A Social History of Education

Abstract

The search for theoretical frameworks which will lend perspective and direction to educational history presses on. The present work is not only a brief social history of education but is, at the same time, a statement of the position which provides an interpretive framework for the volume, namely, Promethean humanism. It will be recalled that Prometheus, one of the giants of Greek mythology, interceded on behalf of man with Zeus whom he had aided in becoming king of the gods. It had been the intention of Zeus to destroy mankind. Prometheus, kindly disposed to mortals, stole fire from Olympus and gave it to man, a deed for which he incurred the wrath of Zeus and was punished by death. As in his other tragedies, Aeschylus takes pains to depict characters who are independent agents and who follow the dictates of conscience rather than become the pawns of external circumstance. For Aeschylus the essence of human action is to be found in the moment of decision, of confrontation. In the moment of decision man has the opportunity to shape circumstances, to modify the course of history. Beck's Promethean humanism, both imaginative and thought-provoking, is reminiscent of Alfred North Whitehead's view that human history is the evolutionary development of the idea of freedom. Promethean humanism insists on the effectiveness of ideas for conserving the painfully acquired gains which humanity has wrested from its invironment and for transforming society through persuasion rather than force.