University term has started, and even more students are being taught in even larger classes. But to what end?
Education was a subject that thinkers like Aristotle who argued that the aim of a state was ‘the sharing by households and families in the good life, i.e. a complete and self-sufficient life’. This being of supreme importance: ‘It is evident that there must be one and the same education for everyone, and the superintendence of this should be public and not private… Public matters should be publicly managed.’ But what was meant by ‘the good life’? Here Aristotle wavered: ‘There are no generally accepted assumptions about what the young should learn, either for virtue or the best life, nor is it clear whether education ought to be conducted with more concern for the intellect than for the character of the soul… for things useful in life, or those conducive to virtue or directed at exceptional achievements.’
Plato took a quite different view. For him, philosophy was the true education and depended on the interaction of minds: dialogue was at the centre of it, which would result in ‘truth flashing on the soul like a flame kindled by a leaping spark’. As a result, he began by alerting the potential young student to ‘the nature of the subject as a whole, and all the stages that must be gone through, and how much labour it requires’. Only fully committed students were accepted. As for the rest, Plato came up with the brilliant image of those for whom the purpose of education was to gain a ‘superficial veneer of learning like someone lying in the sun to get a tan’, presumably turning over now and again until lightly educated on both sides.
If, then, the UK wants an educational elite – why seek any other sort? – give every student a year to prove their worth, then ruthlessly cull the sun-tanners. But Aristotle was also right: there is far more to life than ‘philosophy’ (or, in our terms, study for a degree). Sun-tanners must be encouraged to consider opportunities to develop their own ‘exceptional achievements’ in whatever areas suit their skills.
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