_A._ The dynastic feudal state (_Ancien Regime_).
1. Description of the _Ancien Regime_.
2. Proponents of the _Ancien Regime_.
Dynasties (divine right monarchs).
Feudal landlords.
Higher clergy and state churches.
The army command (younger sons of the nobility).
The schools (education for privileged classes only).
_B._ The revolutionary elements.
1. The dissatisfied feudal serf.
2. The intellectuals, rationalists, political theorists.
The "social compact." ... Popular sovereignty.
3. Religious dissenters.
4. Industrial elements.
_a._ The Industrial Revolution.
Resulting in exportation, markets, and _laissez-faire_
doctrines.
_b._ The bourgeoisie (employers) ... The Third Estate.
_c._ The proletariat ... Unorganized labor elements.
_C._ The Revolutionary Period, 1789-1800.
1. Triumph of bourgeoisie over feudal aristocracy in France,
1789-1791.
Limited monarchy. Mirabeau.
2. Increasing influence and rise to control of France of the Parisian
proletariat. The Republic ... The Terror ... Robespierre.
3. Radiation of revolutionary ideas to other nations.
4. Wars between revolutionary France and monarchical Europe.
The rise of Napoleon.
_D._ The decline of the revolutionary elements, 1800-1815.
1. France converted from a republic to an empire by Napoleon.
2. The Napoleonic Wars.
_a._ Reveal Napoleon's dynastic ambition.
_b._ Lead Europe to combine against him and to blame democratic
ideas for the sorrows of the time.
_c._ Result in the defeat of Napoleon and the triumph of
anti-democratic or reactionary elements.
_E._ The fruits of the principle of popular sovereignty during the
19th century (chronologically England and France lead the other
countries in most of these developments).[39]
1. Constitutions, embodying ever-increasing popular rights and
powers.
2. Extension of suffrage. Political parties and party politics.
3. The spirit of nationality.
Independence of Greece and Belgium.
Unification of Italy and Germany.
National revivals in Poland, Bulgaria, Servia, Rumania, Bohemia,
Finland, Ireland, and elsewhere.
Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism, Imperial Federation.
4. Class consciousness and strife.
Feudal aristocratic class--leans toward absolute monarchy.
Bourgeoisie (employing capitalists)--leans toward limited
monarchies or republics.
Labor--leans toward socialism. (The other elements in the society
are slow in developing a group consciousness.)
5. Abolition of feudal forms and tenures.
Fight on great landlords. Encouragement of independent farmers.
Emancipation and protection of peasants: France, 1789; Prussia,
1808; Austria, 1848; Russia, 1861.
6. Social, socialistic, and humanitarian legislation.
Factory acts, minimum wage laws, industrial insurance, old age
insurance, labor exchanges, child labor laws, prison reform
acts, revision of penal codes, abolition of slavery and slave
trade, government control or ownership of railways, telephones,
telegraph, and mails.
7. Opposition to state or national churches.
Disestablishment agitations ... Separation of church and state.
8. Demand for free public schools to replace church or other private
schools. State lay schools in England ... Suppression of teaching
orders in France ... Kulturkampf in Germany ... Expulsion of
Jesuits ... Tendency toward compulsory non-sectarian education.
9. Imperialism.
Industrial societies depend on imports, exports, and markets as
means of keeping labor employed and people prosperous.
This means export of capital, hence, plans for colonies, closed
doors, preferential markets, and demands for the protection of
citizens abroad and political stability in backward areas.
Partition of Africa, Asia, and Near East.
10. Militarism.
Expansion and colonial acquisition by one country exclude
another, thus unsettling the balance of power. Therefore
rival nations depend on force and go in for military and
naval programs.
_F._ The conflict between reactionary and bourgeois
interests, 1815-1848.
1. Reactionary elements in control--opposed to democracy and
revolutionary doctrines.
_a._ Restore Europe as nearly as possible on old lines at Vienna,
1815.
Ignore liberal tendencies and national sentiments.
_b._ Seek to maintain _status quo_.
Metternich ... Holy Alliance.
Carlsbad Decrees ... Congresses of Troppau, Laibach,
Verona ... Intervention in Naples, Piedmont, and Spain.
Proposal to restore Latin America to Monarchy.
Opposed by Great Britain in compliance with bourgeois
interests.
Monroe Doctrine.
_c._ Failed to prevent:
Greek revolution and independence (national movement).
Separation of Belgium from the Netherlands (national).
Revival of liberal demands in various quarters, producing the
revolution of 1830 in France and elsewhere.
2. The ascendancy of the bourgeoisie, 1830-1848.
_a._ Industrialism on the continent.
_b._ The bourgeois (capitalist employer) secures political power
to advance his interests.
Revolution of 1830.
Reform bill of 1832.
Legislation against labor organizations and for tariffs
favoring trade.
_c._ The development of organized labor and socialism.
Legislation hostile to labor. Chartism.
Labor in France, Germany, and Belgium.
Spread of socialist doctrines.
_d._ The Revolution of 1848.
Socialist republican state in France, 1848.
The winning of constitutions in Prussia, Austria, and
elsewhere--breach in the walls of reaction.
_G._ The broadening base of democracy, 1848-1914.
1. The organization of labor.
2. The spread of socialistic views and of class consciousness.
Karl Marx.
3. The resistance of the old aristocratic class and the bourgeoisie,
who gradually fuse to form the conservative element in all
nations.
Napoleon III restores the Empire in France.
In Austria and Prussia, Bismarck and Francis Joseph II retrieve
losses of 1848.
Disraeli and Conservatives in England.
4. The progress toward universal suffrage after 1865, strengthening
political position of lower classes.
Vindication of democratic government through triumph of the North
in the United States gave impetus to democracy abroad.
Electoral reform bills in Great Britain, 1867, 1884, 1885.
Franco-Prussian War and the Third French Republic. Universal
suffrage.
Unification of Germany and universal suffrage.
Russian Revolution, 1917.
Woman suffrage.
5. Popular sovereignty and its consequences.
_a._ Triumph of republicans and radicals in France over
monarchists and clericals.
_b._ Liberal ministries in United Kingdom.
Lloyd George Budget ... Parliament Act. Social legislation.
_c._ Growth of Social Democratic party in Germany.
Bismarck and state socialism.
_d._ In recent times the many divergent political parties fall
rather instinctively into three groups which have opposing
views and policies on almost every question, and which may
be called:
Conservatives (Tories, aristocrats, monarchists, Junkers,
clericals, capitalists, imperialists, militarists);
peasants and farmers, being conservative, are usually
politically allied to this group.
Liberals (progressives, democrats, labor parties,
Socialists, social democrats, Dissenters,
anti-imperialists, anti-militarists).
Radicals, Bolsheviki or revolutionists seeking change of the
economic and social order.
6. Effects of the war
_a._ Extensive nationalization and socialization of industry and
human rights in all belligerent countries.
_b._ Develops into a "war for democracy," and for moral as opposed
to materialistic aims.
_c._ Culminates in an attempt to secure a righteous and lasting
peace through the instrumentality of a league of nations.
EDWARD KREHBIEL
_Leland Stanford Junior University_
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TEXTS
ANDREWS, C. M. _Historical Development of Modern Europe._ Two vols. G.
P. Putnam's Sons, 1900.
HAYES, CARLTON J. H. _A Political and Social History of Modern
Europe._ Two vols. The Macmillan Company, 1916.
ROBINSON, J. H., and BEARD, C. A. _The Development of Modern Europe._
Two vols. Ginn and Co., 1907, 1908.
SCHEVILL, FERDINAND. A_ Political History of Modern Europe._ Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1907.
PERIOD HISTORIES
BOURNE, HENRY ELDREDGE. _The Revolutionary Period in Europe._ The
Century Company, 1914.
_Cambridge Modern History._ Thirteen vols. and maps. I. the
Renaissance; II. The Reformation; III. The Wars of Religion; IV. The
Thirty Years' War; V. The Age of Louis XIV; VI. The Eighteenth
Century; VII. The United States; VIII. The French Revolution; IX.
Napoleon; X. The Restoration; XI. The Growth of Nationalities; XII.
The Latest Age; XIII. Genealogical Tables and Lists and General Index;
also on atlas, in another volume. Cambridge, the University Press,
1902-1912.
HAZEN, CHARLES DOWNER. _Europe since 1815._ Henry Holt & Co., 1910.
LINDSAY, T. M. _A History of the Reformation._ Two vols. Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1906-1907.
LOWELL, E. J. _The Eve of the French Revolution._
SCHAPIRO, JACOB SALWYN. _Modern and Contemporary European History._
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918.
WAKEMAN, H. O. _The Ascendancy of France._ The Macmillan Company,
1894.
SOURCE BOOKS
ANDERSON, FRANK MALOY. _The Constitutions and Other Select Documents
Illustrative of the History of France, 1789-1901._ H. W. Wilson
Company, Minneapolis, 1904.
FLING, FRED MORROW. _Source Problems of the French Revolution._ Harper
and Brothers, 1913.
ROBINSON, J. H. _Readings in European History._ Two vols. Ginn and
Co., 1904.
---- _Readings in European History._ Abridged Edition. Ginn and Co.,
1906.
ROBINSON, J. H., and BEARD, C. A. _Readings in Modern European
History._ Two vols. Ginn and Co., 1908.
---- _Readings in Modern European History._ Abridged Edition. Ginn and
Co., 1909.
ATLASES
_Cambridge Modern History._ Volume of Maps. Cambridge, the University
Press, 1912.
DOW, EARLE W. _Atlas of European History._ Henry Holt & Co., 1909.
DROYSE, GUSTAV. _Allgemeiner historischer Kandatlas._ Velhagen und
Klasing, Leipzig, 1886.
GARDINER, SAMUEL RAWSON. _A School Atlas of English History._
Longmans, Green & Co., 1910.
POOLE, REGINAL LANE. _Historical Atlas of Modern Europe from the
Decline of the Roman Empire._ H. Frowde, 1896-1902.
PUTZGER, FRIEDRICH WILHELM. _Historischer Schul-atlas zur alten,
mittleren, und neunen Geschichte._ Velhagen und Klasing, Leipzig,
1910.
SHEPHERD, WILLIAM ROBERT. _Historical Atlas._ Henry Holt & Co., 1911.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
ADAMS, CHARLES KENDALL. _A Manual of Historical Literature._ Harper
and Brothers, 1888.
ANDREWS, GAMBRILL, and TALL. _A Bibliography of History for Schools
and Libraries._ Longmans, Green & Co., 1911.
PEDAGOGICAL
Committee of Seven. American Historical Association. _The Study of
History in the Schools._ The Macmillan Company, 1899.
Committee of Five. American Historical Association. _The Study of_
_History in the Secondary Schools._ The Macmillan Company, 1911.
DUNN, ARTHUR WILLIAM. _The Social Studies in Secondary Education._
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 28,
1916.
JOHNSON, H. _The Teaching of History in Elementary and Secondary
Schools._ 1915.
ROBINSON, JAMES HARVEY. _The New History; Essays Illustrating the
Modern History Outlook._ The Macmillan Company, 1912.
HISTORICAL FICTION
BAKER, E. A. _History in Fiction._ Two vols. E. P. Dutton & Co., 1907.
NIELD, JONATHAN. _A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales._ G.
P. Putnam's Sons.
PERIODICALS
_The American Historical Review._ Published by the American Historical
Association, Washington, D. C.
_The History Teacher's Magazine._ McKinley Publishing Company,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Footnotes:
[39] This summary of the consequences of the doctrines of democracy is
allowed to break into the topical development of the outline, as it
gives a sort of general introduction to tendencies since 1815. It will
not escape the teacher that he could treat history since 1815 by
taking up in order the topics given under this heading.
XIII
THE TEACHING OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
=Scope of political science=
Certain phases of what is known as political science form to no small
degree the content of courses in other branches of study. The
engineering schools in their effort to set forth the regulation of
public utilities with respect to engineering problems have begun to
offer courses which deal extensively with politics and government. In
political and constitutional history, considerable attention is given
to the organization and administration of the various divisions of
government. To a greater degree, however, the allied departments of
economics and sociology have begun, in the development of their
respective fields, to analyze matters which are primarily of a
political nature. Especially in what is designated as applied
economics and applied sociology there is to be found material a large
part of which relates directly to the regulation and administration of
governmental affairs. Thus in portions of the courses designated as
labor problems, money and banking, public finance, trust problems,
public utility regulation, problems in social welfare, and
immigration, primary consideration is frequently given to government
activities and to the influences and conditions surrounding government
control.
While these courses, then, deal in part with subject matter which
belongs primarily to the science of politics and while any
comprehensive survey of instruction in political science would include
an account of the phases of the subject presented in other
departments, for the present purpose it has been advisable to limit
the consideration of the teaching of political science to the subjects
usually offered under that designation.[40] Some attention, however,
will be given later to the relation of political science to allied
subjects.
A difference of opinion exists as to the meaning of political science,
some institutions using the term in a broad sense to embody courses
offered in history, economics, politics, public law, and sociology,
and others giving the word a very narrow meaning to include a few
specialized courses in constitutional and administrative law. There
is, nevertheless, a strong tendency to have the term "political
science" comprise all of the subjects which deal primarily with the
organization and the administration of public affairs.
=Courses usually offered in political science=
Through an exhaustive survey made by the Committee on Instruction of
the American Political Science Association, covering instruction in
political science in colleges and universities, the subjects which are
usually offered may be indicated in two groups:
LEADING COURSES FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES[41]
(Given in order of number of instruction hours, with highest ranked
first.)
_A._ Major Courses.
1. American government--including national, state, and local.
2. General political science--mainly political theory, with some
comparative government.
3. Comparative government--devoted chiefly to a study of England,
France, Germany, and the United States.
4. International law.
5. Commercial law.
6. Municipal government.
7. Constitutional law.
_B._ Minor Courses.
1. Jurisprudence, or elements of law.
2. Political theories.
3. Diplomacy.
4. State government.
5. Political parties.
6. Government of England.
7. Legislative methods of procedure.
8. Roman law.
9. Regulation of social and industrial affairs.
While the purposes and objects of instruction in this rather extensive
group of subjects vary considerably, it seems desirable to analyze the
chief objects in accordance with which political science courses are
presented to students of collegiate grade.
=Aims of instruction in government=
The aims of instruction in government are (1) to train for
citizenship; (2) to prepare for professions such as law, teaching,
business, and journalism; (3) to train experts and prepare specialists
for government positions; (4) to provide facilities and lead students
into research material and research methods. Each of these aims
affects to a certain extent a different class of students and renders
the problem as to methods of instruction correspondingly difficult.
=1. Training for citizenship=
In a certain sense all instruction may be looked upon as giving
training for the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, and
undoubtedly a great deal of instruction in other subjects aids in the
process of citizenship training. Nevertheless, a heavy responsibility
rests upon departments of political science to lead students into the
extensive literature on government as well as to instruct them with
respect to the organizations and methods by which the political and
social affairs are being conducted. In short, one of the primary aims
of government instruction and one which is kept foremost in the
arrangement of courses is elementary training for the average student
in the principles, the practices, and the technique of governmental
affairs. For such citizenship training, which is usually given in
large elementary classes, a special method of instruction and system
of procedure are pursued. It is necessary to provide subject matter
which is informational in character, as the lack of knowledge of the
governments of home and foreign countries is ordinarily appalling, and
which will open up by way of discussion and comparison many of the
leading problems of modern politics. More necessary and indispensable
is a method of study which will aid in pursuing inquiries along the
many and varied lines which will devolve upon the citizen performing
his multifarious duties and discharging his many responsibilities. As
many of the students will take but a single course, the opening up to
them of the vast field of government literature is one of the aims to
be constantly kept in mind. Moreover, while all of the above are
essential matters in the elementary courses, the most important
consideration of all is that the teaching of politics and government
will have utterly failed unless there are created a desire and an
interest which will lead into many lines of investigation beyond those
offered in a single introductory course. The development of this
interest and appreciation is the all-important object.
=2. Preparation for the professions=
Many who enter the introductory courses in government select the
subject with the idea of continuing their preparation for professional
life in their chosen fields. Among the professions which particularly
seek instruction in government are chiefly law, teaching, business,
and journalism. For these groups of students, many of whom continue
the study of the subject for several years, often going on into the
advanced courses in graduate departments, it is recognized that
beginning work which is too general and discursive may be less useful
than a specialized course which may be rounded out by a series of
correlated courses. Consequently, there is a question whether the
professional student, interested in the study of government, should
begin his work under the same conditions and with the same methods as
the student who does not expect to continue the subject. The number of
those who are preparing for the professions is often so large as to
require separate consideration and to affect seriously the
determination of the method and content of the introductory course.
This difficulty is obviated where professional courses are provided,
giving instruction in government and citizenship, as is now the
practice in certain law schools, in some departments of journalism,
and in a few engineering schools. For each of the major professions in
which government instruction is particularly sought a different type
of course is desired. For the law student comparative public law,
jurisprudence, and specialized government courses in various fields
are usually demanded. For the journalist, general subjects dealing
with specific countries and with the political practices of all
governments are regarded of special benefit. For the teaching
profession the study of some one line and specialization in a
particular field seem to be a necessity. Which is the better, such
specialized government courses for professional students, or a general
course for all introductory students, is still an undetermined
problem. The fact that most of the conditions and problems of
citizenship are similar for all these groups and that there is great
difficulty in providing separate instruction for each group renders it
necessary to provide an elementary course which is adapted to the
needs and which will serve the purpose of the citizen seeking a
general introduction in one course and the professional student who
seeks entrance to advanced courses.
=3. Training for public service and preparation of specialists for
government positions=
Colleges and universities have recently begun to give special
instruction for the training of those who desire to enter the
government service. A few institutions are offering courses and a
considerable number are beginning to adapt instruction which will be
of service not only to those who anticipate entrance into some form of
public work, but also to those who are engaged in performing public
service in some department of government. As a matter of fact, the
training of specialists must in large measure be cared for by
professional and technical schools, such as the provision for
directors of public health by medical schools, the training of
sanitary engineers by the engineering schools, the training of
accountants, statisticians, and financial experts by the schools of
commerce and finance. Nevertheless, departments offering instruction
in general political subjects are expected to give some consideration
to and to make special arrangements for advanced courses in the way of
preparing those who seek to enter the various divisions of the
government service, such as the consular and diplomatic affairs,
charitable and social work, and the administrative regulation of
public utilities, industrial affairs, and the public welfare. Through
the introduction of specialized courses in municipal, state, and
national administration it is possible to prepare more adequately for
various branches of public administration.
=4. Special courses in research and research methods=
Although research methods and graduate courses of instruction in
political science developed rather slowly, a substantial beginning has
been made by the universities in the offering of advanced courses in
which a specialized study is made of some of the problems of
government and the methods of administration. Through these courses
valuable contributions have been made to the historical and
comparative phases of the subject and to some extent to the analytical
study of government in operation. The primary aim has been to provide
an avenue and an opportunity for those who look forward to teaching or
to entering the field of special research work in politics and
governmental affairs. The results of the research work have been
rendered available to government officials and departments through
bureaus of research and other agencies devised to aid in improving the
public service. Only a few universities separate the graduate from the
undergraduate students, and as a result the instruction cannot be of
strictly graduate character and quality. Much of the present research
is done with small groups of students in a seminar where personal
direction is given to investigations and where the methods of research
are developed under direct supervision.
=Value of the subject=
Any determination of the value of a subject in the school curriculum
is necessarily based upon the opinions of individuals whose judgment
will vary in large measure according to their respective training,
influences, and predilections. The value of the subject which is
usually placed first is its usefulness in imparting information. Much
instruction in government is descriptive and informational in
character and is offered primarily to increase the stock of knowledge
and to give information with respect to the present and the future
interests of the citizen. While this descriptive material has served a
useful purpose, it is doubtful whether, as in the formal civics of the
public schools, the method of imparting information has not been used
so extensively as to have a detrimental effect. Too much attention has
been given to the memorization of facts and the temporary accumulation
of information more or less useful, and correspondingly too little to
thinking on the great political and social issues of the day.
When governments are engaging in endless activities which affect the
welfare of society in its social and aesthetic, as well as political
aspects, government instruction becomes increasingly necessary and
valuable as a cultural study. The recent development in European
political affairs has impressed upon the citizens of this country as
never before the results of a profound ignorance with respect to
conditions in foreign countries. While the knowledge of the affairs of
the great nations of the world has hitherto appeared advisable, it has
now come to be regarded as a necessity. From the standpoint of culture
a knowledge of the institutions of one's own country and of other
countries is one of the cardinal elements of education and provisions
for such instruction ought to be placed among the few primary topics
in the preparation of all educational programs. If culture involves an
understanding of the social and political conditions of the past and
present as well as some appreciation of the problems which confront
the individual in his activities of life, then the study of both
history and government must be given a foremost rank among the
subjects now classified as cultural.
With respect to formal discipline government instruction has been
rated lower than that of the more exact subjects, the languages and
mathematics. While it is true that from the standpoint of formal
discipline and exact methods government instruction has not measured
up to that of some other subjects, it must be remembered that the
standardization of instruction, and the methods pursued in other
subjects, have developed through a long process of years to the
present effectiveness in mental discipline. As the study of government
becomes more specialized, the material in the field worked into more
concrete form for purposes of instruction, the methods better
developed with the formulation of standard plans and principles, the
disciplinary value of the subject will be increased. The development
now in process is bringing about changes which will greatly enhance
not only the usefulness but in a large measure the disciplinary value
of the subject.
=Place in college curriculum=
Instruction in government is usually offered only to students who have
acquired sophomore standing. A few institutions now give a course in
government in the freshman year, and the practice seems to be meeting
with success. Sentiment is growing in favor of this plan. The argument
presented for this change is that a large percentage of the freshman
class does not continue college work, and consequently many students
have no opportunity to become acquainted with the special problems of
politics and government. To meet the need of those who spend but one
year in college, it is claimed that an introduction should be given to
the study of government problems. While there are strong reasons in
support of this change, the prevailing sentiment for the present
favors the requirement of a year's work in college as a prerequisite.
The advocates of this arrangement contend that in view of the fact
that most of the high schools are now giving a half of a year or a
year to civic instruction on somewhat the same plan as would be
necessary in a first-year college course, it seems better from the
standpoint of the student as well as of the department to defer the
introductory course until better methods of study and greater maturity
of mind are acquired.
Sophomore standing is the only prerequisite for the elementary course
except in a few institutions where the selection of a course in
history in the freshman year is required. A few colleges are offering
to freshmen an introductory course in the social sciences, comprising
mainly some elementary material from economics, sociology, and
political science. While there are some advantages in the effort to
give a general introduction to the social sciences, no practicable
content or method for such a course has yet been prepared. Moreover,
it seems likely now that such a general introduction will be
attempted either in the junior or in the senior high school. For
advanced work in the senior high school and for the introductory
college course reason and practice both favor a separation of these
subjects, with close correlation and constant consideration of the
interrelations.
=The introductory course=
It is customary to introduce students to the study of government
through a general course in American government, dealing briefly with
national, state, and local institutions. Other subjects, such as
comparative government,--including a consideration of some
representative foreign countries along with American government,--an
introductory course in political science, and international law, are
sometimes used as basic courses to introduce students to subsequent
work. The general practice in the introductory course seems to be
approaching a standard in which either American government is made the
basis of study, with comparisons from European practices and methods,
or European governments are studied, with attention by way of
comparison to the American system of government. The Committee of
Seven of the American Political Science Association offered the
following suggestions relative to the introductory course, which it
seems well to quote in full. The Committee recommended that:
American government be taken as the basis for the introductory
course because it is convinced that there is an imperative need
for a more thorough study of American institutions, because the
opportunity for this study is not now offered in any but a few of
the best secondary schools, and because it is exceedingly
important that the attention of an undergraduate be directed
early in his course to a vital personal interest in his own
government, national, state, and local. Instruction in political
science is rarely given until the second or third year of the
college work, and thus unless American government is selected for
the first course only a small percentage of students receive
encouragement and direction in the study of political affairs
with which they will constantly be expected to deal in their
ordinary relations as citizens. But the committee believes that
this study of American government can be distinctly vitalized by
the introduction of such comparisons with European practices and
forms as will supply the student with a broader basis of
philosophical conclusions as to constitutional development and
administrative practices.
The Committee is of the opinion that despite the very marked
increase of courses in American government within the past few
years, one of the immediate needs is the further extension and
enlargement of these courses. In only a few institutions is
enough time given to the subject to permit anything more than the
most cursory survey of the various features of the government,
and almost invariably state and local government suffer in the
cutting process which is necessary. About seventy institutions
only give courses in which state and local government are the
basis of special study. In order that state and local government
shall be given more consideration, and in order that judicial
procedure and administrative methods shall receive more than
passing notice, it is absolutely necessary that the time allotted
to American government be increased. Nothing short of a full year
of at least three hours a week gives the necessary time and
opportunity do anything like full justice to the national, state,
and local units.[42]
Because of the fact that only a small percentage of the student body
elects this course under present conditions, and because the majority
of those who do elect it never have an opportunity to continue the
study of government, it is thought that the selection of American
government for the beginning subject has the tendency to foster
provincialism. When but one course is taken this one, it is contended,
should deal with foreign governments, to supply a broader basis for
the comparison of political institutions. As the study of government
is introduced in the grades and thorough and effective instruction is
offered in the high school, it will become increasingly practicable to
introduce the comparative method in introductory courses.
=Sequence of courses=
One of the difficulties in the instruction in political science which
has received less consideration than it deserves is that of the sequence
of courses. In the determination of sequence it is customary to have an
introductory course, such as American government, European government,
or political theory, and to make this subject a prerequisite for all
advanced courses. As the introductory course requires sophomore
standing, it renders entrance into advanced courses open only to
students of junior rank or above. After passing the first course, there
are open for election a number of subjects, mainly along specialized
lines. This condition is to be found, particularly, in the large
universities, where a group of instructors offer specialized work, with
either little or no advice to students as to the proper arrangement or
sequence of courses. The ordinary classification is into three groups:
(1) an elementary course, prerequisite for advanced instruction; (2)
courses for graduate and undergraduate students, seldom arranged on a
basis of sequence or logical order;--the lack of sequence is due in part
to the fact that after taking elementary work the student in government
frequently wishes to specialize in the field of federal government, or
of state government, or of international law, or possibly of political
theory; (3) courses for graduate students, which are intended primarily
for investigation and research. Students who specialize in government
are generally advised by the head of the department or the professor
under whom their work is directed, as to the proper arrangement and
correlation of courses. It is, however, questionable whether some plan
of sequence more definitely outlined than that now to be found in most
catalogs ought not to be prepared in advance for the consideration of
those who look forward to specializing in political science. Such an
arrangement of sequence has been prepared by the department of political
science of the University of Chicago, which divides its work into (1)
elementary, (2) intermediate, (3) advanced--the advanced courses being
subdivided into (_a_) theory, (_b_) constitutional relations, (_c_)
public administration, and (_d_) law. Suggestions are offered as to the
principal and secondary sequences for various groups of students.
The sequence of courses could be better arranged provided a freshman
course were offered. A freshman course in American government could be
given, with some attention by way of comparison to European methods
and practices, and followed by an intermediate course dealing with
some select foreign governments, again using the comparative method
and viewpoint. Two courses of this character would offer a greater
opportunity to give the instruction now desired from the standpoint of
the average student and citizen, and would serve as a better basis for
advanced instruction than the single course now customarily offered
either in American or comparative government. After taking the
elementary courses the student could then be allowed to select from a
group of subjects in one of the various lines, according to the
special field in which he is interested. In short, the arrangement of
the sequence of courses will necessarily be unsatisfactory as long as
the elementary course is offered only to those of at least sophomore
rank, a practice which unfortunately necessitates in many cases the
beginning of the work in the junior or senior year. It will be
necessary to introduce the subject earlier in the curriculum, in order
to arrange such a sequence as would seem desirable from the standpoint
of thorough and effective instruction.
=Methods of instruction=
Methods of instruction[43] vary according to the size of the
institution and the number in the classes. In the preliminary courses
the system of informal lectures is combined with recitations,
discussions, reports, and quizzes. The students in the advanced
courses are obliged to carry on independent work under the
supervision of the instructor. For seniors and graduate students the
seminar has been found most satisfactory in developing a keen interest
in the problems of politics. Unfortunately, where the classes are
small and the time is limited, it is customary to rely largely on
textbooks and recitations, with a moderate amount of special readings
and occasional class reports. But, on the other hand, courses in
government have been improved recently by the appearance of good
textbooks. American and European governments are now presented in
texts which have proved satisfactory and which have aided in the
development of standard courses for these elementary subjects. Then,
too, interest has been aroused and better results obtained through the
use of texts and manuals dealing with the actual work and the problems
of government. The neglected fields of state government and
administrative practices are just beginning to receive attention.
One method of government instruction, and a very valuable one, is to
encourage the examination of evidence and to consider different
viewpoints on public questions, with the purpose of forming judgments
based on the facts. For this purpose extensive reading and frequent
reports are necessary to check up the work completed. It is possible
to keep in constant touch with the amount of work and the methods of
study or investigation by means of discussions in small sections for
one or two hours each week and by the use of the problem sheet.
In the courses offered in departments of government in such subjects
as constitutional law, international law, commercial law, and to some
extent in courses in jurisprudence and government regulation of public
utilities and social welfare, the case method has been adopted quite
extensively. This method has been sufficiently tried and its
effectiveness has been demonstrated in the teaching of law, so that
nothing need be said in its defense. The introduction of the case
method in political science and public law has undoubtedly improved
the teaching of certain phases of these subjects. That the use of
cases and extracts may be carried to an extreme which is detrimental
is becoming apparent, for opinions and data change so rapidly that any
collection of cases and materials is out of date before it issues from
the press. Moreover, the use of such collections encourages the
reliance on secondary sources and secondary material, a tendency which
ought to be discouraged. Every encouragement and advantage should be
given to have students and investigators in government deal with
original rather than secondary sources.
There is, in addition to the use of textbooks, lectures, extensive
reference reading, case books, and the writing of papers, a tendency
to introduce the problem method of instruction and to encourage field
work, observation, and, so far as practicable, a first-hand study of
government functions and activities.
Another line in which the study of government is undergoing
considerable modification is the emphasis placed on administration and
administrative practices. While special attention heretofore has been
given either to the history of politics and political institutions or
to political theories and principles, the tendency is now to give
import to political practices and the methods pursued in carrying on
government divisions and departments. The introduction of courses in
the principles of administration, with the consideration of problems
in connection with public administration in national, state, and local
affairs, is tending to modify the content as well as the methods of
the teaching of government. New methods and a new content are changing
the emphasis from the formal, theoretical, and historical study of
government and turning attention to the practical phases and to the
technique of administration. As a result of this change and through
the work which is being undertaken by bureaus of reference and
research, instruction is brought much closer to public officers and
greater service is rendered in a practical way to government
administration.
=Some unsolved problems=
Among the difficulties and unsolved problems in the teaching of
political science are, first, the beginning course; second, the
relation of courses in government to economics, sociology, history,
and law; third, the extent to which field investigation and the
problem method can be used to advantage in offering instruction and
the development of new standards and of new tests which are applicable
to these methods; fourth, the introduction of the scientific method.
=1. The introductory course=
While the elementary course in government is now usually American
government and is, as a rule, offered to sophomores, both the content
and the present position of the course in the curriculum are matters
on which there is considerable difference of opinion. Where the
subject matter now offered to beginning students is comprised of
comparative material selected from a number of modern governments, it
is contended that this arrangement is preferable to confining
attention to American institutions with which there is at least
general but often vague familiarity. If provision is made in the high
school, by which the majority of those who enter the university have
had a good course in American government, there seems to be a strong
presumption that the beginners' course should be devoted to
comparative government. It is quite probable that the introductory
course will cease to be confined to a distinct and separate study of
either foreign governments or of American government and that the most
satisfactory course will be the development of one in which main
emphasis is given to one or the other of these fields and in which
constant and frequent comparisons will be made for purposes of
emphasis, discussion, and the consideration of government issues and
problems. In some cases it is undoubtedly true that emphasis should be
given to foreign governments, and as the high schools improve their
instruction in our local institutions, national and state, it will
become increasingly necessary in colleges to turn attention to the
study of foreign governments in the beginners' course.
There appears to be a desire to introduce government into the freshman
year, and it is likely that provision will be made to begin the study
of the subject in the first college year, thereby rendering it
possible for those who enter college to profit by a year's work and to
give an earlier start to those who wish to specialize.
Another difficulty in connection with the introductory course which is
still not clearly determined is the time and attention which may be
given to lectures, to discussions, to the writing of papers or theses,
to the investigation and report on problems, and the extent to which
use may be made of some of the practical devices such as field
investigation. There is a general belief that in the elementary
course only a slight use may be made of practical methods, but that it
is necessary to begin these methods in the elementary years and to
render instruction practical and concrete to a larger extent than is
now done, by means of problems and the discussion of matters of direct
interest to all citizens. No doubt as the problem method and field
study are more definitely systematized and the ways of supervision and
checking up the work developed, these devices will be used much more
extensively. The preparation of problem sheets and of guides to the
selection of concrete material gives promise of a more general and
effective use of the problem method.
=2. Relation of instruction in government to other subjects=
The proper relationship and correlation of instruction in government
with that of other subjects has not yet been determined
satisfactorily. The matter of correlation is slowly being worked out
along certain lines; for example, the relationship between courses in
history and in government is coming to be much better defined. Such
subjects as constitutional history and the development of modern
governments are being treated almost entirely in departments of
history, and less attention is being given to the historical
development of institutions in departments of political science. As
long as it is impossible to make certain history courses prerequisites
before beginning the study of government, it becomes necessary to give
some attention in political science to the historical development of
political institutions. By correlation and by proper arrangement of
courses, however, the necessity of introducing government courses with
historical introductions ought to be considerably reduced.
The relation between work in government and in economics and sociology
is a more difficult problem and one which has not as yet been
satisfactorily adjusted. Some of the courses given in departments of
economics and sociology deal to a considerable extent with the
regulation of public affairs. In these courses, including public
finance, the regulation of public utilities, the regulation of trusts,
labor organizations, and the administration and regulation of social
and industrial affairs, a more definite correlation between political
science and so-called applied economics and applied sociology must be
made. While it is undoubtedly necessary for the economist and the
sociologist to deal with government regulation of economic and social
affairs, and while it is very desirable that these departments should
emphasize the practical and applied phases of their subjects, it is
nevertheless true that courses which are, to a large extent, comprised
of government instruction should be given under the direction of the
department of political science, or, at least, in an arrangement of
definite cooperation therewith. There is no reason why in such a
subject as the regulation of public utilities a portion of the course
might not be given in the department of economics and a portion in the
department of government. Or it may be better, perhaps, for a course
to be arranged in the regulation of public utilities, continuing
throughout the year, in which the professors of economics, government,
commerce, finance, and engineering participate in the presentation of
various phases of the same subject. At all events, the present
separation into different departments of the subject matter of
government regulation of such affairs as public utilities, taxation,
and social welfare regulation is, to say the least, not producing the
best results.
The relation of government courses to instruction in law is likewise a
partially unsolved problem. A few years ago, when the curricula of law
schools dealt with matters of law and procedure in which only the
practitioner was interested, it became necessary to introduce the
study of public law in departments of government and political
science. Thus we find courses in international law, constitutional
law, Roman law, and elements of law and jurisprudence being offered in
large part in departments of political science. The recent changes in
law school curricula, however, by which many of these subjects are now
offered in the law school and in some cases are offered to qualified
undergraduate students, render the situation somewhat more difficult
to adjust. There is a tendency to introduce these courses into the
law school for law students and to offer a similar course in the
department of government for undergraduates and graduates. The problem
has been further complicated by the provision in some of the leading
law schools of a fourth year, in which the dominant courses relate to
public and international law, legal history and foreign law,
jurisprudence and legislative problems.[44] As these courses become
entirely legal in nature and content and require a background of three
years of law, it becomes practically impossible for any but law
students to be admitted to them. With the prospect of a permanent
arrangement for a fourth year of law devoted primarily to subjects
formerly given in departments of political science, it seems to be
necessary to provide instruction in constitutional law and
international law, at least, for those advanced students in political
science who seek this instruction but who do not expect to take the
private law instruction required to admit them to a fourth-year law
class. The preferable arrangement may prove to be one in which a
thorough course is offered which will be open to qualified seniors and
graduate students and to law students, thus avoiding the duplication
which is now characteristic of instruction in law and the public law
phases of government. In this matter, as in the relation of economics
and sociology, the most appropriate and effective adjustment for
cooperation remains to be formulated.
=3. Problem method of instruction=
As the criticism of eminent specialists in government and politics has
impressed upon instructors the idea that too large a portion of the
teaching of the subject is theoretical, treating of what ought to be
rather than of what actually occurs, dealing with facts only on a
limited scale and with superficial attention to actual conditions,
there has developed the necessity of revising the methods of
instruction. This revision is being made largely in the introduction
of field investigation, observation of government activities, and the
problem and research methods. The prevailing practice of the teaching
of politics, which involves lectures, recitations, and the reading and
writing of theses, with a considerable amount of supplementary work,
is being revised by means of a research and reference division, by the
constant use of field investigation and by the study of governmental
problems. The difficulty with all these devices lies in the indefinite
and vague way in which so much of this work must be done. For the
present, in only a few instances, such as the New York Bureau of
Municipal Research, has the technique for field investigation and the
research method been effectively developed. One of the chief lines for
the improvement of the teaching of government is in the
standardization and systematization of the problem method and its more
extensive use in the elementary and advanced government instruction.
=4. Introduction of the scientific method=
In the past and to a great extent at the present time that part of the
study of government which has to do with political theory and with a
descriptive and historical account of government has comprised the
greater portion of what is usually designated as political science.
The nature of these studies is such as to render inapplicable the use
of the scientific method. If the study of government is to be
developed as a science in the true sense, then the above subjects must
be supplemented by exhaustive inductive studies and research in the
actual operation of government. Such methods are now being employed in
the examination of government records and the comparison of
administrative practices. And there is being developed also a science
of government based on the practices and the technique of public
administration.
This science now finds its exemplification in some of the exceptional
work of the graduate schools. Unfortunately, the connection between
these schools and the government departments has not been such as to
secure the best results. Moreover, departments of political science
are not now doing their part to place the results of scientific
investigations at the disposal of government officials. The
introduction of courses in extension departments and evening classes
has in part met this deficiency. But much remains to be done to render
through the department of political science effective service in the
practical operation of government. With the introduction of the
problem method and field investigation in the elementary instruction,
so far as seems feasible, with the development of standard methods and
the technique of research for advanced instruction, the teaching of
government will be rendered not only more valuable to the citizen, but
colleges and universities may render aid to government officials and
citizens interested in social and political affairs.
A significant development as an aid for research and for rendering
more effective public service has come in the establishment of bureaus
of government research. The method of investigation and research which
has been applied to the problems of government by private
organizations has been found applicable to the handling of research
material in the universities. Through a bureau of this character
recent publications and ephemeral material may be collected for the
use of advanced students, digests may be prepared on topics of special
interest to legislators and administrators, and publications of
particular interest to the citizens may be issued. Such a bureau
serves as a government laboratory for the university and can be placed
at the service of public officials and others who desire to use a
reference department in securing reliable data on governmental
affairs. Thus it is coming to be realized that research in government
may be encouraged and the resources of higher institutions may be so
organized as to render a distinct and much appreciated public service.
CHARLES GROVE HAINES
_University of Texas_
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ALLIX, E. H. NEZARD, and MEUNIER, A. _Instruction Civique._ Paris, F.
Juven, 1910; pages 238. American Political Science Association.
Report of the Committee on Instruction in Political Science in
Colleges and Universities. _Proceedings_, 1913; pages 249-270.
---- Report of Committee of Seven on Instruction in Colleges and
Universities. _Political Science Review_, Vol. IX, pages 353-374.
---- The Teaching of Government. Report to the American Political
Science Association by the Committee on Instruction. The Macmillan
Company, 1916; pages 135-226.
BALDWIN, SIMEON E. _The Relations of Education to Citizenship._ Yale
University Press, 1912; pages 178.
BEACH, W. G. The College and Citizenship. _Proceedings of the
Washington Educational Association._ School Journal Publishing Co.,
1908; pages 55-57.
BEARD, C. A. _The Study and Teaching of Politics._ Columbia University
Press, June, 1912; Vol. XII, pages 268-274.
---- _Politics_, Columbia University Press, 1912; pages 35.
---- _Training for Efficient Public Service._ Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, March, 1916.
BOITEL, J., and FOIGUET, R. _Notions elementaires d'instruction
civique de droit usuel et d'economie politique._ Paris, Delagrave,
1910; pages 307.
BOURGUEIL, E. _Instruction civique._ Paris: F. Nathan, 1910; pages
223.
BRYCE, JAMES. _The Hindrances to Good Citizenship._ Yale University
Press, 1910; pages 138.
DROWN, THOMAS M. Instruction in Municipal Government in American
Educational Institutions. _National Municipal League: Proceedings_,
Boston, 1902; pages 268-271.
FAIRLIE, JOHN A. Instruction in Municipal Government. _National
Municipal League: Proceedings_, Detroit, 1903; pages 222-230.
FREUND, ERNST. Correlation of Work for Higher Degrees in Graduate
School and Law School. _Illinois Law Review_, Vol. XI, page 301.
HALL, G. STANLEY. Civic Education. _Educational Problems_, New York,
1911, Vol. II, pages 667-682.
HILL, DAVID J. _A Plan for a School of the Political Sciences._ 1907,
pages 34.
HINMAN, GEORGE W. The New Duty of American colleges. 63d Congress, 1st
session. Senate Document No. 236, 1913.
LOWELL, A. LAWRENCE. Administrative Experts in Municipal Governments.
_National Municipal Review_, Vol. IV, pages 26-32.
---- The Physiology of Politics, _American Political Science Review_,
February, 1910.
---- _Public Opinion and Popular Government_, Chapters 17-19.
MOREY, WILLIAM C. _American Education and American Citizenship._
Rochester, N. Y., pages 20.
MUNRO, W. B. The Present Status of Instruction in Municipal Government
in the Universities and Colleges of the United States. _National
Municipal League: Proceedings._ Pittsburgh, 1908, pages 348-366.
---- Instruction in Municipal Government in the Universities and
Colleges of the United States. _National Municipal Review_, Vol. II,
pages 427-438, and Vol. V, pages 565-574.
National Municipal League. Report of the Committee on Instruction in
Municipal Government. _Proceedings_, Rochester, 1901; pages 218-225.
Report of the Committee on Organized Cooperation between the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. _Bulletin of the Alumni Association_, 1914, No. 3.
Report of the Committee on Training for Public Service. Columbia
University. Charles A. Beard, Chairman. _Bulletin_, March 27, 1915.
ROBINSON, FREDERICK B. The Municipal Courses. _City College (N. Y.)
Quarterly_, Vol. XII, page 18.
ROWE, J. S. University and Collegiate Research in Municipal
Government. _National Municipal League: Proceedings._ Chicago, 1904,
pages 242-248.
SCHAPER, W. A. What Do Students Know about American government before
Taking College Courses in Political Science? _Journal of Pedagogy_,
June, 1906. Vol. XVIII, pages 265-288.
Society for the Promotion of Training for the Public Service. E. A.
Fitzpatrick, Director. Madison, Wisconsin. _The Public Servant._
Issued monthly.
---- Universities and Public Service. _Proceedings of the First
National Conference._ Madison, 1914, pages 289.
Training for Public Service. New York Bureau of Municipal Research,
Annual Reports.
WHITE, A. D. The Provision for Higher Instruction Bearing Directly
upon Public Affairs. _House Executive Document No. 42_, part 2, 46th
Congress, 3d Session.
---- Education in Political Science. Baltimore, pages 51.
---- European Schools of History and Politics. _Johns Hopkins
University Studies_, Series 5, Vol. XII.
WILSON, WOODROW. _The Study of Politics. An Old Master and Other
Essays._ Charles Scribner's Sons, 1893, pages 31-57.
WOLFE, A. B. Shall We Have an Introductory Course in Social Sciences?
_Journal of Political Economy_, Vol. XXII, pages 253-267.
YOUNG, JAMES T. University Instruction in Municipal Government.
_National Municipal League: Proceedings._ Rochester, 1901; pages
226-234.
Footnotes:
[40] The courses usually given in departments of political science
are:
1. American government, (_a_) National, (_b_) State and local,
(_c_) Municipal.
2. General political science.
3. Comparative government.
4. English government.
5. International law.
6. Diplomacy.
7. Jurisprudence or elements of law.
8. World politics.
9. Commercial law.
10. Roman law.
11. Administrative law.
12. Political theories (History of political thought).
13. Party government.
14. Colonial government.
15. Legislative methods and legislative procedure.
16. Current political problems.
17. Municipal corporations.
18. Law of officers and taxation.
19. Seminar.
20. Additional courses, such as the government of foreign countries, the
regulation of public utilities, and the political and legal status of
women.
Cf. _The Teaching of Government_, page 137. Published by the Macmillan
Company, 1916. With the permission of the publishers some extracts
from the report of the committee on instruction have been used. The
report should be consulted for the presentation of data and for a
further consideration of some questions of instruction which cannot be
taken up fully within the compass of this chapter.
[41] Cf. _The Teaching of Government_, page 182.
[42] _The Teaching of Government_, pages 206-207.
[43] The discussion of methods follows in part the Report of the
Committee on Instruction, pages 192-194.
[44] See especially article by Ernst Freund on "Correlation of Work
for Higher Degrees in Graduate School and Law School," Vol. XI,
_Illinois Law Review_, page 301.
XIV
THE TEACHING OF PHILOSOPHY
The study of philosophy covers such a wide range of subjects that it
is difficult to generalize in attempting to answer the basal questions
which call for consideration in a book like this. In the great
European universities it includes psychology, logic, ethics,
aesthetics, epistemology, metaphysics, the history of philosophy, and
sometimes even the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of history,
the philosophy of law, and the philosophy of the State. Although
special courses may not be offered in every one of these fields in our
American colleges, their philosophical territory is sufficiently
extensive and the separate provinces sufficiently unlike to baffle any
one seeking to describe the educational aims and methods of the domain
as a whole. In order, therefore, to do full justice to our task it
would be necessary to treat each one of the various philosophical
branches separately and to expand the space assigned to us into a
fair-sized volume. Since this is not to be thought of, we shall have
to confine ourselves to a consideration of the traits common to all
the subjects, without forgetting, however, such differences as may
call for different educational treatment.
=The unified college course in philosophy=
The difficulty of which we have spoken becomes less formidable when
the teacher of the traditional philosophical subjects regards them not
as so many independent and disconnected fields of study, but as parts
of a larger whole held together by some central idea. The great
systematic thinkers, from Plato down to Herbert Spencer, have aimed at
"completely unified knowledge" and have sought to bring order and
coherence into what may seem to the casual onlooker as a disunited
array of phenomena. Philosophical teaching will be the more fruitful,
the more it is inspired by the thought of unity of aim, and the more
consciously the teachers of the different disciplines keep this idea
in mind. That is the reason why philosophical instruction given in a
small college and by one man is, in some respects, often more
satisfactory than in the large university with its numberless
specialists, in which the beginning student frequently does not see
the forest for the trees. It is not essential that the teacher present
a thoroughly worked-out and definitive system of thought, but it is
important that he constantly keep in mind the interrelatedness of the
various parts of his subject and the notion of unity which binds them
together,--at least as an ideal.
And perhaps this notion of the unity of knowledge ought to be made one
of the chief aims of philosophical instruction in the college. The
ideal of philosophy in the sense of metaphysics is to see things
whole, to understand the interrelations not only of the branches
taught in the department of philosophy but of all the diverse subjects
studied throughout the university. The student obtains glimpses of
various pictures presented by different departments and different men,
and from different points of view. Each teacher offers him fragments
of knowledge, the meaning of which, as parts of an all-inclusive
system, the pupil does not comprehend. Indeed, it frequently happens
that the different pieces do not fit into one another; and he is
mystified and bewildered by the seemingly disparate array of facts and
theories crowding his brain which he cannot correlate and generally
does not even suspect of being capable of correlation. To be sure,
every teacher ought to be philosophical, if not a philosopher, and
indicate the place of his specialty in the universe of knowledge; but
that is an ideal which has not yet been realized. In the meanwhile,
the study of philosophy ought to make plain that knowledge is not a
mere heap of broken fragments, that the inorganic, organic, and mental
realms are not detached and independent principalities but kingdoms in
a larger empire, and that the world in which we live is not a chaos
but a cosmos. An introductory course in philosophy, the type of course
given in many German universities under the title "Einleitung in die
Philosophie" and attended by students from all sections of the
university, will help the young student to find his bearings in the
multifarious thought-world unfolded before him and will, at the same
time, put him in the way of developing some sort of world-view later
on.
Philosophical instruction that succeeds in the task outlined above
will have accomplished much. Nevertheless, it cannot attain its goal
unless the student is introduced to the study of the human-mental
world which constitutes a large portion of the field assigned to the
philosophical department: the study of psychology, logic, ethics, and
the history of philosophy. These branches deal with things in which
the human race has been interested from its early civilized beginnings
and with which the young persons entering college have had little or
no opportunity of becoming acquainted. And they deal with a world
which no man can ignore who seeks to understand himself and his
relation to the natural and social environment in which his lot is
cast. A knowledge of the processes of mind (psychology), of the laws
of thought (logic), of the principles of conduct (ethics), and of the
development of man's interpretation of reality (history of philosophy)
will supplement the knowledge acquired by the study of physical
nature, preventing a one-sided and narrow world-view, and will serve
as a preparation for intelligent reflection upon the meaning of
reality (philosophy in the sense of metaphysics).
=Controlling aims in the teaching of philosophy=
All these subjects, therefore, have as one of their aims the training
of the powers of thought (judgment and reasoning); and philosophical
teaching should never lose sight of this. Thinking is a difficult
business,--an art which is practiced, to be sure, in every field of
study, but one for which the philosophical branches provide unusual
opportunity and material. It has become a habit with many of recent
years to decry the study of logic as an antiquated discipline, but it
still remains, if properly taught, an excellent means of cultivating
clear thinking; there is no reason why a consciousness of correct
ways of thinking and of the methods employed in reaching reliable
judgments should not prove useful to every one.
We should say, therefore, that the study of philosophy has a high
cultural value: it encourages the student to reflect upon himself and
his human and natural surroundings (society and nature) and to come to
grips with reality; it frees him from the incubus of transmitted
opinions and borrowed beliefs, and makes him earn his spiritual
possessions in the sweat of his face,--mindful of Goethe's warning
that "he alone deserves freedom and life who is compelled to battle
for them day by day";--it helps him to see things in their right
relations, to acquire the proper intellectual and volitional attitude
toward his world through an understanding of its meaning and an
appreciation of its values; in short, it strengthens him in his
struggle to win his soul, to become a person. This is its ideal; and
in seeking to realize it, philosophy cooperates with the other studies
in the task of developing human beings, in preparing men for complete
living, and is therefore practical in a noble sense of the term. It
has a high disciplinary value in that it trains the powers of analysis
and judgment, at least in the fields in which it operates. And the
habit acquired there of examining judgments, hypotheses, and beliefs
critically and impartially, of testing them in the light of experience
and of reason, cannot fail to prove helpful wherever clear thinking is
a requisite.
The teacher should keep all these aims in view in organizing his
material and applying his methods. He should not forget that
philosophy is above all things a reflection upon life; he should
endeavor to train his pupils in the art of interpreting human
experience, of grasping its meaning. His chief concern should be to
make _thinkers_ of them, not to fasten upon them a final philosophic
creed,--not to give them a philosophy, but to teach them how to
philosophize. If he succeeds in arousing in them a keen intellectual
interest and a love of truth, and in developing in them the will and
the power to think a problem through to the bitter end, he will have
done more for them than would have been possible by furnishing them
with ready-made formulas. There is nothing so hopelessly dead as a
young man without the spirit of intellectual adventure, with his mind
made up, with the master's ideas so deeply driven into his head that
his intellectual career is finished. The Germans call such a person
_vernagelt_, a term that fitly describes the case. What should be
aimed at is the cultivation of the mind so that it will broaden with
enlarging experience, that it will be hospitable to new ideas and yet
not be overwhelmed by them, that it will preserve inviolate its
intellectual integrity and keep fresh the spirit of inquiry. Such a
mind may be safely left to work out its own salvation in the quest for
a _Weltanschauung_.
"Young, all lay in dispute; I shall know, being old."
In emphasizing the need of such central aims in instruction we do not
wish to be understood as not appreciating the utilitarian value of the
philosophical branches and their importance as a preparation for
professional activity. Like all knowledge, these subjects have their
worth not merely as means of developing human personality but also as
means of equipping the student with such knowledge of facts, methods,
and theories as will prove useful to him in his other studies and in
the daily affairs of life. The teacher, the physician, the lawyer, the
clergyman, the artist, the engineer, the business man, will be
benefited by an understanding of the workings of the human mind, of
the laws of human thinking, and of the principles of human conduct. It
is not absolutely necessary, however, in our opinion, that separate
classes specially designed for the different professions be formed in
the colleges; after all, it is the same human mind that operates in
all the fields of human activity, and a knowledge of mental life in
general will serve the purposes of every vocation. Doubtless, courses
in psychology, logic, and ethics, for example, might be offered having
in view the particular needs of prospective members of the various
callings, but such courses would, in order to meet the situation,
presuppose an acquaintance with the respective professional fields in
question which only students well along in their professional studies
could be expected to possess. Courses of this character might
profitably be given for the benefit of professional students who have
already taken the introductory subjects necessary to their proper
understanding.
=Introduction of philosophy in the college course=
It is not easy to determine the most favorable period in a student's
college career at which philosophical subjects should be taught. The
more mature the student is, the more successful the instruction is apt
to be; but this may be said of many other studies. There is no reason
why an intelligent freshman may not begin the study of psychology and
logic and perhaps of some other introductory philosophical branches;
but as a rule better results may be obtained by admitting only such
persons to these classes as have familiarized themselves with
university methods.
=Problems of philosophy and the development of thought to be emphasized,
rather than the historical sequence=
We should recommend that every student in the college devote at least
three hours a week for four terms to the study of psychology, logic,
ethics, and the history of philosophy. In case not all these
fundamental courses can be taken, the student will most likely derive
the greatest benefit by giving a year to the study of the history of
philosophy, or one term to the introduction to philosophy, where he
has only that much time at his disposal. It seems easier, however, to
arouse a philosophical interest in the average student through a study
of the basal philosophical questions from the standpoint of
contemporaneous thinking than through the study of the history of
philosophy. He is generally lacking in the historic sense, and is apt
to be wearied and even confused by the endless procession of systems.
This is particularly the case when the teacher fails to emphasize
sufficiently the progressive nature of philosophical thinking in its
history, when he regards this as a mere succession of ideas rather
than as a more or less logical unfolding of problems and solutions--as
a continuous effort on the part of the universal mind, so to speak,
to understand itself and the world. A course in the introduction to
philosophy acquainting the student with the aims of philosophy and its
relation to other fields of study, and placing before him an account
of the most important problems of metaphysics and epistemology as well
as of the solutions which have been offered by the great thinkers,
together with such criticisms and suggestions as may stimulate his
thought, will awaken in him a proper appreciation of a deeper study of
the great systems and lead him to seek light from the history of
philosophy.
=Methods of instruction=
The place and relative worth of the various methods of instruction in
the province of philosophy will, of course, depend, among other
things, upon the character of the particular subject taught and the
size and quality of the class. In nearly all the introductory
philosophical branches in which the classes are large the lecture
method will prove a valuable auxiliary. In no case, however, should
this method be employed exclusively; and in formal logic, it should be
used rather sparingly. Ample opportunity should always be given in
smaller groups for raising questions and discussing important issues
with a view to clearing up obscure points, overcoming difficulties,
developing the student's powers of thought, and enabling him to
exercise his powers of expression. It is also essential that the
student be trained in the difficult art of reading philosophical
works. It is wise as a rule to refer him to a good textbook, which
should be carefully studied, to passages or chapters in other standard
manuals, and in historical study to the writings of the great masters.
And frequent opportunity to express himself in the written word must
be afforded him; to this end written reports giving the thought of an
author in the student's own language, occasional critical essays, and
written examinations appealing not only to his memory but to his
intelligence should be required during the term. Such exercises keep
the student's interest alive, increase his stock of knowledge, develop
maturity and independence of thought, and create a sense of growing
intellectual power. The written tests encourage members of the class
to review the work gone over and to discuss with one another important
phases of it; in the effort to organize their knowledge they obtain a
much better grasp of the subject than would have been possible without
such an intensive re-appraisal of the material.
=Logic to be related to the intellectual life of the student=
In the course on formal logic a large part of the time should be spent
in examining and criticizing examples of the processes of thought
studied (definitions, arguments, methods employed in reaching
knowledge) and in applying the principles of correct thinking in
written discourses. It is a pity that we have no comprehensive work
containing the illustrative material needed for the purpose. As it is,
the teacher will do well to select his examples from scientific works,
speeches, and the textbooks used in other classes. As every one knows,
nothing is so likely to deaden the interest and to make the study of
logic seem trivial as the use of the puerile examples found in many of
the older treatises. With the proper material this subject can be made
one of the most interesting and profitable courses in the
curriculum,--in spite of what its modern detractors may say.
=Students to be familiarized with sources and original writings of the
leading philosophers=
In the history of philosophy the lectures and textbook should be
supplemented by the reading of the writings of the great philosophers.
Wherever it is possible, the learner should be sent to the sources
themselves. It will do him good to finger the books and to find the
references; and by and by he may be tempted to read beyond the
required assignment--a thing greatly to be encouraged, and out of the
question so long as he limits himself to some one's selections from
the writings of the philosophers.
In the advanced courses the research method may be introduced; special
problems may be assigned to the student who has acquired a knowledge
of the fundamentals, to be worked out under the guidance of the
instructor.
=Lecture method should arouse dynamic interest and a desire to master
the problems of philosophy=
In the lecture intended for beginners the teacher should seek to
arouse in his hearers an interest in the subject and the desire to
plunge more deeply into it. He should not bewilder the student with
too many details and digressions but present the broad outlines of the
field, placing before him the essentials and leaving him to fill in
the minutiae by a study of the books of reference. Each lecture ought
to constitute an organic whole, as it were, in which the different
parts are held together by a central idea; and its connection with the
subject matter of the preceding lectures should be kept before the
hearer's mind. All this requires careful and conscientious preparation
on the part of the teacher, who must understand the intellectual
quality of his class and avoid "shooting over their heads" as well as
going to the other extreme of aiming below the level of their mental
capacities. Lecturing that is more than mere entertainment is an art
which young instructors sometimes look upon as an easy acquisition and
which older heads, after long years of experience, often despair of
ever mastering. The lecture aims to do what books seldom
accomplish--to infuse life and spirit into the subject; and this ideal
a living personality may hope to realize where a dead book fails.
=How to secure active participation by students through lecture method=
In order, however, that the philosophical lecture may not fail of its
purpose, the hearer must be more than a mere listener; he must bring
with him an alert mind that grasps meanings and can follow
thought-sequences. And he cannot keep his attention fixed upon the
discourse and understand the relations of its parts unless other
senses cooperate with the sense of hearing and unless the motor
centers are called into play also. He should carefully cultivate the
art of taking notes, an accomplishment in which the average student is
sadly lacking and to acquire which he needs the assistance of the
instructor, which he seldom receives. An examination of the student's
notebook frequently reveals such a woeful lack of discrimination on
the writer's part that one is led to doubt the wisdom of following
this method at all; wholly unimportant things are set down in faithful
detail and essential ones wholly ignored. The hour spent in the
lecture room, however, can and should be made a fruitful means of
instruction, one that will awaken processes of thought and leave its
mark. But in order to get the best result, the student should be urged
to study his notes and the books to which he has been referred while
the matters discussed in the lecture are still fresh in his mind; he
will be able to clear up points he did not fully grasp, see
connections that have escaped him, understand the force of arguments
which he missed; and he will assume a more independent and critical
attitude toward what he has heard than was possible on the spur of the
moment, when he was driven on and could not stop and reflect. At home,
in the quiet of his study, he can organize the material, see the parts
of the discourse in their relations to each other, and re-create the
whole as it lived and moved in the mind of the teacher. In doing this
work he is called on to exercise his thinking and takes an important
step forward. It is for this reason that I am somewhat skeptical of
the value of the syllabus prepared by the teacher for the use of
classes in philosophy,--it does for the student what he should do for
himself. Whatever value the syllabus may have in other fields of
study, its use in the philosophical branches ought to be discouraged.
The great weakness of the lecture method lies in its tendency to
relieve the hearer of the necessity of doing his own thinking, to
leave him passive, to feed him with predigested food; and this defect
is augmented by providing him with "helps" which rob him of the
benefit and pleasure of putting the pieces of the puzzle-picture
together himself.
However, even at its best, the lecture method, unless supplemented in
the ways already indicated, runs the danger of making the student an
intellectual sponge, a mere absorber of knowledge, or a kind of
receptacle for professors to shoot ideas into. As was said before, the
student must cultivate the art of reading books and of expressing his
thoughts by means of the spoken and written word. At the early stages
and in some fields of philosophical study, however, the reading of
many books may confuse the beginner and leave his mind in a state of
bewilderment. It is indispensable that he acquire the working concepts
and the terminology of the subject, and to this end it is generally
wise to limit his reading until he has gained sufficient skill in
handling his tools, as it were. In the elementary courses many members
of the class will be unable to do more than follow the lectures and
study the textbook; the more gifted ones, however, should be
encouraged to extend the range of their reading under the guidance of
the instructor.
=Organization of undergraduate courses in philosophy=
An answer to the question concerning the desired sequence of courses
in philosophy will depend upon many considerations,--upon one's
conception of philosophy and of the various subjects generally
embraced under it, upon one's notion of the aims of philosophical
instruction, upon one's estimate of the difficulties encountered by
the student in the study of the different branches of it, and so on.
There is wide divergence of opinion among thinkers on all these
points. Philosophy is variously conceived as metaphysics, as theory of
knowledge, as the science of mind (_Geisteswissenschaft_), as the
science of values (_Werttheorie_), or as all of these together. Logic
is conceived by some thinkers as dependent upon psychology, by others
as the presupposition of _all_ the sciences, including psychology.
Ethics is regarded both as a branch of psychology, or as dependent
upon psychology, and as an independent study having nothing whatever
to do with psychology. Psychology itself is treated both as a natural
science, its connection with philosophy being explained as a
historical survival, and as the fundamental study upon which all the
other subjects of the philosophical department must rest. Where there
is such a lack of agreement, it will not be easy to map out a
sequential course of study that will satisfy everybody. Even when
philosophy is defined in the old historic sense as an attempt to reach
a theory of the world and of life, men may differ as to the exact
order in which the basal studies should be pursued. By many the
history of philosophy is considered the best introduction to the
entire field, while others would place it at the end of the series of
fundamentals (psychology, logic, ethics), holding that a student who
has studied these will be best equipped for a study that includes the
history of their development. As a matter of fact, given students of
mature mind and the necessary general preparation, either order may be
justified. The average underclassman is, however, too immature to
plunge at once into the study of the history of philosophy, and the
present writer would recommend that it be preceded by courses in
general psychology, logic and ethics. The average sophomore will have
little difficulty in following courses in psychology and logic; and it
is immaterial which of these he takes up first. The course in the
theory of ethics should come in the junior or senior year and after
the student has gained some knowledge of psychology (preferably from a
book like Stout's _Manual of Psychology_). And it would be an
advantage if the course in ethics could be preceded by a study of the
development of moral ideas, of the kind, let us say, presented in
Hobhouse's _Morals in Evolution_. For reasons already stated, the
entire course in philosophy should be inaugurated by the Introduction
to Philosophy. Advanced courses in metaphysics and the theory of
knowledge should come at the end and follow the history of philosophy.
The ideal sequence would, therefore, be in the view of the present
writer: Introduction to Philosophy, Psychology or Logic, the
Development of Moral Ideas, Theory of Ethics, History of Philosophy,
Metaphysics, and Theory of Knowledge. It must be admitted, however,
that a rigorous insistence upon this scheme in the American college,
in which freedom of election is the rule, would impair the usefulness
of the department of philosophy. Few students will be willing to take
all these subjects, and there is no reason why an intelligent junior
or senior should not be admitted to a course in ethics or the history
of philosophy without having first studied the other branches. A
person possessing sufficient maturity of mind to pursue these studies
will be greatly benefited by them even when he comes to them without
previous preparation; and it would be a pity to deprive him of the
opportunity to become acquainted with a field in which some of the
ablest thinkers have exercised their powers. At all events, he should
not leave college without having had a course in the history of
philosophy, which will open up a new world to him and may perhaps
stimulate him to read the best books in the other branches later on.
It would not be possible, of course, to prescribe all the fundamental
philosophical courses, even if it were desirable,--few faculties would
go so far,--but it would be wise to require every candidate for the
bachelor's degree to give at least six hours of his time (three hours
a term, on the two-term basis) to one or two of the elementary
courses, preferably in the sophomore year. Ethics and the history of
philosophy could then be chosen as electives and be followed by the
more advanced and specialized courses.
=Moot questions: controversy between philosopher and psychologist=
We have already touched upon some of the debatable questions in the
sphere of philosophical education. The dispute concerning the place of
psychology in the scheme of philosophical instruction has its cause in
differences of view concerning the aims, nature, and methods of that
subject. Philosophers ask for an introductory course in psychology
which shall serve as a propaedeutic to the philosophical studies,
while teachers of education wish to have it treated in a way to throw
light upon educational methods and theory. "Some biologists treat
mental phenomena as mere correlates of physiological processes....
Others, including a number of psychologists also, regard psychological
phenomena as fully explicable in terms of behavior, and as
constituting therefore a phase of biological science." The Committee
of the American Psychological Association on the Academic Status of
Psychology recommends "that the Association adopt the principle that
the undergraduate psychological curriculum in every college or
university, great or small, should be planned from the standpoint of
psychology and in accordance with psychological ideals, rather than to
fit the needs and meet the demands of some other branch of
learning."[45] This declaration of principle might lead to peace
between the philosophers and the psychologists if there were agreement
concerning the "psychological ideals" in accordance with which the
subject is to be studied. The desideratum of the philosophers is a
psychology which will give the student an understanding of the various
phases of mental life; but they do not believe that this can be
reached by an exclusive use of the natural-scientific method. The
objection of some psychologists, that the philosophers wish to inject
metaphysics into the study of mental processes, is met by the
rejoinder that the natural-scientific psychology is itself based upon
an unconscious metaphysics, and a false one at that. What the
philosophers desire is psychological courses which will do full
justice to the facts of the mental life and not falsify them to meet
the demands of a scientific theory or method--courses of the kind
given in European universities by men whose reputation as
psychologists is beyond suspicion.
=Divergent views as to nature of introductory course in philosophy=
We have likewise alluded, in this chapter, to the controversy over the
need and nature of an introductory course in philosophy. Of those who
favor such a philosophical propaedeutic some recommend the History of
Philosophy, others an Introduction to Philosophy of the type described
in the preceding pages. Some teachers regard as the ideal course a
study of the evolving attitudes of the individual toward the world,
after the manner of Hegel's Phenomenology of the Spirit; some the
Philosophy of History; some _Kulturgeschichte_, that is, the study of
"the evolution of science, morality, art, religion, and political
life,--in short, the history of institutions"; some the study of the
great literatures; and some would seek the approach to the subject
through the religious interest.[46] It is plain that the History of
Philosophy will receive help from all these sources; and a wise
teacher will make frequent use of them. Nor can the course in the
Introduction to Philosophy afford to ignore them; it will do well to
lay particular stress upon the philosophical attitudes, the embryonic
philosophies which are to be found in the great literatures, in the
great religions, in science, and in the common sense of mankind.
Wherever the human mind is at work, there philosophical
conceptions,--world-views, crude or developed,--play their part; and
they form the background of the lives of peoples as well as of
individuals. In the systems of the great thinkers they are formulated
and made more or less consistent; but everywhere they are the result
of the mind's yearning to understand the meaning of life in its
manifold expressions. When the student comes to see that philosophy is
simply an attempt to do what mankind has always been doing and will
always continue to do, in a rough way, that it is "only an unusually
obstinate attempt to think clearly and consistently,"--to continue the
process of thinking to the bitter end,--his attitude toward it will be
one of intelligent interest and respect. But not one of these subjects
taken by itself will serve the purpose of an introductory course.
=The "case method" in the teaching of philosophy=
Another moot question is concerned with the use of the "case method,"
employed in law instruction, in ethics. The case method seeks to know
what the moral law is by studying the moral judgments of society; or,
more definitely, to quote the words of Professor Coxe,[47] one of its
champions: "to discover, if possible, a law running through the
judgments _which society has made through its duly appointed
officials_." "Historical cases, properly attested, alone give us the
means of objective judgment." There can be no doubt that this method
will prove serviceable, if judiciously applied; but its exclusive use
either as a method of study or as a method of instruction,--even in an
introductory course in ethics,--is not to be recommended.[48] The
student will not gain an adequate conception of morality from a study
of the varying and often contradictory "historical cases," much less
from a study of the judgments which society has made "through its duly
appointed officials." The legal "case" literature of our country does
indeed furnish valuable and interesting material for ethical study,
but it would require a riper mind than that of a beginner to discover
and to evaluate the moral principles which lie embodied in it.
=Testing the results of instruction=
The problem of testing the effectiveness of one's teaching presents
few difficulties in classes which are small and in which individual
instruction is possible. Wherever teacher and student come in close
personal contact and opportunity is afforded for full and frequent
discussions as well as for written exercises, it is a comparatively
easy matter to judge the mental caliber of the members of the class
and to determine the extent of their progress. In the case of the
large classes, however, which crowd into the lecture halls of the
modern university, the task is not so simple. Here every effort should
be made to divide such concourses of students into numerous sections,
small enough to enable the instructor to become acquainted with those
under his charge and to watch their development. The professor who
gives the lectures should take one or more of these sections himself
in order that he may understand the minds to which he is addressing
himself, and govern himself accordingly. The tests should consist of
discussions, essays, and written and oral examinations; by means of
these it is not impossible to determine whether the aims of the
subject have been realized in the instruction or not. But the tasks
set should be of such a character as to test the student's power of
thought, his ability to understand what he has read and heard with all
its implications, his ability to assume a critical attitude toward
what he has assimilated, and his ability to try his intellectual wings
in independent flights. A person who devotes himself faithfully to his
work during the entire term, who puts his mind upon it, takes an
active part in the discussions, and is encouraged to express himself
frequently by means of the written word, will surely give some
indication of the progress he has made, even in a written
examination--it being a fair assumption that one who knows will
somehow succeed in revealing his knowledge. Care must be taken, of
course, that the test is not a mere appeal to the memory; it is only
when the examination makes demands upon the student's intelligence
that it can be considered a fair measure of the value of philosophical
instruction. It must not be forgotten, however, that the examination
may reveal not only the weakness of the learner but the weakness of
the teacher. It is possible for a student, even in philosophy, to make
a fine showing in a written examination by repeating the words of the
master which he does not understand, without having derived any real
benefit from the course. The teacher may set an examination which will
hide the deficiencies of the instruction, and the temptation to do
this in large classes which he knows have not been properly taught is
great.
FRANK THILLY
_Cornell University_
BIBLIOGRAPHY
COXE, G. C. The Case Method in the Study and Teaching of Ethics.
_Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods_, Vol. X,
13, page 337.
DAVIES, A. E. Education and Philosophy, _Journal of Philosophy,
Psychology, and Scientific Methods_, Vol. VI, 14, page 365.
HINMAN, E. L. The Aims of an Introductory Course in Philosophy.
_Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods_, Vol. VII,
21, page 561.
HOeFLER, A. _Zur Propaedeutik-Frage._
HOeFLER, A. Zur Reform der philosophischen Propaedeutik. _Zeitschrift
fuer die Oesterreichischen Gymnasien_, Vol. L, 3, page 255.
HUDSON, J. W. Hegel's Conception of an Introduction to Philosophy.
_Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods_, Vol. VI,
13, page 337.
---- An Introduction to Philosophy through the Philosophy of History.
_Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods._ Vol. VII,
21, page 569.
---- The Aims and Methods of Introduction Courses: A Questionnaire.
_Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods_, Vol. IX,
2, page 29.
LEHMANN, R. _Der deutsche Unterricht_, pages 389-437.
LEUCHTENBERGER, G. _Die philosophische Propaedeutik auf den hoeheren
Schulen._
OVERSTREET, H. A. Professor Coxe's "Case Method" in Ethics. _Journal
of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods_, Vol. X, 17, page
464.
PAULSEN, F. _German Universities and University Studies._ English
translation by Frank Thilly and W. W. Elwang, Book III and Book IV.
---- _Ueber Vergangenheit und Zukunft der Philosophie im gelehrten
Unterricht, Central-Organ fuer die Interessen des Realschulwesens_,
Vol. XIV, 1, page 4.
---- _Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts_, Conclusion.
Report of the Committee on the Academic Status of Psychology,
published by the American Psychological Association, December, 1914.
TUFTS, J. H. Garman as a Teacher. _Journal of Philosophy, Psychology,
and Scientific Methods_, Vol. IV, 10, page 263.
WEISSENFELS, O. Die Philosophie auf dem Gymnasium. _Zeitschrift fuer
das Gymnasialwesen_, Vol. LIII, 1, page 1.
WENDT, G. _Didaktik und Methodik des deutschen Unterrichts, Handbuch
der Erziehungs- und Unterrichtslehre fuer hoehere Schulen._
Footnotes:
[45] The sentences quoted are taken from the Report of this committee,
which was published in December, 1914.
[46] See the articles of J. W. Hudson and others in the Bibliography.
[47] See Bibliography.
[48] See Professor Overstreet's Discussion mentioned in the Bibliography.
XV
THE TEACHING OF ETHICS
=Interest in the study of ethics determined by the aim of instruction=
Nowhere does academic tediousness work a more dire mischief than in
the teaching of ethics. It is bad to have students forever shun the
best books because of poor instruction in literature; the damage is
worse when it is the subject of moral obligation which they associate
with only the duller hours of their college life. Not that the aim of
a course in ethics is to afford a number of entertaining periods. The
object rather is to help our students realize that here is a subject
which seeks to interpret for them the most important problems of their
own lives present and to come. Where this end is kept in view, the
question of interesting them is settled. A sincere interpretation of
life always takes the interest when once it is grasped that this is
what is really being interpreted.
=Viewpoint in the past=
The procedure in the past (and still quite common) was to introduce
the subject by way of its history. A book like Sidgwick's _History of
Ethics_ was studied, with supplements in the shape of the students'
own reading of the classics, or lectures, with quotations, by the
teacher. That this method was frequently of much service is
undeniable. Teachers there are with rare gifts of inspiration who can
put freshness into any course which ordinary teachers leave hopelessly
arid. But this should not blind us to the fact that certain modes of
procedure are in general more likely to be fruitful than others.
=The business of right living the aim of ethics teaching=
These methods depend upon the aim; and the aim, we venture to hold,
should be eminently practical. The content of ethics is not primarily
a matter of whether Kant's judgments are sounder than Mill's or
Spencer's. Its subject is human life and the business of right living:
how should people--real people, that is, not textbook illustrations--live
with one another? This is the essential concern of our subject matter,
and in it our student is intimately and practically involved. Charged
with the fact, he may deny the impeachment. He refuses to worry over
the merits of hedonism versus rigorism, the distinction between
hypothetical and categorical imperatives, or the claim of ethics to be
called a science. Ethics, that is, as an intellectual discipline
through the survey of historic disputations is indeed remote from the
concerns that touch his life. But all the time there is no subject of
greater interest when approached from the side of its bearing on
practical problems. Consider the earnestness with which the student
will discuss with his friends such questions as these: What sense is
there in a labor strike? Is a conscientious objector justified in
refusing military service? Why should any one oppose easy divorce
laws? May a lawyer defend a rogue whom he knows to be guilty? Can one
change the nature with which he was born? Is violence justified in the
name of social reform? If what is right in one age or place is wrong
in another, is it fair to object when moral laws are broken? If a
practice like prostitution is common, what makes it wrong?
These do not sound like the questions likely to receive a welcome
hearing in the classroom; but it is precisely upon the interest in
such topics as these that the course in ethics should build; for its
subject is right living, a matter in which the student may indeed be
assumed to feel a genuine concern. If the questions that he wants
answered are not all as broad in their significance as the foregoing,
there are others of a more immediate personal kind which arise in his
life as a student, as a friend, as a son and brother, problems in
which standards of fair play and "decency" are involved, and upon
which it may be taken for granted that he has done some thinking,
howsoever crude. These interests are invaluable. Out of them the finer
product is to be created in the shape of better standards, higher
ideals, and habits of moral thoughtfulness, leading in turn to still
better standards and still worthier conduct. The course in ethics
should be practical in the sense that both its starting point and its
final object are found in the student's management of his life.
=Illustrations of the problems of right living=
Consider, for example, how his interest in problems of friendship may
be used as the point of departure for an extremely important survey
over general questions of right relationship. Just because friendship
is so vital a concern of adolescent years, he can be led to read what
Aristotle, Kant, Emerson, have to say upon this subject and be
introduced as well to that larger life of ideal relationships from
which these writers regard the dealings of friends. The topic of right
attitudes toward a friend broadens out readily into such
considerations as treating persons aright for their own sake or
regarding them as ends _per se_, a dead abstraction when approached as
it is by Kant, but a living reality when the students get Aristotle's
point about magnanimous treatment of friends. They can then proceed by
way of contrast to note, for example, how this magnanimity was limited
to friends in the upper levels of Athenian society, and went hand in
hand with approval of slave labor and other exploitations which a
modern conscience forbids. To give sharper edge to the conception of
man as deserving right treatment for his own sake, the class might go
on to examine other notable violations of personality in past and
present; e.g., slavery (read for instance Sparr's _History of the
African Slave Trade_) or the more recent cruelties toward the natives
in the rubber regions of the Congo and the Amazon. Reference may also
be made (without undue emphasis) to the white-slave traffic of today
and the fact be noted that a right sense of chivalry will keep a man
from partnership in the degradation which creates both the demand for
white slavery and ultimately its supply. We mention this to show how a
common practical interest can be employed to introduce the students to
so fundamental an ethical conception as the idea of inviolable human
worth. It may, no doubt, be highly unconventional for them to begin
with a discussion of friendship and after a few periods find
themselves absorbed in these other questions; but if care is exercised
to sum up and to emphasize the big conceptions underlying the topic,
we may be sure that their grasp of the subject will be no less firm
than under the older method. Their acquaintance with a study requiring
hard, abstract thinking will surely not be hurt, to say the least, by
an introduction which is concrete and practical.
Or take another matter of real concern to the student at this period
of his life. He is certain to be giving some thought to the matter of
his future vocation; and here again is a topic which, properly
handled, broadens out into the most far-reaching inquiries. It is to
be regretted that as yet the vocational-guidance movement has been
occupied in the main with external features--comparing jobs, making
objective tests of efficiency, and so on. The central ethical
conceptions are usually slighted. That one's vocation is a prime
influence in the shaping of personality in oneself, in one's fellow
workers, in the public served (or disserved) by one's work, in the
world of nations in so far as war and peace are connected with
commerce and other interchange of vocational products--all this is
matter for the teacher who wishes the ethics course to work over into
better living.[49] Nor again, as will be noted later in the chapter,
need the claims of the subject as a scholarly discipline suffer from
such treatment. Questions of the nature of moral standards, of the
distinction between expedient and right, etc., can be taken up more
profitably when, instead of dealing with the academic questions
forming the stock in trade of most textbooks, the course examines a
few vocations, let us say, business, teaching, art, law, medicine,--in
the light of such standards as these: A history of the calling; e.g.,
what has it contributed to the elevation of mankind, to the
development of the arts and sciences, and to specific kinds of human
betterment? What is the best service it can accomplish today? What
traits does it require in those who pursue it? What traits is it
likely to encourage in them for better and for worse? Report on great
leaders in the calling, with special reference to what their work made
of them. What are the darker sides of the picture? What efforts are
being made today to raise the moral code in this vocation? Sum up the
ideal rewards.
We do not mean, of course, that the only problems are those which
center around the demands of today for a more just economic and social
order. On the contrary, we believe that the movement for social
justice is greatly in need of precisely that appreciation of the
claims of moral personality which it is the main business of ethical
study to promote. But we shall never get our students to profit from
their work in social ethics, or in ethical theory, or in any branch of
the subject whatever, unless we keep fresh and close the contact with
their own experiences and ambitions.
Indeed, we venture to assert that unless this connection is kept
unbroken, the subject is not ethics at all but an abstraction which
ought to take some other name. Ethics deals with human volitions; but
the latter term is meaningless to the student save as he interprets it
by his own experiences in the preference of better ways to lower. He
knows the difficulties that arise in his own group-associations,--his
home or his class or his club, for example,--the conflicts of
ambitions, the readiness to shirk one's share of common
responsibility, the discordant prides and appetites of one sort and
another which lead to overt injustices. All these should be used to
throw light upon the living moral problems of group-life in the
vocations, in the civic world, in the international order.
Temperamentally, to be sure, the teacher may be inclined to handle his
subject in what he prefers to regard as academic detachment. But where
the subject is ethics and not dead print, complete aloofness is out of
the question. There would be no textbooks in ethics if the men whose
convictions are there recorded had not grappled earnestly with
problems of vital moment to their day and generation. The crucial
questions raised by a changing Athenian democracy were no matters of
air-born speculation to Socrates and Plato and Aristotle. Nor is it an
accident that the philosopher who so sought to vindicate the worth of
man as an end _per se_ should have sent from his apparently isolated
study in Koenigsberg his glad acclaim of the French Revolution. The
abounding interest of the English Utilitarians in the economics, the
politics, the social reform, of the nineteenth century needs no
comment. There are texts for study today because the men who wrote
them were keenly concerned about a nobler mode of life for mankind. To
invite the student to share their reflections without expecting
worthier conduct is to ignore the essential purpose by which those
reflections were prompted.
=Governing aim in ethics teaching=
Hence our first recommendation--that the _content of the ethics
courses be determined by the principal aim of so interpreting the
experiences and interests of the student as to stimulate worthier
behavior through a better understanding of the general problem of
right human relationships_.
Our second recommendation as to aims is suggested by certain extremes
in the practice of today. Reference to problems of immediate concern
does not mean that ultimate considerations are to be shelved. Indeed,
it must rather be stressed that such discussions miss their best
object, _if they fail to lead to searching reflection upon ultimate
standards_. The temptation to forego such inquiry today is strong. In
their desire to be practical and up-to-date, many teachers are
altogether too ready to rest the case for moral obligation upon a kind
of easy-going hedonism, the fallacy of provisionalism, as Professor
Felix Adler calls it. Tangible "goods" like happiness or "social
values" are held up as standards, as if these values were ends in
themselves and the problem of an ultimate human worth were irrelevant.
It may very well be a modest attitude to say that we can no longer
busy ourselves with the nature of ultimate ends and that we can best
employ our energies in trying to define the various goods which
contribute now and here to human betterment. Let the effort be made,
by all means. But when the last of empirical goods have been examined
and appraised (assuming for the moment that we can indeed appraise
without possessing ultimate norms) the cardinal question still waits
for answer: To what are all these goods instrumental? What kind of
life is best? What is it that permits man, with all his faults, his
sordid appetites, his meannesses and gross dishonors, to hold his head
erect as one yet worthy of the tribute implied in the fact that we
have duties toward him?
An answer satisfying to all may never be reached; but to evade these
questions is to abdicate the teacher's function. Many young people are
led by the biologic teachings of the day to regard man as the utterly
helpless product of his environment. Or they are so impressed with the
obvious and immediate needs of whole masses for better food, better
homes, greater opportunities for culture, that they do not stop to ask
whether these goods are worth while in themselves, or if not, what is
the deeper purpose to which they should minister. A conception of
personality is needed, sufficiently exalted to permit the various
immediate utilities to find their due place as tributes to the ideal
excellence latent in man; and on the other hand there is need for a
view of the spiritual life free from the misuse to which that term is
put by the various cults evoked by reaction against modern mechanism.
Painstaking inquiry into the grounds upon which the assurance of human
dignity can justify itself, has never been more urgently required.[50]
=Ideals and tendencies in ethics teaching=