Learning as Transcendence: The Solution to the Learner's Paradox in Plato and Merleau-Ponty
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Authors
Sheridan, Joanna
Issue Date
2015-05
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Plato , Plato. Meno , Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, 1908-1961 , Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, 1908-1961. Phenomenology of Perception , Phenomenology , Knowledge, Theory of , Knowledge and learning , Learning--Philosophy , Locke, John, 1632-1704 , Locke, John, 1632-1704. Some Thoughts Concerning Education , Education--Philosophy , Teaching--Methodology
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Abstract
This thesis attempts to resolve the learner's paradox on the basis of Merleau-Ponty's insights in the Phenomenology of Perception by showing that the paradox is misleading in at least two important ways: it presumes that our "knowing" relation to the world operates in the form of explicit knowledge, whereas really we mainly operate on the basis of a pre-reflective familiarity with various things; and, it presumes that we are "in charge" of our learning, whereas really learning is part of the ongoing coupling of self and world. The first chapter offers a reading of Plato's Meno that argues that Plato implicitly offers a solution to the paradox that is compatible with Merleau-Ponty's. The second chapter explicates Merleau-Ponty's own version of the learner's paradox. The third chapter criticizes the learner's paradox from the Meno using Merleau-Ponty's insights. The conclusion offers a few ideas on what shape teaching should take, given the foregoing account of learning, that are drawn from John Locke's "Some Thoughts Concerning Education."
Description
Citation
Publisher
Institute for Christian Studies