Today, we reviewed Sophie’s World chapters on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and talked about Rita Kramer’s biography on Maria Montessori’s life.
Although Plato was a student of Socrates, he went beyond Socrates philosophy that “if people know what’s right, they’ll do right.” Plato believed that it is the state’s responsibility to teach children what’s right, so they’ll do right. Plato believed that childrearing should not be left to the individual.
Plato drew a similarity between society and the human body. He said that philosophers should govern society, because they act through reason. His three-part comparison is as follows:
- Head – Reason – Government
- Chest (including arms and hands) – Will – Auxillary
- Abdomen – Appetite – Laborers
Sandy introduced us to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, where the importance of wonder (or lack thereof) came up again. In the Allegory of the Cave, the basic premise is the majority of society functions without truly being awake or paying attention to the world. Sandy asked us to watch “Plato’s Cave” on YouTube and I gave my self an assignment to watch The Matrix and write Sandy a comparison on that movie and the Allegory of the Cave.
To draw this back to the Montessori philosophy, Sandy talked about setting up “the prepared environment” to guide or encourage individuals to experience a certain thing and behave in a certain way. She also talked about the necessity of Montessori teachers to “be in the now” with each child (i.e., coming with no preconceptions about each child’s capabilities.)
We had an interesting group conversation around a question Sandy posed, she asked if we thought there were universally accepted morals for right and wrong across all cultures. We were unable to come up with any. We talked about the United Nations and it’s role enforcing humanitarian morals. We talked about the various differences amongst cultural norms – from dancing with roots in African cultures (considered dirty by some and spiritual by others), to whether killing men is considered wrong (many people approve of war).
Sandy introduced us to psychologist, Steven Pinker, who believes that there must be an “ennate order” that leads to a child’s development. Similar to the ennate order that defines moral values in each culture.
For next class, we should watch the YouTube video “Plato’s Cave”, read the first 4 chapters of The Montessori Method, by Maria Montessori herself, and write a one-page response paper on The Montessori Method.
