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Broadening the Horizons of the Philosophy of Education Broadening the Horizons of the Philosophy of Education: An Enquiry into the Social and Pragmatic Dimensions of Human Knowledge Koichiro Misawa Institute of Education University of London Thesis submitted to the University of London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2011 I hereby declare that, except where explicit attribution is made, the work presented in this thesis is entirely my own. Koichiro Misawa Word Count (exclusive of bibliography): 79, 795 words 2 Abstract This thesis addresses the social dimensions of human knowledge by reference to recent developments in the theory of knowledge in the Anglophone analytical tradition. What might be called social epistemology is often open to the charge of relativism. However, a detailed analysis of the most basic conditions of knowledge that enable human beings to live as not merely evolved, biological creatures but as intellectual, sentient beings reveals the sense in which human knowledge is essentially social and has no necessary connection either with relativism or with the opposing but equally tenuous ideas such as strong realism and scientific naturalism. The social and pragmatic dimensions of human knowledge shed light on its essentially educational nature. This broad sense of educational aspect of knowledge encourages us to see the prevailing outlook towards the relation between philosophy and education quite differently. This is not to suggest that the philosophy of education finds a new niche in academia but rather to suggest that it form the centrepiece of the philosophical enquiry into human knowledge. Having set the scene for the subsequent chapters in Chapter 1, this thesis goes on to analyse several issues to do with human knowledge and education. Sufficient appreciation of the significance of the fully social dimensions of human knowledge makes it possible to grasp the central thrusts of these issues without collapsing into the familiar dichotomies: theory and practice (Chapters 2 and 3); truth and rational justification (Chapter 4); conceptual norm and empirical description (Chapter 5); and cognitive pursuits and their social organisation (Chapters 6 and 7). On the basis of the foregoing analysis, Chapter 8 presents a broadened conception of the philosophy of education as a key academic discipline concerned with human knowledge specifically and human development more generally, which is to be in dialogue with scientific and empirical investigations. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Table of Contents 4 Acknowledgements 6 Chapter 1 Introduction 7 1-1. The Overall Scope of This Thesis: Aims and General Theme 7 1-2. Chapter Outline 23 Chapter 2 A Growing Awareness of the Social and Practical Dimensions of Knowledge: The Case of Paul Hirst 31 2-1. Hirst 1: The Primacy of the Theoretical over the Practical 33 2-2. Hirst 2: Towards Socially/Practically-Infused Discourse 37 2-3. Some Reflections and Comments on Hirst: An Analysis of the Theory-Practice Issue 43 Chapter 3 A Radical Version of the Social and Practical Focus Emergent within Recent Philosophy of Education Discourse: The Case of Wilfred Can 56 3-1. Carr's Negative Discourse: A Severe Attack on Foundationalist Epistemology-Centred Philosophy 3-2. Carr's Affirmative Discourse: Education without Theory 65 3-3. Some Reflections and Comments on Wilfred Can 77 Chapter 4 The Limits of Traditional, Western, Modernist, Enlightenment Epistemology: The Case of Harvey Siegel 88 4-1. Unitary Epistemology and Standpoint Epistemology 91 4-2. The Interpenetration of Epistemology and Ontology: Rational Justification and Truth 107 4-3. Siegel's Aversion to Two Well-Received Views in the Philosophy of Education: Anti-Pragmatism and Anti- Wittgenstein Chapter 5 After First Philosophy: A Critique of Naturalism in Epistemology and the Death-of-Epistemology Argument 133 5-1. The End of First Philosophy 137 5-2. Non-Normative Scientific Naturalism: W. V. 0. Quine 141 5-3. The Death-of-Epistemology Argument: Richard Rorty 153 Chapter 6 Social Epistemology I: Analytical Social Epistemology 166 6-1. Normative Naturalism 170 6-2. From Naturalised Epistemology to Socialised Epistemology 177 6-3. Some Reflections and Comments on Analytical Social Epistemology 186 Chapter 7 Social Epistemology II: Steve Fuller's Social Epistemology 199 7-1. Steve Fuller's 'Sociological' Social Epistemology 202 7-2. The Idea of Knowledge Management 219 7-3. Some Reflections and Comments on Fuller's Social Epistemology 224 Chapter 8 Broadening the Horizons of the Philosophy of Education 229 Bibliography 238 5 Acknowledgements None of the ideas presented in this thesis would have resulted had it not been for my supervisors' conscientious guidance and intelligent care. Jan Derry and Judith Suissa therefore deserve the best kind of thanks. Their influence on my thinking is probably far greater than either of them realises. Special thanks are due to Paul Standish. He read the whole thesis and offered insightful and detailed comments and suggestions, which have enlarged my conception of what the philosophy of education is. I am also grateful to Harvey Siegel for his supererogatorily generous help and encouragement. His incisive feedback to earlier versions of Chapter 4 has enabled me to remove some of my misunderstandings of his views. I owe far more than I am able to express here to my family. My parents have provided a never-failing source of support, patience and encouragement that sustained this thesis. Finally, my greatest debt is to my wonderfully supportive and cheerful wife, Naoko. I wish to thank her for all that we share—respect, tolerance, friendship and much, much more beyond. 6 Chapter 1 Introduction 1-1. The Overall Scope of This Thesis: Aims and the General Theme It is possible to identify a tension within the very phrase 'philosophy of education', namely, between the activity of questioning received knowledge and the activity of transmitting knowledge. This sort of commonsense (and stereotypical) understanding of philosophy and education may be partly responsible for their meagre interaction, which is widely felt not just by ordinary people but also by academic philosophers.' Another decisive factor that has contributed to this problematic relation between philosophy and education is the fact that education is generally less well-regarded than the traditional professions such as medicine, law and divinity as well as some of the more recent professions like science—at least in Western society. This thesis is concerned to elicit an essentially intertwined relation between philosophy and education, thus broadening the horizons of the philosophy of education. This tight relation between philosophy and education will be brought to light by a close investigation into the nature of human knowledge. Both philosophy and education, no matter how they may be defined, are concerned with knowledge. Nonetheless, as mentioned above, there is a widespread tendency to see them as in tension with each other. This well-received view concerning the relation between philosophy and education derives, in my view, from a confusion In this thesis, what I mean by 'academic philosophy (philosophers)', 'mainstream philosophy' and 'general philosophy' designates other philosophical areas—such as the philosophy of mind, language, science, etc. These are distinct from the philosophy of education insofar as they are taught in Departments of Philosophy. Note also that what I mean by 'epistemology' in this thesis almost entirely coincides with the conception dominant in the Anglo-American analytical tradition. (For this, see also footnote 4.). It should not be assumed, however, that philosophical problems exist in such a way that they are neatly lined up according to each 'branch' of philosophy. We therefore must not lose sight of how philosophical problems and puzzlement are interconnected across relevant philosophical `branches'. The philosophy of education is no exception. 7 over two conventionally drawn distinctions that have long been accepted in the analysis of human knowledge. One is that philosophical enquiry is concerned with the normative dimensions of human knowledge whilst scientific enquiry deals with the descriptive aspects of. it. The other is that philosophy—more specifically, epistemology, namely, the theory of knowledge—centres on the verb 'to know' whereas sociology—in particular, the sociology of knowledge—focuses on the noun 'knowledge'. In other words, philosophy tends to pursue the question of what it is to know (universally), whereas sociology is disposed to engage in the question of how knowledge is created, transferred and consumed in a particular society or community. This thesis claims that, although the normative/descriptive distinction is not totally futile, the normative and descriptive dimensions of human knowledge presuppose each other and pari passu that the enquiry into the verb 'to know' cannot be conducted properly without some appreciation of the noun 'knowledge' and vice versa. It might be objected that philosophical enquiry into what it is to know can be undertaken independently of how knowledge is produced, disseminated and utilised. However, this accusation misfires. For the question of what it is to know is inseparable from the question about the conditions for what we have come to see as knowledge and vice versa. The articulation of this inseparability is actually what this thesis is all about and thus reveals the essentially educational nature of human knowledge. A constructive appreciation of this point
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