Gillian Rose and Education

Philosophy – practising with or without ground – first attends Dr Land. She diagnoses the end of philosophy and recommends it terminate its activities. Disconcerted by this, philosophy also attends Dr Grove. He sweeps his arm across his desk, pushing aside the proliferating reports on the death of philosophy which litter his desk. Tell me, he invites, who you are and how you are? Philosophy relates its history. What is it that you want to know, asks Grove? ‘Whether the poor will be with us always.’ Grove says he does not know what will happen… but assures philosophy that he can keep its dis-ease and its continuing learning in equilibrium. He understands there is no need for a surrogate prediction for philosophy’s uncertainties. As such, he does not permit philosophy to transfer its authority to him, and so philosophy trusts him more because the trust is un-coerced and freely bestowed. Here education provides the analogy for medicine. The teacher knows that he does not know, accepts he has no solutions, and is alive to the changing local and contingent considerations which affect the general course of philosophical education. Growth and learning are the gift of this teacher, who is skilled in unearthing and grounding the student’s own agon of authority