JOHN VESPASIAN is the author of sixteen books, including “When everything fails, try this” (2009), “Rationality is the way to happiness” (2009), “The philosophy of builders” (2010), “The 10 principles of rational living” (2012), “Rational living, rational working” (2013), “Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief” (2014), “On becoming unbreakable” (2015), “Thriving in difficult times” (2016), “Causality: Aristotle’s life and ideas” (2024), “Foresight: Schopenhauer’s life and ideas” (2024), and "Constancy: Michel de Montaigne's life and ideas" (2025).
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JOHN VESPASIAN is the author of sixteen books, including “When everything fails, try this” (2009), “Rationality is the way to happiness” (2009), “The philosophy of builders” (2010), “The 10 principles of rational living” (2012), “Rational living, rational working” (2013), “Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief” (2014), “On becoming unbreakable” (2015), “Thriving in difficult times” (2016), “Causality: Aristotle’s life and ideas” (2024), “Foresight: Schopenhauer’s life and ideas” (2024), and "Constancy: Michel de Montaigne's life and ideas" (2025).
The twentieth century has generated three serious initiatives to revive the educational philosophy put forward by Aristotle (384-322 BC), or similar to his. In essence, revival initiatives aim at prioritising the student’s individual development. Let’s review these three attempts and see the extent to which they have remained loyal to Aristotelian education. Let’s assess if they have grasped the philosophy outlined in the “Eudemian Ethics” and the “Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle. John Dewey (1859-1952) put experiential learning back into the picture, bringing education a step closer to the empiricism favoured by Aristotle. Dewey argued that students learn best when they’re actively engaged in solving real-life problems. It is an idea reminiscent of Aristotle’s theory of causality (material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause) that prompts us to assess facts by looking at them from several practical standpoints. For this reason, Dewey proposed “learning by doing” as the ideal educational formula. In the classroom, Dewey wanted to engage students in hands-on activities and real-life problems, so that students grasp the subject matter better. In contrast to Aristotle, Dewey underscored the importance of social interaction. He demanded students to solve problems collectively and arrive at solutions in a democratic manner. Dewey’s social interaction requirement plays against all the other elements in his education philosophy. Aristotle would not have endorsed it because he regarded the individual student as the prime actor and beneficiary of the educational process. For Aristotle, the purpose of education is helping students acquire good habits (virtues). It entails shaping each student’s mind, so that it understands the world and learns the difference between good and evil. In contrast to Dewey, Aristotle viewed reason as a personal capability. Each individual must learn to think for himself and make good decisions. There is nothing democratic about virtue and rationality. Each individual must decide whether to employ his mind or not. It is not a social decision. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/the-revival-of-aristotles-views-on-education/
John Vespasian
JOHN VESPASIAN is the author of sixteen books, including “When everything fails, try this” (2009), “Rationality is the way to happiness” (2009), “The philosophy of builders” (2010), “The 10 principles of rational living” (2012), “Rational living, rational working” (2013), “Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief” (2014), “On becoming unbreakable” (2015), “Thriving in difficult times” (2016), “Causality: Aristotle’s life and ideas” (2024), “Foresight: Schopenhauer’s life and ideas” (2024), and "Constancy: Michel de Montaigne's life and ideas" (2025).
