“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
The hardest mountains to climb in life are the mountains we create. A humans ability to reason can be both the making and breaking of any man, woman, child and community. We learn to train our ability to reason through education, habits, and life experience. As human beings without these abilities we would not have the power to reflect, as Aristotle suggests we would no longer be man but beast.
Aristotle looked at education as a tool to guide us in the art of reasoning and habit; he suggests that we must learn by doing, we must learn how to question our reasoning and behavior. It is only when we have done this, can we reach our optimum level of functioning as an individual. Aristotle believed that education was pivotal; the fulfilled person was an educated person. His belief was that the state would be perpetuated through the education of its citizens. “Since the whole city has one end, it is manifest that education should be one and the same for all, and that it should be public, not private.” (Book 7)
Therefore education is the foundation upon which a society is built. A healthy and functioning state is a state that strives to improve itself in the art of virtue, happiness, and political harmony. All of which can be achieved through education, with the aim of producing a good citizen.
Aristotle’s comprehension of education stems from his concept of a polis as an independent city state. A polis is a self sufficient unit that fulfils all the basic needs of its inhabitants (citizens), creating a milieu that cultivates moral and ethical actions by rulers and ruled alike.
Aristotle created legislations to ensure that it was the responsibility of the government to monitor the content of education. Teachers were to be