What's Wrong with Diet? What's the Role of Aesthetics?

Chapter 15: Paideia Kalokagathia

What we are exploring: What did the word "paideia" mean in Ancient Greece?

What's new: What was the main thing in paideia and why?

What we will learn: How can the ancient Greek paideia of the art of living help us maintain and keep our health?

1. Paideia (Greek pais - child), first of all, the upbringing and education of children, then education in general: the harmonious physical and spiritual formation of a person, realizing all his abilities and capabilities (Irmsher J., Jone R., 1989 ) [1].

2. First of all, the upbringing and education of children. Plato was convinced that education could be a breeding ground for the education of citizens - just as good soil, climate and terrain give rise to the growth and development of plants and animals.

• "Concerning every seed or embryo of a plant or animal, we know that deprived of their proper nutrition, climate, and place, they lose more in their properties, the more powerful they are"  (author's italics) (Plato, 1994. State. 491 d, e, 492 a) [2].

Plato also noted that inheriting outstanding potential or capacity, but not receiving the appropriate upbringing, brings much more evil to the human himself and his environment than ordinary ones. By appropriate education, Plato understood the education of humanity.

3. Paideia of humanity. Due to such a deep understanding of the importance of education, ancient Greek society, for the first time in human history, created a holistic education system - paideia. Paideia cultivated the natural essence of the citizen - his humanity, which, developing, would become mature (II fr. 4. 4, 14). By cultivating humanity, paideia focused on the formation in the soul and body of the citizen, the ideal image of beauty - kalokagathia (III fr. 9. 5, 9, 10) [3].  As a rule, the father taught the craft. The parents' house, gymnasiums *, palaestras **, philosophical schools, and Plato's Academy, served as good "places" for educating a citizen of the polis-state #. Education had three stages. Primary – from 7 to 12–14 years. Average – from 12÷14 to 18 years (starting only ≈ from the 4th century BC). Ephebia (raising a warrior) from 18 to 20 years old coincides with the beginning of higher education [4]. By climate and place, Plato understood the creation of an appropriate environment (III fr. 10. 9–12).

* Gymnasium (from the Greek gymnos - naked). Among the Greeks, gymnasiums were, first of all, premises for physical education (gymnastics), where they exercised in the nude. There was a spacious courtyard surrounded by columned halls and training rooms with swimming pools. After the Peloponnesian War, gymnasiums began to be used as institutions of higher learning (places for education). Later, philosophers gave presentations in gymnasiums. After borrowing Greek education, the Romans began to call their gymnasiums schola (from the Greek schole - leisure) schools [1].

** Palaestra (Greek), a place for wrestling and exercise, often a designation for a sports facility, sometimes means the same as a gymnasium (ibid.).

# First of all, classical pedagogy is interested in the person as such, and not in a specialist equipped to perform a particular task (Marru A.- I. 1998) [4].