Paideia: A Concept Contributing to the Education of Humanity and Societal Well-Being :: Philosophy

Contributing to the Education of Humanity and Societal Well-Being swipe For the sake of humanity, outward compulsion must change into inward check. This is possible with the help of paideia. I use paideia instead of the equivocal German word Bildung, which comprises the meanings of grooming, formation, and cultivation. The eye of my recently developed concept of paideia is that the educating individual does what has to be done in a certain home. He or she works alone or unitedly with the other. In doing a work the educated individual tries to avoid any disadvantage for the other. The finished work represents the realization of both, the individual as well as the other in a step toward self-realization. This philosophy of education integrates into one single concept the two main traces of theories of education in European countries, that is to say the theories of self- creation and those of selflessness. The concept of paideia is a possible answer to actual problems such as the g ap between the rich and the poor, the increase of violence, existing political radicalism, exploitation of graphic resources and so on. According to this situation, not all people are educated genuinely well. I claim that the expounded philosophy of education is able to contribute to the education of humanity. The combination of self-being and selflessness guarantees the optimal realization of sense in a given situation. This ensures that the common work of the individual and the other can develop very well, so that both are intertwined in the result. I. From Outward Compulsion to Inward Control For many years our present society has been characterized by sociologists and philosophers as being determined by three factors first science and technology, second mass media including new forms of communications like the Internet, and third individualism and pluralism. These three characteristics of the present situation point to the diminuation of human possibilities. For on one side we live in a society of alleged unlimited possibilities with respect to science, technology, communication and personal individuality. On the other side, however, real thinking and doing, real talk and real self-shaping seem to grow poor or become impossible. The prize we are obliged to turn out for our present society, the prize of our possibilities is ironically that of the impossibility of our special possibilities, be they personal or social. So the strive for perfection unmasks itself as an unplanned deterioration in many realms of social and personal life.