B. Russels Theory on Education and It's Use in the 21st Century
B. Russels theory on education and it 's use in the 21st century
It is quite true that Bertrand Russell 's ideas on education are extensive. He attempted to pay attention to every detail of human nature and practical living in order to facilitate an educational system that would produce better social cohesion. From the perspective of the 21st century, however, his optimistic attitude towards the ability of education to change the ways in which human beings socially interact, coexist and co-operate has three major flaws. First, Russell 's claim that one 's will and one 's intellect must cooperate presupposes a tremendous effort on the part of the individual; but it is questionable if each person desires to exert such an effort. The second defect lies in his optimism that each human being wants to change the state of harmony within the individual and hence the social cohesive nature of the community. The third problem is that Russell 's educational system cultivates human beings into independent individuals but does not succeed in reconciling this individual independence with co-operative citizenship.
To highlight the first problem of Russell 's education system it is necessary to mention three points: (a) Russell 's optimistic view of human nature, (b) the problem in the balance between the will (desires) and intellect, which serves as Russell 's main aim of education and the main solution to social problems,2and (c) the effort to balance these, if present at all, is usually short-lived (even when human beings are faced with mass destruction) and does not cause revolutionary change in the nature of social cohesion.
Russell 's optimistic view of human nature can be brought to light through his writings on education. As stated by him the first question that needs to be answered before designing an educational system is: "What type of individual is going to be the result of this educational system?" Indeed Russell saw education as the key to structuring human
It is quite true that Bertrand Russell 's ideas on education are extensive. He attempted to pay attention to every detail of human nature and practical living in order to facilitate an educational system that would produce better social cohesion. From the perspective of the 21st century, however, his optimistic attitude towards the ability of education to change the ways in which human beings socially interact, coexist and co-operate has three major flaws. First, Russell 's claim that one 's will and one 's intellect must cooperate presupposes a tremendous effort on the part of the individual; but it is questionable if each person desires to exert such an effort. The second defect lies in his optimism that each human being wants to change the state of harmony within the individual and hence the social cohesive nature of the community. The third problem is that Russell 's educational system cultivates human beings into independent individuals but does not succeed in reconciling this individual independence with co-operative citizenship.
To highlight the first problem of Russell 's education system it is necessary to mention three points: (a) Russell 's optimistic view of human nature, (b) the problem in the balance between the will (desires) and intellect, which serves as Russell 's main aim of education and the main solution to social problems,2and (c) the effort to balance these, if present at all, is usually short-lived (even when human beings are faced with mass destruction) and does not cause revolutionary change in the nature of social cohesion.
Russell 's optimistic view of human nature can be brought to light through his writings on education. As stated by him the first question that needs to be answered before designing an educational system is: "What type of individual is going to be the result of this educational system?" Indeed Russell saw education as the key to structuring human
Bibliography: Blackwell, Kenneth. Russell 's Spinozistic Ethics. Boston: Allen & Unwin, 1985. Park, Joe. Russell on Education. Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 1963 Peterson, R.D. "Political Economy of Higher Education." Education 109, No.2 (2001): 212-219. Russell, Bertrand. Principles of Social Reconstruction. London: Unwin Brothers Ltd., 1916. Political Ideals. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1917. Mysticism and Logic, and Other Essays. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1917 Education and The Good Life. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1926. The Conquest of Happiness. London: Horace Liveright Inc., 1930. Education and The Modern World. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.,1932 Unpopular Essays. London: Allen & Unwin., 1950