This is the 2nd lecture of [[Stephen Hicks]]'s [[PA Philosophy of Education]] course on [[Peterson Academy]]. ## Plato 431 BCE Peloponnesian War — Athenians vs Spartans — was one of the important events that changed Greece, and this happened during Socrates' and Plato's lives. There are two [[Platonic myths | myths]] by Plato that help illustrate problems in education: myth of Gyges, and myth of the cave. The myth of Gyges shows us that we humans in our nature have problematic desires especially when left untamed, whereas the myth of the cave shows that the path of enlightenment is uncomfortable and even painful, but has to brought about even by force by the "educator." In fact, the educator has the responsibility to compel the unenlightened towards justice and truth. Plato argues that pure knowledge can only be obtained by forsaking the body—described as a distraction, and even an infection—and be only concerned with the soul in and of itself. Anybody who says otherwise is a sham philosopher and not a true philosopher. To be concerned with the soul is to aim to reach the realm of the gods, and be like the gods in so far as they are wise, holy and righteous. Forsaking the body is how we "purify" ourselves, which is the best we could do before god gives us "deliverance." The conclusion this leads to is that only true philosophers are fit to be rulers, as "philosopher kings." Plato pits the philosophers against the poets (or all artists in general) in the "ancient quarrel" or the pursuit of art or illusion vs the pursuit of truth. He thinks Homer and other artists promote false morals and serve as emotionally weak role models. He is against the idea of fiction where you can invent your own world and laws, and the same view applies to children games—he thinks children games ought to be regulated and follow law to teach obedience. # Augustine Greek philosophy, arts, culture and education extends well into the Roman period as "while the Romans conquered the Greeks, the Greeks captured the Romans." The later major development in thought happened in the 300s with the first Christian conversion of a Roman emperor, Constantine. With Christianity rising to the status of state religion of the still powerful Rome, there is now a need for canonization. At the same time, there is a need for an intellectual representing Christianity capable of entering into discourse with other schools of thought. And this is where Augustine—who some claim to be the most influential and most important philosopher of human history—comes in. Augustine found Greek classical education to be lacking in telos, leading to what he called "foolish wealth." Continuing from Plato's comment on the arts, he also made the observation that actors in a play are acting (faking) yet invoking real emotion in the audience, which is an illusion and not truth. To indulge in such is to be deceived. Augustine's comment of the Greek poets was that they took human evil and transferred in over to the gods. On evil, he raised the issue of original sin, claiming that even infants fresh out the womb were sinners in God's eyes. On his own mischiefs as a child, he made an interesting note about how he did not sin for benefits to himself, but simply for sinning. He did evil for he enjoyed the transgression itself. He learned of the greatness of Greek philosophy through Cicero, and at the same time learned that the Christians were not only wary of but warned against Greek philosophy. It was the death of a friend that made him seriously contemplate the issue of death and temporality. It is in the midst of this background that the eternality—not "passing away"—of the word of God stood out. He found a sophisticated, philosophically rigid path to frame and understand Christian doctrine in the work of Plato. He goes on to form a synthesis of Christian doctrine and Platonic philosophy. As he wrestles with understanding, he grows in knowledge, but goes through a phase where he couldn't control himself and plunges into depraved desires almost 20 times a day, as if he is torn between two wills. He needed intervention beyond human strength, and it was then that he supernaturally encounters Christ and is saved from this torment. From politics, Augustine argued that since Christianity is true, it must be enforced by the state, paving the way for state-religion integration. By "enforce" he does mean compulsion by force. It is his belief derived from personal experience that the depths of evil are far too great for voluntary methods to work. Besides, he feels responsible for them as a father is to a child. It is the father's responsibility to smack the child into the right shape and onto the right part, and for Augustine, that extends to the point of torture. Torture to convert can and should be enforced by the state, and only the state. This seconds Plato's point that education is supposed to be painful. Augustine says "per molestias eruditio" which means education starts with either physical abuse or more softly, hardship. Learning to follow rules is the first thing children should master. ## Human Nature — Good or Evil Plato and Augustine is of the opinion that human nature is evil, hence requires strict discipline in educating. Aristotle is of the opinion that humans naturally like to learn, which is a more optimistic view than Plato and Augustine. Hicks suggest the third option, which is humans are neutral at birth, then influenced or taught by the environment. This question of human nature brings up an interesting Nietzschean critique, which is the possibility of these different assessments of human nature being a self-reflection—autobiographical, even—of the particular philosophy's view of his own nature. --- Back to: [[PA Philosophy of Education]] Previous Lecture: [[Ancient Greek Philosophy]] Next Lecture: [[Renaissance Educational Visions]]