M・ジョンソンの想像力論とその教育的意義

身体を基礎とした知識論の可能性

抄録

To answer the question of knowledge in school education, this paper attempts to examine the potentiality of Mark Johnson's theory of imagination based on the body. According to Johnson, metaphorical projection from physical experiences plays an important role in our thought. From this theory we may derive the following conclusions :
First, we must make the child accumulate fundamental physical experiences in his infancy. Then, during and after primary education, we must try to maintain what may be called with Dewey a 'kindergarten attitude' throughout the entire school. The reason is that in the frame of Johnson's theory, the knowledge of 'changing rules' and the knowledge of 'learning rules' have in common a metaphorical projection. Furthermore, because of the increasing burden in higher education caused by the increasing amount of information, the full development of the imaginative power before that stage is reached, is necessary. Hence, we should attach great importance to independence and to close relation to real life, as a bridge, during the period of secondary education.