Responding to msg by Stephen D. Williams:
There are some theories that various 'power' segments of society actively cultivate a particular working model for their own benefit. Foremost, of course, are Clergy, lawyers, and gov.
Well, reading books like the one from which I took that quote would alert one's attention to the fact that there are many working models of human nature possible, and that one should not merely take the one given out in school or at church or by whomever. I think that when one realizes that these models are all the product of our own human reasoning, then the idea of liberty & freedom becomes more meaningful, as one realizes that there are choices beyond the views created by one's elders or leaders.
I've always thought and recently espoused that there should be classes from the beginning of highschool on philosophy and sociology. I suppose the problem would be which philosophy and whose spin on things the schools would encourage.
I think this would start a big fight in the public schools as to which philosophy or sociological works to use in the classroom. However, in classrooms per se if there were a general presentation of the concepts and discussions on the human ability to develop comprehensive views of the world, then everyone was turned loose in the library, each person could begin their study of any of them and proceed at their own pace & interest. At the very least they could become aware of the source of the images of human nature which surround us and could better evaluate what it means to live & act within any particular system of operations.
I just think that too many people don't think of themselves on the 'meta' level. (Thinking about what they think and do and why.)
The opportunities for this kind of thinking are greatly limited to what the church and politics provide as a frame of reference (not that the libraries aren't open and available for budding curiosities). It was from browsing through picture books of other peoples & reading about how other cultures arrange their existence, that I developed the comprehension that there are different methods of doing things in the world, that there is such a thing as choice, and that not only cultures but individuals can arrange their affairs according to their own ideas of success. Blanc