How the West Was One: The Western as Individualist, the African as Communitarian

Autor/in	Metz, Thaddeus
Titel	How the West Was One: The Western as Individualist, the African as Communitarian
Quelle	In: Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47 (2015) 11, S.1175-1184 (10 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0013-1857
DOI	10.1080/00131857.2014.991502
Schlagwörter	Stellungnahme; Western Civilization; Philosophy; African Culture; Educational Practices; Collectivism; Individualism; Cultural Differences; Educational Philosophy; Foreign Countries + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Philosophie; Africa; Culture; Afrika; Kultur; Bildungspraxis; Individualismus; Kultureller Unterschied; Bildungsphilosophie; Erziehungsphilosophie; Ausland
Abstract	There is a kernel of truth in the claim that Western philosophy and practice of education is individualistic; theory in Euro-America tends to prize properties that are internal to a human being, such as her autonomy, rationality, knowledge, pleasure, desires, self-esteem and self-realisation, and education there tends to adopt techniques focused on the individual placed at some distance from others. What is striking about other philosophical-educational traditions in the East and the South is that they are typically much more communitarian. I argue that since geographical terms such as "Western", "African" and the like are best construed as picking out properties that are salient in a region, it is fair to conclude that the Western is individualist and that the African is communitarian. What this means is that if I am correct about a noticeable contrast between philosophies of education typical in the West and in sub-Saharan Africa, and if there are, upon reflection, attractive facets of communitarianism, then those in the West and in societies influenced by it should in some real sense become less Western, in order to take them on. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01