An Ontological Approach to Education

Distinguishing the contextual realm addressed by ontological education as a valid area for inquiry by those who think about language and communication, this paper discusses an approach to education that is ontological in nature, in that its focus is the "being" of human beings rather than their knowledge. The paper explores several ideas drawn from the work of the Landmark Education Corporation, an international organization that offers a curriculum of courses and seminars to the public as well as to corporations and communities. The first section of the paper considers the relation of language to action, of theory to practice; the second addresses the nature of ontological distinctions, which are essential elements of Landmark's programs, and the third section shows how a specific distinction is developed in one of these programs--the major rubric for this distinction being "a human being as a network of conversations." The purpose of t'-e paper is to distinguish the arena in which ontological education functions, and to suggest the way such education achieves its results. The discussion in the paper draws upon the thinking of several postmodern philosophers, including Martin Heidegger, Richard Rorty, and Hans-Georg Gadamer. Contains 29 notes. (RS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ************************************A************ c******************