교육목적으로서의 자기지식

Self-knowledge As the Aim of Education

대화편 라케스에서 소크라테스는 그의 ‘무지’로 대화 상대자들을 용기의 진정한 의미, 즉 ‘자기지식’으로서의 용기로 이끄는 교육을 실천하며, 바로 그 실천에 의하여 ‘자기지식’으로서의 용기가 무엇인지를 드러내는 윤리학적 탐구를 시범하고 있다. 소크라테스의 교육방법을 ‘메타프락시스적 관점’에서 이해할 때, 소크라테스의 ‘무지’는 자기지식이 나타내는 삶과 교육의 목적, 즉 ‘자아가 곧 지식이요, 지식이 곧 자아인’ 경지로 이끄는 방편으로서의 의미를 가진다고 볼 수 있다. 키에르케고르의 간접전달은 기독교인의 형성 방안으로 변용된 소크라테스식 교육방법으로서, 특정 내용이 아니라 전달의 상황 전체에 대한 인식을 전달하는 것을 특징으로 하며, 전달의 실천을 통하여 그 실천의 의미와 가치를 확립하는 ‘메타프락시스적 관점’을 예시한다. 간접전달은 엄밀한 의미에서는 ‘신의 전달’이라는 키에르케고르의 시각에서 보면, 교육실천은 ‘신의 전달’의 대행이요, 교육이론은 그것에 대한 ‘증언’이다. 윤리학은 교육의 목적을 심오하고 근본적인 수준에서 보여줄 수 있어야 하며, 이 점에서 그것은 교육실천을 증언하는 교육이론이어야 한다.

In Plato s Laches, Socrates helps the participants by his non-knowledge to define courage , which is conceptually related with self-knowledge . The metapractical reading of the dialogue results in the understanding that the practice of Socatic teaching must be deeply rooted in, and destined for, self-knowledge, the unity of self and knowledge. Self-knowledge, as the aim of education, can be justified only by the very practice of education. And, it is to be understood, with reference to the psychological insights on the process of educational practice, focused on educational method as one aspect of the practice the other of which is educational aim. But it is hardly expected that this kind of justification and understanding have a proper place in the prevailing conceptions of ethics and psychology. It necessitates an alternative paradigm of ethics and psychology implied by metapraxis . Kierkegaard s indirect communication , as a Socratic method made applied to practice in christianity , exemplifies a most remarkable metapractical perspective that self-knowledge pursued as the true meaning of communication can be justified and made intelligible only by the practice of communication. For Kierkegaard, the indirect communication, in its strict sense, can be practiced only by Christ, and the utmost we can do is to take on the practice as an agent of the divine communicator. In the light of Kiekegaardian metapraxis, educational practice can be seen as the agency of divine communication, and educational theory can be construed as a witness to it. As Wittgenstein noted rightly, ethics is meant for the thrust against the limit of language . The only way to elucidate self-knowledge as the aim of education despite of its ineffability is referring it to the practice of education for realizing it. Ethics may be, in its true sense, as much as psychology, the educational theory to witness the practice of education.