Livingstone thinks that the primary purpose of education is to improve character. For Plato education, is the basis of the state but the ultimate aim and essence of education is the training of character to be achieved by the discipline of the body, will and the intelligence. For training the human character various steps will have to be taken, though to this suggestion, three objections will be made.
One of the objections is that some time the character may be trained in a wrong number as was the with Hitler. In reality we are just like the man in Mark Twain's story who spends sixteen years in jail and the opens the door which has been looked all the time and walks out. We are fettered in the prison of human nature though we can walk out of it if we manage properly. Another objection is that moulding of character is a dangerous operation. The attitude of this type of critic is like the servants in the parable of the talents. It is not possible to educate a child without turning its mind to social needs.
Similarly those who say that it is an immense problem are wrong because once it is tackled, it will not seem to be so. None can deny that political problem is a question of human nature rather than of organisation. Hence we need some type of re-education. In some of the countries the schemes for the training of character have been given a subordinate place and we should just take Blake's words as the slogan of our furture action-
I will not, cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my swords will be in my hand,
till we have built Jerusalem green and pleasant land.
The purpose of education for a civilised democracy is somewhat different, in the words of Henry Wallace this is the century of the common man because we have been able to adopt political and economic democracy. Civilisation has been defined as a sense of values and if this sense of value extends tot he field of human behaviour it becomes a proper type of education.
According to Matthew Arnold Athenians used to give proper type of training to the people for making them suitable for the democratic setup. Today we have some type of liberal democracy and so various versions of the democratic setup have been given. Naturally the conditions available in a modern democratic country are somewhat different from the conditions which were available in Athens. Si the education which Pericles alludes is somewhat different from what it should be in the modern times.
For a civilised democracy education should be of a type that makes the people pas active participants in the working of democracy. So it is not only political education but also a sort of moral education. In the modern states various methods of propaganda are utilized for educating the people but unfortunately all of them become the victim of blased opinions and the people in general feel confused instead of getting any guideline for their working. In fact if the political party in power wishes there may be intellectual and even spiritual position but that is always dangerous because ultimately it serves as a
boomerang which not only demolishes the institution but harms the party in power also. So here also we need discipline as we need discipline in art.
[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 4 ]
One of the objections is that some time the character may be trained in a wrong number as was the with Hitler. In reality we are just like the man in Mark Twain's story who spends sixteen years in jail and the opens the door which has been looked all the time and walks out. We are fettered in the prison of human nature though we can walk out of it if we manage properly. Another objection is that moulding of character is a dangerous operation. The attitude of this type of critic is like the servants in the parable of the talents. It is not possible to educate a child without turning its mind to social needs.
Similarly those who say that it is an immense problem are wrong because once it is tackled, it will not seem to be so. None can deny that political problem is a question of human nature rather than of organisation. Hence we need some type of re-education. In some of the countries the schemes for the training of character have been given a subordinate place and we should just take Blake's words as the slogan of our furture action-
I will not, cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my swords will be in my hand,
till we have built Jerusalem green and pleasant land.
The purpose of education for a civilised democracy is somewhat different, in the words of Henry Wallace this is the century of the common man because we have been able to adopt political and economic democracy. Civilisation has been defined as a sense of values and if this sense of value extends tot he field of human behaviour it becomes a proper type of education.
According to Matthew Arnold Athenians used to give proper type of training to the people for making them suitable for the democratic setup. Today we have some type of liberal democracy and so various versions of the democratic setup have been given. Naturally the conditions available in a modern democratic country are somewhat different from the conditions which were available in Athens. Si the education which Pericles alludes is somewhat different from what it should be in the modern times.
For a civilised democracy education should be of a type that makes the people pas active participants in the working of democracy. So it is not only political education but also a sort of moral education. In the modern states various methods of propaganda are utilized for educating the people but unfortunately all of them become the victim of blased opinions and the people in general feel confused instead of getting any guideline for their working. In fact if the political party in power wishes there may be intellectual and even spiritual position but that is always dangerous because ultimately it serves as a
boomerang which not only demolishes the institution but harms the party in power also. So here also we need discipline as we need discipline in art.
[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 4 ]
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