Paideia: A Concept Contributing to the Education of Humanity and Societal Well-Being

Contributing to the Education of Humanity and Societal Well-Being

ABSTRACT: For the sake of humanity, outward compulsion must change into inward check. This is possible with the help of "paideia." I use "paideia" instead of the equivocal German word "Bildung," which comprises the meanings of "education," "formation," and "cultivation." The core of my recently developed concept of "paideia" is that the educating individual does what has to be done in a certain situation. He or she works alone or together with the other. In doing a work the educated individual tries to avoid any disadvantage for the other. The finished work represents the realization of both, the individual as well as the other in a step toward self-realization. This philosophy of education integrates into one single concept the two main traces of theories of education in European countries, namely the theories of "self-being" and those of "selflessness." The concept of "paideia" is a possible answer to actual problems such as the gap between the rich and the poor, the increase of violence, existing political radicalism, exploitation of natural resources and so on. According to this situation, not all people are educated very well. I claim that the expounded philosophy of education is able to contribute to the education of humanity. The combination of "self-being" and "selflessness" guarantees the optimal realization of sense in a given situation. This ensures that the common work of the individual and the other can develop very well, so that both are intertwined in the result.

I. From Outward Compulsion to Inward Control

For many years our present society has been characterized by sociologists and philosophers as being determined by three factors: first science and technology, second mass media including new forms of communications like the Internet, and third individualism and pluralism. These three characteristics of the present situation point to the diminuation of human possibilities. For on one side we live in a society of alleged unlimited possibilities with respect to science, technology, communication and personal individuality. On the other side, however, real thinking and doing, real talk and real self-shaping seem to grow poor or become impossible. The prize we are obliged to pay for our present society, the prize of our possibilities is ironically that of the impossibility of our special possibilities, be they personal or social. So the strive for perfection unmasks itself as an unplanned deterioration in many realms of social and personal life.