Educational Implications of the Philosophy of Kenneth Boulding

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to 1) describe Kenneth Boulding's general social philosophy; 2) report Boulding's thoughts about learning and education; 3) locate, assemble, and articulate existing discourse-units critical of Boulding; 4) summarize and evaluate the specifically education-related criticisms of Boulding; and, 5) rationally reconstruct Boulding's philosophy so as to engender or identify some of its education-related implications. The dissertation consists of five chapters (and one appendix). Chapter 1 introduces and outlines the investigation. Chapter 2 describes Boulding's general social philosophy, based on his Ecodynamics. Chapter 3 presents Boulding's thoughts about learning and education, based on The Image and his Collected Papers. Chapter 4 locates, assembles, and articulates existing criticisms of Boulding. (In an appendix to the work, each of the discourse-units critical of Boulding is examined in turn.) Chapter 5 summarizes and evaluates the specifically education-related criticisms of Boulding; then Boulding's philosophy is rationally reconstructed so as to engender or identify some of its education-related implications, by asking the following leading question: "What would the structure of 'Boulding University' look like, and what is its mission for world leadership?"

The dissertation locates, assembles, and articulates 137 discourse-units critical of Boulding; summarizes and evaluates 36 education-related criticisms of Boulding; and, articulates the implications of Boulding's philosophy for the structure, mission, and curriculum of a twenty-first century university. It is concluded that Boulding's core curriculum (required of all elementary, secondary, and college undergraduate students) would teach 1) how to learn as an ongoing lifelong process; and, 2) how to think globally as a context for the advancement of moral identity.

Keywords: Kenneth Boulding, philosophy, education

JEL Classification: I2