人生を豊かにする教養
號珀の'嗅ぎ煙草入れ'を自慢し, しかし,これは真の問題ではない。真の問題は,我々は,教育において,すぐに'実際に役立つ知識'を生徒の頭に詰め込むことを目指すべきか,それとも,それ自体善いものである'知的財産'を生徒に与えるべきか,いずれが重要かという問題である。1フィートは12インチで,1ヤードは3フィートであることを知ることは,'有用'である。しかし,このような知識に'本質的な価値'はみじんもない。(たとえば)メートル法が使用されている国に住んでいる人びとにとっては,そのよう知識はまったく無価値である(注:なぜなら,時代や国・地域を越えて価値がなければ'本質的な価値'があると言えないため)。一方,『ハムレット』を鑑賞することは -おじ殺しを依頼されたといった稀な人の場合を除いて- 実生活ではあまり役には立たないだろう。しかし,それは持っていなければ残念に思うような知的財産を人に与え,また,ある意味でその人を一段とすぐれた人間にする。有用性だけが教育の目的ではないと主張する人によって好まれるのは,この後者の種類の知識である。 |
Chap. 1 Postulates of Modern Educational Theory (OE01-040)of amber snuff-box justly vain,His education had been ornamental in the narrowest sense, and in our age few of us are rich enough to be content with his accomplishments. The ideal of an 'omamental' education in the old sense is aristocratic: it presupposes a class with plenty of money and no need to work. Fine gentlemen and fine ladies are charming to contemplate in history; their memoirs and their country houses give us a certain kind of pleasure which we no longer provide for our posterity. But their excellences, even when real, were by no means, supreme, and they were an incredibly expensive product; Hogarth's Gin Lane gives a vivid idea of the price that was paid for them. No one nowadays would advocate an ornamental education in this narrow sense. But that is not the real issue. The real issue is: should we, in education, aim at filling the mind with knowledge which has direct practical utility, or should we try to give our pupils mental possessions which are good on their own account? It is useful to know that there are twelve inches in a foot, and three feet in a yard, but this knowledge has no intrinsic value; to those who live where the metric system is in use it is utterly worthless. To appreciate Hamlet, on the other hand, will not be much use in practical life, except in those rare cases where a man is called upon to kill his uncle; but it gives a man a mental possession which he would be sorry to be without; and makes him in some sense a more excellent human being. It is this latter sort of knowledge that is preferred by the man who argues that utility is not the sole aim of education. |
(掲載日:2006.09.02 更新日:)