From a Roman roof-top orangery one afternoon, I could see much. The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II glistens in that Roman afternoon heat that you can hear, taste and smell. But only so small a part was visible; so much was hidden. Orderliness and confusion; revelation and obscurity.
The famous ‘My Wife, My Mother-in-Law’ celebrates a visual riff which reminds us of the need to disrupt the obsession with easy, [popular?] conclusions. Equally, the world isn’t made up of -isms, but of people. People who can find themselves at the bottom of the pile; crushed by ideology, dominant narratives and unthinking utilitarianism. So this site celebrates clear thinking with moral purpose, and I invite all thinkers of good will to look afresh at ideas and institutions.
How do you see the world? Its grand narratives, binary positions, its new orthodoxies? How can philosophy and theology, including the philosophy of education understood from a Christian perspective, be a force of change and emancipation? What do the current research and development in education demonstrate about how we value child, and human, formation in general? How can thinkers from all traditions set about identifying issues often neglected and suggesting a fresh way forward. In short, wither the common good?
Dr Simon Uttley, is the Course Leader for Catholic Education and the Common Good at the London Global Gateway, as well as Visiting Professor in Catholic Education at the Institute of Education, St Mary’s University in London. In addition to leading a Catholic comprehensive secondary [High] school, he is also Programme Director for Koinonia a 19-strong group of Catholic schools committed to deep collaboration, school improvement and action research.
‘I am passionate about generating debate and intelligent discussion around things that matter to me.’ Things like:
+ contemporary educational practice and its impact
+ philosophies of education, including Catholic education
+ Christian post-structuralism in culture
+ Classical, Modern and Continental philosophy in an ecclesial space
+ a contemporary Christian hermeneutic of law [jurisprudence]
But this list is by no means exhaustive. This site is a place to think, ao we also have a wide range of interest when it comes to reviewing literature, hard copy or otherwise. Philosophy, theology, social sciences, literature and the arts are all welcome.
If you would like to submit a paper click here.