DOI

10.22550/REP81-1-2023-05

Abstract

This work considers the current crisis in the Western world, caused by the pandemic, war, energy supply issues, and other related disturbances, and its potential impact on current educational models, which are being reformed in various countries and attempts to relate it with historical precedents from classical antiquity that were a reaction to crises of ancient democracy through more or less utopian proposals for the reform of the traditional educational system put forward by two great thinkers: Plato and Aristotle. Our aim is to try to summarize the importance for these two thinkers of the education of individual character in the pursuit of the common goods of various political communities by uniting the wills of the citizens. The methodology used is rereading the fundamental passages of the classical sources on character and education in the young, comparing them with the points of view of most of the research, summarized in the assessments of the great manuals of the history of education. Despite being a well-known theme, it is worthwhile returning to these passages for an updated reflection in our contemporary world. Thus, it is apparent that, in spite of the obvious divergences between the philosophical systems of Plato and Aristotle, there is a curious similarity in the case of character education as the key to solve the problems posed for a society in times of crisis.

Please, cite this article as follows: Hernández de la Fuente, D. (2023). Reformas educativas para una crisis. Acerca de la educación del carácter en Platón y Aristóteles | Educational reforms for a crisis: On character education in Plato and Aristotle. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 81 (284), 91-106. 10.22550/REP81-1-2023-05

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Author Biography

David Hernández de la Fuente is a Professor of Greek Philology at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He was previously lecturer, researcher and professor at the universities of Potsdam, Carlos III de Madrid, and the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia. He is the author of various essays on classical literature, philosophy, and mythology, among which stand out El despertar del alma: Dioniso y Ariadna, mito y mister- io [The Awakening of the Soul: Dionysus and Ariadne, Myth and Mystery] (2017), and El hilo de oro: los clásicos en el laber- into actual [The Golden Thread: the Clas- sics in the modern Labyrinth] (2021), as well as numerous articles and chapters in books on his speciality. He has received various distinctions in his career, such as the Burgen Scholarship Award and the Premio Acción Cívica en defensa de las Humanidades.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0960-7717

Citación recomendada | Recommended citation

Hernández de la Fuente, D. (2023). Reformas educativas para una crisis. Acerca de la educación del carácter en Platón y Aristóteles | Educational reforms for a crisis: On character education in Plato and Aristotle. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 81 (284), 91-106. 10.22550/REP81-1-2023-05