Humanist ideas in education have been promoted by both Western thinkers and classical wisdom texts of Asia. Exploring this connection, I examine the educational philosophy of an iconic ancient Tamil (Indian) text, the Thiruvalluvar Kural , by juxtaposing it with a contemporary humanist classic, Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed . As this comparative study reveals, both texts offer humanist visions of relevance to education, politics, and society. Notably, however, the Kural takes what might be described as a more mainstream humanist stance vis-à-vis Freire’s radical humanist approach. Nevertheless, both educational philosophies share a common humanist bond representing important breakthroughs within their own given contexts. More specifically, the Kural supports a shift in consciousness and social practices away from caste rigidity, superstition, and pre-humanist beliefs while Freire championed transitioning from rigid, top-down and alienating educational delivery models and economic systems to learning processes and societies that are more democratized, dialogic and egalitarian.

中文翻译：

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人文主义但不激进：Thiruvalluvar Kural 的教育哲学

西方思想家和亚洲古典智慧文本都提倡教育中的人文主义思想。探索这种联系，我通过将其与当代人文主义经典保罗·弗莱雷的《被压迫者教育学》并列，研究了标志性的古代泰米尔（印度）文本《Thiruvalluvar Kural》的教育哲学。正如这项比较研究所揭示的，这两本书都提供了与教育、政治和社会相关的人文主义愿景。然而，值得注意的是，相对于弗莱雷激进的人文主义方法，库拉尔采取了一种可以被描述为更主流的人文主义立场。尽管如此，这两种教育理念都具有共同的人文主义纽带，代表着各自特定背景下的重要突破。更具体地说，库拉尔支持意识和社会实践的转变，摆脱种姓僵化，