教育关涉公民美好生活:亚里士多德的思想意旨及启示

Education Concerns Citizens’Better Life:Aristotle’s Ideological Intention and Enlightenment

追求美好生活是全人类的一个永恒主题。然而怎样才能实现美好生活呢?历史上很多思想家、教育家把人的美好生活与教育联系起来,希望通过教育来促进美好生活的实现。亚里士多德就是其中的一位。他在城邦陷入严重危机之际,希望通过其所设想的公民教育拯救城邦,使公民过上美好生活。他提出,教育在城邦事务中具有至高无上的重要地位,要培养“好公民”“善人”并使他们过上美好生活,并围绕此目的选择通向美好生活的教育内容与方式。至此,亚里士多德对理想共同体的探索与构建,就成为与人们追求美好生活同向而行的哲学追求,并对后世产生巨大影响。然而,受到时代及其认识论的影响,亚里士多德关于教育关涉公民美好生活的理想未能实现,但对我国当前探索实现人民美好生活的教育进路仍有诸多启示,折射出其思想所具有的恒久光芒。

The pursuit of a better life is an eternal theme of mankind.Many thinkers and educators have tried to realize better life through education.Aristotle is one of them.When city-state was in crisis,he hoped to solve the problem and lead citizens to better life through civic education.He proposed that education has supreme position in city-state affairs,people should cultivate good citizen and good people and make them live better life,and they should choose educational content and methods leading to the objective.Aristotle’s exploration and construction of ideal community become philosophical pursuit for those chasing for better life and have an impact on later generations.However,influenced by time and epistemology,Aristotle’s idea has not been realized,but it’s still enlightening for the exploration in China.