ABSTRACT
Hare’s 1979 account of cultural disadvantage in education offers another glimpse of the way philosophy of education was articulated in the time it was written, while also indicating how philosophers of education regarded themselves in relation to the field of education. Hare begins his account by observing that most discussions of disadvantage in education are conducted from a social scientific perspective, rather than through a philosophical or theoretical account. He responds to this situation by offering a conceptual account of advantage and disadvantage, generally and as applied to education. Hare points out that advantage and disadvantage do not map onto possessions or opportunities per se, as one would not have an advantage to have pneumonia. This leads Hare to argue that as these issues involve questions of value, such matters cannot be conclusively addressed through social science approaches. Relating the account to cultural advantage and disadvantage in education, Hare emphasises that cultures can be disadvantaged economically and socially, or one can be disadvantaged due to cultural difference or lack of access to cultural goods. Again, Hare notes that these determinations imply value judgments related to the value of cultures. Hare concludes by arguing that philosophical determinations about cultural value in education can lead to the development of non-strategies to reduce disadvantage, and curricula to cultivate a sense of minority cultural worth. Even if disadvantage may not be absolute from a global view, disadvantages can and should be ameliorated, in Hare’s account.
