Knowing as Loving: Philosophical Grounding for Charlotte Mason's Expert Educational Insights

A theory of education is rooted most deeply in philosophical commitments regarding what it means to be human, what is real and how we know it (philosophical anthropology, metaphysics, and epistemology.) The still-dominant, defining implicit philosophical commitments of our own modern era (1600s to the present), are skewed to disavow the real, instrumentalize under- standing, and dehumanize persons. These play out damagingly in educational theory and practice. Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason's theses enact an alternative philosophical vision which correctly diagnoses and healingly subverts modernity's skewed and dam- aging claims. We propose and show that philosopher Esther Lightcap Meek's "covenant epistemology" accords profoundly with Charlotte Mason's innovative and effective vision for educating children, giving expression to the philosophical grounding of her approach. This alignment serves to confirm Mason's insights and expand our grasp of how to implement them.