Science and Spirituality: Tradition and Interpretation in Liberal Education

ABSTRACT

In an essay entitled “Liberal Education and Open Society: Absolutism and Relativism in Curriculum Theory” (Alexander 1989a), I argued that the two dominant approaches to liberal education embrace unintended assumptions that are problematic for liberal society, in that they embrace textual and methodological canons before questions and criticism. D. C. Phillips (1989), Elliot Eisner (1989), and Thomas Greenfield (1989) expressed puzzlement at the commitment of a religious philosopher such as myself to the principle of criticism before canon, and to the priority of questions over answers. This essay offers a response to their concerns by developing a conception of nonorthodox religious traditionalism, the role of this sort of traditionalism in the education of a liberal society, and the consequences of such a view for pedagogy and curriculum. I argue that the philosophical rationalism of such medieval philosophers as Aquinas, Maimonides, and Alfarabi presents an excellent model for thinking about how traditions can be critiqued from the perspective of alien assumptions, and suggest that this sort of approach could form the foundation for a nonorthodox traditionalism within liberal education. This sort of centrist approach, I argue, is crucial for the survival of liberal society.