School can’t change us, but education can. Time can’t change us, but experience can. As Rousseau stated education are from everywhere, and school is not the only one. Also Frankenstein showed us he learned how to survive based on his own experience without going to school. school is not equal to education.
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brainstorming exercise #2
Desire and Motivation
In response to Jessica lin’s post “ the desire to learn”, i am agree with Jessica’s thinking that the desire of learning education is the main key for Douglass and Jose to their success .
As Jessica mentioned in the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass was mistreated by his owner, his owner also said that teaching slaves how to read and write, will only make them unmanageable and valueless to the owners. But just because these words, it motivated Douglass. Douglass was a slave that always wanted to be free, but by those words, he understand he can be free by gaining knowledge, and be a valuable person. His desire of learning is to be free one day, and that motivated him to be a educated person. his education eventually helped him escaped slavery.
The same also apply to Jose in “Black Shack Alley”, Jose’s grandmother didn’t want him to work at the sugar cane fields just like other kids, so she encourage him to go to school for an education, she believed as long as Jose study hard, the education will bring him to different level in life. Jose’s desire of learning is not to be working like his grandmother, or other kids. His desire motived him and even got him a scholarship because of his excellent work.
The desire and motivation of learning changed their life, without these, they might still just be one of the slave.
FREDERICK’S FREEDOM VS. KANT’S ENLIGHTENMENT
Immanuel Kant defied “enlightenment is the human being’s emergence from his self-incurred minority”(Kant, p1), which he thinks that minority is the ability to understand something on their own, without anyone’s direction. However Kant stated that people become lazy, when they found someone who can guide them, teach them and do everything for them, people are comfortable to be a minor, therefor it is difficult for any single individual to enlighten themselves because they have never allowed to do so. Kant also believes freedom is importantly related with enlightenment, he stated ” For this enlightenment, however, nothing is required but freedom”(Kant,p5). Kant thinks the society limited the way of how people thinking, and doing things. He gave out examples of tax office, officer and the clergyman, they were all regulate people in the way of how they will like things to be done, “there are restrictions of freedom everywhere” Kant said. Therefore it is even more difficult for people to think freely and not to follow others direction .
In Frederick Douglass’s narrative of his slavery life, Kant’s idea of how enlightenment related with freedom can also be seen. Frederick was a slave, enlightenment at that time is way far for people to think, when they don’t even know their own birthday, can’t even write their own name. But Frederick learned how to read and write, his education encouraged him to escape from the slaver, pursue his own freedom.
Kant believes the freedom is the key of enlightenment , but for Frederick, without knowledge , without enlighten himself, he will never achieved his freedom.
THESIS #1
Most of us go to school for education, we are learning the same knowledge, taking the same exam, getting a same degree, but we all become different people. Because we are not only learning what school was teaching us. As Rousseau stated that learning can be also from daily life, people around you. And Frankenstein showed us how he didn’t go to school for education but also learned how to survive from his own experience.
free post
After reading John Locke’s”experience “Rene Descartes’s”book of the world” and Jean Jacques Rousseau”book of nature”. I found that they were all disagree with school system.
Rene Descartes stated that school isn’t the only way of learning education, people should always get out of what can only see, go outside of school, have the freedom of gaining education of what they really need. Descartes believed that everything has an answer, but in order for him to believe the answer is to prove the answer by himself. And that is the reason Descartes didn’t believed in school systems, he did not like the way of school educate students, which is giving out an answer without proving it. Which i found it is similar to John Locke’s “experience”, John Locke believed everything that we learned from life are from experience. He states that, “children and idiots have not the least apprehension (Locke, page 2)” proving that knowledge isn’t something you’re born with. Locke also questions, “Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge?” and answers this stating, “in one word, from experience (Locke, page 5).”
On the other hand Rousseau more focus on nature and education, he believe that people can also learn education by teaching themselves, because as we growing up, we are learning little by little, from our parents, from our neighbor, from anyone that are around us, and eventually from ourselves.
According to their points of view, we should all stay home, teach ourselves, study on our own, go travel, learning things that only interested us, and don’t cares about grades, we don’t need school. But question, without grades, how can school determinant whether you are qualified for the certification or not? And without a certification how can look for a job? And now it comes to without a job how can you survive? How can the society be balance, if no one is willing to go to school and only learn what they interest? So in order to be succeed in the society today, maybe school isn’t the only of learning education, but definitely the best way of learning education.
Brainstorming Exercise #1
DIFFERENT THEORIES OF EDUCATION
After reading John Locke’s”experience “Rene Descartes’s”book of the world” and Jean Jacques Rousseau”book of nature”. I found how they were looking at education at a different perspective.
Rene Descartes stated that school isn’t the only way of learning education, people should always get out of what can only see, go outside of school, have the freedom of gaining education of what people really need. Descartes believed that everything has an answer but in order for him to believe the answer is to proved the answer by himself. And that is the reason Descartes did’t believed in school systems, he did not like the way of school educate students, which is giving out an answer without proving it. Which i found is similar to John Locke’s “experience”, John Locke believed everything that we learned from life are from experience. He states that, “children and idiots have not the least apprehension (Locke, page 2)” proving that knowledge isn’t something we are born with. Locke also questions, “Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge?” and answers with, “in one word, from experience (Locke, page 5).”
On the other hand Rousseau more focus on nature and education, he stated that men are naturally good, is the society change people, the way of how people thinks, and how people learn. Rousseau also stated that children should be taught differently by age, and nothing against their will.
Comment on reason vs. experience
Comment on reason vs. experience
I am agree with Gabrielle Delacruz’s view of comparing the difference of Rene Descartes and John Locke.
Rene Descartes and John Locke are both attempt to the answer of how we can find truth. Rene Descartes believed in reason, he thinks that everyone is equally distributed. Rene Descartes was very disappointed with his education, “as soon as I had finished the entire course of study… I found myself involved in so many doubts and errors, that I was convinced I had advanced no farther… than the discovery at every turn of my own ignorance.” (Descartes part 1), he believed everything has an answer, but it need to be approved. school didn’t give him the answer that he was looking for, people are learning knowledge just because they need to pass the course, without approving the what the truth is. Therefor he left school and started his own journey of gaining experience and tried not to believe anything unless he can approve it himself. Because of that, he believed that school is not the only way to learning knowledge, we should go outside of school, gain experience and knowledge on our own. Descartes also came up with a method, that when is truth, he won’t believe anything, unless he can prove it himself with reason.
John Locke more focus on evidence and principles, when it come to the truth. Locke believes that knowledge is not innate and said “children and idiots have not the least apprehension” proving that knowledge is not something you ‘re born with. Which I did not agree with, I think that lots of people are born with gifts, they are more talent than other, “children and idiots” can be good at something that we might think is not necessary, therefore we think that they don’t know. However I do agree that John Locke’s philosophy, ”knowledge from experience”.