About
derbis.org takes, as its point of departure, the place where the concerns of education, philosophy, and aesthetic experience coalesce. These things may be discussed separately, but the belief that undergirds this project is that they will always connect eventually. For each of these concerns is, I contend, a primary and constitutive facet of our experience.
My specific background and research interests have much to do with that titan of American educational philosophy, John Dewey. If I had to define a manifesto for derbis.org, I could hardly hope to do any better than he:
“Since education is not a means to living, but is identical with the operation of living a life which is fruitful and inherently significant, the only ultimate value which can be set up is just the process of living itself. And this is not an end to which studies and activities are subordinate means; it is the whole of which they are ingredients.”
It is from this broad sense of education, as the process of significant and fruitful living, that I proceed.
Apart from, or probably in conjunction with, Dewey, I am also very interested in the latter work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. There is a lot of overlap in the thought of these two philosophers, and I think Rorty rightly characterized Wittgenstein’s latter philosophy as having taken “the pragmatic turn.” But there’s also quite a bit of difference between Dewey and Wittgenstein, especially in the domain of normative claims, and I hope to map this divide more carefully.
Thirdly, and most currently, I am interested in various developments in 20th-century Continental philosophy. Specifically Heidegger and the subsequent hermeneutic branch of thought. Being a fairly new research area for me, I am not so well versed in this material yet, and I hope that this project will allow me to explore some of the main avenues without seeming too much the tyro. As the leader of the nudist colony said, “Bare [bear] with me.”
But enough meta-talk! Onward! I hope you might find something educative, or at least enjoyable, here. Thanks for reading, and leave a comment if you feel the urge.