아리스토텔레스(Aristoteles)의 교육사상에 관한 연구 = A Study on the Educational Thought of Aristoteles

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to examine the Educational View of Aristoteles and to get educational wisdom and creative ideas. Since every educational thinker is to a great extent a creature of his age and environment, it is necessary to know Aristoteles' career above all. Aristoteles was born in 384 BC at Stagira in Trace. His father had inherited the position of family physician to the King of Macedonia. At the age of eighteen Aristoteles came to Athens and became a pupil of Plato; he remained in the Academy for twenty years until the death of Plato in 347 BC. In 343 BC, he became tutor to Alexander, then thirteen years old. From 335 BC to 323 BC Aristoteles lived at Athens. It was during these twelve years that he founded his lyceum and wrote most of his books. At the death of Alexander, the Athenians rebelled and turned on his friends including Aristoteles, who was indicted for impiety. But Aristoteles fled to avoid punishment unlike Socrates. In the next year (322 BC) he died of inveterate dyspepsia.
Whereas Plato stressed the reality of universals, Aristoteles was concerned with specific things. He believes that all substances, with the exception of God, are made up of form and matter. Form is identified with actuality, while matter is identified with potentiality. Aristoteles tells us that there are four types of causes: ①material cause ②formal cause ③efficient cause and ④final cause. This doctrine can be clarified by an artist, who is trying to erect a statue. The content of a statue is the material cause; the form of statue is the formal cause; the artist is the efficient cause, while the goal of the artist represents the final cause. According to Aristoteles, the most important cause is the final cause. This doctrine implies a rejection of a mechanistic philosophy. The universe cannot be interpreted according to absolute laws, rather it exhibits definite levels. The doctrine also implies that the actual is prior to the potontial.
From an educational standpoint, it is important to understand Aristoteles' doctrine of immortality. Aristoteles did not believe in personal survival after death. He considered the intellect to be composed of a potential or passive reason and an active reason. The passive reason is determined by physical forces and, when the body disappears, the passive reason likewise suffers extinction. The active reason is truly immortal. Consequently, when we apprehend the truth we become timeless spectators of our existence. The active reason, according to Aristoteles, is not dependent on any outside force. It transcends time and space. In using the active reason, man becomes like God.
The educational ideal of Aristoteles is based upon a definite view of man. According to Aristoteles, man is endowed with three souls: a vegetative soul, an animal soul, and a rational soul. The rational soul, most important of the three, has two parts: one is practical, the other is theoretical. He rational soul is the faculty which allows man to make judgments and evaluations.
Aristoteles, interested in a systematic presentation of knowledge, shows that our mind rises from the specific to the universal, from the particular to the general. Experience is to be our guide and induction is to guide our reasoning. He emphasizes that, without a correct method, education and philosophy cannot progress. He stresses that the important function of education is the cultivation of the intellect.
The greatness of Aristoteles lay in his emphasis upon reason. By the use of reason man surpasses his animal nature; through rational insight emotional impulses can be controlled. Reason, used pragmatically, can remold the conditions of existence.
In his educational ideals, Aristoteles symbolized the Athenian view of life, which stressed moderation and a balanced concept of man and intellectual powers. The Athenians believed in free inquiry. Man's most formidable asset is curiosity, which is a truly explosive force. It makes us eternally restless, so that we seek and yearn and never stand still. To cultivate curiosity in education is to cultivate a power which goes beyond life and death and which gives meaning to the uncertainty of human existence. To the Greeks including Aristoteles, education became a way of life; unending curiosity became man's most important trait in his quest for the good life.
But the basic weakness of Aristotele's educational ideal is its anti-democtatic tendencies. He had a low opinion of women, he defended slavery, and he had contempt for the culture of other nations. Furthermore, he neglected the importance of vocational training.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 머리말
• Ⅱ. 사상
• Ⅲ. 교육사상
• Ⅳ. 맺음말