PLATO AND EDUCATION

 

Okay, now this is a question that my friends are trying to answer, it doesn't need to be answered in writing or verbally, but try to ask and answer yourself, how important is education really for you?

There is one thing that is certain when friends read various things, not only about the nature of education, whatever it is, be it social, political, legal, and so on. Not in applied science, but if you read the starting point of all that, namely philosophy. Such as social philosophy, legal philosophy, political philosophy, and so on.

(this is purely my personal opinion as an ordinary human being who has many shortcomings, Allah knows all things)

Indeed, if you read and compare the thoughts of Greek philosophy and Islamic philosophy regarding this aspect of human life, you will indeed find slight differences, especially regarding creed, because it is true that aqidah in Islam and Greece or the western world is generally different. However, if we look at it in terms of pure reason itself, rationalism, we can synchronize human thought, not seeing the creed, and will meet one truth.

Okay, for example, we will examine another thought, namely education, which this time was expressed by the Greek philosopher Plato.

That according to him, education has a very important function, both as individuals and as citizens. Therefore, according to him, regarding this matter, the state is obliged to provide education for every citizen, but the state must also pay attention to this matter, namely the state must also provide freedom for every citizen to follow science according to their talents and interests.

So from this, friends, try to think why and what is meant by Plato from this article? We try to think logically when the state provides education for every citizen, then the state also gives freedom to each of its citizens to follow the knowledge according to the talents and interests of citizens, it will have a big impact and will provide good progress to the community. himself as an individual and to his country.

For example and this may be experienced in the lives of friends, namely, two individuals are studying at a university. They are both currently studying in the department of informatics engineering, but there are differences in the results or outputs obtained from the two individuals. One gets good grades and then gets to work in a good place. Then other individuals, get poor grades, and finally, it is difficult for him to get a job, so he is unemployed. The difference is that the first individual, because he really loves informatics from his heart, he really enjoys studying while studying at university, even when someone enjoys what he learns, the value for him is just a bonus, he only focuses on what he likes. , namely in the field of informatics.

Then other individuals are less successful in their education because he chose informatics, not because of his heart's desire, but the wishes of his parents. Finally, he became uncomfortable in learning, he felt a heavy heart to learn let alone to try to enjoy it. Until at the end of his studies at university he did not get the results or outputs that his parents expected, because indeed he did not expect these outputs, because from the beginning he was half-hearted to do so.

Back in the discussion of this Greek philosopher, Plato. That for him education is very important for a country, therefore education must have the most special place in a country. The state must give very full attention to education itself because education is one of the main foundations of the establishment of a country.

Education according to this Greek philosopher, that education is the key to the liberation of a human being from the shackles of ignorance and untruth. Or in Islam itself, with education, one will be able to distinguish between right and wrong.

Then is there a question thrown at me about isn't Islam or science in Islam only religious knowledge? I would say no. (okay remember once again I remind you this is my personal opinion as an ordinary human being, of course, there will be many mistakes) yaa… I will answer no.

Whereas in terms of western scholarship or secularism, philosophy is indeed the mother of science, but for me, the Islamic religious book or the Qur'an is the mother of science, there are many similarities, as I have said, between Greek and Islamic thinkers. Meanwhile, Islamic philosophers themselves derive knowledge from the Qur'an and Hadith, while Greek philosophers originate from their minds. Except in terms of faith as I have explained. The Qur'an emerged and gave birth to other sciences. Al-Quran for me is not just a book but is a way of life for Muslims and even humans throughout the world to achieve an ideal life. Many contemporary natural events at this time have only been proven scientifically and by human reason, while the Qur'an has proven it long before what has been revealed by humans with their minds.

Then regarding science, Al Ghazali also explained the classification of science and its laws if we study it, which we might study at a later time.

Well, then the conclusion is, as I have mentioned, the peak of intellect when synchronized with a heart, and life will end in wisdom or truth that can be accepted by all minds. This is outside the faith because here the Greek philosopher is not Muslim, but has harmony in his thinking with Muslim philosophers about education, about the nature of education. And not only educational philosophy, but also about legal philosophy about justice, for example, truly pure justice for the good of all human beings. But indeed, the thing that cannot be synchronized between the thoughts of Greek and Islamic philosophers is a matter of theology, because from here they already have different beliefs.