Review by Choice Review
A specialist in law and ethics, Nussbaum (Univ. of Chicago) works in several disciplines, among them philosophy, law, and religious studies. In this extended essay, she argues that the liberal arts are vital yet for the most part neglected in contemporary education. Governments, she writes, encourage education for economic growth, and schools teach children to value material gain rather than the common wealth and moral good that come through good citizenship based on intellectual inquiry. The author contends that this turn of events means the end of traditional liberal education as it has been received and articulated by proponents of a humanistic education. The problem with this book is that those who pick it up are likely predisposed to accept Nussbaum's arguments, but those whom she would most like to persuade will likely not find her appeals compelling. Nussbaum bases many of her arguments on analogy and example, and she offers especially two exemplars--Socrates and Tagore--as the epitome of the contemplative life she conceives as a desirable model for any educated person. Though many will challenge some of Nussbaum's claims, conclusions, and presuppositions, those same readers will agree with her in general. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. A. P. Church Dickinson State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
The trend in education at all levels and around the world, Nussbaum fears, is toward rote instruction in "applied skills suited to profit-making" and away from cultivation of "the ability to think critically" and "to imagine sympathetically the predicament of another person." Nussbaum, a professor at the University of Chicago, brings to this perennial debate an impassioned urgency ("The future of the world's democracies hangs in the balance") and broad erudition. She draws on developmental psychology to present a model for teaching children how "narcissism, helplessness, shame" and "disgust" interfere with compassion. Surveying Socrates, Rousseau, Dewey, Rabindranath Tagore and others, she investigates the key insight of progressive pedagogy through the ages, that "student passivity" is not "good for citizenship or for life." Nussbaum's defense of this worthy cause is deeply learned, but she only glancingly engages with the arguments for standardized testing of basic skills, a considerable lapse in a work dedicated to promoting understanding of the Other. She sets up straw-man antagonists, unidentified diabolical educators who would foster "moral obtuseness" to make students into better capitalist automatons. And Nussbaum never wrestles with the conflict between her goals of nurturing open debate and instilling a "normative" value system, nor with the complications of teaching values in a polarized political environment. Conservatives would undoubtedly fight Nussbaum over which norms to instill.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 15, 2010]
Review by Booklist Review
Worries about the economy and the need to advance technology are threatening liberal arts education in the U.S. to the ultimate detriment of our democracy, laments philosopher Nussbaum. She explores the long history of emphasis on humanities in education in the U.S., exploring the influences of Horace Mann, Bronson Alcott, John Dewey, and others, including India's Rabindranath Tagore. She devotes a separate chapter to Socrates and his teachings that have figured prominently in developing a sense of citizenship in democracy; the connectedness of individuals; and the importance of the ability to question, analyze, and argue points of view. Nussbaum offers examples and case studies from the U.S. and India of the shift from the human-development paradigm to the growth-oriented paradigm and what nations are at risk of losing. She analyzes the role of the arts and humanities in developing language skills and encouraging curiosity about other cultures and sympathy for other individuals. This is a passionate call to action at a time when the nation is becoming more culturally diverse and universities are cutting back on humanities programs.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A spirited if unremarkable defense of the value of a liberal arts education and of the humanities in general against the encroachment of economic growth-oriented paradigms on global learning practices. Distinguished philosopher Nussbaum (Hiding from Humanity) argues that education for profit has displaced education for citizenship, and with the sidelining of the humanities, critical thinking, empathy, and the understanding of injustice are neglected. Moving deftly between analysis and polemic, the author draws on education practices in India, experimental psychology, the works of such liberal education proponents as Dewey and Tagore to emphasize the importance of critical pedagogy for the development of individual responsibility, innovation, and self-examination. However, while Nussbaum admirably defends liberal humanitarian education, little in the book is new, and she is only moderately successful in pinpointing precisely how educational practices might be reformed or, more importantly, how decision makers might be convinced of the necessity of such reformation. Nonetheless, in advocating educational curriculums that recognize the worth of personal development and creative thought, this slim book is itself a small but decisive step in the effort to broaden and enrich current pedagogical practices. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
