Classic and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Education

by Steven M. Cahn

Intended for philosophy of education courses, this anthology brings together classic writings on education by leading figures in the history of philosophy and notable contributions to the field by a variety of contemporary thinkers. The first section provides material from a sizable collection of classic writers, enabling students to read the original sources for themselves. The second section includes recent materials that reflect diverse approaches such as feminism, critical theory, and multiculturalism.

There is a newer edition of this book available on Amazon.com, published on February 18, 2011, which can be found by searching Amazon.com for an of 0199783063.

Genres: Education, Philosophy, Textbooks

544 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1996

About the author

Steven M. Cahn, Ph.D. (Philosophy, Columbia University, 1966; A.B., Columbia College, 1963), teaches academic ethics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of education at the Graduate Center and has published widely in the field of philosophy and education.

Cahn joined the Graduate Center as professor of philosophy and dean of graduate studies in 1983. He was named provost and vice president for academic affairs in 1984, remaining in that position until 1992. He previously taught at Dartmouth College, Vassar College, the University of Rochester, New York University, and the University of Vermont, where from 1973 to 1980 he headed the department of philosophy. He held executive positions with the Exxon Education Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and he is longtime president of the John Dewey Foundation.

Reviews

[Amanda McFeeley]

I read this for my Ph.D. class so you better believe that I'm counting this one towards my reading goal. Especially since I annotated the crap out of this behemoth.

[Jordan James · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I can't rate the individual works which make up this anthology, I can say the curation feels lacking. The emphasis is heavy on the classic, leaving less that 1/4 of the work to contemporary readings. Further, both the classic and contemporary authors are given extremely limited biographies or introductions with which to contextualize their work leaving a lot of supplementary work for the reader, student, educator using this volume for coursework. Sacrificing a few texts or authors entirely in favor of more depth might make for a better text and a better course, although, this could be mended by a discerning professor.