ABSTRACT
An oversimplified understanding of natural science and human nature obscures a broader sense of education. People are increasingly preoccupied with manipulating their natural capability through chemical means, such as ‘smart drugs’, to improve their test scores and to satisfy social demands and personal desires. Against this background, this chapter seeks to elucidate a better way for education to be practised and studied by reconsidering the role of nature as implied by non-Western perspectives.
This chapter proceeds as follows. First, it roughly sketches out how a representative theorist of education in the modern Western world, John Dewey, took a position on the idea of nature as proposed by another giant in the fields of philosophy and education, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, suggesting how seriously the eminent theorists of education pursue a comprehensive understanding of nature. Second, to expand the horizon of such enterprises, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th-century American philosopher whose writing greatly influenced Dewey, is described as a key figure because of his strong ties with Asian thought. Given this insight, the next focus is the Japanese translation of nature, Shizen (自然), and its origin, Jinen (indicated by the same Chinese characters, 自然), which has a Buddhist background. Finally, the chapter concludes by illustrating the non-dualistic aspect of nature and its implications for education.
