ABSTRACT
Each of us has but one life to live and despite the many differences between us, there is no reason to suppose that one person should use their life to serve the goals, interests and aspirations of another, unless they so choose. It is therefore legitimate, and in each person’s interest, to acquire the capacity to choose and sustain the most desirable way of life for themselves, subject only to the requirement to respect the rights of others to do likewise. The precondition of such a capacity is a grasp of the possibilities the world offers and the necessary constraints it imposes. Such has been the justification for education given by a number of philosophers (Peters 1973; Crittenden 1978; White, J. 1982; Jonathan 1983) some of whom, in addition to information about the world and the range of goals worth pursuing have also written of the way in which education enables us to acquire the ability to apply the criteria according to which various categories of claim may be appraised.
