''Paideia'' (also spelled ''paedeia'') (
/paɪˈdeɪə/;
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: παιδεία, ''paideía'') referred to the rearing and education of the ideal member of the ancient Greek
polis
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
or
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
. These educational ideals later spread to the
Greco-Roman world
The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were dir ...
at large, and were called ''
humanitas'' in Latin. ''Paideia'' was meant to instill aristocratic virtues in the young citizen men who were trained in this way. An ideal man within the polis would be well-rounded, refined in intellect, morals, and physicality, so training of both the body and mind was important. Both practical, subject-based schooling as well as a focus upon the socialization of individuals within the
aristocratic order of the polis were a part of this training. The practical aspects of ''paideia'' included subjects within the modern designation of the
liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...
(e.g.
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...
,
grammar
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes doma ...
, and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
), as well as scientific disciplines like
arithmetic
Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...
and
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
.
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
and
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...
were valued for their effect on the body alongside the moral education which was imparted by the study of
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
,
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...
, and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
. This approach to the rearing of a well-rounded Greek male was common to the Greek-speaking world, with the exception of
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...
where ''
agoge
The ( grc-gre, ἀγωγή in Attic Greek, or , in Doric Greek) was the rigorous education and training program mandated for all male Spartan citizens, with the exception of the firstborn son in the ruling houses, Eurypontid and Agiad. The ...
'' was practiced.
The idea of ''paideia'' in ancient and modern cultures
The Greeks considered ''paideia'' to be carried out by the aristocratic class, who tended to intellectualize their culture and their ideas. The culture and the youth were formed to the ideal of ''
kalos kagathos
''Kalos kagathos'' or ''kalokagathos'' ( grc, καλὸς κἀγαθός ), of which '' kalokagathia'' () is the derived noun, is a phrase used by classical Greek writers to describe an ideal of gentlemanly personal conduct, especially in a mili ...
'' ("beautiful and good").
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
gives his paideia proposal in Book VIII of the ''
Politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
''. In this, he says that, "education ought to be adapted to the particular form of constitution, since the particular character belonging to each constitution both guards the constitution generally and originally establishes it..." As a result, Aristotle argues that education should be a public system, not left up to individuals. He goes on to deliberate about what a proper education should entail, weighing different subjects, such as music and drawing, against their benefit towards cultivating virtue. He lists the ways he believes that gymnastic training should be carried out, bringing up some Spartan practices in order to see the benefits and drawbacks of their system. He talks extensively about music and its place in education, ultimately concluding that it should be included, but that there should be specific instruction, "in what times and what rhythms they should take part, and also what kinds of instruments should be used in their studies, as this naturally makes a difference."
In modern discourse, the German-American classicist
Werner Jaeger
Werner Wilhelm Jaeger (30 July 1888 – 19 October 1961) was a German-American classicist.
Life
Werner Wilhelm Jaeger was born in Lobberich, Rhenish Prussia in the German Empire. He attended school in Lobberich and at the Gymnasium Thomaeum in ...
wrote ''Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture'', using the concept of ''paideia'' to trace the development of Greek thought and education from
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
to
Demosthenes
Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pr ...
. Encyclopedist and
Aristotelian philosopher
Mortimer Adler gives a
paideia proposal in his criticism of contemporary Western
educational systems.
Lawrence A. Cremin
Lawrence Arthur Cremin (October 31, 1925 – September 4, 1990) was an educational historian and administrator.
Biography
Cremin attended Townsend Harris High School in Queens, and then received his B.A. and M.A. from City College of New York. ...
did so in his histories of American education.
Isocrates' influence
Isocrates
Isocrates (; grc, Ἰσοκράτης ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education throu ...
''
''paideia'' was quite influential, particularly in Athens''.'' Isocrates' goal was to construct a practice of education and politics that brought validity in the democratic deliberative practice while remaining intellectually respectable.
[Morgan, Kathryn. ''The Education of Athens.'' 125–153] Isocrates sought to encourage a love of wisdom in his audience by making them apply a principle of intellectual consistency to their lives. The fundamental aspect of his ''paideia'' was consistency on the individual, civic, and panhellenic levels.
Sayings and proverbs that defined ''paideia''
* "
Know thyself" and "
Nothing in excess
Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...
"
* "Hard is the Good."
See also
* ''
Arete
''Arete'' (Greek: ) is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to 'excellence' of any kind Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. '' A Greek–English Lexicon'', 9th ed. (Oxford, 1940), s.v.br>—especially a person or thi ...
''
*
Classical education
*
Reed College
*
The Paideia School
Notes
References
*
Werner Jaeger
Werner Wilhelm Jaeger (30 July 1888 – 19 October 1961) was a German-American classicist.
Life
Werner Wilhelm Jaeger was born in Lobberich, Rhenish Prussia in the German Empire. He attended school in Lobberich and at the Gymnasium Thomaeum in ...
, ''Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture'', vols. I–III, trans. Gilbert Highet, Oxford University Press, 1945.
* ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
'', "Paedeia." 2005.
Further reading
*
Takis Fotopoulos"From (mis)-education to Paideia" ''The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy'', vol 2, no 1, (2005).
{{Ancient Greece topics, state=collapsed
Ancient Greek culture
Education in classical antiquity