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SESSION 7HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS
Historical Consciousness:Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late)
Modern (Early, High, Late), Post-Modern, Emergent Future
The Liberal Arts:History, Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Languages, Literature, Music, Design, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Movement, DanceMath Physics, Cosmology, Chemistry, Geology, Oceanography,
Botany, Biology, Zoology, Paleontology, Anthropology,Cognitive & Social Sciences, Psychology, Sociology
“HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS”HUMAN KNOWLEDGE IS FINITE & LIMITED,
HISTORICALLY SITUATED & CULTURALLY CONDITIONED
• Everything We Know has a History: a Past, Present and Future
• We are perspectival; We don’t have “a view from nowhere.”
• The History of Persons, Places, Times, Events
• The History of Philosophy: Presuppositions, Ideas
• The History of Religion: Ethos, Logos, Rituals, Traditions
• The History of Literature: Myths, Poetics, Metaphors, Narratives
• The History of Music and the Arts: Creations, Performances
• The History of Science and Technology: Discoveries, Inventions
THE INTIMATE & PERSONAL SIDE OF HISTORY:
BIOGRAPHY, AUTOBIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
• History can be approached through the detached and impersonal lens of epochal events, the chronicle of the rise and fall of families, societies, nations and civilizations.
• History can also be approached through the more intimate and personal lens of biography, autobiography and memoir, as well as comparative study of exemplars.
• In addition, history can be approached as the unfolding story of the life of the mind, the development of ideas, the moral imagination and worldview perspectives.
SESSION 7AHISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS:
THE PROBLEM OF HISTORICAL AMNESIA
PrimordialAxial
Ancient
Medieval:Early,
High, Late
Modern:Early, High, Late
Post-Modern
~ Emergent
Q1. Why do many people narrowly fixate on the present moment as “re-presented”, “interpreted” and “constructed” for us in our mass-media consumer-driven society at the neglect of reflecting upon the larger historical and cultural contexts that have influenced and shaped who we are today? What does it mean to live in the glare of the present “consensus reality” without any past or future?
THE AMERICAN PROBLEM OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL AMNESIA
Primal Ancient Medieval Modern Contem-porary
Q2. What is the problem associated with ignoring, forgetting or repressing the historical past, both as individuals and as a society? Why and how does this happen? Why does a memory of our ancestral past matter?
THE MEANING OF HISTORICAL PROCESS:PROGRESSIVE, REGRESSIVE, OR MUDDLED?
Primal Ancient Medieval Modern Contem-porary
Q3. Is history the slow evolutionary advance of life, consciousness, intelligence, creativity, civility, society and culture? Is it regressive with the perpetual rise and fall of empires? Is it just the natural selection and random mutation of contingent events without overarching meaning?
HEGEL’S DIALECTICAL THEORY OF HISTORY
• Thesis
• Anti-thesis
• Synthesis =(New Thesis)
• New anti-thesis
• New Synthesis (New Thesis)
• Continuous or Consummating Dialectical Process?
JEAN GEBSER’S MUTATION THEORY OFTHE FIVE STRUCTURES OF HISTORICAL UNFOLDING
The Ever-Present Origin: Being or Inter-Being?
1. The Archaic Structure of Consciousness
2. The Magical Structure of Consciousness
3. The Mythical Structure of Consciousness
4. The Rational Structure of Consciousness
4. The Integral Structure of Consciousness
LIVING IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION:MULTIPLE POINTS OF ARTICULATION
CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION
Ages: Time
Civilizations: Space
POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION
Centralized Authority
Decentralized Autonomy
BIOLOGICAL GLOBALIZATION
Species Migrations
Bacteria/Organisms
ECONONOMIC GLOBALIZATION
Products & Services
Banking & Currencies
Communication
Information
Mobilization
Organization
HIGHER EDUCATION & THE LIBERAL ARTS:COMPARING FIVE EDUCATIONAL TRADITIONS
Progressive: Citizenship Social Leadership
Canonical: KnowledgeCultural Literacy
Radical: IndividualitySelf-Actualization
Utilitarian: Security + SuccessPractical Life-Work Skills
Transcendental: WisdomSpiritual Vision + Moral Purpose
BLOOM’S EDUCATIONAL TAXONOMY
SESSION 7BTHE TRADITION OF THE LIBERAL ARTS
An Encyclopedic Approach to the Liberal Arts
Comprehensive Knowledge & Systematic Inquiry• Definition of Terms; Associated Words and Ideas
• Denotations and Connotations, Contexts and Uses
• Historical Development: Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Contemporary
• Leading Founders, Exemplars, and Achievements: “Who’s Who?”
• Basic Questions, Key Issues, Schools of Thought, Critical Debates
• Documented References and Footnotes
• Recommended Reading and Links for Further Study
THE LIBERAL ARTS:LEARNING MULTIPLE “LANGUAGE GAMES”
Tender-Minded Integral Approach Tough-MindedReligionSymbols
Symbols & Ideas
PhilosophyIdeas
LiteraturePoetics
Poetics & Events
HistoryEvents
PsychologyIndividuals
Individual &Institutions
SociologyInstitutions
ArtsCreations
Creations & Discoveries
SciencesDiscoveries
THE PLURALITY OF “LANGUAGE GAMES”THAT CONSTITUTE ACADEMIC SPECIALIZATIONWITHIN THE MODERN UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM
• Each of the liberal arts has its own “language game” which expects others to learn to play.
• Philosophers, Theologians, Historians, Literati, Artists, Physical and Natural Scientists, Cognitive and Social Scientists, each speaks his own special language
• Each tends to regard his own specialized language game as being superior to others. Competitive academic silos are the result of the shift from the primacy of the generalist to the specialist.
THE “SOCIAL RANKING” OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES IS HISTORICALLY AND CULTURALLY CONTINGENT
THE EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL ASCENT FROM CHAOTIC NOISE & COHERENT WISDOM
THE MOVEMENT FROM PAST TO FUTURE:
COMBINING “CONTEXT” & “UNDERSTANDING”
HolisticIntegral Right-BrainApproach
AnalyticalEmpiricalLeft-BrainApproach