Suggests an account of rationality that opposes modern hegemonic discourse without succumbing to relativism, tracing hostility toward rationality to the advent of modernity, discussing the relevance of reason to new educational ideals, formulating a philosophical account of reason (relying on Habermas' mediating approach to past foundational…

Argues that peace education is actually part of the reality it attempts to change, noting problems in distinguishing between peace and violence, and arguing that justifications common in discussions of peace education serve certain acts of violence, and peace education is itself a manifestation of such violence. The paper examines possibilities…

Examines Nietzsche's rejection of mass education, arguing that it was based on his desire for education to be more self- reformulative than he thought possible, and concluding that education in schools is beneficial because it can foster radical forms of selfhood. This process can begin by listening to Nietzsche's philosophy while ignoring his…

The power/knowledge crisis for universities today is that they are no longer the primary producers, determiners, transmitters, and authorizers of valued knowledge. This paper reviews five texts that examine this crisis, discussing postmodernist tensions at work, the pedagogical relations of academics to their students, criticism in the postmodern…

Reviews three books as potential philosophy of education textbooks: "Philosophical Documents in Education" (Ronald F. Reed, Ed. and Tony W. Johnson, Ed.); "Key Concepts in the Philosophy of Education" (Christopher Winch and John Gingell); and "Educational Philosophy: A History from the Ancient World to Modern America" (Edward J.Power). The paper…

Argues that an essential aspect of Arendt's work resides in its form, noting that Arendt developed a crucial model for those who struggle with the gap between practice and the extreme simplicity of the systems of thought that attempt to capture it. The essay explores what Arendt called personas that she wore in her writings (storyteller, theorist,…

Uses Nancy Fraser's theory to provide a rationale for charter schooling, introducing the social justice and democratic possibilities inherent in some charter school proposals. The article argues that Fraser's notion of multiple public spheres, combined with her strategies of economic redistribution and cultural recognition, provide a compelling…

This essay focuses on what happens to the individual's attitude toward community when events that pass into the category of uncanny become seemingly commonplace and are experienced as direct assaults on the logic of community and cooperation. It refers to Nietzsche's views on the negative, and Dewey's views on the positive doctrine of motivation.…

Suggests that Habermas' theory of communication fails as a framework for ordinary understanding of communication in teaching, outlining Habermas' theory, indicating several puzzlements in its pedagogical significance, contending that it runs counter to how people usually speak of communication, analyzing the ordinary concept of communication, and…

Uses Barbara Thayer-Bacon's work, "Transforming Critical Thinking," to consider pragmatism's different stances, redescribing critical thinking and discussing what ironists have to say about critical thinking. The article concludes that what enables the different stances are a set of academic protocols that define what is and what is not academic…

Contends that the teacher's place is extremely personal, with mutable boundaries not given to verbal description. This autobiographical article employs metaphorical reverberations to cope with practice and impediments to verbal formulation, discussing: the act of teaching, knowledge construction as a surprising event, doubt (between epistemology…

Focusing on John Searle's publication, "Rediscovering the Mind," in which he argues that the information processing view of the mind is seriously flawed, this article clarifies three issues: the relationship between conceptions of mind, knowledge, and education; some questionable assumptions related to the information processing view of mind; and…

Uses a 1994 lawsuit on behalf of a student being sexually harassed by a classmate, to examine discourse on sexual harassment, suggesting that language is constitutive of sexual norms; discussing prevailing notions of gender, sexuality, and power in schools; and contending that the predominant framework for conceptualizing sexism gives legal…

Discusses the link between the appropriate basis for social rewards and the appropriate basis for allocating grades in school, considering objections to such a link, identifying a conception of egalitarianism, looking at an important requisite for the emergence of a more egalitarian society, and highlighting a variety of grading policies…

This paper examines the underlying genres of philosophy focusing especially on their pedagogical forms to emphasize the materiality and historicity of genres, texts and writing. It focuses briefly on the history of the essay and its relation to the journal within the wider history of scientific communication, and comments on the standardized forms…