Education

Why Postmoderns Train—Not Educate—Activists [Open College series]

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A new episode of my podcast series, produced by Possibly Correct out of Toronto. Audio: iTunes Stitcher YouTube Topics: Why indoctrination makes sense to postmodernists // Modern ideal of liberal education // My undergraduate experience // New-fashioned indoctrination Transcription: Forthcoming. Sources: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859), Chapter 2. Mark Lilla: “The history of French philosophy in […]

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Why Postmoderns Train—Not Educate—Activists

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At the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, my article “Why Postmoderns Train—Not Educate—Activists.” Teasers: Who said this? We cannot escape our ethnocentric predicament. We must, in practice, privilege our own group. And this? You don’t want to build up your opponent’s arguments; you want to squelch them. This? Renounce all philosophical speculation and

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Politicians Should *Not* Enforce Free Speech at Universities

2 Comments / Education, Politics /

Our head politician wants to use political leverage to fix higher education’s semi-censorship problem. Universities should be ashamed that it has come to this — those universities, at least, that do not have healthy free-speech cultures. Of course politicians already use their power — financial threats and regulatory compulsion — to make universities do what

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Montessori and Objectivism — mini-course

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As part of this full lecture on Objectivist philosophy of education and its intimate connections to Montessori’s system, here is the conclusion-drawing section for those already familiar with Montessori: For the full context — overviewing Rand’s and Montessori’s major ideas — begin here: Source: My 15-lecture video course on Philosophy of Education. The Objectivism and

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Dr. Jane Clare Jones, the Intellectual Dark Web, and me

8 Comments / Culture, Education, Philosophy /

Dr. Jane Clare Jones seems like a nice, intelligent person, but my tweet about the ethos of the Intellectual Dark Web prompted a strongly negative response and this chain of exchanges: Dr. Jones replied: I responded, as did she: And with a helpful clarification that she also disagrees with the authoritarian Left: Me on the

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Hebrew translation of *The Battle for the Soul of the University is Raging*

1 Comment / Culture, Education, Philosophy /

My Savvy Street article, “The Battle for the Soul of the University is Raging,” was translated into Hebrew by Shahar Shlush and published here. “The protesters and disrupters may be angry, but they are adults who know what they are doing. ‘Cry-bullies’ is half-right, as the tears are a tactic.”

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Sidney Hook’s school days in old New York

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From philosopher Sidney Hook’s autobiographical Out of Step, on his authoritarian schooling in early 20th-century New York: “Although the public schools were religiously attended (children feared the wrath of their parents much more than the threats of the truant officer), the classroom experience was far more enjoyable. First of all, the discipline was exacting. Our

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Should politicians force diversity at universities?

1 Comment / Education, Politics /

By diversity I mean the intellectual kind. Numerous surveys (e.g., here and here) show that university faculties lean left, often far left in humanities departments. A purely democratic argument says Yes, politicians should force diversity. Government-funded universities are paid for with tax monies, and in a democracy politicians are responsible to their constituents to ensure

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