Character, Knowledge and Skills in Ancient Greek Paideia: Lessons for Today’s Policy Makers

30 Pages Posted: 18 Jan 2010

See all articles by Anastassios Karayiannis

Anastassios Karayiannis

University of Piraeus

Georgios (George) C. Bitros

Athens University of Economics and Business - Department of Economics

Date Written: January 9, 2010

Abstract

The efforts to alleviate poverty by increasing social budgets have failed everywhere in the world and now the question is what else can be done to support those that are left behind. In this paper we search for illumination in the approaches to education that Athens and Sparta adopted in the peak of their power. Our findings indicate that both city-states confronted their challenges successfully because they managed to mold into the character of their citizens “ethos” compatible with the integrity of their institutions. On this ground, and given that “knowledge” and “skills” as engines of economic growth are in the interest of the individuals to accumulate, we conclude that an alternative policy to check the trend towards extreme individualism is to place priority on the character of citizens and pursue it through appropriate restructuring of educational curricula in the direction suggested by ancient Athens.

Keywords: ancient Greece, education, economic performance, morality

JEL Classification: B11, I20, N30

Suggested Citation

Karayiannis, Anastassios and Bitros, Georgios (George) C., Character, Knowledge and Skills in Ancient Greek Paideia: Lessons for Today’s Policy Makers (January 9, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1533710 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1533710

Anastassios Karayiannis

University of Piraeus ( email )

Karaoli and Dimitriou 80
80 KARAOLI & DIMITRIOU STREET
Piraeus gr185-34, Attiki
Greece

Georgios (George) C. Bitros (Contact Author)

Athens University of Economics and Business - Department of Economics ( email )

76 Patission Street
Athens, 10434
Greece
030 210 8203740 (Phone)
030 210 8070545 (Fax)

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