The authors attempt to outline a notion of high culture and its role within education, following a broad modern tradition springing from Matthew Arnold. The book is written with a concern for clarity and argument that is not always found within that tradition, and the authors reject the elitist conclusions of many who have followed the tradition, such as Eliot, Leavis, Bantock and Scruton.
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The authors attempt to outline a notion of high culture and its role within education, following a broad modern tradition springing from Matthew Arnold. The book is written with a concern for clarity and argument that is not always found within that tradition, and the authors reject the elitist conclusions of many who have followed the tradition, such as Eliot, Leavis, Bantock and Scruton.
The different chapters deal with Matthew Arnold as the founder of this tradition, questions of choice and conceptions of culture, the notion of 'the best' that has been thought and written, popular culture, 'high culture' and how not to think about it, and with cultural pluralism and the plurality of cultures. A distinctive theme of the book is the plotting of a path between subjective and objective approaches to culture, and the drawing of parallels between the philosophy of culture and the philosophy of science. The authors make clear what they take to be the implications of their argument for education, and for secondary schooling in particular.
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