The Crisis In Education
"A crisis becomes a disaster only when we respond to it with preformed judgments."
"The disappearance of common-sense in the present day is the surest sign of the present day crisis."
Since the teacher does not need to know his own subject, it not infrequently happens that he is just one hour ahead of his class in knowledge. .... thus the non-authoritarian teacher can no longer exist.
"Anyone who refuses to assume joint responsibility for the world should not have children and must not be allowed to take part in educating them."
The Crisis in Culture
First of all, Arendt argues, it is the artist who acts politically by rebelling against the establishment. Therefore the interest in the political activity of artists which seems to include philosophers. Some of who apparently have held culturally responsible ethics.
"Always act in such a manner that the principle of your action can become a general law." - Kant
"Since i am one (unity) it is better for me to disagree with the whole world than to be in disagreement with myself." - Socrates / Plato
"It is not knowledge and truth that is at stake, but rather judgment and decision." (common sense??)
"It is a matter of taste to prefer Plato's company and the company of his thoughts even if this should lead us astray from truth." - Cicero
"The Romans thought a cultivated person ought to be one who knows how to choose his company among men, among things, among thoughts, in the present as well as the past."
Truth and Politics
"Lies have always been regarded as necessary and justifiable tools not only of the politician's or the demagogue's but also the statesman's trrade."
Factual truth, and the solid reasoning of one man have taken a back seat to "public opinion".
"The long term result of brainwashing is a peculiar kind of cynicism - an absolute refusal to believe in the truth of anything."
The Conquest of Space
No one could doubt that space travel would increase the stature of man. However, taking the Archimedean vantage point to observe and measure the stature of man reduces his actions to mere biology no different than observing rats.
Showing posts with label Arendt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arendt. Show all posts
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Arendt - Between Past and Future - Chapter 2 - 4
Concepts of History, Authority, and Freedom
WHAT IS HISTORY:
Herodotus - "The task of history is to save human deeds from the futility that comes from oblivion."
Modern: patterns can be seen to support any premise AND any meaning that can be found will do.
With Marx (the changing of) history became the means to an end and "making history" became a man-made process as well as a political activity. That is the meaning of history was transformed into an end.
WHAT IS (or was) AUTHORITY:
Models:
shepherd and sheep
helmsman and passengers
physician and patient
master and slave
father and children
Liberalism measures a process of receding freedom and conservatism measures a process of receding authority; both call the expected end-result totalitarianism....
The difference between tyranny (totalitarianism) and authoritarian government has always been that the tyrant rules in accordance with his own will and interest, whereas even the most draconic authoritarian government is bound by laws.
"The law is the despot of the rulers and the rulers are the slaves of the law."
Because the Christian Church had been "politicized", with the separation of Church and State, it lost all its authority.
Plato, Robespierre and Machiavelli agreed - you can not make a table without killing some trees, you can not make an omelet without breaking some eggs, and you can not make a republic without killing some people. When change is desired, tyranny is the quickest and easiest solution.
Chapter ends with the question, "what kind of world came to an end after the modern age not only challenged one or another form of authority in different spheres of life but caused the whole concept of authority to lose its validity altogether?"
WHAT IS FREEDOM:
examples)
Aristotle - doing what a man likes
- Civil Rights
- Free Will
- Freedom from fear
Montesquieu - being able to do what one ought to will
The difficulty may be summed up as the contradiction between our consciousness and conscience.
Inner feeling on it's own remains politically irrelevant.
Freedom and politics are related to each other like two sides of the same matter. However, freedom and sovereignty cannot exist simultaneously. In fact, if men wish to be free, it is precisely sovereignty they must renounce.
To be human and to be free are one and the same.
WHAT IS HISTORY:
Herodotus - "The task of history is to save human deeds from the futility that comes from oblivion."
Modern: patterns can be seen to support any premise AND any meaning that can be found will do.
With Marx (the changing of) history became the means to an end and "making history" became a man-made process as well as a political activity. That is the meaning of history was transformed into an end.
WHAT IS (or was) AUTHORITY:
Models:
shepherd and sheep
helmsman and passengers
physician and patient
master and slave
father and children
Liberalism measures a process of receding freedom and conservatism measures a process of receding authority; both call the expected end-result totalitarianism....
The difference between tyranny (totalitarianism) and authoritarian government has always been that the tyrant rules in accordance with his own will and interest, whereas even the most draconic authoritarian government is bound by laws.
"The law is the despot of the rulers and the rulers are the slaves of the law."
Because the Christian Church had been "politicized", with the separation of Church and State, it lost all its authority.
Plato, Robespierre and Machiavelli agreed - you can not make a table without killing some trees, you can not make an omelet without breaking some eggs, and you can not make a republic without killing some people. When change is desired, tyranny is the quickest and easiest solution.
Chapter ends with the question, "what kind of world came to an end after the modern age not only challenged one or another form of authority in different spheres of life but caused the whole concept of authority to lose its validity altogether?"
WHAT IS FREEDOM:
examples)
Aristotle - doing what a man likes
- Civil Rights
- Free Will
- Freedom from fear
Montesquieu - being able to do what one ought to will
The difficulty may be summed up as the contradiction between our consciousness and conscience.
Inner feeling on it's own remains politically irrelevant.
Freedom and politics are related to each other like two sides of the same matter. However, freedom and sovereignty cannot exist simultaneously. In fact, if men wish to be free, it is precisely sovereignty they must renounce.
To be human and to be free are one and the same.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Arendt - Between Past and Future - Chapter 1
Premise: There has been a gap created between the past and the future, namely the loss of tradition.
Proposition A: Kierkegaard, Marx, and Nietzsche serve as guideposts to a past which has lost its authority.
Proposition B: One of the losses suffered, gained in previous revolutions, is "public happiness" aka "public freedom".
Proposition C: Thinking about the future is now more than simply an exclusive exercise in thought, but a very real political reality affecting and should be concerning everyone.
Concern: Too many people, (most) are blinded or simply don't care that they no longer personally think and exchange ideas but rather wait for ideas to be distilled into values which can be weighed, not personally, but by society as a whole.
Proposition A: Kierkegaard, Marx, and Nietzsche serve as guideposts to a past which has lost its authority.
Proposition B: One of the losses suffered, gained in previous revolutions, is "public happiness" aka "public freedom".
Proposition C: Thinking about the future is now more than simply an exclusive exercise in thought, but a very real political reality affecting and should be concerning everyone.
Concern: Too many people, (most) are blinded or simply don't care that they no longer personally think and exchange ideas but rather wait for ideas to be distilled into values which can be weighed, not personally, but by society as a whole.
