The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-10-28
The Greek Ideal.


ed TO think and not merely 20 perceive
and read," declared President Jacob
! Gould Schurman OF Cornell university
In a recent address to a gathering Of
/ educators. And he commended that the
Greek ideal Is that which Americans
should seek to attain. as people we
are apt to think that we are so far
ahead Of all others and know so much
more than any peoples of the past that
there il little use I'm our going to them
for example or inspiration. Perhaps
1t Is wise to ask the question now and
! then whether after all we may not he
! too well satisfied with our achieve
! ments and the character Of our civiliza-
ton. The American spirit is usually
! described as commercial and utili-
tartan, but there are not wanting evi-
dences that ms nation we arc pass
| ing out of the era in which everything
had to be gagged by the commercial
standard. The question arises, VIII we,
having won our great triumphs in In
dustry and trade and invention and in
material progress generally, go for
ward TO the attainment of a national
culture which shall be even a greater
achievement than any we have yet
scored? President Schurman thinks
that we will and that Americans have
the capacity not merely to equal but to
surpass the Greeks in the fields in
which the latter have always been ac-
corded the pre-eminence heretofore.
Looking back and reviewing the
progress and development of the ma
ton during the past century or more,
II is hard to see that the present era
Is one of transition as to standards Of
living and ideals of conduct. The
commercial ideal had sway for a long
time and perhaps is more prevalent
than any other even yet. But 1t has
been worked to the limit. The con-
quests of energy and enterprise under
the impulse of the commercial motive
have been great, and there is no occa.
sion TO minimize their Importance. At
the same time, having gained such
! great results along the lines of COM
merce and trade, the nation is now
emphasizing more the value of effort
In other fields, We no longer worship
our captains of industry, condone
everything they do on account of their
typically American genius for or
ganization" and hold them up for emu
latlOn because they are such great
money makers. Instead we are call
ing them up with short turn. The
idea of service to the community Is
that which is coming to the front as
the one which should be put before
the youth who wishes success In life
that is worth while rather than that
which Is so often labeled success, the
attainment of wealth, no matter how
There is noticeable a reaction from the
materiallstie idea of progress and a
reversion to a simpler but really larger
life, including more all around devel-
opment and anpler culture
AS to the Greeks, President Schur.
man reminds us that "the taste and
intelligence Of the Athenian populace
far surpassed those of any other com.
munlty that ever existed. 1t was no
the few, 1t was the many who demand
cd and rallshed the friezes of Phidias
the dramas of SOphocles, the orations
of Pericles, Even in the abstract dis
cussions preserved In the dialogues OF
Plato, shopkeepers and tradesmen min
gled as speakers with statesmen and
philosophers, What we see is the
spectacle OF an entire community ap
preeiating and enjoying the nobles
culture"
However. even among the Athenians
there was a slave class which did moi
share in the culture the freemen en-
1oyed, and for this reason DIR. Schur
man admits that since I'm America to
day all are free men there is sens,
even now in which man for man oui
! culture may be said to surpass that o.
the Greeks" The problem for Ameri
ca, thinks President Schurman, Is t
do more than she has yet done fol-
the development OF refined culturI
and a rational intelligence such as an
cient Athens made the possession Of
all her ettizena'