Philosophy and Education: From Elitism to Democracy

Philosophy and Education: From Elitism to Democracy

ABSTRACT: From its first appearance in western culture, philosophy has been considered able to build up reality, to educate people, and to disclose truth. Plato proposed philosophers as governors in life-long pursuit of philosophical learning. Socrates was the ideal paradigm of an educating philosopher: he tried to wake up human minds so that they could be aware of themselves and of the world, criticizing tradition and prejudices in a logically consistent perspective. A critical and dialogic approach—not by mere chance defined as "Socratic"—to problems has been considered until now the most profitable method of teaching. Socrates is a pioneer in discussing the question of a philosophical (paideia), as he defined his method "maieutic." He was not an authoritarian teacher, but a sparring partner in the process of self-education. Moreover, he considered himself as the most learned and, at the same time, the wisest in Greece, just because he was conscious of his ignorance. Therefore, he understood for the first time in our cultural tradition that knowledge is an endless process rather than a product, within marked bounds.

From its first appearance in western culture, philosophy has been considered able to build up reality, to educate men and to disclose truth. Plato proposed philosophers as governors and a lifelong philosophical paideia; nevertheless, yet before him, philopophy and kalokagaqia were in a close relation, as Parmenides and Heraclitus show. Particularly Socrates is the ideal paradigm of an educating philosopher: he tried to wake up human minds, so that they could be aware of themselves and of the world, criticizing tradition and prejudices in a logically consis...

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...use free means self-governing.

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