The Philosophical Implications of Education vs Training

1. HELLENIC NAVYLANGUAGE SCHOOLPALASKAS TRAINING CENTERSKARAMAGAS PRESENTATION ON “The Philosophical Implications of Education vs Training” By ELIAS PAPADOPOULOS Instructor of English as a Foreign Language Examiner of Officers and non-Commissioned Officers at the Military Testing Center National Representative of The Hellenic Navy at BILC Conferences BILC Conference Athens. 23-27 June 2008

2. PHILOSOPHY AND THE GREEK PHILOSOPHERS IN BRIEF

3. IN THE WESTERN WORLD, PHILOSOPHY HAS ITS EARLIEST TRACEABLE SOURCE AMONG THE GREEKS IN ASIA MINOR IN THE 6TH CENTURY B. C.

4. SOCRATES TURNED PHILOSOPHY AWAY FROM HIGH COSMOLOGICAL SPECULATIONS AND CONCETRATED ATTENTION ON MAN AND HIS MORAL PROBLEMS

5. -WHAT DO WE KNOW AND HOW DO WE COME TO KNOW IT?

6. -SECONDLY, WHAT IS THE HIGHEST EXCELLENCE OR VIRTUE OF MANKIND?

7. -THIRD, HE INTRODUCED INTO PHILOSOPHY THE METHOD OF ARGUMENT, OF QUESTION AND ANSWER, AS OPPOSED TO THE METHOD OF DOGMATIC AND ORACULAR STATEMENT

8. A. THERE IS A FUNDAMENTAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN APPEARANCE AND REALITY: THE WORLD OF PARTICULAR THINGS PERCEIVED BY THE SENSES CONSTITUTES APPEARANCE ONLY, NOT REALITY

9. B. ABOUT PARTICULAR THINGS, WE CAN HAVE OPINION ONLY, AND NOT CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE, FOR THE OBJECTS OF KNOWLEDGE MUST BE UNCHANGING

10. C. MATHEMATICS PROVIDES THE MODEL OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE, SINCE IT IS CONCERNED WITH THE UNCHANGING PROPERTIES OF SUPER-SENSIBLE ENTITIES AS APPREHENDED BY PURE INTELLECT

11. ARISTOTLE WAS A MARVELLOUS NATURALIST AND, AT THE SAME TIME, THE FOUNDER OF FORMAL LOGIC

12. WITHOUT THESE PHILOSOPHERS AND THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GREECE, IN GENERAL, THE POLITICAL, MORAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE WESTERN WORLD WOULD BE MUCH THE POORER

13. THE INFLUENCE OF ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHERS ON MILITARY TRAINING

14. PEOPLE CONCERNED WITH EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN THE MILITARY MUST SEE THEIR MISSION IN THE CONTEXT OF A PARENT SOCIETY

15. THE MILITARY PROFESSION IS MORE AKIN TO THE CLASSICAL GREEK NOTION OF POLITY THAN TO THE COMMUNITIES OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORISTS

16. ARISTOTLE AND THE CLASSICAL GREEKS, GENERALLY, CONSIDERED THE FAMILY, THE COMMUNITY AND THE STATE AS VEHICLES FOR MORALITY AND THE GOOD LIFE FOR MAN

17. PEACE AND NOT WAR WOULD BETTER DESCRIBE THE “NATURAL” STATE OF MAN. BALANCE, MODERATION, DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTELLECT- THESE ARE THE ETHICAL CLAIMS APPROPRIATE TO MAN AND REQUIRED TO BE FOSTERED BY THE MILITARY ACADEMIES AND THE STATE

18. THERE SEEMS TO BE A SPECIAL SENSE IN WHICH SOCIETY AS A WHOLE LOOKS TO THE MILITASRY PROFESSION AS A FINAL RESERVOIR OF ITS MOST PRECIOUS HUMAN VALUES

19. OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE SPECIFIC: MILITARY KNOWLEDGE AND COMPETENCE; BUT THEY ARE NOT ENOUGH; WE INSIST THAT THEY BE COMBINED WITH COURAGE, LOYALTY, OBEDIENCE, SUBORDINATION OF THE SELF TO THE GREATER WHOLE, AND MOST IMPPORTANT, WITH MORAL INTEGRITY

20. CLEARLY, MILITARY TRAINING SHOULD TAKE CARE TO ILLUMINATE VALUES, NOT BURY THEM AMONG THE TRIVIA

21. ARE OUR STUDENTS GETTING THE MESSAGE THAT WITHOUT PERSONAL INTEGRITY INTELLECTUAL SKILLS ARE WORTHLESS?

22. IF THE NATION’S POSTURE IN THE INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT IS RESPONSIBLE, IF ITS CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE ARE AIMED AT PROVIDING HUMANITARIAN RELIEF, REGIONAL STABILITY OPERATIONS, WORK WITH COALITION PARTNERS AND A DIGNIFIED STYLE FOR EACH OF ITS CITIZENS

23. IN PLATO’S APOLOGY,SOCRATES REMINDS US THAT “THE JUST MAN CONCERNS HIMSELF FAR MORE WITH WHETHER HE DOES RIGHT OR WRONG THAN WITH WHETHER HE LIVES OR DIES”

24. THE MILITARY PROFESSION IN AN IDEAL STATE IS CLEARLY AMONG THE MOST NOBLE; ITS FUNCTION INVOLVES PRESERVATION OF OUR HIGHEST HUMAN VALUES, COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS OUR WAY OF LIFE

25. THE CLASSICAL GREEK CONCEPTION OF THE JUST AND HONORABLE ENCOMPASSED ALL OF ONE’S HUMAN ACTS

26. “SEEK THE GOLDEN MEANS OF MODERATION BETWEEN THE EXTREMES OF TOO MUCH AND TOO LITTLE” “ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH RIGHT REASON”

27. IF ONE PRACTISES TELLING THE TRUTH ALL THE TIME-THEN THESE ACTIONS MAY WELL BECOME PART OF THE HABITUAL HUMAN RESPONCE TO ONE’S ENVIRONMENTAL CIRCUMSTANCES

28. THE INTERWEAVING OF MORAL VALUE WITH MILITARY FUNCTION

29. MORAL CHARACTER DEVELOPS OUT OF REPEATING GOOD ACTIONS, WHICH CANNOT BE ORDERED, BUT CAN BE EXEMPLIFIED AND IMITATED, OUR ADVICE TO THOSE WHO ASPIRE TO BECOME WORTHY OFFICERS AND NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS CAN BE NONE OTHER THAN THAT OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE SAGE: “THE WAY TO DO IS TO BE”

30. TEACHER’S LEADING ROLE IN MOULDING NOBLE MILITARY CHARACTERS

31. WE SHOULD THINK OURSELVES NOT SO MUCH AS TEACHERS WHO MUST CONSTANTLY “DELIVER” INFORMATION TO OUR STUDENTS, BUT AS FACILITATORS OF LEARNING

32. TEACHERS OUGHT TO BE INTRINSICALLY MOTIVATED

33. IF I AM TO BE A WHOLE PERSON, I MUST KNOW WHAT IS PRIMARY FOR ME AND WHAT IS SECONDARY

34. IF I KNOW THAT THE QUALITY AND THE INTEGRITY OF MY WORK COME FIRST, THEN I AM TRUE TO MY PROFESSION AS A TEACHER

35. A TRAINING THAT WILL BE BASED ON AN INTRINSICAL MOTIVATION AND ON A HIGHLIGHTING OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY WILL FOSTER A COOPERATIVE SPIRIT THAT WILL HELP THE MILITARY TO AVOID TRAGIC FAILURES OF CHARACTER AND UNDERSTAND THE VALUES OF THE MILITARY ETHIC

36. ALIENATION FROM POLITICAL ACTIVITY, COMMITMENT TO MILITARY SECURITY OF THE STATE, AND THE MILITARY’S ESSENTIAL AND INSTRUMENTAL FUNCTION IN THE STATE.

37. A GOOD CLASSICAL EDUCATION AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF HISTORY CAN BEST DETERMINE THE RULES THE MILITARY SHOULD LIVE BY

38. MAN’S NATURAL HABITAT IS THE SOCIETY OF OTHER MEN AND THAT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SEEMS INTENDED BY NATURE TO TAKE PLACE IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT

39. SIR JOHN WINTHROP HACKET WROTE: “WHAT A SOCIETY GETS IN ITS ARMED SERVICES IS EXACTLY WHAT IT ASKS FOR NO MORE AND NO LESS. WHAT IT ASKS FOR TENDS TO BE A REFLECTION OF WHAT IT IS. WHEN A COUNTRY LOOKS AT ITS FIGHTING FORCES, IT IS LOOKING IN A MIRROR. IF THE MIRROR IS A TRUE ONE, THE FACE THAT IT SEES THERE, WILL BE ITS OWN”