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SUMMARY:RS Peters Memorial Lecture Series - Unsettling knowledge: irony an
 d education  - Professor Richard Smith\, University of Durham
DTSTART:20140513T160000Z
DTEND:20140513T180000Z
UID:TALK52320@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lucian Stephenson
DESCRIPTION:_The Faculty of Education is proud to host the second lecture 
 in the prestigious *RS Peters Memorial Lecture Series*\, with *Professor R
 ichard Smith*._\n\nIt was one of Richard Peters’ principal achievements 
 to give a sophisticated account of the distinctive nature of education: as
  something other than training\, or the accumulation of qualifications or 
 the passing of exams\, or even the development and flourishing of the chil
 d. On his analysis education is good in and for itself\, rather than for t
 he sake of particular benefits that can be independently and conclusively 
 specified.  Our understanding of it is accordingly always partial and revi
 sable. In the terms that I shall develop here\, education is always unsett
 led\, despite the settlements that are offered from time to time – for i
 nstance that international league tables will establish its quality\, or t
 hat neuroscience or information technology or empirical research on what m
 akes people happy will supply educational solutions. There is a proper iro
 ny in being committed to the idea of education without having answers at o
 ur fingertips: an irony displayed to fine effect in many of Plato’s dial
 ogues\, where intellectual and moral progress appear less a matter of acqu
 iring knowledge than of experiencing its unsettlement.  \n\nRichard Smith 
 is Professor of Education at the University of Durham. He was editor of th
 e Journal of Philosophy of Education\, 1991-2001\, and founding editor of 
 Ethics and Education\, 2006-2013. His principal research interests are in 
 the philosophy of education and the philosophy of social science. His most
  recent book is the edited collection\, _Education Policy: Philosophical C
 ritique_ (Wiley-Blackwell\, 2013). _Understanding Education and Educationa
 l Research_\, co-written with Paul Smeyers\, will be published by Cambridg
 e University Press later in 2014.\n
LOCATION:Faculty of Education\, 184 Hills Road\, Cambridge\, CB2 8PQ\, DMB
 \, Room GS5
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