Research Catalog

Title

Moving images of eternity : George Grant's critique of time, teaching, and technology / William F. Pinar.

Author

Pinar, William F.

Publication

[Ottawa, Ontario] : University of Ottawa Press, 2019.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiv, 459 pages; 25 cm.

Summary

"While there are studies of Grant's political philosophy and theology, there is no sustained study of his teaching, and specifically its inextricable relation to his political philosophy and theology. No study to date has drawn extensively on the collected works--including his talks to teachers and his D.Phil. thesis--or upon his biography, letters, and the considerable secondary literature, all of which are referenced here extensively.This is a synoptic text for prospective and practising teachers that shows the significance of the scholarship of George Grant for teaching today. While there are studies of Grant's political philosophy and theology, there is no sustained study of his teaching, and specifically its relation to his political philosophy and theology. No study to date has drawn extensively on the collected works--including talks to teachers and his D.Phil. thesis at Oxford--or upon his biography, the collected letters, and the vast secondary literature, all of which I cite extensively in this comprehensive and original study of the teachings of George Grant. Aside from its synoptic status--it can serve a reference book for students of Grant as well as textbook for students of education--original features include 1) the characterization of Grant as Progressive Christian Platonist, the first term an acknowledgement of his imprinting as a child and of his (inadvertent) affinities with John Dewey, 2) the linking of his critiques of time, teaching, and technology into one critique: idolatry, 3) an extension of his preference for Eastern Christianity and its emphasis upon icons, associated also with his study of Simone Weil, from whose work I quote, 4) the extension of Grant's critique through the elaboration of a concept of attunement, and 5) the explication of one of Grant's keywords: eternity, juxtaposed with time (the subject of Chapter 3). My teaching of Grant emphasizes its timeliness, accenting his prescience, identifying several educational issues today--academic vocationalism, educational technology, privatization of schooling, the ascendency of research over teaching--that Grant identified and critiqued fifty years ago. Grant's prescience is also demonstrated by his concerns over the fate of what he termed particularity within Canada and globally, worried that economic globalization will erase distinctive national histories and cultures. Replacing these would be a world state, universal and homogeneous, representing the worst tyranny humanity has known. Current issues of right-wing populism--notably in the U.K. and the U.S.--Grant foresaw as reactions against these historical tendencies. I conclude with a long epilogue wherein I review the main points and show Grant's profound pertinence for students today."--

Series Statement

Education

Uniform Title

Education (University of Ottawa)

Alternative Title

George Grant's critique of time, teaching, and technology

Subject

• Grant, George Parkin, 1918-1988

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Formats (note)

• Issued also in electronic format.

Contents

Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction. A progressive Christian platonist -- Subjective presence -- This book -- Reactivation -- Notes -- Chapter 1: Why?. Reactivation -- Reconstruction -- Moving images -- Teaching -- Becoming historical -- Progressivism -- Conclusion -- Chapter 2: Technology. Our civilizational destiny -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3: Time. Lament for a nation -- Grant's lament -- Conclusion -- Chapter 4: Teaching. Reactivating the past in the present -- Complicated conversation -- Curriculum and teaching -- What knowledge is of most worth? -- Conclusion -- Chapter 5: Idolatry. Idolatry -- The gap -- Iconography -- Conclusion -- Chapter 6: Attunement. Quietude -- Listening -- Transcendence -- Conclusion -- Chapter 7: Eternity. Reactivation -- Time -- The perpetuity of the past -- Eternity in time -- Conclusion -- Epilogue. Politics -- Freedom -- Teaching -- Time -- Technology -- Conclusion -- References -- Earlier versions and permission to quote -- Index.

Call Number

JFE 19-8653

ISBN

• 9780776627878
• 0776627872

OCLC

1047552564

Author

Pinar, William F., author.

Title

Moving images of eternity : George Grant's critique of time, teaching, and technology / William F. Pinar.

Publisher

[Ottawa, Ontario] : University of Ottawa Press, 2019.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Education

Education (University of Ottawa)

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Formats

Issued also in electronic format.

Other Form:

Online version: Pinar, William F. Moving images of eternity. Ottawa, Ontario : University of Ottawa Press, 2019 0776627880 9780776627885 (OCoLC)1089395694

Research Call Number

JFE 19-8653