Day 2: Art, Paideia, & Culture

“The paideutic man’s attitude toward such activities as painting, drawing, violin playing, dancing, and acting is amateurish, not professional. He knows that one cannot learn the culture defined by these activities passively. Since culture is the unique property of the participant, not of the spectator, the classical academy resists the modern tendency to select only the most talented for participating.” – David Hicks, Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education

“For Philo, παιδεία (paideia) is primarily the education and culture of the individual and people. He has in mind the general culture which transcends and gathers up specialized training and which consists in the moral establishment of character and the fulfillment of man’s nature as humanitas*. Then it is for him philosophical education, which combines basic knowledge, discernment, the search for a clear view of the world and God, and the resultant practical wisdom. …” – Kittel, G., Bromiley, G. W., & Friedrich, G. (Eds.). (1964–). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 

* Humanitas is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness.

“…paideia –the Greek word meaning both “culture” and “education” –was not for some elite to preserve and develop. It was the property of every citizen, a natural right, which he was obligated to practice, to protect, and to pass on. He never asked: Of what use is paideia to me? The truly educated person never does. He knows to what degree paideia has opened him the knowledge of himself and of a full life within all the domains of his humanity. He appreciates the fact that paideia is the state’s gift to him, not simply his obligation to the state: it is his unique opportunity in a democracy to achieve a full and rich humanity.” – David Hicks, Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education

“But the classical academy, intent on educating each individual for an abundant, responsible life in all his domains, grants to the arts individual and religious value in addition to the social and political. Paideia defines civilization not as a collection of art objects or political institutions or cultural happenings, but as the average man’s level of participation in the affairs of art, literature, worship, invention, and polity. Classical education rebukes the modern man who glories in the Parthenon as a work of rare genius, while failing to identify that genius with average men embodying the spirit of paideia…” – David Hicks, Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Educationy

This part is a member of our 31 Days of Playing with the Arts Series