Culture, Composition, and Education

After the presentations on Vico, Locke, and Hume, I was impressed by the impact that each of these men had on out current ideas about writing and education and/or the development of our current ideas. All of these men lived more than 200 years ago and their impact is still recognized or even being applied today.

Giambattista Vico’s ideas seem to have been before his time because Johanna stated that he felt his ideas were being sent into a “desert”. After reading “Giambattista Vico” by Maria Teresa Maiullari and hearing the presentation, I felt that many of the current practices in modern education stem from Vicco’s ideas. He emphasized the importance of students taking part in their own education, cross curricular approaches, and the importance of the scholar not separating from his/her society. It is clear the Vico felt students needed to take part in their own education, much as teachers and professors feel today. “He was concerned with transmitting knowledge through the teaching of rhetoric, but he also wanted to start a movement of autonomous self-development in the student,” (Maiullari 1). Vico not only wanted to “transmit” knowledge to his students, but also develop a desire for learning. Vico also made strong claims for cross curricular instruction. “In fact, Vico himself had studied mathematics because it was indispensable to the study of the rules of rhetoric,” (Maiullari, 2). Vico saw that the academic fields relied on each other and recognized the importance of all disciplines. What I found the most interesting was Vico’s recognition that the scholar should not be separated from his/her society so their knowledge will be beneficial to their culture. “The eighteenth-century educator described a distinct group in whom knowledge will come to maturity, but this group is in favor of diffusing its knowledge among all men,” (Maiullari, 4). This view may have developed in Vico due to the importance he placed on culture. I believe he would he have wanted learning and knowledge to reflect and benefit the culture. The knowledge must be beneficial to student as well as the culture, and to do that Vico claims the knowledge must become wisdom and in turn arrive at virtue.

Hume also had ideas about the importance of virtue and culture. Hume lived in a time of a growing middle class and a growing number of women readers which would be beneficial to his work of writing histories. Still, Hume was not without competition because a new genre was developing, the novel. To gain an edge over the developing genre, Hume maintained the Histories were virtuous and novels were not. “…history provided the best way of becoming ‘acquainted with human affairs, without diminishing in the least from the most delicate sentiments of virtue,” (Wootton, 281). Even though the thought is outdated Hume still shows concern for virtue in writing and study. Being a historian Hume would have been concerned with his culture. David Wootton explains that Hume’s works included histories of England and Scotland. Hume wasn’t only concerned with his native, Scottish, culture but the English as well. I think he does establish a strong sentiment for culture when he changed the spelling of his last to reflect the proper Scottish pronunciation. I think one of Hume’s strongest influences was the ideas of histories ability to change and be reestablished.

Locke also offered important notes on culture when he presented the idea of knowledge forming from experience. He also allowed for meanings of words to change according to culture and time.