Inspiring essay, glad to see this great philosopher getting some attention… I am planning to use a quote from this in our online discussion group tomorrow!… thank you Brittany
Thanks Brittany, you make a good case for pedagogy based on questioning and active pursuit of wisdom. I wonder, however, whether Kant's prescriptive moral imperative is at odds with this in a way that Stoic contextual pursuit of wisdom is not. There is arguably an inherent inflexibility in deontological perspectives, secular or otherwise, that is in conflict with cognitive flexibility. I would be interested in your thoughts on this.
Thanks, Rob! I completely agree with you. I would say on some fronts Kant did not make progress, and his deontological ethics is one of them. Virtue ethics, and Stoicism in particular, is superior in terms of real-world flexibility and its incorporation of contextual judgment, as you mention, but also in psychological motivation and internal coherence. It's possible Kant is vulnerable to charges of inconsistency with respect to Socratic character education and his ethical imperatives, but I left out quite a lot of detail here. Willaschek suggests that Kant's intentions with the categorical imperative have been misinterpreted, that he was simply trying to formulate a precise expression of intuitive morality that everyone knows. In any case, people have been criticizing the categorical imperative since it was articulated, and Kant himself certainly did not always live up to it. However, I did learn from this book that Kant's mother--who died young after nursing a sick friend--was his lifelong role model and the inspiration behind much of his ethical work. He was trying to work out a formal description of her intuitive ethic. So in a way, I think moral rules and moral education were linked in his life.
In any case, I would say: read the book and see what you think! He is certainly a fascinating figure.
Too bad our school system doesn't focus on Kant’s ‘Aim of Education’. Good time to revisit your book: Stoic Ethics. Do you have a recommendation for learning the Socratic Method?
Thanks, Jon! For the Socratic Method, there are lots of books available—you could try the one by Ward Farnsworth called The Socratic Method: A Practitioner’s Handbook. My friend Leah Goldrick at Common Sense Ethics also has a section dedicated to it: https://www.commonsenseethics.com/blog/category/socratic-method
Inspiring essay, glad to see this great philosopher getting some attention… I am planning to use a quote from this in our online discussion group tomorrow!… thank you Brittany
Thanks Brittany, you make a good case for pedagogy based on questioning and active pursuit of wisdom. I wonder, however, whether Kant's prescriptive moral imperative is at odds with this in a way that Stoic contextual pursuit of wisdom is not. There is arguably an inherent inflexibility in deontological perspectives, secular or otherwise, that is in conflict with cognitive flexibility. I would be interested in your thoughts on this.
Thanks, Rob! I completely agree with you. I would say on some fronts Kant did not make progress, and his deontological ethics is one of them. Virtue ethics, and Stoicism in particular, is superior in terms of real-world flexibility and its incorporation of contextual judgment, as you mention, but also in psychological motivation and internal coherence. It's possible Kant is vulnerable to charges of inconsistency with respect to Socratic character education and his ethical imperatives, but I left out quite a lot of detail here. Willaschek suggests that Kant's intentions with the categorical imperative have been misinterpreted, that he was simply trying to formulate a precise expression of intuitive morality that everyone knows. In any case, people have been criticizing the categorical imperative since it was articulated, and Kant himself certainly did not always live up to it. However, I did learn from this book that Kant's mother--who died young after nursing a sick friend--was his lifelong role model and the inspiration behind much of his ethical work. He was trying to work out a formal description of her intuitive ethic. So in a way, I think moral rules and moral education were linked in his life.
In any case, I would say: read the book and see what you think! He is certainly a fascinating figure.
Too bad our school system doesn't focus on Kant’s ‘Aim of Education’. Good time to revisit your book: Stoic Ethics. Do you have a recommendation for learning the Socratic Method?
Thanks, Jon! For the Socratic Method, there are lots of books available—you could try the one by Ward Farnsworth called The Socratic Method: A Practitioner’s Handbook. My friend Leah Goldrick at Common Sense Ethics also has a section dedicated to it: https://www.commonsenseethics.com/blog/category/socratic-method