著者

村田 康常

出版者

名古屋柳城短期大学

雑誌

研究紀要 (ISSN:13427997)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.33, pp.79-94, 2011-12-20

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In several writings including The Aims of Education, Alfred North Whitehead develops his original philosophy of education, which we can call "a theory of the rhythm of education." This paper tries to show an important influence of Bergson's idea of "élan vital" on Whitehead's theory of the rhythm. According to Whitehead, the essence of the life consists in the creative impulse to realize a definite shape of novel value in the world. The realization of some actual value is a creation of a new harmony, and the process of the creation has its own rhythm. Whitehead gives a philosophical explanation to the rhythm of the life by referring to ideas borrowed from Bergson, "élan vital" and "its relapse to the matter." The process of education should be coincident with the rhythm of the life, which swings from the romance of "élan vital" to the generalized "wisdom" through the precision of knowledge and information. His theory of the rhythm, appearing as a rhythmic theory of the life in his early works of scientific philosophy, develops toward the ideas of the becoming process of organisms and of the creative advance of the world into novelty in his later works of "philosophy of organism." His theory of the rhythm of education takes a significant position in the developing process of his philosophy from its earlier scientific philosophy to its later metaphysical cosmology. It is the reason why his philosophy of education shows a widespread vision of the life, nature and human being.