Volter Kaufman i budućnost humanističkih disciplina
| Autor: | David Pickus |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2009 |
| Předmět: |
Value (ethics)
Sociology and Political Science authentcity media_common.quotation_subject Subject (philosophy) Face (sociological concept) Context (language use) Public opinion Contemporary theory authenticity Argument Relevance (law) Meditation Sociology lcsh:B1-5802 Sophistication media_common business.industry lcsh:Philosophy (General) critical spirit Epistemology humanities Philosophy Criticism German philosophy Intellectual life business Humanities |
| Zdroj: | Filozofija i društvo/Philosophy and Society Filozofija i Društvo, Vol 20, Iss 3, Pp 125-142 (2009) |
| Popis: | And woe unto all the living that it would live without disputes over weight and scales and weighers!--Nietzsche, Zarathustra, II, 13 Introduction: What's at Stake in Discussing the Future of the Humanities The start of 21st century may very well be the final era in which the humanities enjoy substantial autonomy and prestige. Advances in genetics, evolutionary and biological psychology, combined with the increasing sophistication of statistical models of behavior prediction, may make current justifications for the study of the humanities sound quaint at best, and obscurantist at worse. To be sure, the end of the humanities has been predicted before, and its decline or demise may never happen. (1) this essay is not written in the hope that it will happen, only with the awareness that, as Walter Kaufmann put it, "the refusal to reflect on goals invites disaster." (2) In this respect, the following pages will consider the prospects for the humanities without two implicit, and wishfully sentimental, assumptions, namely that, without the humanities, something irreplaceably precious will be lost, or that, once we move beyond the humanities, what follows would inevitably be better. The fact is that we simply don't know how educational practices will look from the standpoint of future generations. (3) Rather; our task should be to identify what is most valuable in the humanities, asking whether our current practices in fact achieve our goals. Hence, this essay seeks aid in the discussion of aims and means by turning to Walter Kaufmann who, a generation ago, had some interesting ideas about what was at stake in the study of the humanities. I will present some of Kaufmann's main views on this subject, highlighting the ongoing relevance of his sharp critique of contemporary education. Specifically, I will focus on his mostly forgotten 1977 volume, The Future of the Humanities, arguing that it is not only worth reading today, but may help the humanities maintain their viability altogether. To reach this end, I will place Kaufmann in his historical context, providing an exposition of his main pedagogical ideas, focusing especially on what he called "the art of reading." (4) Once a picture of Kaufmann's main contribution has emerged, I will finish the piece by linking Kaufmann to a well-publicized concern in pedagogy, namely Gerald Graff's efforts to integrate students into academic "argument culture" by "teaching the conflicts." (5) This sets the stage for an overarching conclusion, where I argue that, while Kaufmann certainly does not allay all anxieties about the future of the humanities, his ideas about education (primarily, though not exclusively, college education) prepare us well to face a critical and neglected aspect of the problem: our own uncertainties and sense of doubt as to whether we instructors can convey something of value in the humanities altogether. Who Was Walter Kaufmann and Why Should Pedagogy Care? Walter Kaufmann (1921-1980) was a prolific and incisive writer who deserves much more attention than he has yet received. Spending his career as professor of philosophy at Princeton, Kaufmann's specialty was German philosophy and through that he is not entirely unknown today. For the most part, "academic public opinion" tends to remember him as a transmitter and popularizer, more than a thinker in his own right. This incorrect assumption tends to impede a full appreciation of Kaufmann's work. To be sure, Kaufmann played a significant role in bringing central European thought to the United States. He was one of the first to produce reliable translations of Nietzsche to a broad American public. His 1954, The Portable Nietzsche, included Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and by the end of his career, Kaufmann had provided accurate and readable translations of eleven of Nietzsche's major works. (6) These, along with Kaufmann's own 1950 monograph (revised and expanded in 1956, 1968 and 1974) Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist gave Nietzsche a prominent place in American academia, one that he never held before, and has never lost since. … |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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