Kant's moral rule, always treat other people as ends in themselves and never as a means to your end, asserts that all people are inherently worthy of respect because they are moral agents free to act on rational principle. Establishing morality by habit, as in Aristotle's rule of moderation, is appropriate for younger children, but Kant's secular, rational ethic provides a way to educate older children so they will make good choices as free and equal citizens in a global, democratic society. This essay confronts some of the conceptual difficulties involved in thinking about the place of technology in social change. It argues that the seemingly intractable nature of the arguments around that problem stems from treating technology and society as distinct entities. Hence the use of stories, not as mere illustrations, but as definitional.
Myths are symbolic narratives connected to the original experiences by the symbols themselves.
The symbols themselves connect with the experiences as analogues. Analysis of the myths and the symbols should bring us the experience of teaching itself. These contentions are substantiated through an analysis of the very early narrative, pictorial, and generally symbolic expressions of teaching acts going back to remotest antiquity. Virtually all we do involves reading. Like all we do, reading requires a balance of tact and selfprotection, fairness and critical evaluation.