Arousing Understanding: Proclus' Philosophy of Education Begrip opwekken: De onderwijsfilosofie van Proclus

This work attempts to reconstruct the philosophy of education that can be found in the thought of the late ancient Neoplatonist Proclus. We propose to study Proclus' epistemology by focusing on the learning process, which culminates in the activity of intellection, a concept comparable to the modern notion of understanding. We describe the method that Proclus proposes in order to reach intellection: dialectics. This method consists of a systematic survey of hypotheses and their implications, through reasoning and imagination. It requires certain qualities on the part of the learner; some are innate, others can be obtained through adequate preparation, and others concern the continuous care of motivation. Moreover, the teacher also needs to possess certain qualities. These assimilate the teacher to a daemon, an agent of divine Providence. Together, teacher and learner are to build a complex didactic relationship, which will need to be tailored to the character of the learner, and which will transform them both. Such an interaction is compared to a very peculiar love relationship, but also to medical care; we provide an examination of these two analogies. To conclude, we situate Proclus' theory of education in relation to its philosophical presuppositions in order to assess its relevance outside of its specific historical context.