most frequently used words in our time and should be defined. There are two kinds of freedom corresponding to the inner and outer aspects of life. Outer freedom is freedom of action, political or social freedom. Inner freedom is freedom of the mind, freedom from the bondage of ignorance of human nature and its potentialities. Ignorance breeds fear, suspicion, hatred, and confusion. As a result the individual lives in the prison of his own limitations, restricted understanding, emotions and activities."
American culture:
"In American culture the emphasis is on freedom of the outer aspect of life, freedom of choice and action. The individual is not allowed the inner freedom to act from conviction and internal harmony. '
"A study of the correlation between character orientation and social structure is very important to a science of ethics. As well as explaining some of the causes for the formation of character, the study of a specific character orientation which is common to most members of the culture, tells us which powerful emotional forces are instrumental in molding the social character and the functioning of the society.
"The whole personality of the average individual is determined by the way people relate to each other and it is determined by the socioeconomic and political structure of society to such an extent that principle, one can infer from the analysis of one individual the totality of the social structure in which he lives." (Man For Himself 79)
The marketing orientation of character: the individual experiences himself both as "the seller and as the commodity to be sold on the market, his self-esteem depending on conditions beyond his control. If he is 'successful' he is valuable; if he is not 'successful' he is worthless. The degree of insecurity which results from this orientation can hardly be overestimated. If one feels that one's own value is not constituted primarily by the human values one possesses, but by one's success on a competitive market with ever-changing conditions, one's selfesteem, is bound to be shaky and is in constant need of confirmation by others. Hence one is driven to strive relentlessly for success, and any setback is a severe threat to one's self-esteem ; helplessness, insecurity, and inferiority feelings are the result. If the vicissitudes of the market are the judges of one's value, the sense of dignity and pride is destroyed."(Fromm, Erich. "Man for Himself: an Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics." Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, New York, l947. page 72)
With its roots in orthodox Protestantism, the American 'scientific' worldview placed severe limtions on human experience and the human potential, in spite of the more optimistic view of human nature. "Puritan ethics, with the emphasis on work and success as evidence of goodness, supported the feeling of security and tended to give life meaning and a religious sense of fulfillment." (Fromm, Man For Himself, 81)
"In spite of all the emphasis put upon man's happiness, individuality and self-interest, capitalistic theories of modern society have taught people that the aim of life is the successful fulfillment of his duty to work. Money, prestige and power are made the incentives to this end. Under the illusion that their actions benefit their self-interest, they act against the interests of the real self. Making everything important except life and the art of living, such a society causes man to be for everything except himself. This is contrary to the basic instinct of self-preservation."
Individual in capitalist culture: "The relationship between society and the individual is not to be understood simply in the sense that cultural patterns and social institutions 'influence' the individual. The interaction goes much deeper; the whole personality of the average individal is molded by the way people relate to each other, and it is determined by the socioecoomic and political structure of society to such an extent, that in principle, one can infer from the analysis of one individual the totality of the social structure in which he lives." (Fromm Man For Himself, 78)
Conditioning influences of the culture are conflicting. When there is a lack of wholeness in the conditioning influences, the individual cannot grow into a psychologically whole, mature human being. With conflicts inherent in the culture, the individual is a divided ...a compartmentalized self, trying to harmonize the various 'selves' of his experience - the domestic self, the business self, the religious self, the political self etc. with doubts, fears and inner tensions... which become manifest in mental illness, violence, crime, alcoholism, drug addiction, racism etc. divided self has difficulty maturing into a psychologically whole human being.... building sound linkages of responsibility with the world... It is difficult for a child to grow to maturity in a culture in which "the natural hazards of life are vastly multiplied by the confusions of the culture and in which he faces an abnormal temptation to remain dependent and irresponsible."
People are made to believe that it is in their interest to work for money, prestige, and power. They become unaware of the fact that it is in their 'real' self-interest to live in harmony with themselves and their fellow human beings. As a result of the demands of the system, ethical norms are formulated on the premise that man is powerless and insignificant. People are persuaded to make value judgements on the basis of material success rather than faith in human dignity and courage. Bewildered by the moral confusion of this irrational value system, they become easy prey to its demands and are influenced by the enthusiasm of political leaders.
The individual does not know what he wants, what he thinks or what he feels. He is not free according to his own will, acting from inner harmony and conviction. In order to function in the society, he must give up his identity, conform to anonymous authorities and adopt successful roles. The more he escapes from his inner freedom to act according to his will, the more powerless he feels and the more meaningless his life seems to be. "If life loses its meaning because it is not lived, man becomes desperate." (Fromm Man For Himself 255-256)
Work is measured in terms of tangible results and productivity.. In the capitalistic consumer society of American culture, the task-oriented perception of the environment results in limited imagination and incomplete cognition.
"The relative atrophy of the generative capacity is very frequent in our culture. A person may be able to recognize things as they are (or as his culture maintains them to be) but he is unable to enliven his perception from within. Such a person is the perfect 'realist' who sees all there is to be seen of the surface features of phenomena but who is quite incapable of penetrating below the surface to the essential and of visualizing what is not yet apparent. He sees the details but not the whole, the trees but not the forest. Reality to him is only the sum total of what has already materialized. This person is not lacking in imagination, but his is a calculating imagination, combining factors all of which are known and in existence, and inferring their future operation." (Fromm Man For Himself 89)
The intrinsic human values are not valued in a society which measures the individual in terms of material 'success.
"Confusion of values makes for a sense of personal bewilderment and helplessness; the average individual gets what happiness he can out of doing what everybody else does. To 'survive', the individual has to accept the cultural norms. Adult immaturity is an accepted cultural norm. The philosphical tradition of intellectual and social liberalism requires that the individual grows up into full psychological maturity. The traditions of political and religious authoritarianism (dogma of man as a child of sin) do not require the individual's psychological maturity and in fact depend on the individual's psychological immaturity. The inherent cultural confusion comes from the competition of the two conflicting philosophies: rational liberalism and antirational materialsm. "Authoritative religion might want man to remain a child in his obedience and dependence, while nineteenth century antirationalism might want him to remain a child in egocentric aggrandizement; but in an emergency the two would accurately feel that they had more in common than either with a philosophy that asked man to put his childhood behind him and to achieve the spiritual independence of maturity." (Fromm Man For Himself. p.142)
Comprehension of the world through love and reason: "Man comprehends the world, mentally and emotionally, through love and through reason (Fromm Man For Himself 97)
Love is affirmation not possession of another person. Love is granting the other person the full right to his own humanhood. "The love of a person implies not the possession of that person but the affirmation of that person. It means granting him gladly the full right to his unique humanhood. One does not truly love a person and yet seek to enslave him - by law or by bonds of dependence and possessiveness."
'Love' and 'Reason' are two inseparable forms for comprehending the world. Love is a power of emotion. Reason is a power of cognition. The powers of emotion and cognition are expressed in different ways. The power of love combined with the power of reason results in undertanding. Love with knowledge and respect is productive love. Love without knowledge and respect degenerates into possessiveness and domination. 'Reason' is a human faculty for understanding reality. It leads to the comprehension of all conceivable perspectives and dimensions. With intense interest in reality, the human organism is affected and stimulated emotionally as well as intellectually. Perception is objective. The object is perceived simultaneously in its uniqueness and totality. (Fromm Man for Himself 97)
Although the expression of the two different powers of emotion and thinking, 'love' and reason are two inseparable forms for comprehending the world. 'Love' meaning 'productive love,' is inseparable from 'labor' meaning 'to cultivate' or 'make something grow.' 'Love' in this sense is unconditional and cannot be divorced from care and 'responsibility' meaning 'readiness to respond.' To love productively means to care and feel responsible for another's growth and human development. Productive love is inseparable from labor and reason.
"An emotion resulting from the natural mutual interdependence of human beings, love represents human solidarity which is a necessary condition for the unfolding of each individual's human powers and humaness. Love without 'respect'and knowledge can degenerate into domination and possessiveness. 'Reason' as a human faculty for understanding reality is the comprehension of all conceivable perspectives and dimensions, and not only those which are of practical relevance. Intensely interested in a subject, an individual is affected emotionally and intellectually stimulated. With respect, he perceives the subject objectively in its uniqueness and totality, and is motivated to think about it productively."
"To love is an expression of one's power to love, and to love someone is the actualization and concentration of this power with regard to one person." (Fromm Man for Himself129)
"Whenever we experience a genuine love, we are moved by this transforming experience toward a capactity for good will. Or we might put the matter inversely: if what we call love in relation to one person or to a few people creates in us no capacity for good will toward many, then we may doubt that we have actually experienced love. In all likelihood, what we have experienced is some form of immature will to make security for ouselves in a dangerous world by clinging to the role of dependent." (Fromm)
To love productively is to relate to a person's human core ... to relate to the person as representing humankind. (Fromm Man for Himself 101).
Need for rational faith in oneself. "The drive to live is inherent in every organism....the choice between life and death is more apparent than real; man's real choice is that between a good life and a bad life." (Fromm, Erich. Man for Himself p.18)
Without faith in the persistence of our self, our feeling of identity is threatened and we become dependent on other people whose approval then becomes the basis for our feeling of identity with ourselves. Only the person who can be faithful to himself can be faithful to others. We must have faith in the potentialities of others, of ourselves, of mankind. There are potentialities which can fail to develop. The child has innate potentialities to love, be happy, use his reason and other talents. The inherent potentialities are like seeds. They grow and manifest themselves only if they are given the proper conditions for development. They can be stifled if they are not given the proper conditions for their development. Education is characterized by faith in human potential. Manipulation results from the lack of faith in human potential. There is no prouder statement man can make than to say 'I shall act according to my conscience.'" (Fromm Man For Himself 140)
Self-actualisation and development of conscience: The human conscience is a natural expression of a biologically based interest in the properly integrated functioning of the whole personality. The human conscience is the guardian of man's true self-interest and integrity.
"Humanistic conscience is based on the knowledge of man's nature. The great tradition of humanistic ethical thought is based on a wholistic perspective of man in his 'physico-spiritual totality'. It is based on the belief that man's aim is to be himself, and that the condition for attaining this goal is that man be for himself. It is based on the premise that one has to know the nature of man in order to formulate valid ethical codes. Based on the validity of man's autonomy, valid ethical norms are formed by man's reason." (Fromm Man For Himself 7)
Intensely interested in a subject, an individual is affected emotionally and intellectually stimulated. With respect he perceives the subject objectively in its uniqueness and totality, and is motivated to think about it productively. Known as self-realization or self-actualization, human fulfillment as ethical and productive living is the result of natural process of psychological human development and the development of the human 'conscience' meaning knowledge within oneself (from, Latin 'conscientia') As a reaction of the whole person to its functioning, the human conscience has a strong influence on the affective (emotional) as well as intellectiual (reason) components of the peronality. "Actions, thoughts, and feelings which are conducive to the integration of our whole personality produce a feeling of inner approval, of 'rightness' characteristic of the 'good conscience'. On the other hands, acts, thoughts, and feelings injurious to our total personality produce a feeling of uneasiness and discomfort, characteristic of the 'guilty conscience.' "Conscience is thus a reaction of ourselves to ourselves. It is the voice of our true selves. which summons us back to ouselves, to live productively, to become what we potentially are. It is the guardian of our integrity...of our love for ourselves." (159)
Neurotic development or 'neurosis' as moral failure... 'evil'
Man's value judgements - his criteria for good and evil- are derived from the meaningfulness of his own existence. Man finds fulfillment and happiness through love - the power by which he relates to the world through his fellow man."Living' as an art : the process of developiong into that which one is potentially. "Humanistic ethics is the applied science of the 'art of living' based upon the theoretical 'science of man'. (Fromm Man For Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics. page 18)
"If life's tendency to grow, to be lived, is thwarted, the energy thus blocked undergoes a process of change and is transformed into life-destructive energy. Destructiveness is the outcome of unlived life. Those individual and social conditions which make for the blocking of life-furtheriing energy produce destructiveness which in turn is the source from which the various manifestations of evil spring." (Fromm Man For Himself 216)
Incomplete psychological development means incomplete development of the human conscience."The problem of psychic health and neurosis is inseparably linked up with that of ethics. It may be said that every neurosis represents a moral problem. The failure to achieve maturity and integration of the whole personality is a moral failure." (Fromm Man For Himself 24)
"In spite of the great difference between the Roman paterfamilias, whose family was his property, and the modern father, the feeling that children are brought into the world to satisfy the parents and compensate them for the disappointments of their own lives is still widespread." (Fromm Man For Himself 153)
The child depends completely on the care and love of the adult. Under intense emotional pressure, "the child acquires a sense of distinguishing between good and bad before he learns the difference by reasoning. His value judgements are formed as a result of the friendly or unfriendly reactions of the significant people in his life... The fear of disapproval and the need for a