PHILOSOPHERS' DEBATE ON EDUCATION · Spring 2026 · Torch: U.S.
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KANT: Now you brute, I resent that! I grew up a proud Protestant, and taught religion to my students…
NIETZSCHE: And were sent to jail for teaching it wrong!
KANT: Be that as it may, I do agree with some of your points, but you are all too vindictive of our society’s moral values. Moral codes are a derision of the reason, and are innate to all humans. We must all follow good morals, because they are natural to our being. Furthermore, contemplating these values causes students to look into themselves and ask why they do things, their own internal faculties.
SOCRATES: Know thyself…
KANT: Right…Our minds perceive the things around us; these truths can be known. What our minds don’t perceive, can not be known to us. So, I agree that schools should focus more on the student. But, I argue that knowledge is found within oneself.
EPICURUS: Within ourselves, nay. Knowledge is gained through the senses, that’s how everything is known. Intellectual pursuit, just as any endeavor, is and should be done to achieve pleasure. Aristotle says happiness is the highest good. I agree, but I would more aptly describe it as pleasure, gained through the senses.
THE BOY: Who are you people and why are there so many of you?!?!
PYTHAGORAS: Room for one more?! I believe students should learn about triangles!!!
And so, more and more philosophers crowded the streets of Athens, each with their own opinion on how schools should go about teaching. The dialogue became more of a series of unconnected monologues. So, next time you’re sitting in class and believe you could come up with a better way of teaching, remember that everyone else in history thought so too.
THE END