APOLOGIA
By
Hendrik van der Breggen
The Carillon, July
26, 2018
Are we failing to educate our children?
My
wife and I recently watched a Jimmy
Kimmel video in which various American young people
(including college-educated students) are presented with a map of the world
(without written text) and are asked to identify at least one country—any
country. All failed, except for a young boy at the end of the clip.
Sure,
the sample is small and probably many who identified a country were left out of
the video. Kimmel is an entertainer, after all.
But,
still, the fact that even a few people couldn't identify any county—including
the U.S. or Canada—is disturbing.
I
have been teaching Philosophy (in Canada) at the college/university level since
1996, when I first began as an adjunct instructor. My experience is limited,
but I've noticed some troubling trends. Here are some examples.
In
my Ethics courses when I discuss war, a growing number of students are unaware
of which countries were involved in World War II. Some are even shocked when I
point out that the U.S. didn't want to go to war, but Japan initiated war with
the U.S. by a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. They're also surprised when I
point out that the winners of WWII helped rebuild the countries of the losers.
Many simply seem to think the West is always bad, period.
When
I discuss abortion, many students are unaware that there is no abortion law in
Canada. Moreover, apparently following the lead of our present Prime Minister, many
think abortion is a woman's right.
They
(including the Prime Minister) are unaware that Canada’s 1988 Supreme Court
ruling did not give women the right to abortion. It merely struck down law that
required therapeutic abortion committees. Why? Because the committees were not
equally accessible across Canada and thus unfair to women. The Supreme Court
ruling tasked Parliament with making an abortion law to remedy this unfairness
and protect unborn children.
When
I discuss homosexuality, a growing number of students simply think “born that
way" justifies sexual behaviour. But none seem aware that more reasoning
is needed. If not, then my being born with a propensity to lie, steal, covet, kill,
or have sex with children would justify behaving accordingly. Too much
listening to Lady Gaga, I suppose.
In
other courses, when I discuss the concept of truth, many students are unaware
that truth isn't merely subjective. I suppose they come by it honestly, since
I've heard a professor say truth can't be objective because we are subjective.
Yes,
we are subjective beings, but that only means we perceive truth—objective,
opinion-independent real truth—subjectively, not that there isn't objective
truth (and not that it isn't knowable).
Think
of the truth of Pythagoras's theorem: for any right triangle the hypotenuse
squared is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. This is
objectively true, even though we subjectively perceive (know) it.
Truth
is what is the case in reality or an accurate description of it; it's not
merely subjective.
I recently
read an argument written by a professor in which it is concluded that love
matters more than truth. The author seems unaware that his whole case rests on
the truth claims made in his premises.
Surely,
arguing love matters more than truth is like arguing one blade of a pair of
scissors is more important than the other, or one airplane propeller blade is
more important than the other. A wise friend puts it this way, “truth is the
objective reality that informs what it means to love.”
That
same wise friend adds: “There is near unanimous agreement that our actions
should be motivated by love, but our disagreements arise out of what it means
to love, and if there is no objective standard such as the nature and character
of God or the person of Christ, then we really have no way to say that one
person's idea of love is more valid than another person's.”
Are
we failing to educate our children?
Hendrik van der Breggen, PhD, is Associate Professor of
Philosophy at Providence University College. The views expressed in this column
do not always reflect the views of Providence.
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