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Single Idea 8619

[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 5. Education / b. Education principles ]

Full Idea

The first prerequisite for knowing anything is the knowledge that we do not know.

Gist of Idea

To learn something, you must know that you don't know

Source

Gottlob Frege (Grundlagen der Arithmetik (Foundations) [1884], Intro)

Book Ref

Frege,Gottlob: 'The Foundations of Arithmetic (Austin)', ed/tr. Austin,J.L. [Blackwell 1980], p.-9

A Reaction

This is serious practical advice for teachers. Intelligent people are aware of most philosophical problems, but tongue-tied when asked to discuss them.

The 18 ideas with the same theme [principles and values in educating the young]:

1552 He spent public money on education, as it benefits the individual and the state [Protagoras, by Diodorus of Sicily]
5833 Education is the greatest of human goods [Xenophon]
238 Children's games should channel their pleasures into adult activity [Plato]
257 Mathematics has the widest application of any subject on the curriculum [Plato]
260 Control of education is the key office of state, and should go to the best citizen [Plato]
2148 To gain knowledge, turn away from the world of change, and focus on true goodness [Plato]
2152 Dialectic is the highest and most important part of the curriculum [Plato]
331 Bad governments prevent discussion, and discourage the study of virtue [Plato]
3037 Aristotle said the educated were superior to the uneducated as the living are to the dead [Aristotle, by Diog. Laertius]
8768 Books are endless, and study is wearisome [Anon (Ecc)]
13304 Learned men gain more in one day than others do in a lifetime [Posidonius]
5305 Communists want to rescue education from the ruling class [Marx/Engels]
19245 We are not inspired by other people's knowledge; a sense of our ignorance motivates study [Peirce]
8619 To learn something, you must know that you don't know [Frege]
14839 Interest in education gains strength when we lose interest in God [Nietzsche]
14848 Education in large states is mediocre, like cooking in large kitchens [Nietzsche]
14886 Education is contrary to human nature [Nietzsche]
3983 Learning is evolution in the brain [Dennett]