Snobbery and elitism aside, I think there is a great deal to be said for transmitting a "common core of culture" in school.
Of course, the reading list would be sure to come under criticism for being dominated by dead white guys, or for some other such sin. It is impossible to please everybody, and there is no way in the world one can read everything.
Let's return to Plato for a moment. Whether you approve of Plato or not, the fact is that -- according to Bertrand Russell, at any rate -- all Western philosophy can be traced back to him. So, if you must choose between Plato and say, Adrienne Rich, in drawing up your reading list, it seems to me you really ought to go with Plato.
The advantage of having such a "common core" is that it gives you a "common language", in which people who do totally different things for a living can converse. AND -- it is more DEMOCRATIC!
Who says "the masses" can't learn to appreciate High Culture?
I briefly attended a public high school in upstate New York, where almost all of the students came of farming families, and were not expected to go on to college. It outraged me that all they were given to read in English class was The Saturday Evening Post.
Now, THAT's elitism!
Joan |
