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Rhetoric, Paideia and the Old Idea of a Liberal Education
Author(s) -
MILLER ALISTAIR
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of philosophy of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.501
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-9752
pISSN - 0309-8249
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9752.2007.00558.x
Subject(s) - paideia , humanism , rhetoric , curriculum , sociology , philosophy of education , politics , liberal education , epistemology , subject (documents) , humanistic education , higher education , social science , liberal arts education , pedagogy , philosophy , law , political science , linguistics , library science , computer science
This paper argues that the modern curriculum of academic subject disciplines embodies a rationalist conception of pure, universal knowledge that does little to cultivate, humanise or form the self. A liberal education in the classical humanist tradition, by contrast, develops a personal culture or paideia , an understanding of the self as a social, political and cultural being, and the practical wisdom needed to make judgements in practical, political and human affairs. The paper concludes by asking whether the old liberal curriculum, traditionally centred on the humanities and the disciplines of grammar and rhetoric, can be recovered in the modern age.