[MD] philosophy and philosophology

[Ian Glendinning]

Some great stuff in there Gav,

Last first ... your question.

No. Community is not a dirty word ... it's the right word. I don't
think the world has yet recovered from the Thatcherite "There is no
such thing as society."

You said "good teachers have a way of circumventing bureaucratic banality".

I'd say that was true of "good" people in any worthwhile "profession"
- think healthcare if nothing else, but it is true everywhere - yes
even politics.

A little bureaucracy may be a necessaril evil in the mix, but to many
bureacrats in positions of power are an unnecessary evil, to be
avoided (to save the waste of having to circumvent them anyway ....
organizational hypocrisy.)

Regards
Ian

On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 9:36 AM, gav<gav_gc at yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
> maybe the difference (tween philosophology and philosophy) is primarily one of orientation. that is the philosopher, or philosophy teacher, is akin to an explorer. he/she realises that everytime they set sail with a question they know not where they will end up (or if the journey will be fruitful or frustrating etc), whereas a philosophology teacher is sorta supposed to know where he is going before he sets off: he is a tour guide shepherding tourists; a philosopher is more like a fellow traveller, and a seasoned one at that.
>
>  bureaucracies (of which university is an example) like to know everything before it happens, in triplicate....but good teachers have a way of circumventing bureaucratic banality.
>
>  uni, as it stands, does not like philosophers (and i use this term here to describe any true teacher, regardless of specific discipline), but this is due primarily, i believe, to this bureaucratic impediment: inertia, very static.
>
> i do not see the need for administrative staff, at least most of them. the university could be run by the teachers and the students.... without the need for a ridiculously expensive executive and administration. UQ here in brisbane nearly went that way on 1968, but the premier stepped in (joh bjelke petersen - basically a nazi dictator for nearly 30 years) and annulled the union election results.
>
> cuba, i believe, out of economic necessity, decentralised its tertiary education system (see 'power of community' for more info here) so that they now have a micro-university in every municipality. this model lends itself even more readily to local autonomy, ie democratic control by teachers and students. these micro-unis are then federated in order to decide macro issues.
>
> i think 'an expansion of rationality' ain't enough, or is only a start. we need to bring uni down to human dimensions...god knows i felt a tad dwarfed by the monolithic institutions i attended. one could attend there -  and get a degree - without ever making a ripple, without ever feeling like they were truly part of the place.
>
> community....is it a dirty word?
>
>
>
>
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