Transcript “Dulce et Decorum Est pro Patria Morri...”

HELLENIC NAVY
LANGUAGE SCHOOL
PALASKAS TRAINING CENTER
SKARAMAGAS
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
PHILOSOPHY AND THE GREEK
PHILOSOPHERS IN BRIEF
IN THE WESTERN WORLD,
PHILOSOPHY HAS ITS
EARLIEST TRACEABLE
SOURCE AMONG THE GREEKS
IN ASIA MINOR IN THE 6TH
CENTURY B. C.
SOCRATES TURNED
PHILOSOPHY AWAY FROM HIGH
COSMOLOGICAL
SPECULATIONS AND
CONCETRATED ATTENTION ON
MAN AND HIS MORAL
PROBLEMS
-WHAT DO WE KNOW AND HOW
DO WE COME TO KNOW IT?
-SECONDLY, WHAT IS THE
HIGHEST EXCELLENCE OR
VIRTUE OF MANKIND?
-THIRD, HE INTRODUCED INTO
PHILOSOPHY THE METHOD OF
ARGUMENT, OF QUESTION AND
ANSWER, AS OPPOSED TO THE
METHOD OF DOGMATIC AND
ORACULAR STATEMENT
A. THERE IS A FUNDAMENTAL
DISTINCTION BETWEEN
APPEARANCE AND REALITY:
THE WORLD OF PARTICULAR
THINGS PERCEIVED BY THE
SENSES CONSTITUTES
APPEARANCE ONLY, NOT
REALITY
B. ABOUT PARTICULAR THINGS,
WE CAN HAVE OPINION ONLY,
AND NOT CERTAIN
KNOWLEDGE, FOR THE
OBJECTS OF KNOWLEDGE
MUST BE UNCHANGING
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
ARISTOTLE WAS A
MARVELLOUS NATURALIST
AND, AT THE SAME TIME, THE
FOUNDER OF FORMAL LOGIC
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
THE INFLUENCE OF ANCIENT
GREEK PHILOSOPHERS ON
MILITARY TRAINING
PEOPLE CONCERNED WITH
EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN
THE MILITARY MUST SEE THEIR
MISSION IN THE CONTEXT OF A
PARENT SOCIETY
THE MILITARY PROFESSION IS
MORE AKIN TO THE CLASSICAL
GREEK NOTION OF POLITY
THAN TO THE COMMUNITIES OF
THE SOCIAL CONTRACT
THEORISTS
ARISTOTLE AND THE
CLASSICAL GREEKS,
GENERALLY, CONSIDERED THE
FAMILY, THE COMMUNITY AND
THE STATE AS VEHICLES FOR
MORALITY AND THE GOOD LIFE
FOR MAN
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
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
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
CLEARLY, MILITARY TRAINING
SHOULD TAKE CARE TO
ILLUMINATE VALUES, NOT
BURY THEM AMONG THE TRIVIA
ARE OUR STUDENTS GETTING
THE MESSAGE THAT WITHOUT
PERSONAL INTEGRITY
INTELLECTUAL SKILLS ARE
WORTHLESS?
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
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”
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
THE CLASSICAL GREEK
CONCEPTION OF THE JUST
AND HONORABLE
ENCOMPASSED ALL OF ONE’S
HUMAN ACTS
“SEEK THE GOLDEN MEANS OF
MODERATION BETWEEN THE
EXTREMES OF TOO MUCH AND
TOO LITTLE”
“ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH
RIGHT REASON”
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
THE INTERWEAVING OF MORAL
VALUE WITH MILITARY
FUNCTION
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”
TEACHER’S LEADING ROLE
IN MOULDING NOBLE
MILITARY CHARACTERS
WE SHOULD THINK OURSELVES
NOT SO MUCH AS TEACHERS
WHO MUST CONSTANTLY
“DELIVER” INFORMATION TO
OUR STUDENTS, BUT AS
FACILITATORS OF LEARNING
TEACHERS OUGHT TO BE
INTRINSICALLY MOTIVATED
IF I AM TO BE A WHOLE
PERSON, I MUST KNOW
WHAT IS PRIMARY FOR ME
AND WHAT IS SECONDARY
IF I KNOW THAT THE
QUALITY AND THE
INTEGRITY OF MY WORK
COME FIRST, THEN I AM
TRUE TO MY PROFESSION
AS A TEACHER
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
ALIENATION FROM POLITICAL
ACTIVITY, COMMITMENT TO
MILITARY SECURITY OF THE
STATE, AND THE MILITARY’S
ESSENTIAL AND
INSTRUMENTAL FUNCTION IN
THE STATE.
A GOOD CLASSICAL
EDUCATION AND AN
UNDERSTANDING OF HISTORY
CAN BEST DETERMINE THE
RULES THE MILITARY SHOULD
LIVE BY
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
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”