Aristotles Reform of Paideia :: Paideia Artistotle Philosophy Essays

Aristotles Reform of PaideiaABSTRACT Ancient Greek teaching indicationd the pedagogical exercise of dialectic, in which a student defended a thesis against nonindulgent questioning by an instructor. Aristophanes Clouds, as well as Plato and Aristotle, criticize the practice for promoting intellectual skepticism, moral cynicism, and an eristic spirit - the relish to win in logical argu custodyt rather than seek the truth. I draw out Aristotles logic is meant to reform the practice of dialectic. In the first ingredient of my paper, I defend the thesis that Aristotles syllogistic is an dodge of satisfying reasoning against the contemporary view that it is a science of abstract argument forms. First, I show that Aristotles exclusive distinction between art and science makes syllogistic a techne for the higher forms of knowledge, science and practical wisdom. consequently I argue that Aristotles treatment of demonstrative and dialectical syllogisms provides rigorous standards fo r reasoning in science and public debate. In particular I discuss a) the requirement that a demonstration use verifiable expound whose middle term points out a cause for the predicate applying to the proof b) how his analysis of valid syllogisms with a wholly or partly mistaken universal premise applies to dialectical syllogisms.Aristotles logic is a major achievement of Greek paideia, valued and preserved continuously even in dark ages following its commitment to writing. Here I look at its role in reforming Greek education. The mission of Greek paideia, Aristotle argues in the Politics, is to change members of a community to discuss with each other serious matters of crude interest requiring joint decisionmaking and action. A political organization requires a mode of deciding what is demanded by the public interest and what is just in mens private dealings (Politics 1328b2ff).(1) He also stresses the essential give way of education to promote the intellectual excellence of the student. A distinctive feature of Greek education in Platos Academy and Aristotles lycee was dialectic an intellectual exercise in which a student took a position on an issue and defended it against rigorous questioning from an instructor or another student. The origin of dialectic is Socrates elenctic mode of inquiry. Socrates asked a willing or unwilling citizen to put forward a definition of an ethical notion, much(prenominal) as justice, then engaged in a cunning and often baffling conversation with him. By a circuitous route the communion ended with the student making an admission inconsistent with his original postulate.