David J. Blacker (1997). Dying to Teach: the Educator's Search for Immortality. Reviewed by Stacy J. Stoyanoff

David J. Blacker (1997). Dying to Teach: the Educator's Search for Immortality. New York: Teacher's College Press 135 pages Reviewed by Stacy J. Stoyanoff, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign April 21, 1998 In Dying to Teach: the Educator's Search for Immortality, David J. Blacker explores the philosophical relationship between teaching and immortality. The title itself suggests that teaching is tantamount to death. For me, it initially echoes the old adage of Erasmus: Aut mortuus est aut docet litteras (A person is either teaching or dead). Recently, this book has served as the centerpiece for a round table discussion at the 1997 Philosophy of Education Society Annual meeting, where an esteemed panel produced three critical essays on education and the longing for immortality.[Note 1] The author's basic thesis is that "when one educates or is educated, one does so outside of time; in teaching and learning one is immortal (p. 82)." Blacker is unknowingly following in the footsteps of Gilbert Highet--the famous twentieth century classicist and teacher. At the end of his life, Highet wrote a book with a very similar theme. He collected together some of his various essays on education and published them under the title, The Immortal Profession: the Joys of Teaching and Learning. In fact, I expect that Blacker himself would concur with Highet's basic philosophy: "The chief aim of education is to show you, after you make a livelihood, how to enjoy living; and you can live longest and best and most rewardingly by attaining and preserving the happiness of learning."[Note 2] Using both ancient and modern sources, Blacker weaves together bits and pieces of the Western world's understanding of education and immortality. He defines his argument through Platonic, Sophistic, and Epicurean philosophy, and then searches for answers in Heidegger's existentialism, Eliad's mythic ritualism, and Gadamer's hermeneutics. Filled with contemporary and personal anecdotes, this masterfully written little book introduces its readers to some of the intellectual perceptions behind the educator's search for immortality. The book itself is divided into four article length chapters.[Note 3] Through my examination of the individual chapters, I write this review with a twofold purpose: (1) to examine the treatment of such a novel thesis, and (2) to suggest some further areas for investigation. The first chapter investigates the classical roots of education as immortality. Blacker begins where Western philosophy began--the ancient Greeks. Though not discussed in Blacker's study, the greatest tribute to these early teachers and their students is Diogenes Laertius' Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers. It is in works such as this and through the doxographical tradition that ancient philosophers achieve immortality by their connection to prominent teachers and various schools of thought (e.g. Plato, a student of Socrates; Aristotle, a student of Plato; the Cynic, Diogenes; the Epicurean, Lucretius; etc). Interestingly enough, the study of philosophy has itself evolved into a form of immortality. This immortality can be achieved by simply taking part in the ongoing dialogue that spans human intellectual history. For some reason, we sometimes forget that philosophers are both teachers and students. Blacker refers to this dual role by using the term "teacher-learner" throughout his monograph. With respect to antiquity, Blacker limits his investigation in his first chapter to the relationship between Plato and the Sophists. To outline his argument, Blacker employs the standard philosophical dichotomy that has existed between these two schools of thought: the mystical Platonists who preach the search for episteme and the pragmatic Sophists who teach students what they need for life. The Platonists gain immortality through their association with Truth, while the Sophists become immortal through others. For Blacker, both of these ideals deserve merit, but taken alone neither can explain the complex nature of immortality. As a result, there must be a synthesis between the immortality discovered through Truth and the immortality achieved through Others. Though not endlessly perilous, these are the idealistic Scylla and Charybdis that face educators in their search for immortality. As the monograph develops, it is none other than Socrates himself who emerges as the archetypical figure successfully able to navigate the strait of immortality. However, Blacker does neglect to address a very key metaphor in his analysis. I am referring to the ancient metaphor of "passing the torch". This metaphor evolves and describes a variety of educational relationships that include parent to child, generation to generation, and teacher to student. At the beginning of Plato's Republic (328a), Socrates and his companion Glaucon are enticed by Polemarchus and Adeimantus to attend a dinner party at Polemarchus' house. The enticement was the promise of a torchlight race, where the torches are passed from one to another on horseback in honor of the goddess. This notion becomes a metaphor in the Laws (776b), where Plato describes the begetting and rearing of children as "passing the torch of life". In addition, the symbolic representation of knowledge by light is most apparent in Plato's parable of the Cave (Republic, 514ff.). Similarly, Lucretius describes the generations of living creature as runners passing the torch of life (De Rerum Natura, 2.79). In addition, this metaphor also finds its way into Cicero who quotes Ennius: "A man who kindly shows the path to a wanderer acts as if to ignite a light from his own light. When he gives light to another, no less does he illuminate himself (De Officiis, 1.16.51)." If anything, such passages--particularly the last one--must be considered essential to the development and understanding of Blacker's basic thesis. Even Blacker himself makes a very similar statement in his synthesis: "It turns out that 'having an influence' as a teacher, or 'being influenced' as a student (all of us teachers are always both), is, in fact, after all, a means to an end: immortality (p. 102)." The notion of "passing the torch" is almost as interesting as Blacker's "dying to teach". In chapters two and three, the author explores various perspectives on immortality and living through others. Even though he focuses on the Judeo-Christian heritage, Blacker does not attempt to create an intellectual history describing the Western notions of immortality. If he did try his hand at such a task, he would surely have to examine many other philosophical treatises from Aristotle to Augustine, William of Auvergne to Thomas Aquinas, Erasmus to Henry Moore, along with various other intellectuals throughout history. Instead, Blacker does use modern sources like Heidegger to explain two basic approaches for understanding immortality and human finitude: (1) ontically being a more distanced understanding and (2) ontologically being a more internal understanding. For the most part, Blacker strives for a more ontological understanding as he explores questions like, "What might it mean to do this [confront mortality] as an educator (p. 30)?" He investigates this question by returning to his earlier division of Platonist and Sophist. Blacker extends his argument to view the Epicurean through the "Truthful" eyes of Plato and Care theory through the "Other-ness" of the Sophist. With respect to the Epicurean, Blacker attempts to make a connection with Plato by examining the Hellenistic ideal ataraxia or "calmness" and Martha Nussbaum's fictional account of a student named Nikidion in The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics. The Epicurean could achieve ataraxia by confronting mortality. Blacker concludes that the Epicurean, like the earlier Platonist, cannot achieve immortality alone; but instead there must be an additional concern for the Other. This is the dilemma of Nikidion, because "The Epicurean, by contrast, armed with a concern for the whole, but too godlike to have the motives for creation that come from the fear of death, will not give her own other-regarding goals the best sort of service."[Note 4] From this analysis, the author begins to build a partnership between the Epicurean ideal and Care theory. It is at this point that Blacker launches into a critique of Care theory. He cautions his readers that, "The voice of the Other, even when it is urgent and soothing, can sometimes drown out...Truth, that same idol so mesmerizing to Plato, in their own way, to the Epicureans (p. 47)." Blacker is right in his belief that Care theory has its limitations. Nel Noddings herself concedes this fact: "As we become aware of problems involving time, intensity, and formal relationships, we may be led to reconsider the requirement of engrossment. We might instead describe caring of different sorts, on different levels and at varying degrees of intensity."[Note 5] For Nodding, engrossment is required for all forms of caring. It is a very ontological way of understanding the basic mechanism of Care theory. However, Blacker goes on to warn us about Care theory anyway, "Taken to its extreme, I shall argue, care theory is literally contentless (p. 64)." I am not sure why Blacker wants to investigate extreme interpretations of Care theory, because there is no need to do so in dealing with the educator's search for immortality. If anything, Care theory is just the opposite of Blacker's portrayal, because it is based upon a morality and ethic that binds teachers and students together. For Blacker's thesis, Care theory simply and creatively assumes the role of the Sophist and attempts to explain the dynamics behind the teacher-student relationship. I do not see how Blacker's criticisms of Care theory have any relevance toward understanding teaching and immortality. However, he is correct in that Care theory should not be characterized as the only key unlocking the door of immortality. Blacker insightfully defines immortality as "something that we 'do' as teacher-learners, but we can neither do it alone like the Epicureans nor exclusively through other people, our students, like some care theorists might (p. 80)." It is here that he begins to build his synthesis, and he uses Heideggerian authenticity as his model. By being able to come to grips with Heidegger's mood of anxiety, teacher-learners are able to confront their own mortality (Epicurean) without neglecting the Other (Care theory). This application of Heidegger is very unique and deserves praise, because it allows us to determine immortality based on our authentic self-hood. In fact, it is a reality check for humanity. The synthesis that Blacker proposes is actually a return to Socrates. He asserts: "For the character of Socrates, at least as he is represented in Plato's early dialogues, is as close an exemplar as I can imagine of Heideggerian authenticity in the context of teaching and learning (p. 77)." It would be interesting to take this synthesis a step further and truly characterize Socrates authenticity. The enigma of Socrates is without a doubt both Sophistic and Platonic, and Blacker is correct to refer to Plato's earlier dialogues. In fact, the Euthydemus and Hippias Minor are particularly supportive of Blacker's interpretation of Socrates, because in these dialogues Socrates uses Sophistic technique to sway his position. Since Blacker is using Socrates as his synthesis, I can only suggest that a more descriptive picture be painted of Socrates' pendulum swing between Truth and the Other. It could prove quite revealing if we view Socrates as the true Sophist instead of simply being Plato's Mentor.[Note 6] In his final chapter, Blacker brings his thesis full circle by investigating the mechanics of immortality. He describes the traditional views of immortality as: "(1) a personal matter involving the persistence of the soul or personality, and/or (2) a linear phenomenon involving temporal permanence (p. 87)." Simply, Blacker searches for a nonlinear approach in his understanding immortality. By following the archetypes of Eliade, the author reacts against the notion of in illo tempore (in that former time). He feels that immortality can be achieved in the here and now. This is a very exciting position, but it really could be enhanced through historical examples. I suggest an investigation into actual teacher-student relationships as they exist in history and literature. Two historical examples from antiquity come to mind. The first is Augustine's letter to his student Dioscorus, and the second is Cuthbert's letter to Cuthwin describing the death of the Venerable Bede. The former can provide some non-linear evidence, while the latter is more temporal. In addition, the Renaissance is filled with a wealth of evidence of this sort, particularly surrounding famous teachers like Barizza, Guarino, and de Feltra. From a more modern perspective, the scholarly tradition of Festschriften acts as a very tangible means of showing how students honor their teachers. Sterling Dow writes: "For such a life [the life of a professor], a Festschrift is the most honorable and the most appropriate of all possible rewards, because it serves, or rather is intended to serve, the grand object of all scholarly devotion, namely the increase of scholarly interest and knowledge. At the same time a Festschrift is personal: a public and tangible tribute to one scholar by other scholars."[Note 7] One of the more interesting classical Festschriften is that of Ernst Vogt. This volume has its contributors immortalizing their various teachers through personal reminiscences of their education.[Note 8] Probably, the richest evidence for teacher-student immortality exists in the subsequent correspondence between teachers and students. In recent years, the relatively new field of Wissenschaftsgeschichte (the history of scholarship) has began to regularly publish the collected letters of various teachers and their students. This new wealth of tangible evidence could prove rather useful to Blacker's innovative endeavor. Through hermeneutics, particularly Gadamer's use of Hegel's notion Bildung, Blacker implements a dialogic treatment of immortality that justifies his use of Socrates as the interlocutor between Truth and the Other. From his application of Gadamer, the author defines Bildung as "development, culture, and education all rolled into one (p. 103). Socrates becomes Bildung through dialectic. Such an open-ended definition mirrors to a certain extent the Greek notion of paideia. Blacker mentions Isocrates (p. 5), but he ignores his greatest contribution to education: "the people called Greeks are people who are the same by paideia not by blood (Panegyricus, 50)." This is the first real reference for a universality of culture and education. In his unsurpassed three-volume work, Werner Jaeger describes the development of paideia with the following words: "Originally the concept of paideia had applied only to the process of education. Now its significance grew to include the objective side, the content of paideia--just as our word culture or the Latin cultura, having once meant a process of education, came to mean the state of being educated; and then the content of education, and finally the whole intellectual and spiritual world revealed by education, into which any individual, according to his nationality or social position, is born. The historical process by which the world of culture is built up culminates when the ideal of culture is consciously formulated."[Note 9] Jaeger's understanding of paideia has an implicit notion of Bildung within it. Blacker ends his last chapter with some rather inspiring words: "Educators are well situated for achieving immortality (though not uniquely so) whenever and wherever we can make a harmony of the tension between Truth and the Other. This is our Holy Grail (p. 103)." Instead of making some grand conclusion, Blacker appropriately closes his book with a couple of Socratic questions that both inspire and warn us about teaching and immortality. These questions have really pushed me to engage my own personal Socrates, so that I can take my place among the other teacher-immortals in the world. Overall, I believe that David J. Blacker has given the world a scholarly gem that will continue to shine as teachers strive for their own immortality. If the mark of good scholarship is that one wants to read more, then the author of Dying to Teach: the Educator's Search for Immortality has definitely hit the mark. Every time I read this book, I discover something new and interesting. My only regret is that I did not think of such a marvelous topic myself. Across-the-board, my only real criticism is that a topic of this nature really needs a more extensive treatment. I take delight in how the author connects antiquity with the modern world, but there are still many other intellectual bridges to build. Consequently, I hope that Professor Blacker will continue to pursue this topic and expand upon his many unique ideas. I thought that I would end this review with one of my favorite death scenes. The scene is from James Hilton's Good-bye Mr. Chips. On his deathbed, Mr. Chips spoke these final words: "I thought I heard you--one of you--saying it was a pity--umph--a pity I never had--any children...eh?... But I have, you know...I have... Yes--umph--I have... Thousands of 'em...thousands of em'...".[Note 10] Notes *This review was produced under the editorship of Nicholas C. Burbules because of the potential conflict of interest occasioned by the fact that David Blacker is the Area Editor for this topic. [1] Rene Vincente Arcilla, "Education of the Undead?" (p. 449-451), Pradeep A. Dhillon, "Teaching to Death" (p. 452-456), and Alven M. Neiman, "Teaching and Eternal Life: the Love of Learning and Desire for God" (p. 456-460), in Philosophy of Education 1997, Susan Laird (Ed.), Urbana, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, 1998. [2] Gilbert Highet, The Immortal Profession: the Joys of Teaching and Learning. New York: Weybright and Talley, 1976, p. 19. This book is a sequel to his highly successful publication, The Art of Teaching (New York, 1950), which has gone through fourteen English printings and been translated into sixteen languages. [3] The themes and contents of chapters 1 and 4 were published earlier by the author in the following forms. "Education as the Normative Dimension of Philosophical Hermeneutics" (p. 212-221), in Philosophy of Education 1993, Audrey Thompson (Ed.), Urbana, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, 1994; and "Education as Immortality: Classical and Contemporary Pathways" (p. 198-207), in Philosophy of Education 1995, Alven Neiman (Ed.), Urbana, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, 1996. The author also has a forthcoming publication in Religious Education entitled, "Education and Immortality: Toward the Rehabilitation of an Ideal". [4] Martha C. Nussbaum, The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994, p. 237. [5] Nel Noddings, Caring: a Feminine Approach to Ethics & Moral Education. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984, p. 17. [6] In his study, Blacker uses the Homeric relationships between Athena, Mentor, and Telemachus as a metaphor for understanding the transmission of wisdom from teacher to student. The wisdom of Athene is transmitted to Telemachus through his teacher Mentor. It is interesting to note that Athena specifically describes her advice as teaching (I, 279). In this context, the Greek verb hupotithesthai actually means "teaching" (see Werner Jaeger, Paideia: the Ideals of Greek Culture, Volume 1, translated by Gilbert Highet, New York: Oxford University Press, 1965, p. 32). [7] Sterling Dow, "Dealing with Festschriften" in Articles on Antiquity in Festschriften, compiled by Dorothy Rounds, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1962, p. 556. [8] Festgabe für Ernst Vogt: zu seinem 60. Geburtstag am 6. November 1990, Eikasmos 4 (1993): 1-430. [9] Werner Jaeger, Paideia: the Ideals of Greek Culture, Volume 1, translated by Gilbert Highet, New York: Oxford University Press, 1965, p. 303. [10] James Hilton, Good-bye Mr. Chips. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1935, p. 125.