Historiography of education is not only a question of construction but also of selection. In 19th century “history of education” was typically a genre of “great educators”, mostly male and only marginally female. This construct is influential up to now, at least in popular contexts of educational reasoning. The article discusses in the introductory section problems of selection of names and meanings within history of education, and then three types of historiographical writing that are not only concerned with “great educators” (...) but have larger Philosophical impact. The first type is Herman Nohl’s history of German progressive education, the second one is Emile Durkheim’s history of Higher Education in France, and the third one is George Herbert Mead’s Movements of Thought in 19th Century. The article compares them and discusses their implications for further development of historical writing in education. (shrink)

Pragmatism is American philosophical tradition which grants a central importance to change. It opposes conceptions which presuppose stability of the world and stability of the meaning of human works. This opposition is particularly important in the context of aesthetics. After having considered the most general forms of change and their importance in art we reach the conclusion that pragmatism can account for them but leaves out what we call changes of economy. The term economy here does not designate monetary economy (...) but the way in which the elements of a universe (a cosmos) are organized. Thus one can speak of the economy of the divine creation. (shrink)