Sunday, March 31, 2013

Outline (Aristotle)


Aristotle
1.       Who is Aristotle?
a.       One of the greatest philosophers of all time, Aristotle was a Greek polymath born in Chalcidice. Learning from the very best, he gained his knowledge and groundwork from two other very well-known philosophers: Plato and Socrates. Studying subjects from poetry to meta-physics, his understanding of the world at the time was beyond comparison.  However, his love for learning did not come from any outside motives. The drive to learn and teach was one that for Aristotle was very innate. His motivation to understand the world around him lacked any great reward. He learned simply for the sake of learning.
b.      The Father of most notably everything
c.       Student of both Plato and Socrates
                                                               i.      The first teacher
                                                             ii.      Taught Alexander the Great
                                                            iii.      Great teachers create great students. The process of passing down the importance of education can create equally great teachers.
d.      Learned: Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Ethics, Deductive reasoning, History, Logic, Metaphysics, Rhetoric, Philosophy of mind and science, Physics, Poetry, Political theory, Psychology, Scientific Theory, Zoology
                                                               i.      Zoology: Actually went out into the world to learn, rather than lacking the actual experience from learning
e.      “The last person to know everything there was to be known in his time.”
f.        Brought about the entirety of Aristotelian thinking
                                                               i.      Still taught in American classrooms
2.       Expanding knowledge as a value
a.       Expanding upon knowledge with enthusiasm is the only way to truly learn something.
b.      Education is extremely important and should be respected as such
c.       Internal gain, not external
d.      Knowing things to know them
e.      Practices and certain motions aren’t always in use, but foundations were built
3.       American dream
a.       The American Dream is all about progressing forward and building upon previous foundations.
b.      Focuses on constant improvement
                                                               i.      Both in science and the quality of human life
c.       Nothing is ever finished and can be improved
4.       Liberal Education
a.       To further this dream and appreciation for building upon knowledge, that enthusiasm needs to be rekindled.
b.      Christopher B. Nelson
                                                               i.      President of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland
                                                             ii.      “Learning for the Sake of Learning”
                                                            iii.      “The reward for learning attributable to a desire to know—simply for its own sake—is something I want to call “happiness.” This is not a fulfillment that comes to an end in the gratification of a desire, but an activity, an active engagement in an ongoing project that best defines what it means to be human.”
                                                           iv.      Cultivate a love of learning
                                                             v.      Quotes Socrates’ love as well

1.       John Dewey
a.       Education is a process concerning both the children’s interactions with the knowledge and their interests in it.  
                                                               i.      Education is social and interactive
1.       Helps social reform when allowed to experience the world around them
2.       Emphasized own learning
                                                             ii.      A way of knowledge and learning how to live
                                                            iii.      Inactivity the student
1.       "the child is simply the immature being who is to be matured; he is the superficial being who is to be deepened"
2.       Connections must be made for knowledge to be retained
3.       Take into account the student’s interests.
2.       College Education
a.       There’s a certain feel to university life that can leave little room for complete interest classes.
                                                              i.      Classes that have to be taken
1.       Majors and minors
                                                            ii.      Classes that should be taken
1.       Extra important classes for well rounding
                                                          iii.      Classes that actually interest the student
1.       Too expensive to consider after all the others
                                                           iv.      No more jack of all trades educations
1.       Specialization is key in our culture

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