.3 Perennialism

Philosophers love to make distinctions between mind and brain, and soul, mind, and spirit. They're valid and I don't disparage them, but they are beyond the scope of what we are going to study. We aregoing to talk about mind and brain and intellect all-together as the stuff of what school is about. There are more distinctions to be made but we are not going to be dealing with those. Our purpose is to highlight the fact that philosophical beliefs influences and shapes our practices as educators and the responses we get from ourstudents. I will try to highlight some of these differences.

The Perennialist will say that nature is constant; nature is out there and nature is what it's all about. Nature is the grand organizer of human experience. You can always count on good old Mother Nature. Sometimes you ask: "Why did he do this?" The reply, "Oh, it's just human nature." Whenever someone responds "it's human nature," they're being a perennialist. They are assuming that human nature is something that cannot be changed. Some people say that we are just greedy by nature. Well, there are other positions. I believe that as human beings that we have two natures. I remind you this is my position based on my spiritual Baha'i beliefs. We have an animal side and a spiritual side and the animal side and spiritual side of our nature are in constant tension. That is a very different belief from the perennialist who says that human nature is out there and it is constant and that it's unitary. The perennialist will say that it is intellect that distinguishes man from beast, that our ability to think is what gives us consciousness ("I think therefore I am," a position asserted by Renee Descartes), and that our intellect discovers truth which is constant and changeless. Human nature is out there constant and changeless. Mother Nature is out there constant and changeless. And our ability to think and our intellect is there to discover this constant and changeless truth.
We are learning from the great ideas of the past. Mortimer Adler is probably one of the greatest perennialists; he was the one who developed the great book series at the University of Chicago.

	How does a perennialist perceive knowledge ?	Answer Here
	Mrs. Smith is a fourth grade teacher. Jonathan is a student in her class that causes constant disruption in her classroom. As a perennialist, how would Mrs. Smith deal with Jonathan's disruptive behavior?	Answer Here