| I begin with two "snapshot" moments in the history of thought in the West. The first offers an exploration of Plato's educational philosophy and the second consists of a description of the development of contemporary multiculturalism policy in Canada. The latter snapshot is presented as the most recent stop along our foundational trajectory, with multiculturalism characterized as the supreme expression of the democratic ideal.; I then move to a discussion of Bernard Lonergan's epistemological methodology. This methodology will be used to understand how multiculturalism is a necessary, but at the same time transitory, phase in the dynamic and authentically progressive socio-evolutionary expansion of moral categories noted by Aldo Leopold. After unfolding this new imperative necessitated by the ecological crisis, I offer a summary of the thought of "geologian" Thomas Berry as indicative of what this next phase of cultural development, and its corresponding philosophy of education, ought to look like. Further, in order to demonstrate that Berry's educational philosophy need not remain in abstraction, I make reference to the Owenite tradition of educational praxis and the particular case of Genesis Farm, where Berry's suggested curriculum is being implemented. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
