Professors yesterday opened a two-day symposium on the effects of religion on the development of post-Sept. 11 liberal democratic societies.
The Boston University conference, ‘Paideia and Religion: Educating For Democracy,’ continues today at the School of Management.
Boston University professor Alan Olsen chaired yesterday’s panel, entitled ‘Is Ecumenical Culture Possible?’ as part of the national conferences on The Paideia Project.
Professor Arthur Kennedy, from the University of Saint Thomas, was one of four speakers during yesterday’s afternoon panel. He said globalization, which was officially ushered in with Sept. 11, has changed the nature of ‘paideia,’ or the teaching of societal values.
‘The Greek form of paideia was focused on the consciousness of education of young to nobility,’ he said. ‘In modern times of globalization, there is a new paideia in which spiritual claims created by religious tradition can speak through philosophical claims.’
Kennedy advocated listening seriously to others to impress upon society’s young the importance of seeking true and right ethics and morals.
‘We can establish paideia to mediate to young people what it means to live with the quest for truth,’ he said.
Globalization has changed the way societies educate their young about moral norms. The communications revolution and increased trade have secularized many areas of thought formerly reserved to religion.
‘Today’s globalization, through economics, travel and technology, to name a few, contributed to the development of a secular pragmatism,’ Kennedy said.
With globalization, corporations overcome intimate communities, leading to a world-wide American empire, he said.
According to Kennedy, paideia originally combined Christian and pragmatic ideals, but Christianity is now in danger of becoming destroyed by pragmatism. The new paideia continues to value reason, optimism and tolerance.
These Enlightenment ideals date back to the Greek focus on establishing the true ‘good city.’
Paideia is essentially the way societies educate youth into what they consider true, full human beings.
‘Paideia is the process of educating a man into a true form reflecting real and genuine human nature,’ Kennedy said.