Art Criticism - The State University of New York
Art Criticism - The State University of New York Art Criticism - The State University of New York
mode of self-consciousness that best realizes integrity of self. There are two extremes of recognitional interactions. One is the mas~ ter/slave scenario where there is a maximally uneven distribution of power amongst the participants; the other is where unequal power relations are minimized in the realization of a communal spirit. 7 Hegel makes clear in the Phenomenology that the master/slave interaction is ineffective at achieving .the integrity of self of both parties. What he does not thematize in the Phenomenology, and would do so only in subsequent texts, is that as unequal power among the participants is diminished, there is an increase in the likelihood of achieving mutual respect and the integrity of all involved. 8 Minimization of domination is a regulative ideal necessary to the formation of community9 - community embodied in mutually respectful and recognitional styles of interacting with others. Community is not the donation of a prior rational spirit, but a temporary and local human achievement, realized through historically specific practices, and always requiring struggle, inventiveness, and a smattering ofluck. Let me interject at this point that I see this sketch of self-consciousness as not only pointing towards facets of our historical essence in the West, and perhaps the fundamental ethical promise of our times,1O but also as gesturing towards some of the woes of our modernity. Our daily jobs demand lots of work that is mostly alienated, while our institutions tend to close down and colonize public spheres that might otherwise entertain communal interaction. What predominates in our culture are practices of consumption - consuming activities that nourish life in ever more pleasurable and refined ways, but also acts that consume prepackaged subjectivities: body regimes of dieting and exercising; fashion styles that "make a statement"; commodities that once in our possession "reflect" who we are. Because our lives typically lack sufficiently expressive work as well as recognitional interactions that are consistent and regular, we seek self-integrity in the ubiquitous circuits of consumptjon. Hence the spectacle of modern life, where we purchase not so much the commodity for its use-value, but for how it will make us look to others, what kind of identity it will bestow upon us. 1I Of course as a subjectivity that is consumed for the eyes of others, rather than a sense of self that emerges in an ongoing interaction, this form of identity is skin deep and fails to achieve integrity of self; instead, it readily perpetuates further acts and cycles of consuming an identity. 12 Much of the disquiet in our lives, I am suggesting, has to do with the desire to achieve communal selfintegrity in a culture governed by all-consuming practices. Schooling contributes to the problem. From kindergarten onwards the teacher-student relation is a modern form of what Foucault brilliantly diagnosed as pastoral power, where the teacher is responsible for the "souls" of her students. 13 No doubt this is necessary for the early years of education. 106 Art Criticism
But the same basic relation of teacher-student remains in tact at all levels of schooling. By the time of college and graduate school, students are adults, eligible to vote and to go to go off to war to die, but they remain positioned as subordinate to the teacher. The university professor is defined in our culture as a specialist, an expert in field of study, hence the possessor of certain truths. Lateral interactions amongst the students are rendered to a minimum; students mostly enter into competitive relations and on occasion help each other with assignments. But the primary relation is that between professor and student, exemplified in the standard classroom arrangement of students sitting side by side facing not each other but the teacher, who stands at the front of the room pronouncing the truth of the matter at hand. We like to convince ourselves that the humanities and social sciences are requisite for students becoming citizens, but traditional classroom formats forestall students engaging in practices of mutual recognition. Pastoral power is directed towards normalizing thought. This derails the development of what Kant called Miindigkeit, the maturity to think for oneself without final appeal to an external authority. 14 By interacting with each other in practices of respectful deliberation, students become more active learners and less slavish to authority. They become autonomous thinkers not so much by going to the library and writing a paper to satisfy the teacher's expectations (which positions the teacher as the master who authorizes the truth of the student's thought), but primarily by interacting with each other in open formats of dia- 10gue. IS Yet our educational procedures and assumptions - the primacy of lecturing, our deep seeded positivistic and monological views of truth, the necessity of "careful" grading - do much to counter students becoming a community of mature, autonomous thinkers. Classroom Obligations Having outlined the plight of community in modernity and how college schooling contributes to this malaise, I want now to reflect on the phenomenology of teaching, especially as regards obligations in the classroom. This sections intends to point out how we teachers tend to conflate the pedagogical obligation to educate students with the administrative imperative to normalize and discipline a variegated student body.16 In being a teacher, one inevitably endeavors to be a good teacher, to teach well. That is to say, the good of teaching is embodied in its practice. But what counts as this good is not a fixed end, but an open field of possible outcomes. For there are many ways of succeeding at teaching, and some of these are never known in advance. Nevertheless, we can surmise that these outcomes all directly or indirectly involve the education of students, so that the good of teaching always has in the end an obligation to others. The vol. 17, no. 1 107
- Page 58 and 59: period."2 He traced the tradition b
- Page 60 and 61: suggestion to the artist and the po
- Page 62 and 63: of Moreau's works is vague and myst
- Page 64 and 65: ing her as the femme fatale, or sub
- Page 66 and 67: The subtitle Satanic Decameron evok
- Page 68 and 69: completely mythical. Coupled with a
- Page 70 and 71: Moreau was very much a man of his t
- Page 72 and 73: themes and images are often decaden
- Page 74 and 75: p. 7-8; cited in Pierre Louis Mathi
- Page 76 and 77: Between World War I and World War I
- Page 78 and 79: shown distrust in the new styles. T
- Page 80 and 81: These passages were meant to help g
- Page 82 and 83: man public was voicing disapproval
- Page 84 and 85: y old masters that were more suitab
- Page 86 and 87: Notes 1 Alfred Barr, "Art in the Th
- Page 88 and 89: From Diagnoses to Decadence: A Brie
- Page 90 and 91: ate effort to reproduce fully an im
- Page 92 and 93: patients. Charcot was often to be f
- Page 94 and 95: Breuer attributed the presence of A
- Page 96 and 97: still is traditionally associated w
- Page 98 and 99: is not always recognized as such. H
- Page 100 and 101: generation on which the multitude o
- Page 102 and 103: 2 Elaine Showalter, The Female Mala
- Page 104 and 105: 36 Freud and Breuer, 37. 37 Su'ch a
- Page 106 and 107: Recasting the Art History Survey: E
- Page 110 and 111: student-as-Other "calls" us to teac
- Page 112 and 113: thesis of such descriptions into an
- Page 114 and 115: In this final section of the essay,
- Page 116 and 117: image-world, the picture opens up a
- Page 118 and 119: history must itself be rethought in
- Page 120 and 121: 15 Two of the most prominent propon
- Page 122 and 123: power: from the premodern exercise
- Page 124: ~fJed in the Unikd Smtc, .• 9 ~]~
But the same basic relation <strong>of</strong> teacher-student remains in tact at all levels <strong>of</strong><br />
schooling. By the time <strong>of</strong> college and graduate school, students are adults,<br />
eligible to vote and to go to go <strong>of</strong>f to war to die, but they remain positioned as<br />
subordinate to the teacher. <strong>The</strong> university pr<strong>of</strong>essor is defined in our culture<br />
as a specialist, an expert in field <strong>of</strong> study, hence the possessor <strong>of</strong> certain truths.<br />
Lateral interactions amongst the students are rendered to a minimum; students<br />
mostly enter into competitive relations and on occasion help each other with<br />
assignments. But the primary relation is that between pr<strong>of</strong>essor and student,<br />
exemplified in the standard classroom arrangement <strong>of</strong> students sitting side by<br />
side facing not each other but the teacher, who stands at the front <strong>of</strong> the room<br />
pronouncing the truth <strong>of</strong> the matter at hand.<br />
We like to convince ourselves that the humanities and social sciences<br />
are requisite for students becoming citizens, but traditional classroom<br />
formats forestall students engaging in practices <strong>of</strong> mutual recognition. Pastoral<br />
power is directed towards normalizing thought. This derails the development<br />
<strong>of</strong> what Kant called Miindigkeit, the maturity to think for oneself without<br />
final appeal to an external authority. 14 By interacting with each other in practices<br />
<strong>of</strong> respectful deliberation, students become more active learners and less<br />
slavish to authority. <strong>The</strong>y become autonomous thinkers not so much by going<br />
to the library and writing a paper to satisfy the teacher's expectations (which<br />
positions the teacher as the master who authorizes the truth <strong>of</strong> the student's<br />
thought), but primarily by interacting with each other in open formats <strong>of</strong> dia-<br />
10gue. IS Yet our educational procedures and assumptions - the primacy <strong>of</strong><br />
lecturing, our deep seeded positivistic and monological views <strong>of</strong> truth, the<br />
necessity <strong>of</strong> "careful" grading - do much to counter students becoming a<br />
community <strong>of</strong> mature, autonomous thinkers.<br />
Classroom Obligations<br />
Having outlined the plight <strong>of</strong> community in modernity and how college<br />
schooling contributes to this malaise, I want now to reflect on the phenomenology<br />
<strong>of</strong> teaching, especially as regards obligations in the classroom.<br />
This sections intends to point out how we teachers tend to conflate the pedagogical<br />
obligation to educate students with the administrative imperative to<br />
normalize and discipline a variegated student body.16<br />
In being a teacher, one inevitably endeavors to be a good teacher, to<br />
teach well. That is to say, the good <strong>of</strong> teaching is embodied in its practice. But<br />
what counts as this good is not a fixed end, but an open field <strong>of</strong> possible<br />
outcomes. For there are many ways <strong>of</strong> succeeding at teaching, and some <strong>of</strong><br />
these are never known in advance. Nevertheless, we can surmise that these<br />
outcomes all directly or indirectly involve the education <strong>of</strong> students, so that<br />
the good <strong>of</strong> teaching always has in the end an obligation to others. <strong>The</strong><br />
vol. 17, no. 1 107
Change language