Abstract

The authors seek to bring clarity to the concepts of education and teaching. It is assumed throughout that a narrowly intellectualist interpretation of education will provide this conceptual clarity. The opening chapters focus on teaching as a role, an aim-activity and a set of skills. "The intrinsic aim of the teacher is education," which is in turn defined as "the cultivation of the mind, or theoretical reason, and the transmission of culture." Emphasis here falls on the distinction between knowing that and knowing how, and on the educated man’s ability to give a critical account of his beliefs and aesthetic judgments. Succeeding chapters discuss the intrinsic and extrinsic aims of education. The authors give qualified assent to the intuitive claim that education is desirable in itself, and present a "redescription" of this claim in terms of "the realization of the theoretical aspect of the self." Among the extrinsic aims, relevance to moral conduct and the social good are emphasized. The concluding chapters discuss the "role" of the teacher as "a set of rights and duties," and trace the implications of this position for personal relations between teacher and pupil. Among the issues discussed here are the following: the teacher’s responsibilities to his employer, pupils, subject area, and society; a Kantian doctrine of personalism and tolerance; and the limits of friendship between teacher and student. A postscript and index complete the volume.