Aristotle: roles of education

             What is education? What role does it play in society? Is it simply a bunch of mental exercises that the society forces their young to go through in order to promote the intellectually superior and weed out the intellectually inferior. Or is it just task-specific training which will teach individuals how to make money via programming a computer or learning book-keeping skills. Definitely not, according to Aristotle. Aristotle believes that education is the foundation upon which the society is built and has value for it's own sake.
             Education has long been viewed as means of advancing one's individual status in society. Aristotle has a set of specific views defining and explaining the benefits that one can derive from education. According to Aristotle morality and education go hand in hand. One, in effect, learns to become moral through furthering one's educational level.
             Aristotle's understanding of law and education stems from his concept of polis as independent city-state. Polis is an indivisible, self-sufficient unit that fulfills all the basic needs of it's inhabitants. Aristotle believes that a polis presents an ideal atmosphere for efficient and fair government. The reason for this is that people in a polis will work together in order to achieve common goals. Everyone's fate becomes intimately tied to the the fate of their polis. Aristotle asks who is more efficient one person or a well-organized body of people. He answers, that an educated, well organized body of people bound together by common goals and vision has distinct advantage over any one person deciding the affairs of the state. Educated people are more likely to uphold the laws of the polis and therefore can be further trusted.
             Just like a polis is self sufficient, a man, Aristotle believes, should also be fully self-sufficient. Indeed, self-sufficiency is one of the highest virtues that a man can achieve. Society ...

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