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Radical thoughts on educating children

June 16, 2004

arthur.jpgBringing empathy to the playground is more important than
“preaching and moralising,” according to a Canadian philosopher
visiting the University of New England.

Professor Michael Allen Fox, from Queen’s University, Canada, is
an expert on the teachings of the 19th Century German
philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, whose writings influenced
thinkers as diverse as Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud and
Albert Schweitzer, as well as writers such as Thomas Mann and Samuel
Beckett.

Fox will deliver a public seminar, Boundless Compassion:
Schopenhauer's Relevance for Ethics Today at UNE tomorrow
(June 17) at 11am (Arts, Room 122). He will discuss these ideas as well as looking critically at Schopenhauer’s notorious attitudes toward women.
“Schopenhauer’s ethical views have a lot of relevance today,
especially when it comes to seeking inner and world peace,”
according to Fox.

For instance, Schopenhauer believed the unconscious -- desire,
will and instinct -- is responsible for a person’s behaviour, a
revolutionary thought during his lifetime (1788-1860). He also
held that suffering is the primary fact of life and something that we
all inevitably share.

As Fox explained: “Schopenhauer believed abstract moral systems
do not produce a good human being, that it was more important to
create the right personality. So, in terms of today’s practice, it is
better to bring out empathy in schoolchildren than to stress rules
and principles. Ultimately, this will make better humans and lead
to peace.”


“Schopenhauer was one of the first thinkers to appropriate ideas
of Buddhism into Western philosophy,” Fox said. “I will be investigating how his ethics of compassion makes a contribution to developing a better society and a better world.” Fox has just been made an Adjunct Professor at UNE.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at June 16, 2004 03:09 PM