A Defence of Classical Education

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1. Discontent with our educational system; the classics.

as scapegoats; yet the predominance of classical

education in Germany shows that it is consistent

with the highest scientific achievement

2. Some opinions on the value of classical education as

a preparation for a scientific career

3. Our real weakness lies in our natural indifference

to knowledge

4. This due (a) to the insufficiency of our secondary

and university education in the past

(b) to our university system doing little, in

comparison with the German system, to foster the

belief in knowledge

5. Object of this book

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CHAPTER II

PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND THE HUMANITIES

1. Two views of education criticised; (4) the ordinary
business man's views on a 'practical' education

(b) the extreme scientist's view; Sir Edward

Schäfer on science as the basis of secondary edu-

cation': what physical science can and cannot

teach us

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2. The function of the humanities in education :

(a) They are an account of human nature, seen

from different sides by literature, history and philo-

sophy. How they assist us to a knowledge of Man

(4) They develop flexibility of mind

() They help us to see the world with imagi-

3. This explains their place in education; physical

science, though indispensable, cannot do their

work, nor does it give a good general training to

2. Fallacy of the theory that classical education is a
mere accidental survival from the Middle Ages

3. We study Ancient Greece :

(a) as containing, with Rome, the history of our

origins, and explaining much in our literature,

language and ideals

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(6) for its literature, art and life; evidence of

their value from (a) modern poets, (B) the

trenches, (7) the British Museum, (8) the effect

of Greece on the world at different epochs ;

meaning of Greek life to the Renaissance; its

meaning to us; a modern working man on

Greece

(c) as a pattern of creative intelligence; her

achievement; Greek literature full of the key

thoughts on which intellectual life depends: pro-

ducts of creative intelligence working on theology,

literature, ethics, science; fallacy of the idea that

Greek thought is antiquated, because the Greeks

Summary; Greek literature as the Bible of the

1. Reasons for position of Latin in education less clear;
in spite of a unique power of concise expression,
its literature inferior to Greek

2. But Rome represents 'character,' and thus supple-
ments the weak side of Greece: her achievement.

3. Some typical Romans; Cato the Censor; signifi-
cance and value of these characters

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4. The Romans appeal to us (a) as more like us;
Agricola: (6) as having done a similar work in
the world; the interest of Roman history

CHAPTER V

SOME EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES OF

THE CLASSICS

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3. Disadvantages of educating a nation on its own

literature.

A

5. The use of the classics (4) avoids the disadvantages

involved in introducing boys to problems of life

and politics through contemporary writers

(b) gives independent standards by which to
judge ourselves; Hazlitt's views.

6. Greek as an introduction to modern problems:

(a) In history: a parallel between fourth cen-

tury Athens and modern Europe

(c) In politics: Greek criticisms of democracy ;

Plato and Aristotle as an introduction to politics;

Aristotle on socialistic theories; Plato and the

problem of industrialism

THE CASE FOR GRAMMAR AND PROSE -

COMPOSITION

1. How far can the classics be satisfactorily studied in

translations?

2. Justification of the teaching of Greek and Latin
grammar; their educational value

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3. Justification of Proses: their value (4) as tests of
intellectual ability, (b) as developing concentration
of mind, (c) as a training in precision of language:
practical uses of this training in life

4.

This 2 accuracy cannot be learnt from (4) Physical
Science or Mathematics, (b) nor, so well, from
translation into modern languages

5. Summary of the arguments for classical education

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