Catherine Z. Elgin
Papers on the Philosophy of Education

• Science, Ethics, and Education (Theory and Research in Education, 9, 2011, 251-263.)
  Abstract: An overarching epistemological goal of science is to develop a comprehensive, systematic, empirically grounded understanding of nature. Two obstacles stand in the way: (1) Nature is enormously complicated. (2) Findings are fallible: no matter how well established a conclusion is, it still might be wrong. To pursue this goal in light of the obstacles, science incorporates ethical values. These values are not mere means; their realization is integral to the sort of understanding that science embodies. The recognition of these values should be incorporated into science education.
  
  
• Art and Education (The Oxford Handbook in the Philosophy of Ecucation, ed. Harvey Siegel, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 311-324.)
  
  
• High Stakes (Theory and Research in Education, 2, 2004, 271-282.)
  Abstract: I discuss the contributions of Harvey Siegel, Francis Schrag, and Randall Curren to this volume. Their papers cast in bold relief the relation of High Stakes Testing to the goals of education, the nature of mind, and the demands of justice. I argue that the connections are deep but that the considerations these authors raise do not show that High Stakes Tests are in principle unacceptable. Rather they show that we need to be exceedingly careful about how our assessments are constructed, how the results are interpreted, what we take them to reveal, and what we do with the results.
  
  
• Epistemology's Ends, Pedagogy's Prospects (Facta Philosophica, 1, 1999, 39-54.)
  
  
• Education and the Advancement of Understanding (Proceedings of the 20th World Congress of Philosophy, Volume 3, ed. David M. Steiner, Philosophy Documentation Center, 1999, 131-140; Philosophy of Education, ed. Randall Curren, Malden: Blackwell, 2007, 417-422.)