HELLENIC NAVY LANGUAGE SCHOOL PALASKAS TRAINING CENTER SKARAMAGAS
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Transcript of HELLENIC NAVY LANGUAGE SCHOOL PALASKAS TRAINING CENTER SKARAMAGAS
HELLENIC NAVYLANGUAGE SCHOOL
PALASKAS TRAINING CENTERSKARAMAGAS
PRESENTATION ON“The Philosophical Implications of
Education vs Training”
By ELIAS PAPADOPOULOS
Instructor of English as a Foreign LanguageExaminer of Officers and non-Commissioned Officers
at the Military Testing CenterNational Representative of The Hellenic Navy at BILC Conferences
BILC ConferenceAthens. 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”