Aii. Philosophical and Theoretical

2283. Brameld, Theodore B. H. Toward a reconstructed philosophy of education. [New York] Dryden Press [1956]417 p. (Dryden Press professional books in education) 56–13909 LB875.B724. Bibliography: p. 399–406.

The philosophy of reconstructionism in education as conceived and developed here is essentially an extension and a reformulation of the philosophy of progressivism. It seeks to correct the latter’s weaknesses and strengthen its achievements. Many contributions made by the philosophies of perennialism and essentialism are also incorporated into the re-constructionist pattern, however. After discussing the background and underlying philosophical beliefs of reconstructionism, the author elaborates on its theory of education. In Cultural Foundations of Education: An Interdisciplinary Exploration (New York, Harper [1957] 330 p.), the same author examines and interprets aspects of culture theory that have implications for philosophy and for the practice of education. In The Ideal and the Community; a Philosophy of Education (New York, Harper [1958] 302 p.), Isaac B. Berkson proposes a philosophy of reconstructionism more conservative than Brameld’s. Although Berkson’s point of departure is experimentalism, he is inclined toward the idealism that is characteristic of traditional philosophy.

2284. Johnston, Herbert. A philosophy of education. New York, McGraw-Hill [1963] 362 p. (McGraw-Hill Catholic series in education) 61–18857 LB885.J58

Bibliographical footnotes.

A neo-Thomist exposition that proceeds from considerations of the nature of man and of those powers that make him "educable." Although the book, written by a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, is intentionally doctrinal rather than historical in character, it does include cogent analyses of other philosophies. Questions and cases intended to stimulate philosophical discussion are appended to each chapter. In Public Schools and Moral Education; the Influence of Horace Mann, William Torrey Harris, and John Dewey (New York, Columbia University Press, 1958. 315 p.), Neil G. McCluskey, a Jesuit priest, discusses the problem that religious pluralism poses for the public schools in their quest for a philosophy of values.

2285. Morris, Van Cleve. Philosophy and the American school; an introduction to the philosophy of education. Boston, Houghton Mifflin [1961] 492 p. 61–16124 LB885.M67

Writing from the positions of experimentalism in philosophy and progressivism in educational theory, the author employs what he designates as the "philosophy-to-policy-to-practice" approach to the philosophical questions of ontology, epistemology,and axiology. He explains how each question is dealt with by exponents of idealism, realism, neo-Thomism, experimentalism, and existentialism and relates their views to educational theory. He also synthesizes the various concepts into a policy for managing American education and depicts the classroom operation of philosophical theory and stated policy.

2286. Phenix, Philip H. Philosophy of education. New York, Holt [1958] 623 p. 58–6308 LB885.P5. Bibliography: p. 591–612.

A professor of educational philosophy at Teachers College, Columbia University, analyzes a wide range of topics in the light of variant philosophical positions. In order to prevent the reader from being influenced except by the persuasiveness of the ideas and arguments themselves, the author presents each position without reference to the authorities who have advocated it. In Education and the Common Good; a Moral Philosophy of the Curriculum (New York, Harper [1961] 271 p.), the same author proposes that the content of school instruction be based on a consideration of the major problems facing contemporary civilization. He maintains that the cardinal goal of instruction in all fields should be "the development of loyalty to what is excellent, instead of success in satisfying desires."

2287. Riesman, David. Constraint and variety in American education. [Lincoln] University of Nebraska Press [1956] 160 p. ([Nebraska. University] The university lectures in the humanities, 1) 56–13482 LA210.R5

"Toplace American higher and secondary school education in its cultural context" is the plan for the author’s three sociological essays, based on lectures delivered at the University of Nebraska. In "The Academic Profession," he points out the ways in which universities imitate one another, follow national models, and tend toward "institutional homogenization." In "The Intellectual Veto Groups," he focuses on the interdisciplinary problems and conflicts within the social sciences. "Secondary Education and ’Counter-Cyclical’ Policy" is a discussion of the vulnerability of high schools to local pressures; here Riesman presents "a theory of education as desirably ’counter-cyclical,’ that is, a theory that education should oppose momentary booms and busts in our cultural economy." The view of education from the position of sociology is depicted in greater detail by Robert J. Havighurst and Bernice L. Neugarten in Society and Education, 2d ed. (Boston, Allyn & Bacon, 1962. 585 p.). The perspective from two other social sciences is revealed in Educational Anthropology: An Introduction (New York, Wiley [1965] 171 p.), by George F. Kneller, and Educational Psychology; Psychological Foundations of Education, 2d ed. (Boston, Allyn & Bacon, 1964. 589 p.), by James M. Sawrey and Charles W. Telford.

2288. Ulich, Robert. Philosophy of education. New York, American Book Co. [1961] 286 p. 61–2970 LB875.U63. Bibliography at the end of each chapter.

A Harvard University professor of education writes from a philosophical point of view which might be defined as a combination of idealism, existentialism, and humanism. Examining the role that education plays within the ever-expanding continuum of civilization, he points out the dependence of man’s progress upon his success in keeping the apparently contrasting aspects of life, or the polarities of civilization, in constructive harmony and balance. As the ideal basis for instruction, he proposes the concept of "cosmic reverence" expressed in Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre, which to Ulich means "not only a person’s respect and love for other persons or for a cherished idea or institution, but a sense of the belongingness of all created things to a common ground of life, religiously expressed by such terms as God, the Father, the Creator, or naturalistically expressed though mostly with a religions overtone—by such terms as nature, the creation, the universe, the cosmos." Education and the Idea of Mankind (New York, Harcourt, Brace & World [1964] 279 p.), edited by Ulich and published under the auspices of the Council for the Study of Mankind, views education as a means for helping mankind realize its fundamental unity and brotherhood while it maintains a diversity in ideas and beliefs.

2289. Wegener, Frank C. The organic philosophy of education. Dubuque, Iowa, W. C. Brown [1957] xx, 472 p. A58–5794 LB885.W4

Bibliographical footnotes at the end of each chapter.

An attempt to achieve a synthesis in the philosophy of education. The author believes that the arguments about educational philosophies in terms of such dichotomies as realism versus idealism, naturalism versus supernaturalism, and modernism versus classicism are now anachronistic. Far from being eclectic, the organic philosophy, with its bipolar theory of education, holds that the nature of man and the world is such that the divergent views of conservatism and progressivism are not mutually exclusive but can and must operate side by side. This orientation is in the tradition extending fromPlato and Aristotle to Alfred North Whitehead, all of whose writings influenced the author’s thought. After establishing his philosophical foundations, Wegener applies his propositions to the crucial problems of educational philosophy. Whitehead’s technical terminology, which can be troublesome to the general reader, is defined in a special appended glossary.