The Eclipse of Reason: Reclaiming Western Education for Today (Routledge Research in Education) - Hardcover

Carr, Wilfred

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1041038607 ISBN 13: 9781041038603

Publisher: Routledge, 2025

Synopsis

This concise, digestible book shows how the cultivation of reason became the defining aim of western education, and critiques how this aim has been eclipsed in recent decades by the neoliberal system of mass schooling imposed by the state.

Chapters outline succinctly the history of western education and its origins in Ancient Greece, demonstrating how the idea of education as intrinsically related to the development of reason became embedded in the Western educational tradition, and how this tradition subsequently developed and evolved. Introducing key philosophical ideas about the nature of education, the book shows how the development of mass schooling in the 19th century led to our current educational landscape, where neoliberal demands for schools to be more responsive to market forces have obscured the development of reason as a distinctive educational aim. By inviting educators to think reflectively and critically about the state of education today, the book raises the little-discussed educational question of what comes after neoliberalism.

Calling for the re-establishment of western education’s core values and aims, this book will be of interest to educators, researchers and students involved with pre- and in-service teacher education courses, as well as those interested in the history of education and the philosophy of education more broadly.

About this title

About the Author

Wilfred Carr is Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Sheffield, UK.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1041038607
• ISBN 13: 9781041038603
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 104