The meaning of education; contributions to a philosophy of education

Front matter

Class ^ ~i

Book.

CopyiightN?

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

There are two ways of presenting a reasoned view of the principles and practise of education. One way is to treat the whole field of educational theory and practise in highly systematic and logical form. The other and less formal way is to present the underlying principles of an educational philosophy, and then to apply these principles to various practical educational and social problems which have present interest and importance. It is this second way that has been followed in the present instance. The foundations of an educational philosophy are first suggested, and then in different ways and from various points of view application of this philosophy is made to a number of questions which constantly arise in the life of the individual, of the school, and of the community.

An empirical education is futile. The only education that can serve the state and enrich the life of the individual and the family is one which rests upon a reasoned and tested foundation of principle, and which proceeds toward a

INTRODUCTION

Fundamental assumptions

Distinction between education and instruction clearly defined and well-understood aim. A sound education rests upon a sound philosophy.

The convictions and opinions on the subject of education that are brought together in this volume are the result of many years of reflection, experience, and observation. Time has only served to strengthen the belief that they are sound and capable of reasonable defense and explanation.

The belief that controls these convictions and opinions is threefold: First, that education, in the broad sense in which the term is here used, is the most important of human interests, since it deals with the preservation of the culture and efficiency that we have inherited and with their extension and development; second, that this human interest can and should be studied in a scientific spirit and by a scientific method; and, third, that in a democracy at least an education is a failure that does not relate itself to the duties and opportunities of citizenship, with all that that term implies.

Education is sharply distinguished, therefore, from the far narrower field of instruction, as that in turn is broader than the field of school life. To give to education its rightful place in our thinking involves relating it to the

INTRODUCTION 5

laws of life in general, and especially to those The doctrine laws as viewed from the standpoint of the doc- of infancy trine of evolution. This I have aimed to do by proposing an extension of the commonly received doctrine of infancy, which though as old as early Greek philosophy, 1 owes its definite statement and exemplification to Mr. John Fiske. 2 In this way the theory of education is given what it has hitherto lacked, a distinct relationship to the facts of organic and social evolution.

A standard must next be sought by which Will as the the value of educational processes and influ- ton ^j^ ences may be judged. I find this standard in life of mind the conclusion, common, I am confident, to the best philosophy and to the soundest science alike, that the facts of nature must be explained, in the last resort, in terms of energy, and that energy in turn can be conceived only in terms of will, which is the fundamental form of the life of mind or spirit.

These two conclusions are offered as the basis for an educational philosophy. With them in mind a number of concrete problems that are of present importance not to teachers alone,

1 Butler, "Anaximander on the Prolongation of Infancy in Man," in Classical Studies in Honor of Henry Drisler (New York, Columbia University Press, 1894).

2 See The Meaning of Infancy (Boston, 1909).

education as a science

6 INTRODUCTION

but to thoughtful parents and to conscientious citizens, are discussed in detail, study of It is sometimes hastily objected that the at-

tempt to formulate a scientific study of education is impossible. This objection rests upon a misunderstanding as to what a science is. Science is wholly a matter of method; it is knowledge classified, and nothing more. The knowledge so classified may be knowledge of plants, or of heavenly bodies, or of the human body, or of forms of government, or of education, or of anything else in the known world of relations and related objects. Only the sciences based upon mathematics are exact or lay claim to exactness; all others are descriptive only, and wider experience or further observation may modify their conclusions at any time. A science of education is analogous to a science of medicine. Both are built upon a group of ancillary sciences, and both arrive at conclusions that are only working hypotheses. With normal children, as with normal patients, these hypotheses, based as they are upon wide experience, require little or no modification; in abnormal cases, however, they must be modified or sometimes even abandoned. Neither medicine nor education makes any pretense to exactness.

INTRODUCTION 7

It is highly important for the study of education that a consistent nomenclature be adopted and used, though for a variety of reasons this is a difficult task to accomplish. Bearing in mind this need, I have endeavored to mark ofF different types or grades of educational institutions from each other, and to give to each its appropriate name. Many American educational problems that appear very complex would become much simpler if the various institutions giving systematic instruction were always called each by its right name.

The serious student of education must, as Education has already been indicated, be a serious stu- p^g^y ^dent of philosophy as well. In America, philosophy has been for some time past in a par- J lous state. A generation arose that knew not I philosophy, but that was very desirous of continuing to use the name. In various forms and with varying degrees of vigor, philosophy has been repudiated in quasi-philosophical language. The intellectual sincerity of the expounders of what is called Pragmatism has diverted attention from the fact that Pragmatism is not a philosophy at all, but rather a denial that philosophy can exist. With the title of the New Realism, a group of younger writers and teachers has thought it worth while to repeat

INTRODUCTION

Human

personality

and

educational

theory with no little ingenuity, and to endeavor to perpetuate, some of the oldest and most thoroughly exposed of philosophical errors. Both these movements are revivals of that dogmatism in philosophy which it was hoped had been put to rest forever by the criticism of Kant. Whenever a philosophical writer or teacher attempts to build up a system of philosophy without a foundation which rests upon a critical analysis of the process of knowing — what the Germans call Erkenntnisstheorie — it may be assumed at once that he is not contributing to philosophy, but rather attacking it with the weapons of dogmatism. Similarly, all undertakings that have for their purpose the application of scientific method to philosophy are themselves proof that the gulf which separates science and philosophy is neither understood nor measured. 1 To speak of extending scientific method to philosophy is just as little intelligible as it would be to speak of extending the metric system to political theory.

The dignity and worth of human personality lie at the basis of all constructive theories of education, as they lie at the basis of all constructive theories of social and political organi-

1 See Butler, Philosophy (Columbia University Press, 191 1), pp. 12-24.

INTRODUCTION 9

zation and action. The development, the protection, and the enrichment of human personalities are alike the purpose of education and of those larger relationships and interdependences which constitute the state.

In a very real sense, formal education may be described as the process by which the present uses the lessons and the experience of the past to aid in meeting the needs and solving the problems of the immediate future. Education is by its very nature forward-facing. It aims to prepare human beings for life. The measure of its success will always be the understanding which it has of the terms, human being and life.

Nicholas Murray Butler

Columbia University, New York, November 25, 191 5