Tag: enlightenment

The Life of the Mind, Part 1: From Proverbs to Einstein

It seems to me that we have lost sight of the significance of the human mind. Here I mean more than one’s brain, but not less than it. Humans cannot be reduced to physical neurology, but neither can they be understood apart from it. We are mind-body unities, created as embodied souls, or ensouled bodies, infused with a rich, albeit mysterious, integration of physical and spiritual realities.  Nevertheless, when I say we have lost sight of the significance of the human mind, I am not referring to the significance we ascribe to our brains. We require young children to wear

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Human Development, Part 1: What Do You Have in Mind?

A sound pedagogy requires a good understanding of anthropology (the study of human beings including our nature, our biology, our behavior and our social patterns) and of epistemology (the study of the nature of knowledge and how humans experience and acquire knowledge). One way these key areas of study (anthropology and epistemology) converge pertains to the development of children. We have a general understanding of the child as a small and vulnerable human being that undergoes tremendous transformations from birth to adulthood. Considerable philosophical, psychological and scientific work has been done to help us gain a clear understanding of the

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