The End of Education: A Masterpiece Translation

Author: (American) Spannos, translated by Wang Chengbing et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: The fundamental thesis of this book is that the contemporary crisis in higher education is one symptom of what Martin Heidegger termed the "end of philosophy." More specifically, in historical terms, I argue that the events culminating in the Vietnam War exposed the inherent contradictions within the discourse and institutional practices of humanism: its principle of just inquiry, in fact, became a disguised instrument of power. As an example of this revelation, I wish to draw upon the protest movements of the 1960s, when students, representing Black people, women, minorities, and other groups still denied the right to vote, refused to spontaneously endorse the "benevolent practices" of humanistic universities in response to their complicity with the war in Vietnam under the name of the "free world." This book warns that the chaos in higher education will lead to two possible outcomes: either education will self-reorganize according to mainstream cultural paradigms, or it will give rise to an intellectual discourse involving core curricula, humanism, political correctness, and the new world order. This book is extensively referenced, drawing on the thoughts of renowned theorists, philosophers, and critics such as Martin Heidegger and Michel Foucault, and points out the purpose of humanistic education based on events since the Vietnam War. Written in postmodern academic language, it engages with numerous events and intellectual ideas of the 20th century and presents new perspectives on observing them.