Abstract

GIRALDO-BEDOYA, Héctor Fernando  and  GARCIA-DUQUE, Carlos Emilio. Education and the ideal of humanity: A historical approach. discus.filos [online]. 2021, vol.22, n.39, pp.113-134.  Epub Mar 28, 2022. ISSN 0124-6127.  https://doi.org/10.17151/difil.2021.22.39.7.

An argument is presented for the thesis that every age has its ideal of human training that necessarily depends on the nature attributed to man or on the definition adopted of «human being». For this purpose, the ideal of each historical period, focusing on four historical ages, is broadly developed. In the first place, in ancient times the Greek ideal is summed up in paideia which represents the perennial effort for holistic education of the individual while in classic Rome such an ideal is synthesized in humanitas which refers to the necessary condition to become a man. Secondly, in Medieval times the ideal of man is based on the Christian conception of revealed truth, and in this sense the cristopaideia includes what the ideal of life, man and education is. In the third place, the Renaissance and Modernity base their human ideal on the promises of Enlightenment, whose confidence in the power of reason presupposes its ability to improve human life. Finally, a revolutionary conception is envisioned based on the approaches of the evolutionary theory and it is suggested that the Evolutionary Epistemology of Karl R. Popper provides a very powerful light to realize the human ideal that is demanded today: a critical individual that does not consider himself holder of the truth, that learns from his errors and that sees in the reason the best way to solve problems.

Keywords : Education; ideal of humanity; evolution; critical rationalism; Popper.

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