The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

each part is inseparable from
the care of the whole. In this particular as in some others the
Lacedaemonians are to be praised, for they take the greatest pains
about their children, and make education the business of the
state.
II
    That education should be regulated by law and should be an
affair of state is not to be denied, but what should be the
character of this public education, and how young persons should be
educated, are questions which remain to be considered. As things
are, there is disagreement about the subjects. For mankind are by
no means agreed about the things to be taught, whether we look to
virtue or the best life. Neither is it clear whether education is
more concerned with intellectual or with moral virtue. The existing
practice is perplexing; no one knows on what principle we should
proceed—should the useful in life, or should virtue, or should the
higher knowledge, be the aim of our training; all three opinions
have been entertained. Again, about the means there is no
agreement; for different persons, starting with different ideas
about the nature of virtue, naturally disagree about the practice
of it. There can be no doubt that children should be taught those
useful things which are really necessary, but not all useful
things; for occupations are divided into liberal and illiberal; and
to young children should be imparted only such kinds of knowledge
as will be useful to them without vulgarizing them. And any
occupation, art, or science, which makes the body or soul or mind
of the freeman less fit for the practice or exercise of virtue, is
vulgar; wherefore we call those arts vulgar which tend to deform
the body, and likewise all paid employments, for they absorb and
degrade the mind. There are also some liberal arts quite proper for
a freeman to acquire, but only in a certain degree, and if he
attend to them too closely, in order to attain perfection in them,
the same evil effects will follow. The object also which a man sets
before him makes a great difference; if he does or learns anything
for his own sake or for the sake of his friends, or with a view to
excellence the action will not appear illiberal; but if done for
the sake of others, the very same action will be thought menial and
servile. The received subjects of instruction, as I have already
remarked, are partly of a liberal and party of an illiberal
character.
III
    The customary branches of education are in number four; they
are—(1) reading and writing, (2) gymnastic exercises, (3) music, to
which is sometimes added (4) drawing. Of these, reading and writing
and drawing are regarded as useful for the purposes of life in a
variety of ways, and gymnastic exercises are thought to infuse
courage. concerning music a doubt may be raised—in our own day most
men cultivate it for the sake of pleasure, but originally it was
included in education, because nature herself, as has been often
said, requires that we should be able, not only to work well, but
to use leisure well; for, as I must repeat once again, the first
principle of all action is leisure. Both are required, but leisure
is better than occupation and is its end; and therefore the
question must be asked, what ought we to do when at leisure?
Clearly we ought not to be amusing ourselves, for then amusement
would be the end of life. But if this is inconceivable, and
amusement is needed more amid serious occupations than at other
times (for he who is hard at work has need of relaxation, and
amusement gives relaxation, whereas occupation is always
accompanied with exertion and effort), we should introduce
amusements only at suitable times, and they should be our
medicines, for the emotion which they create in the soul is a
relaxation, and from the pleasure we obtain rest. But leisure of
itself gives pleasure and happiness and enjoyment of life, which
are experienced, not by the busy man, but by those who have
leisure. For he who is occupied has in view some end which he has
not attained; but happiness is an end, since all men deem it to be
accompanied with pleasure and not with pain. This pleasure,
however, is regarded differently by different persons, and varies
according to the habit of individuals; the pleasure of the best man
is the best, and springs from the noblest sources. It is clear then
that there are branches of learning and education which we must
study merely with a view to leisure spent in intellectual activity,
and these are to be valued for their own sake; whereas