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Durham E-Theses The contribution of isocrates to western educational thought. Innerd, W. L. How to cite: Innerd, W. L. (1969) The contribution of isocrates to western educational thought., Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9599/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Abstract The Contribution of Isocrates to Western Educational Thought. W. L. Innerd The main theme of the thesis is that Isocrates, although somewhat neglected, is one of the most important figures in the early history of Western Education. He is, in particular, largely responsible for the fact that it has been predominately literary. His role in the conversion of rhetoric from an oral to a written art is discussed, as is his place in the new rhetorical and philosophical culture and his role in the transmission of that culture to subsequent generations. The influence on Isocrates of such exponents of the new culture as Euripides, Socrates and Gorgias is stressed. An analysis is made of sophistry and philosophy in Fourth Century Athens and attempt is made to ELace Isocrates within this intellectual milieu. His own philosophy is discussed, especially the ideas expressed by the words logos and doxa. The relationship between them is described and is shown to be relevant to Isocrates' concept of practical education. The place of logos at the centre of his curriculum is emphasised together with the introduction of History as a specific subject. His teaching methods are analysed and special Abstract 2. attention is paid to the three stages of instruction, the small size of his classes and the subsequent interaction "between his pupils and himself. An attempt is made to estimate the success of his school and his ideas by a survey of his known pupils. Timotheus and Lycurgus, two of his pupils, are suggested as models for the Renaissance Man. Finally an examination is made of the manner in which Isocrates* ideas were accepted and absorbed into Western Educational Thought by way of Cicero, Quintilian and such later figures as Erasmus and Sir Thomas KLyot. THE CONTRIBUTION OF ISOCRATES TO WESTERN EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT W. L. INNERD Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education. Durham University, October, 1969 CONTENTS Chapter page I INTRODUCTION 1 II ISOCRATES: SOPHIST AND PHILOSOPHER 33 III LOG-OS AND DOXA 69 IV CURRICULUM IG-3 V TEACHING- METHOD I33 VI THE PUPILS OF ISOCRATES 167 VII ISOCRATES AND WESTERN EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT 200 APPENDIX A 237 B 240 C 242 BIBLIOGRAPHY 243 ADDENDA 252 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Works of Isocrates. Orations. To Demonic us To Dem. To Nic.ocles To Nic. Ni codes Nic. Panegyricus Paneg. To Philip To Phil. Archidamus Arch. Areopagiticus Areop. On the Peace .. Peace. Evagoras .. Evag. Helen Helen. Busiris Bus. Panathenaicus Panath. Against the Sophists .. .. Soph. Plataicus Plat. Antidosis Antid. The Team of Horses De Big. Trapezeticus Trap. Against Callimachus Call. Aegineticus Aegin. Against Lochites Loch. Against Euthymus Euth. Letters. To Dionysius To Dion. To Philip I To Phil. I. To Philip II To Phil. II. To Antipater To Ant. To Alexander To Alex. To the Children of Jason .. .. Jason. To Timotheus .. To Tim. To the Rulers of the Mytilenaeans Mytilene. To Archidamus .. To Arch. Works by other Authors. Aristotle. Rhetoric. .. .. Rhet. Plato. Republic Rep. Cicero. De Oratore De Or. Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria Inst. Or. Other. American Journal of Philology .. AJPh. American Philological Association Transactions TAPA. Journal of Hellenic Studies .. JHS. I shall try as best I can to explain what is the nature of this education, what is its power, what of the other arts it is akin to, what benefit it is to its devotees, and what claims I can make for it. Isocrates. Antidosis 178. INTRODUCTION The attitudes of modern scholars towards Isocrates have varied a great deal.''* He has had his supporters, 2 notably Werner Jaeger, and his detractors, among others Professor Baynes.^ He has, at one time or another, been attacked as treacnerous, dull and even unintelligent and, as often as not, toy those wishing to defend him.24" One element common to all those who find his life or work, or both, unsatisfactory, is at least a hint of intellectual snobbery. Isocrates, it seems, is just not clever enough 5 to match up to the standards of modern literati. Without the enthusiastic cnampionship of Jaeger and tne reluctant but nevertheless certain support of Marrou,^ it is likely that the ex-iogographer and long-serving headmaster would no longer remain within the canon of major and acceptable classical authors. 1S. Periman, "Isocrates' Phiiippus - A Reinterpretation", Historia, VI (July 1957), 306-307, fn 3. ^Werner Jaeger, Paideiat the Ideals of Greek Culture, trans. Gilbert Highet (Oxford, 1945), III, 46-155. ^Nbrman Baynes, Byzantine Studies (London, 1955^, pp. 14*fl67» e.g. H. I. llarrou, A History of Education in Antiquity, trans. G-. Lamb (London, 1956), p. 79 and Jacqueline de Romiiiy, "Euonia in Isocrates or the Political Importance of Creating Good Will,11 JHS, LXXVIII (1952), 92-101. 5 e.g. The condescending tone in &. Kennedy, The Art of Persuasion in Sreeoe (Princeton, 1963), and in F. A. G-. Beck, Greek Education, 450-350, B.C. (London, 1964). Marrou, p. 79 and p. 91. - 2 - If we take it for granted, however, that Isocrates nas not got tne intellectual stature of either ELato or Aristotle, and concentrate instead on the content of his work and in partic• ular on what he had to say concerning education, we may find that his contribution to, and by inference, his influence on Western culture is not to be ignored* It is then clear that it is irrelevant^as to) wnether or not he was a traitor, a dullard or a genius, and we might be forgiven for suspecting that because ELato and Aristotle are intellectually so much more satisfying, their contributions, especially to educational tnpught, nave been magnified, to the detriment of that of Isocrates. Consider alone the fact that before Isocrates opened his school, oratory was concerned with the extempore speech and the spoken- word, whereas when he died oratory was concerned with the set speech and the written word.1 Isocrates is largely to be credited with this radical change in empnasis and clearly its impact on Western education is very great indeed. Just as great is its impact on literature. Cicero nas long been acknowledged as the 'fatner' of Western literature, but it is only comparatively recently that it has been recognised 2 tnat Cicero owes a great deal to Isocrates. As Hubbell pointed ^Marrou, p. 60. See also La Rue Van Hook, "Alcidamus versus Isocrates; the Spoken versus the Written Word," The Classical Weekly. XII, Kb. 12 (lyi?), oy-yl*. h» M. Hubbell, The Influence of Isocrates on Cicero. Dionysius and Aristides (New Haven, iyi4). - 3 - out, the debt whicJi Cicero freely acknowledged, is as much one of content as of style, and this is a fact of great and lasting significance in any assessment of Isocrates• contribution to educational thought. As this thesis, is an attempt to make such an assess• ment, 'it is as well to recognize that any judgement concerning such a controversial figure as Isocrates must be influenced by one's view of him, for, against or neutral. Therefore, let it be understood that while striving at all times to maintain a scholarly objectivity, my sympathies lie with Isocrates. Other limitations of this study may be only too obvious, but at this point it is also worth noting two delimitations. First, this is not meant to be an exhaustive study of Isocrates. For example, although his political views are of great interest, and are an integral part of his educational theories, no attempt will be made to trace the course of his political activity nor to analyze, except, coincidentally, the success or failure of his propagandizing. Again, important as his contribution to the technicalities of rnetoric may be, especially in the development of tne period, it is not the intention to examine them in any detail. Second, the emphasis will be on defining and describ• ing the nature of Isocrates* educational thought and oh - if - determining the principal routes by which his thought has come down to us. It will not be the purpose of the study to conduct a detailed examination of Isocrates' influence on later thinkers, except in so far as they can be shown to have played a major role in the direct transmission of his ideas. The main reason for this is that much of his thought is embedded in generally accepted theories of education and cannot be readily attached to him. It will be shown that Isocrates is the instigator of a recurrent aspect of Western education, and because it is recurrent, his contribution is often either ignored or credited to someone else. A secondary reason for this delimitation of the study, is the series of problems involved in precisely attributing influence.