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Perception as the Goddess of Intellect — Aristotle’s Notions on Education
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Aristotle, Corpus Aristotelicum
Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist and is considered “the Father of Western Philosophy.” His writings cover many subject areas including — physics, biology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, psychology, rhetoric, politics and government, to name a few. Though a student of Plato, Aristotle diverged from Platonic thought on many topic areas, including Education. Aristotle believed that all concepts and knowledge were ultimately based on perception. In this essay, Aristotle’s notions about education and perception are examined, and then compared to the modern notions of education, in particular, primary education.
Much of the marketing efforts of the modern educational institutions, both private and public, taut an educational focus on the development of the “whole-child,” the components of which include cognitive, social, physical, emotional and, if applicable, spiritual. This “idea” can be traced back to the roots of educational theory which, in fact, can find their origins in Ancient Greek philosophy. Aristotle, in his concept of education, placed a strong emphasis on “balanced” development, not unlike the modern marketing emphasis on the development of “the…
