The tiniest chill: Explorations of the confluence of educational and environmental philosophy.

摘要

How do examinations of education and environmentalism change when they are joined in one conversation? Must the debate about educational reform be recast when it is viewed in an ecological context? Will aspects of environmental crises be approached differently when they are seen as problems similar to those that vex communities attempting to educate themselves? These central questions are explored in a prologue, five essays and an epilogue, all of which are punctuated with stories, fables, parables and poems.;The prologue identifies the men and women whose writings are precursors to the author's arguments.;The first essay defines "education" as the ways by which communities attempt to realize conceptions of "the good," and proposes that peace, economic justice, ecological health, political honesty, family and community stability, and good work are the ends for which communities must strive. It examines trends in modern society, subsumed under the name "Thanatocracy," which work against the realization of these ends, and argues that we are "uneducating" ourselves in the industrialized West. The "globalization" of the world's "economy" spreads this "uneducation" to other cultures.;The second essay argues that "schooling" has evolved as part of the "Thanatocracy" and is inextricably connected to "uneducating" processes. Contemporary debates about "educational reform" often have nothing to do with "education" at all because educators work within the "Thanatocracy.".;The third essay contends that the nature of technology changes within the "Thanatocracy" so that the danger exists that technology will contribute to "uneducating." All technology must be subjected to strategic community judgment.;The fourth essay argues that all human activity occurs in an ultimate context of mystery, and advocates replacing the "progress story" with one that incorporates ecological insights with those of the "Great Wisdom Traditions.".;The final essay considers ways to rebuild communities and revitalize education.;The epilogue poses a new question suggesting the limits and limitations of the author's principal arguments.