ABSTRACT
In the last chapter we argued that education for everyone can best be accomplished through systematic teaching in schools. Such a system, if for no other reason than the sheer numbers of children involved and the compulsory nature of attendance, will inevitably require some sort of structure and organization. As a consequence issues concerning discipline, punishment, freedom and authority, and the appropriate student-teacher relationship arise. These issues are to a large extent sociological and psychological, requiring specific empirical information for resolution, and so fall outside the domain of philosophy. There are, however, philosophical dimensions to these issues which will be addressed here. One of the problems concerns the meaning of terms such as ‘discipline’ and ‘authority’; another problem concerns the justification for the use of such measures as punishment. These sorts of questions will be our primary concern in this chapter.
