74th Annual Meeting Societies Symposium: Liberal Education, Past and Future
Two mainstreams of educational theory
paideia and humanitas
2015 Volume 2015 Issue 66 Pages 65-82
Details
2015 Volume 2015 Issue 66 Pages 65-82
This article intends to illuminate the educational significance of two traditions that have their origin in ancient Greece. One is the tradition of paideia that attained its fullest expression in Plato’s Cave. The other is the rhetorical and humanistic tradition represented by figures such as Protagoras, Isocrates, Cicero, and Renaissance humanists.
The first and main part of the article consists of clarifying fundamental characteristics of the two traditions. Paideia is characterized by 1) a relationship with the transcendent, eternal, and divine principle, 2) a theory of human nature related to the divine principle, 3) an understanding of education as a travel to the genuine self, 4) curricula consisting of mathematical sciences and dialectics, and 5) a theory of art that has a strong educational and moral orientation. Characteristics of a rhetorical and humanistic education are: 1) public spiritedness, 2) deep sensitivity to language, and 3) multi-perspectival knowledge. In the course of history of education, the two traditions often interacted with each other and exerted a great influence on Western education.
In the second part, the article examines how the two traditions can respond to the challenge of postmodern philosophy by adapting “weak thought” (Vattimo).
In the final part, the article argues briefly that the two traditions ought to give up their anthropocentric stance in order to respond to the challenge of environmental crises.
