Intellectual freedom for intellectual development - Featured Topic

Liberal Education, Summer, 2003 by David Moshman

Psychological research indicates that metalogical understanding first appears about age six and continues to develop for many years. Its development involves processes of reflecting on one's inferences, coordinating them with each other, and interacting with other thinkers. Beginning about age eleven, it becomes possible to recognize and evaluate the logical interconnections among propositions that are hypothetical or even false. As a result, adolescents and adults are able, albeit inconsistently and to varying degrees, to consider the potential interrelations of multiple possibilities and thus to formulate and test explicit theories (for classic research and theory on "formal operations," Piaget's highest stage, see Inhelder and Piaget 1958; for recent reviews, see Moshman 1998, 1999).

The promotion of logical reasoning, then, should be aimed not at the implantation of correct inference schemas but rather at fostering metalogical understanding concerning the nature of logical argumentation and the justification of its results. Metalogical understanding can be promoted by encouraging reflection on and coordination of inferences and providing opportunities for collaborative reasoning among peers.

Advanced metacognition

At advanced levels, metacognitive development involves the development of explicit understanding about the fundamental nature and justifiability of knowledge and reasoning. These are matters of what philosophers call epistemology, the study of knowledge. Research indicates that such understanding--what psychologists call epistemic cognition--often continues to develop long beyond childhood, but that the extent of development is highly variable across individuals. Specifically, development may proceed from an objectivist epistemology to a subjectivist epistemology, and ultimately, in some cases, to a rationalist epistemology (for reviews, see Hofer and Pintrich 2002; King and Kitchener 1994). Each epistemology is constructed from earlier conceptions through processes of reflection and coordination, often in the context of social, and especially peer, interaction.

Consider the following claims:

1. Whales are bigger than germs.

2. 5 3 = 8.

3. Chocolate is better than vanilla.

4. Einstein's theory is better than Newton's.

5. Mozart's music is better than Madonna's.

Which of these claims are true, and how can such judgments be justified? How would objectivists, subjectivists, and rationalists, respectively, respond to such questions?

An objectivist, who sees truth as unproblematic, would see the first two claims as prototypical examples of knowledge. It can readily be established that each of these claims is true and that alternative claims, such as germs are bigger than whales or 5 3 = 12, are false. Claim 4 may be a more difficult matter because it involves technical knowledge, but an objectivist would maintain that this claim too is either true or false. If scientists determine that Einstein's theory is consistent with relevant evidence and Newton's theory is not, then Claim 4 is true. Claim 3 might be dismissed as a matter of opinion, not a matter of knowledge. Claim 5 might also be simply a matter of opinion, though perhaps an expert in music could establish its truth.