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Overview
This book addresses concerns about educational and moral standards in a world increasingly characterised by nihilism. On the one hand there is widespread anxiety that standards are falling; on the other, new machinery of accountability and inspection to show that they are not. The authors in this book state that we cannot avoid nihilism if we are simply laissez-faire about values, neither can we reduce them to standards of performance, nor must we return to traditional values. They state that we need to create a new set of values based on a critical assessment of contemporary practice in the light of a number of philosophical texts that address the question of nihilism, including the work of Nietzsche.
Synopsis
This book addresses concerns about educational and moral standards in a world increasingly characterised by nihilism. On the one hand there is widespread anxiety that standards are falling; on the other, new machinery of accountability and inspection to show that they are not. The authors in this book state that we cannot avoid nihilism if we are simply laissez-faire about values, neither can we reduce them to standards of performance, nor must we return to traditional values. They state that we need to create a new set of values based on a critical assessment of contemporary practice in the light of a number of philosophical texts that address the question of nihilism, including the work of Nietzsche.
Booknews
Viewing contemporary education in the UK and much of the English-speaking world as characterized by a lack of commitment to any values beyond continuation of the system, the authors apply the lens of Nietzsche and other philosophers who addressed the issue of nihilism to education practices, standards, and policy. Part I illustrates this value-less state. Part II explores theoretical resources for addressing the problem. The last section offers advisory "fragments" for education managers based on Nietzsche's paraphrased credos: e.g., "laugh a lot, especially at the latest idiocies." Blake (Open U.) is chair of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain. Coauthors are educators in the UK and Belgium. Distributed in the US by Taylor & Francis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)