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”