The Aims of Education

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:;.. The Record
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THE AIMS OF EDUCATION
JOHN WHITE
The aim of education should be to promote the well-bti* ?l-1'::-:::::
JffiU.;#ffi;;[-;;G is not self-conrained: it has a rarge altruistic
' 1. ., 1^ --^.^ r']^,,-i.L,r,ith
il::f,,fi ; ;',r'i'nt, l, "*
-Ja.n"i,ionar
poinr. indiriduals can fl ourish with
- Ll - ---.6^6+. tn chmr:
;Iil:'..:: ;";:.;;;others' rhere are no impresnable arsume"nts. to shorv
l- ^--ll,l^ t-^.,,-..-.
ffi sl..t'"ne"o;'ffi ,ot.,r,.i. own go o d' s:h"' dl:il'- 1T-::1 j"' however'
ffiil;r*rr. * . see their o"'n good " :"":'i:]:ilt1::t::
ifr::'lJ,'" I|ilil ," ,rr. ,u.* thlt part. of eclucatior l]lT::::.:::rl;:
," ii"*iit,l' ffi ;;;","' ;;; J ",a,. iyi3". r : j-" : *: i:: Tf :i':. ji jTj
il:;;;..;;t;;;]u;;'; p"'o"'l well-being frorn the start' and there is no
\\rrrat the aims of education should be cannot be definitivel-v iaid down' we
are in the territory of "i'iont of the good life' and these will differ' In this
essa.v I am articulating a personal vision of education' This cannot be seen as
a handbook article in an.v more authoritative sense'
But personai visions need not be freewheeling' Behind this one there are
reasons. I hope that these are good reasons, and that others will share them
and the account *t i.t tt't' ot' "'htrrr' Something' but not everS'thing' of these
reasons will emerge as I Proceed'
good reason for doing so'
other agencies than education aim at promoting well-being' Education's
role is via the formation oi airporirio"s and the enlargement of understanding'
fh;;; "t. two parts of education, an earlier part and a later part'
EARLY EDUCATION
Thefirsttaskistoshapethetendenciesandpropensitieswithrn,hichchildren
are born into settled di'fo'itio"' of certain sorts' We can think of this as
bringing their actions unitt"tio"s under the sway of certain vaiues' Another
way of putting this is to say that cfrildren are brought up in confbrmit-r- rvith
23

RECURRENT ISSUES
ceftain reasons for action. Lnd this is to say that fiey are encouraged to come
to have certain desires rather than others'
These values, reasons, or desires do not dir.ide neatly into the prudentia,
and the moral. We can forget these labels, since they only get in the way. The
values include the following:
i. Physical pleasures, such as eating, drinking, physical vitaiitv, being in :
comfortable temperature, sel"ual enjopent (in its due season). Chitrdrer.
are to be brought up to want to enfoy specific forms of such pleasures.
dependent not least on their culture.
z. The avoidance of harm to themseives, in the shape of pain, physicai iniun'
disease, incapacitating mental states.
3. Close personal relations, u'ith family, friends (including pets), lovers (i:-
due season).
4. Protecting the well-being of people universally. This means learning not t.
harm them, learning to tell them the truth, being considerate, keeping one':
word, lear,ing them free to lead their own lives. It also means acquirin:
favourable dispositions towards those engaged in such protection in a pro-
fessional sense, for example towards government, the police, consen'ation
agencies, insurance companies, the law, the media (in so far as thes'
institutions are acting for the benefit of all and not iust some).
5. Promoting the well-being of people universally. This includes being friendl',
and well-disposed, as well as helping people to acquire the necessar,
conditions of well-treing, for example food, clothing, shelter, necessai-,
liberties, health, education, income, company, and social recognition. Chrl-
dren should come to look favourabl,v on those involved in associatec
vocations, to do u,ith the production of food and material goods, politics.
medicine, teaching, social work, and other things.
6. The values of activities in which one engages which are pursued at lea::
for their owri sake, but perhaps along with efirinsic goals. The values ca..
include some deterrninate goal (like winning a game), the activity itself (lik.
plal,ing a piano fbr fun), or being with those who engage in an activity u1*-
one, and enjoy'ing the mutual recogriition of each person's contribution.
7. Higher-order values arising from the regulation of conflicts beiween lou'er-
order vaiues. An erample is ternperance: children must iearn to regulat.
their desires for, say, food and drink (under item r) so that they do nc:
lead to harm (under z) or hinder their pursuit of other values in the othe:
categories. courage, likewise, regulates feelings of fear and confidence
Chiidren need, above all, to begin to acquire the practical wisdom by whici:
they can establish orders of priorities on their burgeoning desires.
This list may not be complete. Its items, too, are not discrete. Activitie.
under 6, for instance, may be pursued with friends (see z). Children ca;--
24
engage in actirioes
others in the con::
under 6.
I do not thini ':
is likelY to be cc:':
that it is imPossr:-
am never too s-:
altruism" in the ":
well-being, is '-' --
5. So for the ::- '
under this he:;':''
one is with rht:--
poetry. ln Pro:- ':
alone, but othe::'
shared ends. !-:
lGoing for soi'r::
share. ldiosmi:"'
clippings? Bui '
. r--
-'iasst4nng.; r '. '
-Jran otner-rc'-
:ractices; m-' ::
l1 -- -
'.oll 2S WeIl' : -
\'lany rr.ou':
r I ----
nencls aflu :
.nrolves imP:::'
,mPartiaiin '': :
nesell o\ er
: moral lite :i'--'
From rhi' :
'1ere are stl-- :
:-oba1 senst -
:., ',his ior ... --
- -manln
:Partialh : --
t r- ; -
:.a \\'nLllt -
-.:r:,.ris11-t I ::
I ne Iil:' : '
-\rrnp. : -
:: 'motiti'' :
'( r! IJi :-
'.in(l-'
--:11:iil::' :
il
*
*
il

THE AIMS OF EDUCATION
,,uraqed to come
, 'fie prudential
rn fie wa,v. The
:iin, being in a
,:son). Children
srch pleasures,
. phr.sicai injun,
:cts), lovers (in
s -earning not to
r;. keeping one's
:reans acquiring
:eition in a pro-
ic:. consen'ation
s,-, t-ar as'these
---ai.
;s'reing friendl,v
'. the necessary
:.-ter, neCeSSary
,,-,-,enition. Chil-
:; in associated
I :Lrods, politics,
::rsued at least
The values can
,;i'.in itself (like
1 :r actii'iq'with
i . -,ntribution.
: lcr*een iOwer-
l::=r to regulate
-'.r.:l frev do not
-*.: in the other
-::ii confidence.
;,r>.l,lm by'which
:. : ire s.
!.:rIe.,\ctivities
: Children can
engage in actir"ities failing under 5 - lor example some kind of sen'ice to
o,ti.., 1,, the communit-v, Jrganized in school - which exhibit the values falling
under 6.
I do not think the idea that these kinds of dispositions should be fostered
is likely to be controversial. In so far as the list is acceptable, it is notern'orth.v
that itis impossible to divide it into prudential reasons and morai reasons. I
am never too sure what people mean when they talk about the latter' Il
altruism, in the sense of someLnd of sensitiveness to and concern for others'
well-being, is all that is intended, then 3 is obviousl.v altruistic. so are 4 and
5. So for the most part is 6' In most of the activities in which one engages
i,nder this heading the values will be shared with fellow participants, rvhether
one is with them face-to-f'ace, as in playing hockey, or not' as in eniofing
po.,ry.Inpromotingthesel'alues,onewillbefona'ardingnotone'sowngood
uiorr., ur, Lth..r'good also. None of this is to exclude from 6 activities without
shared ends, but examples u'ithout this feature are going to be hard to find'
(Going for solitary wallis? But this is a social practice in which many of us
share. IdiosFrcratic private practices like collecting and classifung one's naii-
.tifpingri drt .n.n- this shares features rvith other forms of coilecting and
chsri$ng.) Finally t, z. and 7 cannot be classified as self-regarding rather
than othe-r-regarding. Physical pleasures are tlpically pursued as parts of social
f.rrti..r; mibeintfree-of pain or other harm may benelit not onl'v me but
you u, well, and this is true also of my regulation of my desires'
Many wouid build more into morality than altruisrn alone' Concern for
friends and familv, they migtit say. is not in itself a moral reason' N{oraliq"
involves impartiaiitl'. ,{Aing partialiv towards one's friends is acting immorall-v'
Impartiaiiq: ieacls one to universaiit': not having any good reason for favouring
oneselfoverothers,orthesmallergToupoverthelarger,thepersonu.holives
a moral life acts impartially for the good of ali'
From this point of view' onl,v 4 and -5 seem to count as morai reasons' But
rhere are stili problems over universaliti. I do not write this in in anv whoih'
global sense. 'lo promote or protect the well-being of people unit:ersall'y is ta
d0 this for a// those concerned in some conte:1' and this context is not alu'avs
humanity(orsentientlife)takenasawhole.Amatronof.ahospitalattends
impartiaily to the well-being of all the patients in her hospitai, not to that of
the whole human .r... Ori sorne views of morality, therefore, the universal
altruism I am advocating in 4 and 5 is not universal enough'
ThefirstStageofedu-cationisaninitiationintovaluesrtoT.Eachofthese
embraces a host of-more determinate values. To come track to 5, the universal
promotion of well-being can be found at different levels and in different kinds
olsocial gIoups. Think'of: parents of large families; members of a work BIouP,
a school, or other instituiion; local community groups; local communities
themselves;religiousgroups;ethnicminoritycommunities;nationalcommuni-
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RECURRENT ISSUES
ties; international institutions; the worid community of those now lir,ing; the
world community of tlose now living and yet to live.
Values can conflict, both across categories and within categories (in so far
as these distinctions can tre usefully made). Within 4 and 5, attending to the
needs or rights of one group may conflict with attending to those of another.
Within 6 one's commitrnent to one activity may compete, in resources or time,
v'ith one's commifinent to another. Some activities under 6 may involve one
in the risk of personal injurv (see z). Telling the truth (see 4) may get a friend
into trouble (see 3).
Even with verv* voung children a start should be made not only on building
up dispositions governed by different kinds ofvalue, but also on helping them
to cope with conflicts betw,een these values. The latter aim takes us to the
values under 7, as we have seen.
The first stage of education, from birth through to early adolescence, should
be devoted to these tasks. To some of those who look at education against the
background of schooiing as we know it, this approach may look incomplete.
\\rtrat place in all this has language, mathematics, science, and other tlpes of
knowledgei
Education is centrallv to do with the groilth and organization of desires.
But this operates against a certain background. Every child is born into a
specific society, which has its oun language, its oun space, its own traditions
and ways of doing things. Behind these things lie values like those we have
been discussing. One way, and not the least important, by which children
come to acquire these values, is by learning their mother tongue and, partlv
thereby, coming to know the world in which they live, B,v't}te world' I do not
mean the scientist's world of invisitrie physical forces. I mean the life-world
which envelops children: their home, their local streets, their town, the mores
and traditions of the smaller and larger communities to which they belong; it
includes, too, the natural world - of gardens, parks, earth, trees, clouds, dar,
and night, seasons, sun, and stars - which both belongs to their social worlcls
and sets frameworks for them.
Part of early education is to initiate children into this life-world and the
language which defines it. It is against this taken-for-granted background that
upbringing in values takes place. So there should be no fear that language will
be negiected. A.s for other forms of knorvledge found in schools today, some of
our conventional priorities may need readjusting. h{athematical and scientific
activities have their place in rnodern life-lvorlds, but more attention should be
paid to just u'hat this place is and hon' important it is against the larger
background. It will then be seeir, I think. that counting is of ubiquitous
importance, and aspects of astronomv, evolutionary biologl, meteorologl', and
other sciences help us to make sense of our iife-world; whereas other parts
z6
of phvsical sciencc' : l'
imponantlargeh:--
moting activitic> :' - -
other forms ot'kn "' - - :'
aspects oi'hum::' ;= --
volues and u'ar' -' -
onll knouledee r'r' -:
attachments to ou- ' - -
do music, dance' := -
The aim of educ:: ' :
be the cultivadon -: : '
does not, in the ::':"
highly traditioni'.'- - :
o\ Tr route throus:- -:'
values and the P-:'-
personal paftem '-: -:"-
the customs of fre.: '
goals - the desir=t :' ''
large achieved. ti:-' :
u'ell-being to a s:'::':
In modern soc:t:'
dou'n for one. T:'t:'
uaditional comr'-.:-:
Promoting u'e1l-:tl":
lor the autonocl .':
:rought uP in -'i-' :
:eligious corlllllLj]-l: i
rartlv on u'hetht: -:'
thich indiridu:'s :-'
PreParation i-:- '-'
:ireadv descri::; -.:'
:-,r cholce aDt * - :'
:r their Parent! a:-:
S,-r f ar there a:i ) -: :
.s, But the ui; t:'t :
:---
*I tor SelI-'c ':'
.\lreadr. f,t -'i--'! ::
.:a accustoEl:': -:-
-.iSCiOUS L-ir a ::::

t\\ liYing; the
:e: (in so far
erding to the
,e ot'another.
:rces or time,
r involve clne
', set a friend
r on building
nelping them
;cs us to the
.nce. should
i asainst the
incomplete.
'Ier npes of
:, ,ti desires.
r,trn into a
,,rr traditions
,se u'e have
i.-h chiidren
: :nc1, partlv
:,,1' I do not
:: iiti-world
r. the mores
.-' belong; it
iiouds, day
,,;ial u'orlds
:,,i and rhe
:_ari,und Lhat
::zuaee will
::". 56-a "t-
..r scientific
: should be
t tle larger
,htquitous
: .l(tq\', and
,:her parts
THE AIIlS OF' EDUCAT'ION
of physical science, together with more advanced opes of mathematics, are
important largelv for more specific reasons, largelv to do with weifare-pro-
moting activities falling under q. To understand the iif-e-workj in general,
other lbrms of knowledge are of great relevance: local or enr,.ironmental srudies,
aspects of human geographv, the historical understanding oi contemporan
values and wa1's of doing things, elementary sociolog]., and politics. But not
onl,v knowledge can help. Poetry and other forms of iiterature reinforce our
attachments to our social world and the natural world which frames it; so, too,
do music, dance, painting and other arts.
LATER EDUCATION
The aim of education in a complex industrialized societ_v like our own should
be the cultivation of personal autonomy of a certain sort. Personal weil-being
does not, in the abstract, entail personal autonom,v. People can flourish in a
highlv raditional society where there is no question of their determining their
own route through life. They, too, are initiated in their childhood into different
values and the pursuit of different goals. How these are integrated into a
personal pattern of living is determined not by individuals themselves, but b1-
the customs of their society. If a life of well-being is one in which one's maior
goals - the desires towards the top of one's hierarchy of desires - are bv and
large achieved, then such non-autonomous individuals can achieve personal
well-being to a greater or lesser ex'tent.
In modern societ_y one's goals and the priorities bet\a,een them are not iaid
doun for one. There is no alternative, except for those of us who live in
traditional communities within the larger society, to our making our o\!.n way.
Promoting well-being io modern society must involve preparing voung people
for the autonomous life. \\'hether the aim should be any different for those
brought up in the traditional communities among us - ethnic minoritv or
religious communities, for instance - is a further question. Its answer depends
partly on whether there are good reasons for keeping to a minimum the contact
which indirtduals have with the larger society.
Preparation for autonomy rests on the gradual formation of the dispositions
already described under Earfu education. For the most part young children have
no choice about these dispositions: value judgements on their behalf are made
by their parents and other educators, and their character is formed accordinglv.
So far there are superficial similarities with upbringing within traditional societ-
ies. But the underl.l.ing spirit is different. Children are being prepared through-
out for self-determination, not for unquestioning social conformity.
Already at this earlv stage the higher-order dispositions acquired under 7
are accustoming children to resolve value conflicts, although not in a self-
conscious or comprehensive wav. Children are acquiring virtues, among them
27
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RECURRENT ISSUES
the master virtue of practical reasoning. This enables them better to reflect.
not only on what means are most suitable for different goals, but also on which
goals are more important to them than others.
As they grow older - not for any reason to do with biological development.
but because their progress in practical rationality now allows this - children
will gradually take over the task of shaping their own characters, which their
early educators have begun. They will come not only to resolve conflicts but
also to appreciate more clearly the different values at stake and so be able
more sensitively to weigh them against each other. This self-awareness wiil
be found not only at the level of particular value conflicts but also more
globally, in making sense of one's life as a whole. Dispositions which have
been built up in partial isolation from each other must be brought into self-
conscious relationships with others.
As part of this progress towards self-understanding, young people will come
to have more determinate ideas about the kind of life they wish to lead. Ther
will have become acquainted with a range of possible paid occupations, seen
from the perspective of the benefit they bring to people; they will have corne
to see their possible roles as friends and lovers, parents, more or less actite
members of democratic institutions and communities at different levels; ther.
will have been introduced to a host of activities pursuable for their own sake.
Now they will select from these possibilities, exercising their imagination to
form and reform pictures of personal ways of life. Again this is a matter ol
weighing different values: for some peopie work will be more salient in their
ideal pictures, for other personal relations, for others commifrnent to some
form of creative activity or to politics.
Much of this imaginative activity will remain at the level of the wish,
unfettered by practical constraints. It is important that it should. since priorities
among values will change in the course of one's lifetime and so may one's
circumstances. But the life one fashions for oneself must ultimately be an-
chored in such realities as the income one might er?ect to earn, one's bents
and talents, the opporfunities open to one, competition for more attractive
jobs, conditions of work which go with different occupations, and other things.
This anchoring brings with it its own new sets of weightings and trade-offs.
and once again we should bear in mind that to form realistic plans for one's
future is not to map out a blueprint that will last throughout one's life. People
will differ in the extent to which they wish to plan out their lives: here, too.
weighting will vary.
What might all this imply for the objectives of secondary schoolingl It means.
I think, that work often done no'lv under the heading of 'personal and social
education' becomes centrally important, with elements in the 'academic' cur-
riculum finding their rationale, if at all, in relation to these central concerns.
The work described under Earfit education will broadly continue. Subdiri-
s10ns oI vatuc \\ --
not least b'; in'-":
integra.tire disP . -
Subsenins 'i '
broad contour.
',&e.v i"'ili neeJ
cor,'ered b.; rj;:: -
socllethinq a'c --:
*conornic sii-i-- :
;td t}te aitei. -
:ad the obst:--.,
rqn socier'. t- '' -
,,i t&eir inter=. '
xem from Li: l
-.e*'signiflc;:.:. :
'orld is Set-r: -'
,.je, hotver;: ::
:e g'orld. n'. '
-,'-it','oke in *. ----
.-.' Cifieren:.:'
! l> 3 IL
-::. *hicf- :."
' ;11!
,-.ir. S:-'.- '
' - t ]t':-'-
z8

THE AIMS OF EDUCATION
rir to reflect,
:iso on which
;er elopment,
,is - children
,. trhich their
conllicts but
i so be able
,r areness will
ut also more
' ghich have
rht into self-
rle ri'ill come
r-. lead. They
radons, seen
Ll have come
-r: less active
L: 1ere1s; they
.ir ogrt sake.
r:elnation to
; : mafter of
ilient in their
--e:lt to some
':,i the wish,
:ce priorities
r,, rnat' One'S
r:telr be an-
.. ,,,ne's bents
":e artractive
drer things.
r; rrade-offs,
::s tor one's
s ,:re. People
:a: here, too,
:'i_:: 1t means,
L"- :rd social
.i.nic' cur-
:r --,lnCerns.
:-c Subdivi-
sions of value within categories I to 6 rn'iil be further explored and assimilated
notleastbyimaginativeinvolvementinpossiblerolesandsituations.The
integrative tlispositions of category 7 will become especially important'
S"ubsening this vill be knowledge and understanding of all kinds. The
broad contours of their life-world v'ill already be familiar to students' Now
they u.ill need to know more of the details, especiallv, but not only, in areas
.orl..d by their pictures of their possible futures' They will need to know
somethinj about: what different careers and other pursuits involve; the socio-
economiJstrucfure of their own society, its political arrangements and values,
and the alterability of all these things; the means of attaining possible goals
andtheobstaclesintheirway'Theirhorizonswillbewidenedbeyondtheir
ounsocietytoworldneedsandworldpolitics'AttheSametimetheelpansion
of their interests, rlishes and knowledge on every front must not deracinate
themfromtheirlife-world.Literatureandtheotherartswillnowacquirea
newsignificanceforthem.Forayoungerchild,ifnotdisadvantaged.thelife-
world is secure, taken for granted. As so many new worlds open up on every
side, however, retaining on-e's primo.diai attachments, one,S sense of being in
the world, has to b..-o-. , "o.tscious intention. The arts can invoke and
rein..,oke in us this intention and remind us of its necessity if we are to keep
the different sides of our nature in some sort of harmony'
It is a too familiar fact that the technological, economic and political pres-
sureswhichhaveproducedtheworldoflarge-scale'complex'bureaucratic
firms and other institutions in which we live make such harmony diflicult to
achieve. students need to be acquainted with this as well as with the positive
role this complex economy plays, ot can play' in promoting universal well-
being. This entails k.o*leige oi the scientific and technological bases of their
".on"o*y; and this in turn entails a good g:ounding in mathematics'
By the time students leave school they u'ill ideally have already begun to see
somethingoftherationalefortheirowner]ucationandbeinapositionto
direct their o$Tr fufure self-education. Some people will have got further along
theseroadsthanothers'Afterschoolcomesthetimeforspecialistiearningof
different sorts. This is not at odds with education, but reflects further weight-
ings within it. Counterbalancing this comes deeper immersion in the whoie
uirre world, v-ith self-understanding becoming more and more important as
one becomes more reflectively aware of one's priorities. Balances must be
struck between such reflectiveness and engagement in first-order activities,
betl^,eentheinnerandtheouter.Therewillbedifferencesherebetu'een
different individuals and for the same individual at different times' A11 this
requiresthatbeforetheyfinishtheircompulsoryschoolingstudentsarepointed
in these directions. Practical wisdom cannot be an option to be taken up or
shedastheyma.vtakeuporcastoffgardeningorbridge'Itisanindispensable
29
ry

RECURRENT ISSUES
element in their well-being and they must come to know this. In a decentlr.
ordered society there wiil be educational safety nets to protect those of us -
all of usi - who find it difficult to keep our priorities in order in a non-
educational open environment. Or rather, perhaps, steps will be taken to make
the open environment educational: workplaces and the media, for instance,
will be reshaped so as to reinforce and not contradict values earlier acquired.
CONCLUSION
This concludes my'r"ision of the aims of education. It will have its competitors.
Some will not like its universalism and will advocate different aims for an 6lite
from those for the masses. I do not know how such discrimination could be
iustified. On my scheme not everyone will reach the same point along the road
at the same time. This does not matter as long as we are all moving in the
same broad direction. An education which seeks autonomy for some while
debarring others is ethically indefensible.
Other obiectors will dislike my emphasis on forming children's characters.
on building up in them certain dispositions and value-attachments. The obiec-
tions may be biological-developmentalist or more straightforu'ardly libertarian.
The lirst school holds that left to themselves in a suitably stimulating environ-
ment children *'iil develop naturally towards their full potential. I reject this
on the grounds that the notion of mental, as distinct from physical, development
is incoherent. Libertarians need not be developmentalists. They may obiect
that my scheme irnposes uniustifiable restrictions on children's liberq''. I would
answer that the principle of liberty applies only to people who are alreadr
autonomous, at least in part: non-interference with one's pian of life is a
condition of its realizabilitv. A somewhat separate objection from the same
side might be that my'autonomous' persons are not really autonomous, because
they do not freely choose their ornn way of life, but merelv add their ou'n
marginally significant weightings to structures of values that have been indeliblr
built into them: they have been made over, in the broad, into conforming
creatures of their societl. To this I would say that the ideai of radical autonom\'.
whereby indiliduals choose their own values and life-plans from their ou'n
resources alone, is unintelligible. What could they choose that belonged to no
actual sociai practice? Nlore fundamentally, how can one conceive this choosing
self without its being a social creature? The mere fact that it operates rvith
concepts in using language is enough to claim it as a social entity. As ue hare
seen. conceptual distinctions reflect values, values not chosen, but assimilated.
b-v those who acquire them. Radical choosers, again, are generall,v pictured in
such objections as people at least on the \!'ay to maturit1''. But how did ther
become radicai choosersi \lrhat sort of upbringing did the,v have? \\trat accouni
could one el-'.
positions?
A final obr''
prudential m:
their larger.:.
manY Chrisr,'
aims of edu;':
attachment :
tf ill sss rnt-rr:
but neither -'
minimum s; '
Each oi i:lt'
beings as rl:':
mav tum Lr-:
and others : ':
path too su.:'
tiameu.ork. :''
e fourth - '
Jemanu). r': -
lre comlr. l
:,urselr.es. l :
:o rr'hich i..'
:rdrudes C -
:esented :r :
,rd Prirc:: -'
::i har; :r
But :- ":-
\t--
_-:-iaI \!
- - -i
-
l
: :. : :.:t
3o

In a decendr
fr,rse of us -
=: in a non-
:.<en to make
:,r. instance,
L:e: acquired.
, .ompetitors.
r. :or an 6lite
:ln could be
-,,,ng the road
1,1,\rng in the
: some while
's characters,
.. The objec-
-'. iibertarian.
ili:g environ-
I reject this
:c.' elopment
., nar obiect
re:n. I u'ould
, ::e a1read1,'
r ,-,i life is a
,::l Lhe same
:,:s. because
:: rheir own
r.;r indelibly
. .',rntbrming
.:..1UtOnOmY,
::- rheir own
rl,,nged to no
-:rs choosing
,:::lteS With
.\s rr.e have
: ::sin.iilated,
.., :ictuled in
:.,..r did *'sy
'-t h:t account
THI' AINIS OF EDUCATION
could one give of this without including some kind of building-in of dis-
positionsi
A final objection might come fiom those rvho reiect mv reiection of the
pruclential,/moral dil.ide. They mali need to hold on to this as it frts in *'ith
their larger, perhaps metaph-ysical, pictures of human life. This is true for
man.v Christians, Kantians, utilitarians, socialists, and others. As iar as the
aims of education go, some may want to bring children up with an overriding
attachment to moraliq', making personal interest subordinate to this. Others
will see moral and prudential reasons in uneasier relationships, still separate
but neither overriding the other. Yet others will reduce moral demands to a
minimum so as to enlarge the space for personal fulfilment'
Each of these outlooks can produce unattractive results. They ail see human
beings as radically divided. In learning to cope with this division some students
may turn out stiffly puritanical, or even fanatical, ready to blame themselves
and others for any del'iation from the way of dut-v. Others may Iind such a
path too strenuous, living instead for self as conceived within the dichotomous
framework, because this is the only way of life now open to them. A third and
a fourth group may pay only lip-serv-ice to morality, or may minimize its
demands, while in each case giving'the self' full rein. All these character tlpes
are common in our societv and one or more of them may be mirrored in
ourselves. The intransigence, cynicism, hlpocrisy, and lack of fellow-feeling
to which they severally give rise are found, too, in larger social and political
attitudes. Confrontations bet$,een opposing viewpoints are too easily rep-
resented in terms of clashes between principle and self-interest' or principle
and principle, or interest and interest. We have come to live with polarization
and have no clear views about how to overcome it.
But all this comes from the initial dichotomy between moralit-v and self-
interest. \\rtrat I am suggesting is that we do not have to work uith this
dichotomy. We can start u'ith a more generous, altruisticall,v inclined concep-
tion of personal well-being.
FURTHER. READING
cooper, D. E. (Ed.) Qg86) Education, values and ,lLind, London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
Dearden, R. F., Hirst, P. H., and Peters, R S' (Eds') (tg7z) Education and tht
Dnelopment of Reason, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul'
Griffin, J. (r986) lYell-being, Oxford: Clarendon Press'
Hargreares, il. H. (rgaz) The Challengefor the Comprehensite School, London: Routledge
& Kegan Paul.
Kleinig,J. (r982) Philosophical lxues in Education, T'ondon: Croom Helm'
Lindle--v, R. (i986) Autonoml, London: Nlacmillan'
3r
-I_

RECLIRRENT ISSUES
\agel, T. (lg7g) 'The fragmentation of value" in-llortal Qtcstions, Cambridge: Cam-
bridge Universitl' Press.
O'Hear, A. (r98r) Edttrution, Societ.l'and Human |ature, London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
White, J. QgSz) The Aims of Edutatiorr Restated, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul'
Williams, B. (r985) Ethics and the Limits of Philosttph.v, London: Fontana'
32
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