亚里士多德论闲暇教育

Aristotle on Leisure Education

"教育"几乎贯穿亚里士多德的《政治学》全书,尤其集中于最后两卷(卷七后半部分和卷八)。一般认为,与苏格拉底在柏拉图的《王制》中主要谈论哲学教育不同,亚里士多德在《政治学》中主要论述公民教育或政治教育。不过,亚里士多德在论教育时又特别重视"闲暇",认为闲暇"自身就有快乐、幸福以及享福的生活",这与他在《尼各马可伦理学》中对"静观"之自足的描述极为相似。从这个角度看,亚里士多德的"闲暇"教育也指向哲学教育。本文将首先分析教育在《政治学》文本中的位置更重要的是教育与政制的关系,指出亚里士多德的政治教育的一面;在此基础上着重分析《政治学》中教育与闲暇的关系,并结合《尼各马可伦理学》中的相关论述,挖掘亚里士多德的哲学教育之可能。

Aristotle s concern for education forms the bulk of his work Politics, especially in the last two books (second half of Book VII and the entirety of Book VIII). It is generally believed that unlike Socrates discussion on philosophic education in Plato s Republic, Aristotle mainly discusses civic education or political education in Politics. However, Aristotle pays special attention to leisure when he is talking about education, and assumes that leisure “itself contains pleasure and happiness and felicity of life,” which is very similar to his description of the self-sufficiency of “contemplation” in Nicomachean Ethics. From this perspective, we see that Aristotle s leisure education also points to philosophic education. This article will analyze Aristotle s education in the context of Politics, especially the significance of education on a regime, and point out the aspects of Aristotle s political education. On this basis, it will then focus on the relationship between education and leisure in Politics, and explore the possibility of Aristotle s philosophic education with a view to the relevant discourses in Nicomachean Ethics.