In August 2013, the U.S. president Barack Obama announced a
plan to link federal financial aid to... more In August 2013, the U.S. president Barack Obama announced a plan to link federal financial aid to college performance. This plan, it is argued, will allow students, parents, and federal lenders to avoid paying tuition for an ultimately meaningless credential. It identifies relevant educational outcomes as rates of graduation, the earnings of graduates, and the attainment of advanced degrees after graduation. The president’s plan is part of a much larger trend toward ‘accountability’ and ‘transparency’ in education, an important feature of which is the proliferation of the language and programs related to assessment of student learning outcomes. In this essay, I show that outcomes assessment is a form of ‘one-dimensional thought’ as this concept is developed in One-Dimensional Man and that it suffers from the defects identified by Marcuse there. Outcomes assessment, therefore, codifies ways of thinking about education that undermine its role in the development of liberated forms of consciousness and emancipatory praxis.
Mind, Language, Action: Papers of the 36th International Wittgenstein Symposium, 2013
In this essay, I develop an interpretation of Wittgenstein as an advocate of what I call “embedde... more In this essay, I develop an interpretation of Wittgenstein as an advocate of what I call “embedded externalism.” Embedded externalism differs from other forms of externalism in that it treats linguistic practice as embedded within an encompassing environmental context and emphasizes that such practice is, not only interrelated with, but indeed intimately attuned to the encompassing environmental context within which it is situated (cf. Haugeland 1995). Though externalists have been right to criticize the Cartesian conception of the mind as a self-enclosed interiority, they have all too frequently remained wed to distorting traditional philosophical presuppositions. Among these I count the following: the privilege of theoretical cognition over practical-existential involvement and the privilege of the designative over the expressive dimensions of linguistic practice (cf. Taylor 1985). Because of this, however, externalists have generally missed the ways in which linguistic practice is intimately attuned to the world. By contrast, I will argue in this essay that Wittgenstein presents a compelling alternative to other externalist theories in which precisely the intimacy between language and world is insisted upon.
In August 2013, the U.S. president Barack Obama announced a
plan to link federal financial aid to... more In August 2013, the U.S. president Barack Obama announced a plan to link federal financial aid to college performance. This plan, it is argued, will allow students, parents, and federal lenders to avoid paying tuition for an ultimately meaningless credential. It identifies relevant educational outcomes as rates of graduation, the earnings of graduates, and the attainment of advanced degrees after graduation. The president’s plan is part of a much larger trend toward ‘accountability’ and ‘transparency’ in education, an important feature of which is the proliferation of the language and programs related to assessment of student learning outcomes. In this essay, I show that outcomes assessment is a form of ‘one-dimensional thought’ as this concept is developed in One-Dimensional Man and that it suffers from the defects identified by Marcuse there. Outcomes assessment, therefore, codifies ways of thinking about education that undermine its role in the development of liberated forms of consciousness and emancipatory praxis.
Mind, Language, Action: Papers of the 36th International Wittgenstein Symposium, 2013
In this essay, I develop an interpretation of Wittgenstein as an advocate of what I call “embedde... more In this essay, I develop an interpretation of Wittgenstein as an advocate of what I call “embedded externalism.” Embedded externalism differs from other forms of externalism in that it treats linguistic practice as embedded within an encompassing environmental context and emphasizes that such practice is, not only interrelated with, but indeed intimately attuned to the encompassing environmental context within which it is situated (cf. Haugeland 1995). Though externalists have been right to criticize the Cartesian conception of the mind as a self-enclosed interiority, they have all too frequently remained wed to distorting traditional philosophical presuppositions. Among these I count the following: the privilege of theoretical cognition over practical-existential involvement and the privilege of the designative over the expressive dimensions of linguistic practice (cf. Taylor 1985). Because of this, however, externalists have generally missed the ways in which linguistic practice is intimately attuned to the world. By contrast, I will argue in this essay that Wittgenstein presents a compelling alternative to other externalist theories in which precisely the intimacy between language and world is insisted upon.
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Papers by Brandon Absher
plan to link federal financial aid to college performance. This plan,
it is argued, will allow students, parents, and federal lenders to
avoid paying tuition for an ultimately meaningless credential. It
identifies relevant educational outcomes as rates of graduation, the
earnings of graduates, and the attainment of advanced degrees after
graduation. The president’s plan is part of a much larger trend toward
‘accountability’ and ‘transparency’ in education, an important feature
of which is the proliferation of the language and programs related
to assessment of student learning outcomes. In this essay, I show
that outcomes assessment is a form of ‘one-dimensional thought’ as
this concept is developed in One-Dimensional Man and that it suffers
from the defects identified by Marcuse there. Outcomes assessment,
therefore, codifies ways of thinking about education that undermine
its role in the development of liberated forms of consciousness and
emancipatory praxis.
contrast, I will argue in this essay that Wittgenstein presents a compelling alternative to other externalist theories in which precisely the intimacy between language and world is insisted upon.
Book Reviews by Brandon Absher
Books by Brandon Absher
plan to link federal financial aid to college performance. This plan,
it is argued, will allow students, parents, and federal lenders to
avoid paying tuition for an ultimately meaningless credential. It
identifies relevant educational outcomes as rates of graduation, the
earnings of graduates, and the attainment of advanced degrees after
graduation. The president’s plan is part of a much larger trend toward
‘accountability’ and ‘transparency’ in education, an important feature
of which is the proliferation of the language and programs related
to assessment of student learning outcomes. In this essay, I show
that outcomes assessment is a form of ‘one-dimensional thought’ as
this concept is developed in One-Dimensional Man and that it suffers
from the defects identified by Marcuse there. Outcomes assessment,
therefore, codifies ways of thinking about education that undermine
its role in the development of liberated forms of consciousness and
emancipatory praxis.
contrast, I will argue in this essay that Wittgenstein presents a compelling alternative to other externalist theories in which precisely the intimacy between language and world is insisted upon.