• JohnLocke
    18
    Hi
    I have noticed a problem of materialism in education.
    Academics, such as college tutors, have a tendency to judge the material presence of a being based on their conditioned understanding of how that being fits into an arbitrary society. For example, tutors will often draw fallacious assumptions about a being, such as a student, simply based on how they present themselves, materially, such as their appearance, accent and wider socio-economic background. In present times, this is perhaps most obvious along lines of race and gender.

    In a philosophical sense, this is fallacious behaviour by tutors. Yet, many do not know they are doing it. They simply do it because they have been conditioned to behave this way, as a result of operating within the constraints of wider society.

    But, what is the solution to this problem...? Is it fair to ask tutors to simply ignore the material manifestation of the being completely, and instead focus on their brain. In other words, to view the individual as two parts: 1) a material body; 2) a brain.

    Historically, academia has always placed importance on assessing only the brain. However, in light of a politicisation of academia, it is now common for tutors to draw fallacious assumptions and deductions of a being by assessing both their material body and brain. Often, the degree to which their material body is materially disadvantaged within the constraints of the society. This, in a strict academic sense, often leads to false assessment of 'ability' in the truest sense...

    So, as you can see, there is a clear problem of materialism in academia. This is perhaps a consequence of the increasing material importance of human societies. I suspect it is very difficult for tutors to uphold any degree of impartiality when it comes to assessing a being's academic ability.

    Would you agree that materialism is now a problem in education...? Or, would you argue that academia has always been based on this kind of superficial materiality, even since its foundations in classical antiquity?
  • Hello Human
    195
    As far back as Ancient Greece, certain people were not allowed in academia, the most obvious example being barbarians (people who could not speak Greek).

    Ideally, materialism in education would not exist, so I'd say that materialism was a problem in academia since the beginning.
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