Chapter 2 “The Rhythm of Education”

Chapter 2 “The Rhythm of Education” • Romance • Precision • Generalization • Relationships among the three stages • Oppositional or Appositional?

Hamlet 16 • The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in the Kingdom of Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius for murdering the old King Hamlet (Claudius's brother and Prince Hamlet's father) and then succeeding to the throne and marrying Gertrude (the King Hamlet's widow and mother of Prince Hamlet).

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 171770-1831 • Hegel had a profound effect upon the development of historical and other studies. His own system, the system of the Absolute, contained a view of the place of religion in human life. According to this notion, religion arises as the relation between man and the Absolute (the spiritual reality that undergirds and includes the whole universe), in which the truth is expressed symbolically, and so conveyed personally and emotionally to the individual. As the same truth is known at a higher—that is, more abstract—level in philosophy, religion is, for all its importance, ultimately inferior to philosophy. Whitehead’s reference to Hegel, page 17.

Thesis; Antithesis; and Synthesis • The relationship between abstract and concrete truth was, incidentally, taken up in the 19th-century Hindu re’nascence ＝ Renai’ssance (rebirth) as a parallel to the doctrine of the Absolute—the Ad’vaita (nondualism), the dominant expression of Hindu metaphysics—held by the 8th-century Hindu philosopher ‘Sankara. The Hegelian account of religion was worked out in the context of the dialectical view of history, according to which opposites united in a synthesis, which in turn produced its opposite, and so on. Hegel was influential in the interpretation of Christian history: Jesus as thesis, Paul as antithesis, early Catholicism as synthesis, and the latter becoming a new thesis that would elicit a new antithesis, Protestantism.

The history of Christianity • The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion and Church, from the ministry of Jesus up to contemporary times and denominations. • Christianity differs most significantly from the other Abra’hamic religions in the claim that Jesus Christ is God the Son. The vast majority of Christians believe in a triune God consisting of three unified and distinct persons: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Throughout its history, the religion has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches. The largest branches of Christianity are the 1. Roman Catholic Church, 2. the Eastern Orthodox Church and 3. the Protestant Churches.

Jean Restout was one of the most famous French painters in the 18th century. This painting is a smaller version of a painting (now in the Louvre) commissioned by the Congregation of St Maurice for the Abbey Saint-Germain-des-Près in Paris. Ananias was a disciple of St Paul, living in Damascus. He learned through a vision that he was to go to Paul, who was blinded on the road to Damascus by a sudden light from heaven, and restore his sight by laying on hands. In the painting Paul is seen kneeling before Ananias. His armour lies beside him. The dove of the Holy Ghost hovers overhead. Another disciple brings the water needed for the baptism. Ana’nias restoring the sight of Saint Paul by Pietro da Cortona

Paul popularized Christianityby an inclusive approach • original name Saul of Tarsus one of the leaders of the first generation of Christians, often considered to be the second most important person in the history of Christianity. In his own day, although he was a major figure within the very small Christian movement, he also had many enemies and detractors, and his contemporaries probably did not accord him as much respect as they gave Peter and James. Paul was compelled to struggle, therefore, to establish his own worth and authority. His surviving letters, however, have had enormous influence on subsequent Christianity and secure his place as one of the greatest religious leaders of all time. • Paul included ‘gentile, of or pertaining to any people not Jewish; • Christian, as distinguished from Jewish

According to the Acts of the A’postles, his conversion to Christianity took place in a profound life-changing experience on the road to Damascus, capital of Syria. Together with Simon Peter and James the Just, he is among the most notable of early Christian missionaries. Conversion of Saint Paul, fresco by Michelangelo

The painting depicts the moment recounted in Chapter 9 of Acts of the A’postles when Saul, soon to be the a’postle Paul, fell on the road to Da’mascus. He heard the Lord say "I am Jesus, whom you persecute, arise and go into the city." The Golden Legend, a compilation of medieval interpretations of biblical events, may have framed the event for Caravaggio. Artist Caravaggio Year 1601Type Oil on canvas

Conversion of Saint Paul/SaulOil on cypress wood • On this canvas, Saul is an epileptic and fractured figure, flattened by the divine flash, flinging his arms upward in a funnel. There are three figures in the painting. The commanding muscular horse dominates the canvas, yet it is oblivious to the divine light that defeated his rider's gravity. The aged groom is human, but gazes earthward, also ignorant of the moment of where God intervenes in human traffic. Only Saul, whose gravity and world have been overturned, lies su’pine on the ground, but facing heaven, arms supplicating rescue. The groom can see his shuffling feet, and the horse can plod its hooves, measuring its steps; but both are blind to the miracle and way. They inhabit the unilluminated gloom of the upper canvas. Saul, physically blinded by the event for three days, suddenly sees the Christian message. For once, his soul can hear the voice of Jesus, asking, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" His sword and his youthful sinews are powerless against this illuminating bolt of faith. Note name change is significant, signaling identify change.

The Lone Cypress on 17-Mile Drive California United States. One of the most famous cypress trees • In Greek mythology, the cypress is associated with Artemis. Ancient Roman funerary rites used it extensively. Cupressus sempervirens is the principal cemetery tree both in the Western and Muslim worlds. Cypresses are used extensively the Shahnameh, the great Iranian epic poem by Ferdowsi.

Jesus as Thesis who preached to Jews only; Catholicism, represented by St. Augustine, as Synthesis that integrated Jesus and Paul in the Middle Age Paul as Antithesis who popularized Christianity by an inclusive approach: to preach to gentile as well. Catholicism generates its own Antithesis: Protestants. A Hegelian Cycle in the History of Christianity

Ad hoc 18 • Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. • –adverb 1. for the special purpose or end presently under consideration: a committee formed ad hoc to deal with the issue.

Robinson Crusoe 18 • The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, where-in all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver'd by Pyrates. Written by Himself, or simply Robinson Crusoe, is a novel by Daniel Defoe. First published in 1719, it is sometimes considered to be the first novel in English. The book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Venezuela, encountering Native Americans, captives, and mutineers before being rescued.

In vacuo 18 • Latin . • 1. in a vacuum. • 2. in isolation. • http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/in+vacuo

Natural vs. Unnatural 21 • We must garner our crops each in its due season. • 揠苗助长 • 【yàmiáozhùzhǎng】 try to help the shoots grow by pulling them upward - spoil things by excessive enthusiasm

Crammer (21)/Ducking Feeding &The Banking Concept of Education • Ducking feeding model/ • Crammer, a person or institution that prepares pupils for an examination intensively over a short period of time. • Passive learning • The banking concept of education • Passive learning • Paula Freire--1921 – 1997) was a Brazilian educator and influential theorist of critical pedagogy.

Monte’ssori method 22 • The Montessori method is an approach to educating children based on the research and experiences of Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori (1870–1952). The Method arose in the process of her experimental observation of young children given freedom in an environment, leading her to believe by 1907 that she had discovered "the child's true normal nature."[1]

Whitehead Philosophy of Process Organic grow Three stages-- Romance, Precision, and Generalization—are connected by continuity. Hegel The System of the Absolute Two components—Thesis and Antithesis—are marked by discontinuity. Whitehead vs. Hegel

The Stage of Romance in Education • Romance is the first moment in the educational experience. All rich educational experiences begin with an immediate emotional involvement on the part of the learner. The primary acquisition of knowledge involves freshness, enthusiasm, and enjoyment of learning. The natural ferment of the living mind leads it to fix on those objects that strike it pre-reflectively as important for the fulfilling of some felt need on the part of the learner. It is exciting precisely because knowledge at this stage is half-concealed with promise or potential to be mastered.

The Stage of Precision The stage of precision concerns "exactness of formulation" (Whitehead 1929, p. 18), rather than the immediacy and breadth of relations involved in the romantic phase. • In isolation from the romantic impetus of education, precision can be barren, cold, and unfulfilling, and useless in the personal development of children. • It is the stage of grammar… • The contrast between the romance and precision however seems to suggest that during the romantic phase, the knowledge acquired is not precise, thus the claim is not airtight or his use of “precision” is not quite precise.

The Stage of Generalization in Education • Generalization, the last rhythmic element of the learning process, is the incorporation of romance and precision into some general context of serviceable ideas and classifications. It is the moment of educational completeness and fruition, in which general ideas or, one may say, a philosophical outlook, both integrate the feelings and thoughts of the earlier moments of growth, and prepare the way for fresh experiences of excitement and romance, signaling a new beginning to the educational process. • It is comparable to Helel’s synthesis which leads to a new cycle in acquiring more knowledge.

Philosophy of Organism & Process Philosophy • Philosophy of Organism or Organic Realism is how Alfred North Whitehead described his metaphysics. It is now known as process philosophy. • Central to this school is the idea of con’crescence. Concrescence means growing together (com/con from Latin for "together", crescence from Latin crescere/cret- grow), the present is given by a consense -- Joint-sense (equivalent to consciousness) of subjective forms. We are multiple individuals, but there are also multiple individual agents of consciousness operant in the construction of the given. Marvin Minsky calls this the "society of mind" in his book Society of Mind. • Whitehead's "subjective forms" complement "eternal objects" in his metaphysical system; eternal objects being entities not unlike Plato's archetypal Forms. In Process and Reality, Whitehead proposes that his 'organic realism' be used in place of classical materialism.

Natural vs. Unnatural • The size of Cinderella feet • A condition posed from the outside; The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare (1596 and 1598) The dramatic turn lies in an oversight on Shylock’s part in the original contract in which it demands a pound of flesh, but without mentioning anything about bleeding.

The Merchant of Venice The dramatic turn is based on the premise that bleeding and cutting are logically connected. “Natural” means “Logical”Portia

Dramatic Turn • The climax of the play comes in the court of the Duke of Venice. Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan. He demands his pound of flesh from Antonio. The Duke, wishing to save Antonio but unwilling to set a dangerous legal precedent of nullifying a contract, refers the case to a visitor who introduces himself as Balthazar, a young male "doctor of the law", bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke from the learned lawyer Bellario. The "doctor" is actually Portia in disguise, and the "law clerk" who accompanies her is actually Nerissa, also in disguise. Portia, as "Balthazar", asks Shylock to show mercy in a famous speech (The quality of mercy is not strained—IV,i,185, arguing for debt relief), but Shylock refuses. Thus the court must allow Shylock to extract the pound of flesh. Shylock tells Antonio to "prepare". At that very moment, Portia points out a flaw in the contract (see quibble): the bond only allows Shylock to remove the flesh, not the "blood", of Antonio. Thus, if Shylock were to shed any drop of Antonio's blood, his "lands and goods" would be forfeited under Venetian laws.

Cook Ding’s Knife • Zhuangzi, cofounder of Taoism, the natural way • Cook Ding’s knife is as sharp as ever even after 19 years’ of use; • How to cut up an ox?

Chapter 2 “The Rhythm of Education”