Abstract

The chapter presents two of Plato’s educational concepts after having delineated their historical development. In the first concept, education and philosophizing merge in the Socratic-skeptical treatment of knowledge claims. In the second, philosophy advances to become the subject matter of education with the highest relevance: It is supposed to bring forth the philosopher as statesman. In Aristotle’s thought, education loses its relevance as the leading problem of philosophy. Education becomes one topic among others in the context of ethics and politics. Alongside knowledge and instruction, Aristotle emphasizes the exercise of an ethos that is dependent on contingent political conditions. However, questions regarding the best state constitution, the happy and fulfilled life, and the highest aim of human practice lead back to philosophy as life form. Plato and Aristotle’s main distinctions and questions remain relevant within the contemporary discourse of educational philosophy, for example, reflections surrounding the relevance of ignorance, the role of negativity within education, or the meaning of learning in knowledge acquisition. Today, the skeptical-transcendental-critical approach explicitly relates to the Socratic-Platonic tradition. The Aristotelian approach is predominantly present in analytic philosophical approaches of educational philosophy.