| Abstract |
The aim of this paper is to clarify the problems of the dignity of man with special reference to the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. The Constitution of Japan and its fundamental law of educatio...n declare man to be dignity, and so it is said that the ultimate aim of education is to exalt the dignity of man. What is the dignity of man? Does this mean that man is superior in dignity to all other living things? In Christian thought, man is created by his Creator, and moreover he alone is "imago Dei". Today, man begins to think of himself as almost a God. Whitehead proposes "the philosophy of organism". This philosophy seems to approximate more to some strains of Indian, or Chinese, thought, than to western Asiatic, or European, thought. One side makes process ultimate; the other side makes fact ultimate. According to Whitehead, the world, being constructed out of incidents called actual entity, is process, or occasion that all actual entities are joining in creation of cosmos. Therefore, the world is self-creative, and the actual entity as self-creating cerature passes into its immortal function of part-creator of the transcendent world. As a result, all existence, including election, chemical elements, matter, soil, plants, animals, man and so forth, is equal in value. Man exclusivery, can not occupy the name of dignity in this world. To conclude, only man can think about himself and nature, and so he should assume the responsibility for all the living nature. Thus, the aim of education needs to be transferred from this point of view to the better one.show more
|
Export Mendeley
KJ00000075142-00001