Descriptive Details
The modern EthoPlasìn discipline
and formation are well rooted in
Ancient-Greece Philosophers Science of Being. Contrary to
what happened in the last few centuries of history of philosophy, Ancient-Greece
Philosophy was not at all
consisting mainly in the formulation of a system of concepts to help
understand the world (like modern philosophy has reduced itself doing); It was also that, but it was first and foremost a discipline and a therapy for the control of
the human psyche and
the formation of the Emotional and Mental centers of
students, in priority over the instruction of their Intellectual center and,
in any case,
in concomitance with the harmonious development of their Physical center; It was
thus a "Way Of Life", a holistic comprehension and
self-improvement discipline to first help students
know better their own self ("Know Thyself"), in order to improve the harmony of their
own
"being" in this world, then help others achieve the same objective,
and finally help society enjoy the benefits of this improved formation in a better
civic environment that in turn was in better
resonance with the harmony of the rest of the cosmic universe.
This is exactly what
EthoPlasìn is meant to revive. In contrast to what most people believe about the Ancient Greek world,
and to what has been the case since after Renaissance, the importance of
acquiring pure intellectual knowledge (Instruction)
was
practically null by itself, or certainly not the priority. The objective of philosophy was
the acquisition of an "incarnated knowledge" (Education)
leading to a purer lifestyle
for the benefit of all society, let alone the primary personal benefit for
the students themselves in terms of a "Conversion" to the practice
of a well defined set of personal and civic virtues and skills. This
philosophical formation was capable of leading to a
better understanding of oneself, society and, in the end, the rest of the cosmic world;
It was constituting a
Science Of Being,
or a harmonious Oneness way of living,
involving all levels of the human
Tetractys, that was, and still is, the only kind of real happiness available to
human beings. It
was a combined process of purification, comprehension and illumination meant to lead to a state of
bliss with oneself and a state of harmony with society and the universe.
Raphael: School Of Athens
(~1510),
showin
g the faces of a few centuries of the long tradition of
'teachers' of Ancient-Greece philosophy:
Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Archimedes and a dozen
others, all representing mental attributes through physical actions. The
two central figures at the back are Plato (with
the face of Leonardo da Vinci, holding his Timaeus book and
gesturing vertically with his finger towards
the upper world of Archetypes) and his student Aristotle
(holding his book on Ethics and gesturing
horizontally towards the earthly world that can be
made more harmonious
when based on
logic and justice). Pythagoras is seated at the front left corner,
writing mathematical equations in a book in relation to the Musical
Ratios. Heraclitus
(with the face of Michelangelo) is seated at the front, leaning with his
left elbow on a piece of marble representing the earthly reality from which creative 'thinking' can extract Kallos Beauty
of all planes. Young Euclid is looking at the sky in
the bottom right corner, while surrounded by his disciples.
Then see first the beautiful geometry of this painting and, in the graphic, notice in particular the position of Pythagoras seated at the bottom left corner, symbolizing that he is the 'base' of all the Ancient-Greece philosophy.
Finally, see also an expanded detail of Pythagoras explaining the Musical Ratios to a pupil. The related notions are on the black Plate held up from the floor by his left hand. The plate includes the words diatessaron, diapente, diapason. The roman numerals for 6, 8, 9, and 12, showing the ratio of the intervals, same as in the music book frontispiece. The word for tone, POGLOWN is at the top of the plate. Under the tablet is even the famous triangular number 10 forming the Sacred Tetractys, that we will talk about a lot in our page on Pythagorean Man Emulation.
- This kind of philosophical discipline first surfaced and blossomed in a powerful way with Pythagoras (~500 BC) and his theory of the human Sacred Tetractys in relation to the four parts of the human being that had to be equilibrated and developed harmoniously together in order to reach a state of Wisdom that was the only way humans could hope to reach a legitimate and meaningful degree of happiness. See our page on the Pythagorean Man Emulation for more details. This discipline was soon developed in new ways with Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch (~400 BC to ~AD 100) and many others. Their teachings and practices were consolidated, by themselves or by others, in many and very specific philosophical treatises that are still available in great part today. They analyze various aspects of the human psyche, and provide practical discipline exercises to achieve self-control of the related passions. The plays of Aristophanes, the Father of Comedy, are also very useful to understand human nature and how to correct its vices and defects. EthoPlasìn uses many of these ancient writings (along with more modern material and some of its own creation) as a base standard for some of its material of study. The early Latin tradition tried more or less successfully to maintain such practices through the writings of excellent philosophers like Seneca (~AD 100), Plotinus, the founder of Neo-Platonism (~AD 300) and Proclus (~AD 400). The famous Manual of high civic education relevance of Epictetus (~AD 135 - put in writing a bit later by his pupil Arrian of Nicomedia who had attended his lessons of diatribes) and the similar Meditations of the "roman emperor of Greek Platonic culture" Marcus Aurelius (~AD 170), the latter written under the influence of his teacher Plotus) are other examples of excellent training material influenced in good part by the Stoic School of the ancient Greek philosophy. These two philosophical books alone, in particular Epictetus' Manual, might be nearly 2000 years old, but they can be considered comprehensive practical manuals of good ethical and political conduct, perfectly applicable to the behavior of all citizens today, and they can be of incredibly precious educational help in trying to improve all modern Civic Wellness environments. Ethical and Political virtues, combined together, constituted the Civic Virtues and the first degree of personal soul formation in the Neo-Platonic philosophy. Even the later Christian tradition tried to imitate or adapt this Greek discipline through manuals of conduct, or guides of 'spiritual exercises', written by saints like Ignatius of Loyola (~AD 1550). Variegate esoteric traditions, Christian or not, that have survived for centuries, some until today, mostly in a hermetic way, had similar objectives, but they were only pale, partial or grossly inflated, or distorted, copies of the pure and beautiful Greek original philosophy which was never surpassed in spite of the passing of 2500 years of 'too-often-assumed-continuous-progress' of humanity from 'all' points of view.
In our modern world however, this kind of "philosophical discipline" has all but disappeared, leaving our supposedly intellectually advanced societies sadly behind in terms of mental and emotional development, with drastic consequences on our civic environments. In its education, Greek tradition distinguished clearly between the Emotional Center (feel), the Mental Center (understand) and the Intellectual Center (know), let alone the Physical Center (desire). They believed for example that an over-developed Intellectual Center in one person, out of balance with the other centers, was only a potentially very destructive power, if not based on solid and harmonic Mental, Emotional and Physical centers equally developed. Modern civilization after Renaissance has gradually concentrated only on the Intellectual Center of the human being, forgetting completely the development of the much more important Emotional and Mental centers, let alone neglecting or distorting the control of the Physical center. This is the contrast between the Pythagorean Man and the Faustian Man that we talk about in our page on Pythagorean Man Emulation. This modern trend has only worsened in the last 60 years, with the disappearance of classical education and the parallel 'great success' of the so-called 'progressist revolution' that had surfaced clearly in 1968, reaching its 'peak' with the advent of that generation, the "68eeters", to positions of political power and command at the beginning of the third millennium.
In the last few centuries, some organizations have tried
to copy, revive or adapt in various ways part of the philosophical culture of Ancient-Greece. This is the case for example of the
Freemasonry
that has adopted the practice of the 4 cardinal virtues of Ancient
Greek Philosophy as an entry requirement for its members:
Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude
and Justice. You can see one of their
adapted representations on
the side. These commendable efforts for
their members however were not linked directly to
the Public Education System like the EthoPlasìn wants to be. In addition, they were
implemented in rather secret environments and most of the time closely tied to
frontend aspects of social charity, and backend purposes of hidden clarity. This is where
EthoPlasìn differs.
It is
certainly not a secret
organization; Access to part of its environment is restricted on the study side of the
campus but, even in that part, the public is readily admitted under some
conditions; Its concepts and sources are all public and its members are not
bound to keep any secret on their formation, rather the opposite. EthoPlasìn is not either a
charity organization, but rather an educational and a tutoring organization.
EthoPlasìn is also completely integrated to the normal Educational System of
the hosting country, albeit with an additional dimension of philosophical discipline in
its formation. It is important to state clearly, at all occasion, that
EthoPlasìn is not
related in any way to any secret organization, nor to any religion, nor to any
current political party, nor to any strange new-age movement. The Academy is strictly a private school and a special
educational institution and association providing holistic education and formation
that is modern in nature but nevertheless strongly rooted in Ancient
Greek Philosophy. It is thus basically a philosophy and a science of being
that is selectively open
to all those who desire to improve civic environments through an appropriate
holistic formation and discipline, the promotion of more
Meritocracy in the short term, and
EthoCracy in the long term, in all
aspects of Civitas Management, and the implementation of better philoecosophical values and standards.
EthoPlasìn would only be linked to any eventual EthoCratic party being
formed under its trademark of
ECEGG
(EthoCracy &
EthoGloso
Governance) political party.
Political objective: if EthoPlasìn is not related to any current political party, it has the pursuit of more Meritocracy as a short-term objective and of full EthoCracy as a long term objective. These are really political objectives pursuing better Civitas Management. EthoCracy does not exist yet in any country, nor is there any EthoCratic political party (ECEGG Party) formed yet in any non-EthoCratic country. If however EthoPlasìn gets to be successful with its short-term objective, from an EthoPlasìn educational point of view, and with its mid-term IAL objective of EthoGloso, it will also get to be successful, soon after that, from a political point of view in the pursuit of more Meritocracy and full EthoCracy. At that time of course EthoPlasìn will be closely linked to all EthoCratic political parties being formed in the world, as ECEGG political parties of its own trademark name and philosophy, and will happily lead their political programs, reforms and orientation. This will be the only clear and direct political affiliation that EthoPlasìn will eventually ever have.
As we can see below, the 4 cardinal virtues of Ancient Greek Philosophy also became part of the Christian tradition that adapted them, but distorted them seriously on the way, for the formation of their followers. They are also eminently part of the current EthoPlasìn Science of Being, but only a small part of it, and not with any religious meaning, rather only because they come from the Ancient-Greece Philosophy on which the Academy's formation is strongly rooted. However, just like EthoPlasìn is no secret institution comparable to Freemasonry, it is not either a Christian institution, nor any other type of religious movement. Nevertheless, these attempts, on the part of important organizations like the Freemasonry and the Christian Church, to incorporate these cardinal virtues to the life style of their members, shows the legitimacy and the universality of the philosophy of Ancient-Greece as a source of good formation for the 'soul' of all human beings and citizens. EthoPlasìn draws directly on the original source of these few points in common, and on the integral realm of this source, rather than on partial adaptations, or distortions, made by various organizations, religions or institutions, as reported above, in the course of the past two millennia.
| Iustitia (justice) | Fortitudo (fortitude) | Sapientia (prudence) | Temperantia (temperance) |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Plato identified the 4 cardinal virtues with the classes of the city described in The Republic, and with the faculties of man. Temperance was associated with the producing classes, the farmers and craftsmen, and with the animal appetites; Fortitude with the warrior class and with the spirited element in man; Prudence with the rulers and with reason. Justice stands outside the class system and divisions of man, and rules the proper relationship among the other three virtues.
For more information on this type of education, or holistic formation, our pages on Pythagorean Man Emulation and on Science Of Being are readily available to all members and interested parties. Our page on the Platonic System of Values is also more explicit on the subject of virtues and values that should be at the base of best holistic education. They explain the main Areas of Philosophical Formation and give a brief description of other related concepts like CoPHLE, Music Harmonics and Holographic Molding. See also the page on the Private Arium Area system, explaining how, at the Academy, the Learning Process becomes a Living Process that in turns becomes a Loving Process for the acquisition of both knowledge and friendship, in order to achieve the 'incarnation' of the values and notions involved: a process whereby Instruction becomes Education. Typically for example, the Daily Schedule of the students at the Arium includes the so-called "PythagorArium Hour" (usually called the "PytHour") from 08:00 to 09:00, every morning, from Monday to Friday, as the only hour where the presence of all members at the Academy is strictly required, all together at the same time. This includes Students, Members, Visiting guests, ThinkTank Researchers, Masters etc. This PytHour is led by a stable expert Master who is also an expert Master in the philosophical formation of the human soul and the related discipline with regards to Civic Wellness Virtues. In our pages on Science Of Being and on the Pythagorean Man Emulation, we define 3 specific areas of soul formation to which we give here only a small glimpse in talking about the formation in the 4 cardinal virtues. The harmonious equilibrium and development of the formation of the three related components of the human being (Body, Soul and Spirit), conducted to the fourth element of the Sacred Tetractys necessary for full realization and hope of happiness during human life: Wisdom. In our page on Science Of Being, we say something important, probably worth repeating here:
First Level only or the Civic Level
- Be it clear however that these 3 vertical areas of educational formation form
only the first level of formation to virtues,
that is the
civic level. In Ancient-Greece, there were 4 degrees or
levels of virtues, comprising 16 specific areas of human behavior. EthoPlasìn, as a modern university, cannot be
concerned too directly with the 3 additional superior levels that would
involve the formation of kind of 'saints' instead of 'good human beings, good
citizens, and good inhabitants of Planet Earth', let alone good modern
professionals. In our page called 'Description In More details'
(the present one), we talk
about the 4 cardinal virtues that were the subject of formation in
ancient philosophical schools and thus in the EthoPlasìn formation
inspired by them:
Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude and Justice.
These 4 virtues all, and always, re-appeared in each of the 4 levels of formation,
but quite differently at each level, with different characteristics or
degrees. EthoPlasìn is concerned only with the characteristics of these
4 virtues at their first level as it is not its intention to form
contemplative or spiritual persons, but rather good real-life persons
fit for our modern world.
This is also why EthoPlasìn is concerned with the basic positive aspects of the four Cardinal Virtues, but not directly with their corresponding negative aspects, the so-called seven Cardinal Sins (wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony), mainly because the concept of 'sin' is irrelevant in an a-religious discipline like EthoPlasìn. The EthoPlasìn does nevertheless deal strongly, indeed very strongly, with various aspects of all these seven negative traits, along with many others, that well reflect the lack of formation of the emotional center of human beings. The handling of these negative traits might be more comparable to the way certain combat forces, like the Marines for example, are being trained to control their anger, or wrath, in order to be able to face more successfully their most difficult missions, or the way certain sophisticated wellness health centers deal with gluttony, and not like monks obeying a kind of moralistic dogma. As clearly expressed in these pages, and contrary to all other universities, the formation of the emotional center of its students, as opposed to only their intellectual center, is certainly at the very core of the EthoPlasìn philosophy, discipline and Science Of Being.
As we also said in our
Background Page, the EthoPlasìn philosophy is based on the
Ethics and Virtues of Ancient Philosophy. In attempting to stop civic
decadence, it also wants to bring in a 'new' kind of social justice, but
a
social justice
not based on
socialistic equalitarian ideology that only brought bad results in
trying to give unfairly an equal lot (or maybe rather an equal "bit") to everyone independently of their
talent or effort.
EthoPlasìn rather
promotes a social justice based on a meritocratic equ
alitarian philosophy:
equality of rights, chances and resources on, or before, the starting line but a
clear and natural differentiation in end results based on individual effort
and talent. Like in sports where the most talented and most active ones get
better end results. This is what EthoPlasìn calls its SOS
(Social Olympic Spirit), as defined in more details in our page on
Meritocracy.
Be it clear however that in spite of its deep concern for virtuous and meritocratic behavior of its members, in both private and public matters, and in spite of its strong desire for the development of a meritocracy based on the tradition of the philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato, EthoPlasìn has nothing to do with any kind of moralistic, puritan or authoritarian movement. Rather the opposite! EthoPlasìn fundamentally means joy, harmony, justice and pleasure lived in a meritocratic spirit, and shared legitimately with a sense of decorum and oneness. The negative exploitation of Pythagoras and Plato in moralistic and authoritarian terms, has been used extensively, and very wrongly, by many political or ideological movements in the past. To the contrary, EthoPlasìn is only concerned with the positive exploitation of their ideas, values and discipline, as they really were in the minds of these two great philosophers. In practice this is translated into the harmonious formation of the Human Tetractys, based on the "Know Thyself", for the acquisition of philosophical wisdom and self-control of one's emotional center, along with the full enjoyment of all good pleasures of life within reasonable limits.
The mechanics of this educational daily PytHour are the following. Three attending students take turn every day, all 3 chosen ahead of time, to animate the debate of a given day. The names of the debaters are known in advance and made public with the publication of their subject of discussion for that day. All three students together must prepare a single-page A4 sheet on a specific discussion subject that is distributed to all members electronically at least one week in advance of their turn date. That sheet does not include a substantial exposition of the subject but only a brief summary with related discussion elements in point form. At the given PytHour, the First Student exposes the subject as a more developed "Thesis". The Second Student then exposes an "Antithesis" of his own, on the same subject, but prepared secretly from the other two students, albeit maybe in consultation with the leading Master. The exposition by the two students can be either formally rhetorical, or plainly dialectical, and do not last more than 10 minutes each. The subject is then open for discussion by all present members through EthoPlay techniques of Socratic Dialogue or Mental EthoJudo. Those who intervene are free to use a logistic or a sophistic approach. The Third Student has the job to lead the discussions between the first two and the public. After completion, he must also prepare a "Synthesis" of the subject for the archives of the Arium. These become "Synthesis Cards" (Also called 'Scientific Cads') distributed and known to all members as "S Cards", similar to the "P Cards", and other types of SAPER Cards mentioned further down. These archives are 'internally public' and open for consultation by all members. The three students involved receive Merit Credits from the Master supervising their PytHour. All students are expected to act, in the course of a given school year, at least once as a First Student, once a Second Student and once as a Third Student at 3 different days on 3 different subjects. Students are also expected to book themselves for such PythagorArium Hours on subjects of their choice submitted in advance to the leading PytHour Master.
One of the vital things students have
to learn
through the dialectic process of
the daily PythagorArium Hours, is to give both the issues and themselves their right
relativistic importance in the
overall perspective of the universe and, at the same time, to never miss
an occasion to express their
gratitude for their participation to its immense beauty, in particular
when attempting to understand and resolve
issues on our scale, here and now, in a state of Cosmic Oneness.
Our scale is certainly minuscule in front of a galaxy but similarly and
proportionately gigantic in front of an atom.
In this picture to the right, representing (only) our Galaxy, the Milky Way, even our 'huge' Sun is hardly perceptible, let alone the Earth itself, the campus, or the debaters of the PythagorArium Hours... And let's not forget: our 'huge' Sun, that could contain comfortably more than one million planet Earth in its own sphere, is only a very tiny small one... This beautifully revealing picture is suggested to be used as a background image for meditation on the subjects of the PythagorArium hours, before and after they are discussed by the participants. Apart from its obvious relativistic 'space' considerations, the picture can also be used for reflection on the 'time' relativistic considerations of our lives in the universe, knowing our galaxy has existed for more than 13 billion years already, that it will exist for many more million years, and that we would need, at this moment, more than 100.000 years to cross it from one side to the other while travelling at the speed of light... And there are millions of other galaxies in our universe and maybe also millions of other parallel universes... Before discussing our issues, legitimate preliminary questions might be: who are we, and why are we here now, 'Hic et Nunc', and what is the importance and significance of our little and immense 'moment', which came about to flash into existence after 13 billions years, 'Now', in order to allow us to address our issues? This theme and the practice of the 'Soul Flying the Cosmic World in a State of Oneness', in order to better assess human issues, was a recurrent subject of interest and exercise in the Platonic Tradition of the philosophy of Ancient-Greece, based on explicit excerpts of Plato's writings from "Republic", "Phaedo","Timaeus" and "Theaetetus".
And the world in the other direction, towards the infinite small of the sub-atomic realm, is proportionately as 'big' and populated with particles as a galaxy is with stars... with the same kind of relative space between them...
The fundamental procreative energy constituting and animating with Love this overall world, from the infinite small to the infinite big, is what EthoPlasìn calls CoPHLE (Cosmic ordinance Pan-forming Holographic Loving Energy) in its page on Science Of Being.
Subjects of discussion at the PytHour mostly refer to matters related to the values of the EthoPlasìn Discipline, Philosophy and Lifestyle, usually stemming from the broad concepts of our public page on Science Of Being or based on elements of our internally reserved page outlining the nature of the so-called "Exercises" of Ancient-Greece Philosophy. This is the case for at least 3 days a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They can however include any subject approved by the leading master. For at least one day a week, usually on Tuesdays, they may cover items of an essentially scientific nature, be they in terms of Philoecosophical Issues, or subjects related to Mathematics, Physics, Geometry etc. This may include items like the catastrophic overuse of non-recyclable plastic in the environment, the horrific treatment made to animals raised for food through a process of industrial, or mass, meat production, or the consciousness aspects of Quantum Physics. For another day, usually on Thursdays, they usually cover subjects of a more social, artistic or political nature, mostly related to the "Demône Concepts" of Decorum, Meritocracy, planet Oneness Responsibility and Civic Wellness. This may include items like giving easily substantial unemployment benefits to healthy workers when there are still unpleasant jobs they could do, but refuse to do, or things like tolerating bullying in schools that have no vote of conduct counting for the passing of their students to the next academic year, or the ugliness and negative influence of a particular contemporary art exhibition. Related multimedia data, like slide shows and videos, are always welcome. In any normal week, the more scientific or civic/political subjects, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, are meant to separate the three days of more philosophical subjects, giving students a better break of reflection between the 2 categories. All these subjects are however expected to be part of the two short meditation sessions of the Daily Schedule of the students at wakeup and bedtime. This form of learning at the general PytHour, every morning, also serves as a guiding example, and a model, for all the other general learning sessions that take place, on smaller scales, in various rooms of the Arium, at any given hour, on the regular subjects of study of the various faculties.
It must be stressed that even the study of the specific subjects of the various faculties have to be submitted to some discussion, at one point or another, in order to be assimilated mostly through Socratic Dialogue and human interchange, between pupils, but in particular in a state of "communion" between a master and a pupil, as opposed to only through studying books in isolation, or passively listening to a classroom lecturer. This is for the vital mutual benefit of both the most advanced students and the least advanced ones, and for the generation of the "spark" of real comprehension and illumination between the master and the pupil. Discussion, dialogue, human interchange and mutual help are the central factors that, contrary to what happens at most other universities, characterize all learning processes in the Arium of the PythAcademia. In fact, oral teaching, as opposed to written teaching, in particular oral "education", is an eminent characteristic of the EthoPlasìn Academy based precisely on the tradition of the original Platonic Academy. In Plato's Academia, the written material was existing only a posteriori, to help students recall the main points of what they had already understood and acquired during oral instruction. All education had to be acquired first through an animated and dynamic oral process, and a perfect assimilation in memory, without an available text a priori, nor the right to take any written notes during the educational session. An available text would never precede the process but eventually follow it, only in due time and at the master's discretion. The soul of the student had to be involved dynamically in a state of communion with the soul of the master in order to ensure full comprehension and perfect education. This was essential as the written text by itself was considered dangerous and inadequate for a perfect comprehension and assimilation. The written process was an inferior one, and a complementary one, that could only follow the superior oral process. Plato was rightly convinced that texts could never include all the nuances and particularities that had to vary and be adapted to each student for complete comprehension and perfect education. The EthoPlasìn Academy honors itself in working basically on that same basis and principles. This does not mean the absence of texts at the Academy, nor at all the absence of even modern multi-media, but it means a clear precedence and priority given to the dynamic oral process at the basis of the superior instruction and holistic education provided at the EthoPlasìn Academy, in line with the best tradition of the inventors of Education, and the founders of the best philosophical schools of Ancient-Greece in particular.
The Great 6P Line of
Philosophers - As said above, the discussions at the
PytHour can
include practically anything, from the most ancient to the most modern
and contemporary subjects, related to the most scientific or the most philosophical
areas of interest. They
are nevertheless always approached from a special perspective based on 1000 years of
philosophical consistency of thinking, the one of the philosophy of Ancient-Greece between
~550 BC and
AD ~450.
This perspective is essentially a Pythagorean
or Platonic approach in facing life and
assessing its issues, an approach that originated and developed through what
we call the continuity of thinking of The Great 6P
philosophers:
Pythagoras,
Plato,
Plutarch,
Plotinus, Porphyrios
and Proclus.
These 6P philosophers have names that all start with "P",
and they are all of a Pythagorean-Platonic line of thinking. These 6
philosophers are
distributed in a span of time of about 1000 years, between ~ -550 BC and ~ +AD
450. Again, these 6 philosophers are sequentially in time:
Pythagoras (~ -500 BC),
Plato (~ -350
BC), Plutarch
(~ +100 AD),
Plotinus (~
+250 AD), Porphyrios
(~ +300 AD)
and Proclus (~
+450 AD). Keeping their philosophy in mind while discussing issues is having a
so-called '6P Approach'.
The Greek letter "Π" (as on the
symbol to the left, or 'P'
in our Latin alphabet) is also the symbol of a door, or rather a gate, or the
mental instrument in this case, through which the minds can enter the realm of true
ideas and illuminating philosophy; it is therefore not quite just a
coincidence that all the names of the greatest philosophers, of the best
period of philosophy in the history of humanity, all start with a "P".
It is not either a coincidence that this Greek "P" is at the center of both
the full graphical symbol of "EthoΠlasìn"
on the opening page and of its abbreviated one, "EΠA",
at the bottom of each sub-page of this website. EthoPlasìn takes the
best of the '6P' philosophers, and excerpts of their writings are subjects of
regular study and formation for all members living at the Academy, mainly
through regular short comments made at the daily sessions of the
PytHour.
These short comments, prepared by experts of the LogosArium ThinkTank, are then
distributed in writing, and submitted as "P
Cards", for regular reflection and meditation by members
whenever possible on a personal basis. Their publication becomes part of the
holistic educational formation archive of the members along with the "S
Cards" (Synthesis Cards) of the
Third Students prepared, as mentioned earlier,
after each daily PytHour. The thinking of these '6p' philosophers, all
based on Pythagoras, or strongly inspired by his thinking, is also a form of
Pythagorean Pollen (as per the symbol to the
left) that EthoPlasìn hopes to spread as widely as possible in the
contemporary world, through a new form of holistic education, and a new form
of Civitas Management, for the benefit of all living beings, in particular
for the better meritorious rewarding of all citizens, and thus the wellness of
all environments, in a state of oneness, on this beautiful Planet Earth.
The SAPER cards
- The "P Cards" (where "P" stands for 'Philosophy') and the
"S Cards" (where "S" stands for 'Scientific' or
'Synthesis'), both mentioned earlier, are part of a more global card system
called the "SAPER Cards", from
the Latin word 'SAPER', meaning 'KNOWLEDGE'. Each letter in 'SAPER' has a
meaning and means a different category of card. In addition to the two just mentioned there are the "A
Cards" (where "A" stands for 'Arts'), the "E Cards"
(where "E" stands for 'Environment') and the "R Cards"
(where "R" stands for 'Random'). Before or after the daily
PythagorArium Hours,
more often "after" than "before", anyone of these types of cards can be distributed to attendants to help
refresh their memory on the concepts discussed, after they leave the session, but also
to orient their research or meditation, if they are interested, on any of the fields or
subjects they outline. The cards are all published with the names of the
authors, in an A5 format (half a normal European A4 printer page), on heavier card paper, and
they are thus easily transportable for quick and handy reference whenever useful. They are also
kept updated electronically on a central database and easily re-
printable on
request after updates. Each type of card has a different color. Students
have a special Cover-Wallet to carry the most recent ones, or the
ones they are working, researching or meditating on. In that wallet, the first one on
top, or the one appearing on the cover, must always be the picture of our
Milky Way
Galaxy as shown above, meant to be used as a background image for regular meditation purposes,
even in the oddest of moments and places. Of course, any of these cards can
also be downloaded electronically by members at any time, from the central
database, from wherever they may happen to be.
The PytHour and the SAPER card system, when combined, are extremely useful for maintaining a continuity and a consistency in the holistic educational process of the Arium. Whenever possible, at any given daily PytHour, the three students mainly involved in the animation for that particular day, may also either sing or play music, or both, all three together, for 5 to 10 minutes at the beginning of the hour. When they do, they also prepare an "A Card" for distribution to all attendants, usually before the session. These students receive additional Merit Credits for this extra initiative. The related "A Card" deals with the music or the singing they performed. It could very well be for example the singing of a beautiful Aria of Opera, accompanied by an adequate musical instrument, that expresses human situations, questions or feelings closely related to the "P Card" they also prepared for their philosophical subject that day. Suggestions for improvement on any of these cards, when accepted by the authors and their tutors, can also give Merit Credits to whomever made the suggestions. Alternatively they can become new cards competing with the previous ones on the same subject.
Every evening there is also a community dinner in the presence of the acting Grand Master. Whenever possible, at that time, there can also be the same kind of artistic initiative taken during a PytHour, for a maximum of 15 minutes, by various members of the Academy, who can either sing or play music, alone or in groups. When such initiative takes place, it must also become the subject of an "A Card" distributed before or after dinner. "E Cards", in addition to the PhiloEcoSophical Issues they usually deal with, can very well also include subjects related to civic environments or political (MeritoCracy/EthoCracy) environments. "R Cards" can include any random subject not fitting well in any of the other categories, and they can be distributed and discussed at any good occasion, often as a pleasant surprise, even at an evening social occasion, earning Merit Credits to their authors. All these initiatives are part of the special Community Life of the Academy.
As seen in our Background page, EthoPlasìn was born to try to contribute to the reversal of the negative educational trend of the last 40 years in particular, that has destructed, if not eliminated, the essential Socratic Dialogue interchange factor, and all the other meritocratic factors of Holistic Education, in the acquisition of any formation worth that name, from a schooling, civic or institutional point of view; This is why EthoPlasìn tries to give a rebirth to the magnificent Ancient-Greece holistic education and discipline of the best philosophical schools who created these tools, (thus the choice of the location for its HQ, on the seaside, south of Athens), for the benefit of all living beings. In that same proportion it contributes to the improvement of all modern environments, civic or otherwise. For this purpose however EthoPlasìn will also use some more modern material and, after integrating the best ancient elements and the best modern elements, it will get to be using mostly, in the end, 'new' material of its own creation.
With the advent of Internet, as an era where all knowledge is practically accessible instantly to everyone, the importance of acquiring knowledge data and the development of the Intellectual Center on the part of human beings should not have anymore the priority, not to say the exclusivity, it has had since after Renaissance. Time is ripe to return to a system of education where the development of the Mental and Emotional Centers of students, let alone the control of their Physical center, should reclaim their concurrent primary importance. This does not mean neglecting the Intellectual Center. It only means basing its development on the parallel, and similarly important, development of the Mental and Emotional centers of students, without forgetting an equally balanced Physical Center. This means holistic Tetractys Education. Before schools want to form good scientists or professionals, they want to form, first and foremost, good human beings and good citizens, not to mention good inhabitants of Planet Earth in a philoecosophical way, who will thus become even better scientists and professionals for the benefit of all humanity. This is where EthoPlasìn comes in, and where the Ancient Greek philosopher's Discipline, the Pythagorean Life Emulation, and its Science of Being, can help as the best inspiring source of holistic education the world has ever created.
Implementing the above reforms shall also give us a
chance to consider seriously reviewing some of our
modern concepts. The concept of democracy in particular should be brought more in line with the original
concept of the inventors of Democracy. For Ancient-Greece, DemoCracy,
during its best period, was
much closer to a MeritoCracy than to what we
call today 'democracy'. The
Olympic Spirit that prevailed at the time was also a clear demonstration of this, as
this spirit was not
only applied to sports competition, but to all aspects of social life and
activities, like to Democracy in general. In the same spirit, the Olympics of Ancient-Greece were not
at all,
like today, some sort of "Games in Competition"
(with all the ugly publicity and money attach to them), but rather "Exercises in
Emulation"
towards ideals of excellence,
on the basis of a sense of "Polite
Emulation", to qualify them with a beautiful expression often
used by Ancient-Greeks (Ευγενησ Αμιλλα),
with the best participants being given a simple crown of laurels as opposed
to a gold medal. Our modern and derogatory use of the word 'Elite'
should also be reviewed accordingly. The word 'Elite' today is too often
associated by the mass media to the rich financial class (or caste) hidden
behind the various crisis affecting the economic life of common people most
negatively. Consequently, talking about an educational system forming an Elite is now taboo,
nearly a shameful subject, even if it has been done most positively for centuries, as something to be proud
of, ever since the period of the greatest civilizations of the past, starting with Ancient-Greece some 2500 years ago: it is now unthinkable, even when
the word "Elite" is intended to be
based on meritorious education and natural talent, as opposed to economic
criteria, like in sports competition, in conformity with a kind of overall
Social Olympic Spirit (SOS). There is no reason for this false 'shame'
if we re-give the word 'Elite' its original good sense. If
understood correctly, the concept of 'Elite', or 'Elite formation' is one to
be only proud of. If well defined, Elitism and Meritocracy are only good
concepts to be used for the benefit of the whole of humanity. For more information on
this, see the separate page on Meritocracy.
As a result of this deviation, or the unfair denigration of the 'Elite' concept, mobbing, bullying, nihilism, relativism, general sloppiness and carelessness are all rampaging today, in schools and civic environments, not to mention micro-criminality, and the enormous damages caused to most common people by the selfish upper financial caste; the glorious youth of best formation, responsible behavior and neat presentation (of 'Kallos Beauty'), that previous generations used to form and admirer, have close to vanished, depriving the youths themselves, and the current older generations, let alone the future ones, of a most comforting element of inspiring action, legitimate pride, joy and just satisfaction (admiring 'Kallos Beauty') for the enjoyment and benefit of all humanity.
Consequently, EthoPlasìn intends to contribute to reinstate a better reputation, albeit maybe with a more modern definition and balance, to some of the best concepts of the past, including Education, Elite, Meritocracy and Beauty.
As mentioned earlier, EthoPlasìn has no affiliation to politics or religion. It is no-profit but nevertheless self-financing for its current expenses, and has nothing to do with charity. The background BelovArium Foundation of the PythagorArium was established mainly to research and to provide means for the creation and the spreading of a Consciousness of Civic Wellness and Planet Oneness Responsibility, through an appropriate Academy and discipline, along with its Association, translating primarily into higher standards of holistic education, to be acquired along with, and over and above, any curriculum of regular educational instruction, favoring the advent of a better MeritoCracy, hopefully even an EthoCracy, and the maintenance of better PhiloEcoSophical Values and standards. Again, EthoPlasìn is not a charity organization but rather a tutoring association for the weaker (civically speaking), and a holistic educational institution for the formation and promotion of the stronger meritorious citizens willing, and capable, to learn how to create better living for the benefit of all, including their own. Charity is great and useful, and can still be done discretely and privately, as usual, by members, on a personal basis, outside the ARIUM, but has nothing to do with the nature, activities or purpose of the PythagorArium as a whole, nor its Foundation (BelovArium), its Academy (PythAcademia) and its Association (PythAssociation).
EthoPlasìn HQ
of the PythagorArium includes a
ThinkTank of experts
(called PythInstitute, under the guiding role of the LogosArium) who help doing the research and
allocate fellowships and scholarships to meritorious candidates and members. These experts
promote the philosophy, and the related discipline, which are based on the
primary formation, or education, of the Mental and Emotional centers of the
Tetractys
of its
members (Emulation of the
Pythagorean Man), and a better control of their Physical center, instead of just the instruction of their Intellectual Center
(like all contemporary universities reduce themself doing). These
researchers are not isolated. Internally, they are active members of the
Academy, participating highly to the Community Life of the
Arium and even to its daily PytHour. Externally, on the basis of their research, they take a wide spectrum of initiatives around
the world. EthoPlasìn has thus two kinds of members under training. It gives intensive
training to some members studying at the Academy itself, but it also trains at distance
a related Fraternity of ‘Soldiers’
forming a new
EthoPlasìn Elite
meant to gently penetrate all levels of society and improve civic environments
and Meritocracy
accordingly, through first and foremost good example, and to promote the
advent of EthoCracy.
The Foundation
main work of formation however is done through its
EthoPlasìn
Academy
(PythAcademia) which provides
training and holistic ARIUM Education at university
level. The ARIUM is a non-traditional-classroom environment, and rather a
Socratic Dialogue environment. It provides a
combination of Holistic Education based on Ancient-Greece philosophy and
"Whole Brain Accelerated Learning" techniques of the 21st Century that involve
the left brain as much as the right brain (the right side of the brain being the only
one trained by most other contemporary schools and universities, and even
only
inadvertently so, not to say inattentively). In collaboration with the best universities around the
world, the Academy campus boards living-in students on full scholarship. Only few
faculties are available, compared to
many other normal universities around the world, mainly: Philosophy, Mathematics,
Music, Aesthetics, Ethics, Architecture, Engineering and Physics, along with
its new science of Civitas Administration. Each of them in turn includes
additional elements of Geometry and
Beauty. The Academy
issues its own new and full university degree in
Civitas
Administration, and a
doctorate in Ethics Management, along
with a
variety of other regular university degrees depending on the agreements made
with other universities. Its
own Civitas degree has five specializations and includes subjects like Philosophy,
History of Ideas, Music Harmonics, Artistic Beauty (Kallos), Mathematics,
PhiloEcoSophical Values, and
the Consciousness aspects of Quantum Physics. In other words, this new
degree is based on a mix of elements of five specializations, as explained
in our page on
EthoPlasìn
Faculties, plus elements of the EthoPlasìn Discipline, and
expertise in Meritocracy,
EthoCracy and
PhiloEcoSophical
administration.
It is meant mainly for students
who have the intention to play a meaningful role in the management of
cities, countries, governments and environments of all kinds, most likely through careers
in politics or public administration at various levels of involvement. All these subjects however,
of all the faculties, are not separate from, but integrated to, a
special EthoPlasìn
Discipline, in a
holistic routine of study and lifestyle that includes such elements as
EthoPlay, daily gymnastics or
EthoJudo
sport, EthoDialogue (Socratic Dialogue) skills, the study of one musical instrument and the universal
EthoGloso language.
All the various kinds of Civitas Specialists are sometimes
called generically 'EthoCratic Leaders',
for their longing for the advent of an eventual world of
EthoCracy.
On the other hand, outside the Academy, this special mental, emotional, physical and civic discipline is also proactively adhered to by external members, i.e. by a kind of transnational non-Arium EthoPlasìn Militia of worldwide ‘soldiers’ registered at distance as members with the EthoPlasìn Association. These outside 'soldiers' may enjoy many privileges while visiting the Academy or while being in Greece for their holidays or other purposes. In many respects this Association of EthoPlasìn Soldiers is more important than the Academy itself, as its members can quickly become thousands, if not millions, living in all parts of the world, and thus having a much greater influence, quantitatively speaking, forming the "Critical Mass" for the improvement of civic environments, than the hundreds who will have gone through the formation received while studying at university level at the PythAcademia itself. On the other hand, the study of the history of the world teaches us clearly that, in spite of an apparent continuous progress from a technological point of view, humanity has not made much progress from a human soul formation point of view in the last 3000 years, with a small minority continuing unabatedly to use wars and exploitation to enjoy unmerited privileges by controlling a vast majority. This is where an association like the EthoPlasìn, as it grows in numbers in all environments, can come in to proactively form a balancing "Critical Mass" and influence drastically the improvement of all human relations and civic environments, through promoting ethics, meritocracy, philoecosophical values and a personal discipline based on the best teachings of ancient philosophy, still perfectly valid and pertinent today, regarding civic conduct, politics and social justice.
In this way,
all members (ARIUM-students and non-ARIUM soldiers) integrate a high
component of mental, emotional, physical and civic discipline/education to
their intellectual formation and lifestyle. These students and soldiers hope to use their training to
become, and proactively serve as, examples of good behavior in their own
civic environments once they have completed their training at, or with, the
Academy. As such, both
the ARIUM students and the non-ARIUM soldiers constitute the Fraternity of
the new EthoPlasìn Elite
from a civic, mental, emotional, artistic and meritocratic points of view, not to
mention also a philoecosophical point of view, with an
equally balanced intellectual, emotional and physical formation.
Apart from an initial application fee, to eliminate
as much as possible the phony applications, there is no regular fee to be
paid for being a member or for studying at the Academy. The selection
process has a fee, but membership is free once accepted. Activities and
formation at the ARIUM are
all free, including access to a widely comprehensive set of
special
EthoPlasìn discipline courses and the use of its sophisticated
Olympic sports facilities. Studying at its International University (the
PythAcademia, as the
major component of the PythagorArium) is also
very selective but free, with admission only on a full scholarship basis. All members,
students or not, must also study a music instrument, the
EthoPlay discipline of the EthoJudo
sport and the EthoDialogue (Socratic Dialogue), the universal
EthoGloso language,
Meritocracy (not to mention their
familiarity and agreement with the long term objective of
EthoCracy) and the EthoPlasìn
philoecosophical standards, receiving free courses as
required.
This being
said, there is a high price to pay in return for all these free services. The price is in terms of commitment to the discipline being accepted formally,
but freely, by all selected members. All members, students or not, must
adhere serenely, even joyfully, to the severe
EthoPlasìn
Discipline, or leave the
Academy, as freely as they joined, let alone be readily expulsed if and when
required. There are
ten directives to its discipline, corresponding to 10 levels
of adhesion. See our page on "10 Precepts and 10 Grades"
of discipline.
These precepts are somewhat better explained in our pages on the
Basic Association Entry
Rules and on the
Pythagorean Man Emulation, let alone our page on
Science Of Being. Students at the Academy must adhere strictly to at least the first two
Precepts
as a starting point at the beginning of their studies at the Academy. However, the limited places of
the ARIUM will always be given in priority to students who choose to go on,
as quickly as possible, to more
senior levels of the ARIUM discipline. The same applies to the external soldiers but they
in particular
normally join the Association with the intention to go on to the higher
levels of the discipline until they eventually become an
EthoPlasìn
Master. Once they complete their training and
studies, all members, the ARIUM students in particular, shall be VIP candidates
to be looked for by the best employers around the world, and the Academy and
Foundation will
proactively help them achieve this objective through the ErgosArium.
The
EthoPlasìn is a mixed environment, with male and female, students
or members. For its students, it is a full time living-in boarding
school on full scholarship, with strict hours, closed to incoming and
outgoing visits for five days a week: Monday to Friday. Students sleep in
dormitories from 23:00 to 06:00 hrs. Private rooms are also available when
required. It is an environment with a very strict
discipline that requires full concentration and no outside distraction
except on weekends (Saturdays and Sundays: see its very strict
Daily
Schedule). On
weekends, from after diner on Fridays to before diner on Sundays, students
can go out freely and/or receive visits, males or females, even for free night
overstay at certain conditions.
ul one,
characterized by doing together, by trying, playing, interchanging, like
children learning to run a bike in front of companions, with a lot of space
and time for healthy laughing.
All the learning process at the Academy is done in an
Arium
environment instead of a classroom environment, that is essentially through
socializing, with limited time spent over books, in isolated places, or
sitting in a formal classroom in front of a lecturing professor. As
mentioned in our home page, the Arium is an environment where the
Learning Process becomes a
Living Process that in turn
becomes a Loving Process:
a Loving Process involving the community and the whole
Planet Earth in a state of Oneness.
For more information on aspects of this special
environment, in particular its learning environment, see also the
page on the Private Arium Area system, where "Learning" becomes "Living",
and "Instruction" becomes "Education". The
ARIUM has a full capacity of up to 300 students
(150 males in the dormitory of the AndrArium and 150 females in the dormitory
of the GynecArium).
hat
EthoJudo is, as an equivalent, on the physical side, forming all together
the EthoPlay discipline). Apart from this, they also hold special monthly events inviting the best
minds of our society,
from the local community or from abroad, 
EthoPlasìn Philosophy and life style are meant to act like the surfing of beautiful sea waves. Although very soft in nature, and dangerous if un-mastered, waves are extremely powerful, supportive and useful. As a tool, they are also freely accessible to all who may want to use them, allowing the safe travelling of those who develop the proper skills, be they navigating heavy ships or surfing while standing on a simple board. To acquire these skills, discipline is required. EthoPlasìn wants to train civic navigators and surfers with the proper holistic formation and discipline that will make them travel smoothly to all continents, using the appropriate 'philosophical wind' or SOS spirit, to spread the values that shall make our world a better place to live from a civic, meritocratic and philoecosophical points of view.
The Academy also includes two HostelArium, a kind of Residence-Hotel, on the two entertainment areas of the campus open to the public (the ApolafsArium and the DiaskedArium) which are meant to be self-financing tools of the ARIUM for its current expenses along with the other sophisticated public facilities for top-quality touristic, sportive and entertainment activities. The hotel can accommodate over 250 clients in various types of rooms at any given time. The hotel will in principle only accept, or give priority to, clients recommended by registered members or by organizations collaborating with the Academy. Members at the Academy may be able to earn pocket money by working part-time at these two hotels.
All 3 kingdoms of mother nature are well represented at the Arium
and members can also earn pocket money collaborating with the small Social Recuperation Center
(called the CivicArium) established to
temporarily care for, and tutor, people who have been the victims of civic
violence; They can also earn tips working or entertaining the public with
their skills at the formal ApolafsArium and the casual DiaskedArium. Members can also
collaborate with the BiosArium, the mini Botanical Garden of plants to be cared for, and with
the three souvenir Stores (two on the public sides and
one on the
private side of the
Campus). These store sell some of the vegetarian food produced on the
campus, including honey, and special stones to be
CoPHLE energized and kept,
worn, or offered, as a gesture of best wishes and intention for the people wearing
or receiving them. Pure natural rock
Crystal is
the main EthoPlasìn stone for normal use by all members and
its main symbol from the mineral kingdom. A piece of it is even integrated to
their Arium ID. Blue Sapphire
is also used for special purposes. For more information on the Academy's
symbols, see the separate page on
Ways and
Symbols. Students are submitted to essentially a vegetarian
alimentation regime and, in principle, must produce their own vegetarian
food on the campus to a degree of self-sufficiency.
EthoPlasìn is like a hive. The honey bee is one of its symbols. Three of the ARIUM buildings of the Campus have an hexagonal honey comb shape. The Academy provides a holistic formation that shall make its graduates like new swarms of honeybees leaving the hive every year to go and establish in new environments and be the delight of their co-citizens enjoying the 'honey' of their formation and Kallos Beauty.
The EthoPlasìn members are divided in a wide variety of categories, both from the point of view of the levels of discipline and the point of view of their functional roles in the overall context of the PythagorArium. To see a summary of the relevant structure, have a look at our page on Soldiers and Categories.
