Minimalist Autonomy and Haredi Education in Israel

Abstract

In "Education for Autonomy, Education for Culture," Dana Howard attempts to break the impasse between those who emphasize a cultural community's claim to the right to educate its young "for culture," and those who insist that an education "for autonomy" is the only way to foster the capacity for critical reflection on the life options available to those of us who live in liberal pluralist societies. Howard maintains that a comprehensive religious education such as that undertaken by ultraorthodox Jews in Israel is not necessarily at odds with the ideal of autonomy, provided that one redefine autonomy so as to do justice to what it means to live a life shaped by profound religious commitments.