Multiculturalism in Postmodern Age

Morimichi Kato 성결대학교 다문화평화연구소 2010 다문화와 평화 Vol.4 No.1

Multiculturalism has been a hotly debated subject since the 70’of the last century. It has been approached mainly from the point of view of political philosophy such as liberalism or Marxism. This led to a debate about “Political correctness” or “ultural wars”which often gave an impression of a sterile partisan issue. In this paper we try to take a different approach of hermeneutical multiculturalism based on the hermeneutic theory of experience offered by Gadamer. The paper consists of 7sections. In the first introductory section, we point out the problem concerning the debate on multiculturalism in the United States since the 70’s. This leads to a proposal to take the issue of multiculturalism from a wider historical context. In the second section, through a historical overview we locate the genesis of multiculturalism in the end of modernity. Even though the world has been multicultural since the primordial times, the multiculturalism as an affirmation of multicultural situation is something new. In the third section, we will discuss the ethics of multiculturalism. It lies in the acknowledgement of the human condition such as temporality, historicity and frailty which was often neglected by “trong”theories of modernity. In the fourth section, we deal with the contemporary threats to multiculturalism such as the “lash of civilizations”after the 9.11Multiculturalism in Postmodern Age 147 and the standardization of education. In the fifth section, we point out the problems of globalization which lies behind the standardization, and the challenge it poses to multiculturalism. In the sixth section, we show the main feature of hermeneutical multiculturalism through the hermeneutical concepts of horizon and experience. In the finally section, we point out the role that humanities could play for multicultural education.

Significance of the rhetorical and humanistic tradition for education today

Morimichi Kato 서울대학교 교육연구소 2014 Asia Pacific Education Review Vol.15 No.1

This article intends to illuminate the educational significance of the rhetorical and humanistic tradition. This tradition exerted a great influence upon Western education in the past, but its significance has been largely overlooked by the current philosophy of education. This is probably owing to the centuries-old prejudice against rhetoric and “pedantry” espoused since Plato. Against such criticism, this article intends to defend the educational value of the rhetorical and humanistic tradition by retrieving three essential features as noted by its major theorists—Protagoras (ca. 490–420 B.C.), Cicero (106–43 B.C.), and Leonardo Bruni (1370–1444). These features include public spiritedness, a broader understanding of language, and multi-perspective knowledge. Protagoras, Cicero, and Bruni (each in their own historical context) criticized the closed attitude of philosophers toward monopolizing truth and stood in favor of the public sphere where important matters could be openly discussed. Second, they criticized the philosophical understanding of language as a mirror that represents truth and presented a wider understanding of language that considers the speaker–listener relationship. Third, they developed their concept of multi-perspective knowledge, which was opposed to the philosophical knowledge directed toward a special object, as seen in the Platonic Ideas. The re-evaluation of these three features is absolutely necessary if we wish to rescue the rhetorical and humanistic tradition from the blame of parochial chauvinism. By retrieving these features, the rhetorical and humanistic tradition can help to make contemporary education more publicly open (less closed to specialists), more sensitive to the power of language, and more appropriate within the multi-cultural and multi-lingual experience of the modern world.

Topography of Education

( Morimichi Kato ) 경북대학교 중등교육연구소 2019 Asia Pacific Journal of Educational Research Vol.2 No.2

Educational discourses of our age are dominated by the universal standard and globalization. 500 hundred years ago, schools around the world were quite diverse. They were shaped by local tradition and climate. The landscape has changed drastically since the development of modern educational system in Europe and its proliferation around the world. Just like modern buildings, modern schools today tend to be more or less the same around the world. How should we understand this process? And how should we position ourselves to it? This short paper is just a prolegomenon of such an inquiry. The first part of the paper is historical and longer. It is devoted to clarify the origin and essential feature of modern education. Modern education was fueled by philanthropy and desire to enlighten the world. At the same time, it retained strong obsession with method, which was globally applicable as technology. The second part is philosophical and short. It asserts the necessity of the critique of modern education and hints at the way for this. If this critique can be sustained, the theme of topography of education will become more relevant.

Multiculturalism in Postmodern Age

모리미치카토 ( Kato Morimichi ) 성결대학교 다문화평화연구소 2010 다문화와 평화 Vol.4 No.1

세계화 시대에 교양인이 된다는 것의 의미

카토모리미치 ( Morimichi Kato ) 교육철학회 2009 교육철학연구 Vol.44 No.-

이 논문의 목적은 세계화가 교육에 미치는 영향을 탐구하는 것이다. 이 문제를 다룸에 있어서 과학적 접근 방식은 구체적인 현상에 대한 이해와 치유책을 찾는 데 유용한 시사점을 제공해줄 수 있지만, 세계화의 성격과 본질을 충분히 제시할 수 없는 한계를 지닌다. 이러한 인식 하에, 본 논문에서는 세계화의 문제에 대해 현대 서구의 과학적 논의 맥락을 넘어서는 보다 넓은 관점에서, 역사적이고 간문화적으로 탐구하는 철학적 접근을 시도하였다. 먼저 세계화 현상에 대한 일반적인 고찰을 통해, 오늘날의 세계화는 과거와 달리 자연과의 결별에 의존하는 현대 테크놀로지의 성격과 본질적으로 연관됨을 논의하였다. 다음으로 열린 공간으로서 플라톤의 `동굴`과 닫힌 공간으로서 로크의 `암실`이라는 두 이미지를 비교함으로써, 현대의 지식정보 테크놀로지의 배경을 존재론에서 인식론으로의 전환이라는 관점에서 설명하였다. 이런 의미에서 현대의 인식론, 테크놀로지, 세계화라는 세 축이 근본적으로 상호 연결되어 있다는 이해의 기반 위에서, 그러한 급격한 변화가 현대 교육에 미친 영향에 대해 고찰하였다. 그 결과로 첫째, 현대의 교육이 세계에 관한 표상(정보)를 조작하고 정리하는 기술로 축소되었다는 점, 둘째, 이로 인해 교육목표에 대한 논의의 빈곤 현상이 초래되었다는 점, 셋째, 경작과 자기 변형의 의미를 지녔던 문화인 혹은 교양인의 지위가 위협받게 되면서 전문화를 특징으로 하는 현대의 학자는 암실의 벽에 갇히게 되었다는 점을 지적하였다. 이러한 문제를 극복하기 위해, 결론적으로 교육에서 전통적인 교양 혹은 경작의 개념을 재평가해야 하며, 다른 문화들의 지평을 다양한 형태의 인간 성장과 변혁이 합리적으로 일어날 수 있는 열린 공간으로 이해하도록 우리를 개방하는 일이 현대 다문화주의 시대의 과제임을 밝혔다. The aim of this paper is to inquire after the impact of globalization on education. Considering the limits of the approach of social and educational sciences to deal with this problem, we need the approach of philosophy equipped with historical and intercultural perspective, which would enable us to inquire after the nature or essence of globalization deep enough. For this purpose, this paper deals with three interrelated topics, the essence of contemporary globalization as an offspring grown from the ground of modern epistemology and technology, the impact of the triad of epistemology, technology and globalization upon education in a way as to enhance representation and specialization, and the critical reflection and reevaluation of the traditional concept of being a cultivated person today.

오늘날 교육철학의 과제

카토모리미치 ( Morimichi Kato ) 한국교육철학학회(구 교육철학회) 2011 교육철학연구 Vol.33 No.4

오늘날 교육철학은 근대 과학의 이상에서 파생된 매우 전문화된 학문분야이다. 그러나 고대 희랍에서 그 기원을 찾는다면 그 상황은 사뭇 다를 것이다. 그 당시 교육철학(파이데이야)은 바로 철학 그 자체였다. 소크라테스와 플라톤의 철학은 펠레폰네소스 전쟁의 위기에 대한 지적 대응이었고, 이 전쟁의 근간에는 교육의 위기가 있었다. 이러한 본래 모습의 교육철학은 이론의 형태가 아니라 정의와 절제로 특징 지워지는 특별한 삶의 방식으로서 실천적 제안이었다. 우리는 ``인``과 ``이``로 특징 지워지는 삶의 방식을 제안하는 유교에서도 이와 유사한 성격의 교육철학을 발견할 수 있다. 고전적 교육철학의 이러한 특징은 17세기 서양철학의 인식론적 선회를 거치면서 상당히 훼손되었다. 하나의 분과학문으로서의 교육철학이 현재겪고 있는 무력감은 이러한 훼손과 상실의 결과로 볼 수 있다. 이 무력감을 극복하기 위해 교육철학은 전문화에 저항하고, 교육학내 상이한 학문분과들 간에 대화가 일어나도록 노력할 필요가 있다. 그리고 삶의 방식으로서의 교육철학이라는 본래의 성격을 회복할 필요가 있다. Philosophy of education today is a highly specialized discipline, which sprang from the modern ideal of science. However, if we go back to its origin in ancient Greece, we find the situation quite different. At that time, philosophy of education (paideia) was philosophy par excellence. Philosophy of Socrates and Plato was a response to the crisis of the Peloponnesian War, at the roots of which they saw a crisis of education. In addition to this, this original philosophy of education was a practical proposal of a special way of life characterized by justice and temperance, not just a theory. A similar trait of philosophy of education can also be found in Confucianism, which proposed a way of life characterized by jen and li. This original character of classical philosophy of education suffered great damage through the epistemological turn in the seventeenth century. The powerlessness that haunts modern philosophy of education is a result of this loss. In order to overcome this powerlessness, philosophy of education should fight against specialization and try to bring different disciplines into conversation. In addition to this, it should retrieve its original character of the philosophy as a way of life.