Recalling Education

by Hugh Mercer Curtler and Professor of Philosophy Hugh Mercer Curtler

In this searching and well-written critique, a distinguished professor of philosophy argues that the purpose of education—enabling students to achieve intellectual autonomy—has been forgotten. Hugh... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1882926552
• ISBN13: 9781882926558
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Intercollegiate Studies Institute
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Challenging the Mind

This is a wonderful book that challenges the readers mind and introduces new ideas. Curtler mentions that all must have "positive freedom". This is the freedom to choose using your own knowledge and choosing the choice that will benefit oneself in the long run. We are not born with this freedom, but Curtler says, "It must be achieved through effort, increased understanding, and the ability to use one's intellectual powers" (3). I have never been introduced to these ideas but as a college student, I can see where he is coming from. Institutions focus too much on trying to train students to get a job. Curtler does not agree with this type of education but believes education should help a student to use their mind and to use their knowledge so they can have "positive freedom". Instead of memorizing something, learn to be able to learn and then we will be able to come to the conclusion by ourselves instead of it being given to us. These tactics will help us gain this "positive freedom" that Curtler mentions so many times. It is a very provoking book and I highly recommend reading it. It will pass along to you new ideas and will challenge your mind so that you will be able to decide what you feel is right. Never go on in life learning ideas that won't challenge your belief but instead let your mind be challenged and it will grow immensely. And that is what Curtler is trying to teach us all, to let our minds be challenged so we will be able to gain "positive freedom".

A Real Education

I instantly became engaged in Curtler's novel, Recalling Education, because it captures the spirit of a real education. According to Curtler, a real education is one where students learn for the sake of learning, not to learn a trade or prepare for jobs. That is not to say that education should not provide us with knowledge for future jobs, but that the main focus of getting an education should be to make us well-rounded people who can communicate and act intelligently, using "positive freedom." Curtler was very clear and gave specific examples to effectively support his argument. He presented his ideas in an orderly fashion, which made them easy to understand. This book is an excellent read, especially for someone like me, who is a freshman in college. His ideas made me think about the real purpose of my education and also about the reason I am attending college.

A GOOD Wake Up Call

Being a freshman in college, this book helped give me a direction because it allowed me to focus on the real reason I'm getting a better education past high school. The argument Curtler presents is highly persuasive since he appeals to the logos of people. His arguments usually start with a defining of terms that help you understand his chapter themes. He focuses on colleges in particular, and what is supposed to be taught there which appealed to me as a student. Teacher and student have different roles, but both are equally important to the expanding of the student's knowledge. I liked Chapter IV: How Not to Read a Book because for many years my teachers taught me the incorrect way, and he gave a straightforward, right way of thinking through issues. I wouldn't say this is a simple and quick read, but it is worth the time. It didn't change my ideological ideas, but he says it best when he explains the power of knowledge, "...education is the process whereby rational agents achieve autonomy and are thereby empowered to decide and act for themselves." (42)

What is the purpose of education?

Before I write this review, I want to make it clear that I know the author and was a philosophy student of his. This makes me biased in this review and I wanted that to be clear to all the readers. Having said that, this book is an excellent look at what education is and what education is not. It examines how we have come to look at education as job-training, which it clearly is not. It examines how we can change education for the better, drawing on Classical models as well as more modern ideas of education. Students and educators should take a close look at this book, it can creating stirring debate about education's future.

A Contemporary Classic

Curtler's Recalling Education is a must read for all students of education at all levels. I seldom find books with such clarity and insight on issues of a contemporary nature as this one. The author provides a context within which to view complex issues with ease. The treatment of the Liberal Arts in Chapter VI is the best that I have read in years. It depicts the role that the Classic Liberal Arts play in freeing individuals from the constraints of ignorance and the passions of emotionalism. Curtler provids a lucid treatment of the Liberal Arts as necessary for the preservation of liberty, especially in a society that values freedoms yet ignores the incumbent responsibilities that liberty predicates. Chapter VII, Can Virtue Be Taught, is a must for every teacher in our schooling system as well as every parent. Not only does he clarify the purpose of the virtues in a participatory democracy but he also illustrates the distinction between teaching the virtues as an intellectual endeavor of the schools versus establishing them as habituated behaviors through reinforcement in early childhood. Finally, the virtues are established as the basis of character and self-discipline. Drawing on the Greek philosophers, Dr. Curtler presents these timeless treasures in terms both comprehensible and provocative. I list this text as strongly recommended for all of my graduate students in teacher education as there is no equal on the contemporary market. If you like Mortimer Adler, you will love Hugh Curtler.