과학의 고전읽기 교육사례 연구 ― 토머스 헉슬리의 로마니즈 강연 「진화와 윤리」를 중심으로

Abstract

This study proposes an education example for reading science classics focusing on Thomas Huxley’s Romanes lecture, “Evolution and Ethics”. “Evolution and Ethics”, which Huxley proposed in his later years, opposes the thoughts of the intellectuals and laborers at the time who proposed radical social reformation applying the evolution theory of the nature to society. Thus, what can be clearly recognized from his work is Huxley's thought that the progress of human society cannot be interpreted based on the evolution theory of the nature. By emphasizing on the law of the survival of the fittest as the principal of the natural evolution, Huxley asserts that the evolution of the nature cannot coexist with ethical principles of human society. In contrast, he delineates that the social progress was achieved through the progress of not only technology but also ethics and the purpose of social progress is the realization of ethical process. The central educational methods for studying “Evolution and Ethics” are putting forth questions about the work and group discussions, utilizing video material, and implementing writing assignments. First, the instructor presents questions so that students may have group discussion about comprehending the text and main ideas, and how the content of the work relates to contemporary society. Second, to examine limits to Huxley’s thoughts, presentations and debates on a movie about the animal world in which community is maintained not through competition but cooperation are proceeded. Third, to intensify students’ comprehension ability and extend their thoughts, academic writing assignments on various topics related to the text are implemented. Huxley’s “Evolution and Ethics”, which deals with various thoughts such as science, society, ethics, etc, is an effective work to educate not only scientific knowledge and thinking but also convergence thinking in liberal arts courses for students from various majors.