So the 20th World Congress of Philosophy, held August 10 through 16 and attended by close to 3,500 thinkers, was attended by close to 3,500 teachers. Philosophy Educating Humanity. The Greek word, he says, has a double meaning that makes it a doubly appropriate title.
Philosophy pretends to do everything, to solve all the problems of the world.
My idea was that even though the role of philosophy in the larger scheme of things is extremely important, the only way in which philosophers can influence the future, can carry out their grand projects, is as teachers. And there the double meaning of the Greek word Paideia came in very handy, because it means both the process of education and the aims of education. These speeches set a tone, Congress Executive Director Alan Olson says, for the week's proceedings. It has been their task since Socrates, and when they start dabbling in a lot of other things, they get distracted from that purpose. I think a lot of people there found the idea inspiring.