PE: Socratic Inclusion

We talked today at length of Seigel's concept of epistemological inclusion, or rather, his distinction between the soundness of conclusions of any epistemological framework and the morality of inclusion/exclusion.

After Greg's evocation of Socrates, I thought it interesting that, with respect to inclusion, Socrates is an exemplary model.  Moreover, Seigel specifically cites Socrates and the Socratic tradition and search for truth as his idea of philosophy--it seems as though the symbol of the epistemologically driven tradition was also the same person who talked to everyone, regardless of class or social status, about the truth, or at least in search of it.

PE: Views of the Teacher

We talked at length today about the perceived dangers of teachers impressing their views on students.  While this tactic may make more sense at the undergraduate level, I would like to pose it as one that could apply to all grade levels--can a teacher mitigate the espousal of 'dangerous' views simply by being just another member of the class?

Obviously, there will always be a slight element of power difference when it comes to the student-teacher interaction within the classroom.  With that being said, if a teacher simply poses questions, and entertains viewpoints in such a way that suggests they exist independent of everyone in the room, which they do logically speaking, then were is the danger of impressing a view point?  And moreover, it seems that teachers can still direct conversation and refute illogical view points while acting as a student or moderator, and not the sole possessor of these views.  Thoughts?

Critical Thinking in the Arts

In testing Siegel's claim that critical thinking is paramount in education, we soon began discussing whether or not one can or should think critically about the arts--one point I was trying to make in class, though possibly couldn't clarify, was the idea that while critical thinking is perhaps necessary for the pursuit of knowledge in some fields, it is quite possible to aesthetically enjoy music without thinking critically.

With that being said, the arts certainly contain the capability and room for the critical thinker.  It is quite possible to enjoy art without this aspect, yet I don't think this is relevant to Siegel's claim: as long as the capability within art for the critical thinker exists, then I think we can accept Siegel's claim comfortably, without having to endanger subjects like music, or any of the arts.