The Moral Vision
Narrow-Mindedness
~ 83 ~
The administrative authorities of one such Arabic
school decided unanimously to withdraw all text-
books on classical logic from their syllabus. A new
course in philosophy was to be prepared,
conforming to modern academic standards.
Unfortunately, however, they were unable to
implement this decision. Why? Because the professor
of logic in their institution opposed it tooth and nail.
As he was a senior teacher in the school, the
administrators were unable to go against his wishes.
One does not have to look far to see the reason for
this opposition. This professor only had a
knowledge of classical logic; he had no knowledge
of modern philosophy. He feared that if classical
logic were taken out of the syllabus, he himself
would lose his status in the institution. He would be
left like a teacher who knew only French, trying to
get his point across in a school where the medium
of instruction was Arabic. In this case, it was very
small-minded of him to allow his own feelings of
professional insecurity to stand in the way of
modernization.
