continental contributions

I will take this post to share some of the key points from the essay I discussed in class today. What Standish discusses in this essay is what the term "Europe" means, particularly how it relates to the Philosophy of Education today; he discusses some of the main currents of philosophical thought that have shaped the Philosophy of Education today; the distinction between postmodernity and poststructuralism; and the institutionalization of the field in Europe.

I will discuss what I took to be some of the most significant points. The first point of emphasis is the relationship of language to thought. He shows how after Kant, the analytic and continental traditions began to arise, or rather became distinguished from one another, by Kant distinction of noumena and phenomena with the analytic tradition delving more into phenomena, and the continental tradition delving more into the noumena. This distinction gave rise to heightened sensitivity towards language in the twentieth century, with Wittgentstein being a major player in the analytic tradition, and people like Heidegger and Lyotard advocating the continental tradition.

As the continental tradition flourished, the distinction between Philosophy and Literature became more blurred with narrativism and poststructuralism developing. With narrative landscapes mapping reality, the importance of language heightened, and with heritage in Nietzche and his philosophy, the continental tradition gave rise to the poststructuralist viewpoint of the relationship between knowledge and power. As we became "better" with words, we gained power in the world, making very important what is taught and how it is taught.

All this to say, and hopefully more clearly now, that what may be gained in the Philosophy of Education from the Continental Tradition is an attentiveness to the power of language to create reality, and the need to allow the space for this to occur. How does this happen? When we look back to Nietzsche, for example, we identify ourselves as radically homeless in the world, in the sense of not really knowing where we come from, where we're going, or which myth to paint our horizon with, and given this starting point, we should remain open to many varying possibilities in the world. This relates to Philosophy of Education because keeping this in mind may open the door for innovative ways of educating.

Lastly, what the Philosophy of Education can gleam from the Continental Tradition is radical love for the Other, thus rehoning focus in education on morality. We have an absolute relation to the Other and to one another, and with this comes a sort of moral responsibility for the Other. We ought to be concerned with community, with society, because though in some senses we are radically alone in the world, we are alone together.