Socrates, beyond all of his philosophical dialogues, felt that one thing in particular was most important: “[I] thought that, because I loved him, my company could make him a better man,” [Socratic Aeschines fr. II c, p. 273 Dittmar]. This was the Socratic approach to education in its core: education through love. The emotions as well as the reason, since both are integral parts of human nature, must be included in any education leading to the good. Indeed, education did not mean for Socrates the cultivation of the intellect alone to the neglect of all else but since man is attracted to the good first by what is beautiful, education must first begin with the senses, proceed on to the memory, imagination, intuition and intellect, spurred on to all by love.
CLASSICAL VS. MODERN EDUCATION:
The Principal Difference
by Patrick Carmack
Leornian Creative School 