Teaching Plato in school - can learning be a dangerous thing?

Jokela gunman built social model for himself from philosophical classic

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By Jyrki Räikkä
     
     The student behind the killings at Jokela School left behind a statement in which he brings out his view of the world. In his declaration Pekka-Eric Auvinen heaps contempt on the masses and sees himself as a creature superior to others. He admires natural selection in which only the intelligent and the self-aware survive.
     The 18-year-old saw as an alternative solution a social system in which intelligent people - those capable of "existential and philosophical thinking", would rule, and the "backward masses" would live as slaves.
     "Do not blame the books I have read for my act", Auvinen write. Juha Sihvola the director of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, and expert in the history of ideas, nevertheless sees clear influences from Plato's Republic, the works of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the novels of Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, and Ray Bradbury. Auvinen listed all of these on his Internet video page.
     "The text is written in a reasonably intelligent manner, but it certainly gives the impression that the writer is disturbed", Sihvola says.
     
As one of the key philosophers of ancient Greece, Plato (427-348 BCA) presents in his Republic his ideal of a society ruled by superior class of guardians and philosopher kings. Plato believed that only a small proportion of people are capable of independent thinking.
     In his hierarchical state utopia Plato distinguished the separate classes of soldiers and workers. Auvinen also divided people into three castes: individuals, manipulative people, and the masses. However, the student did not internalise the teachings of Plato very well.
     In his Republic, Plato's starting point is that independent thinking should be moral thinking. The key content of all of Plato's production is to think of what is contained in a good life", Sihvola says.
     Auvinen appears to have interpreted the idea of information that is at the hands of few in a very narrow manner, as intelligence. He never reached the content of a good life in his ponderings.
     "It is not surprising, because that is where the splintering of the moral-metaphysical world picture, and the increase in individualism has brought us", Sihvola says.
     Auvinen admired violent rebellion and revolution, but did not set any clear goals for it. In Sihvola's view, the way of thinking does not even follow the Baader-Meinhof type of logic of terrorism, which seeks to use violence to inspire citizens to rebel.
     "However, anti-utopian literature offers explanations for the idea that all political power is repressive and oppressive."
     
Clearly the most important philosopher to inspire Auvinen is Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), the promoter of the doctrine of the superman, and the master morality. Nietzsche is considered one of the central philosophers of his time.
     Nietzsche expert Tarmo Kunnas says that Auvinen did not understand the teachings of Nietzsche.
     "The poor boy was fully dishing out the old morality; he is right, and the others are evil or pitiful. This is not Nietzsche's attitude at all."
     "In addition, Auvinen is completely biological in his texts. He completely lacks the spiritual side of humanity. He represents a social Darwinist view, which Nietzsche did not.
     
Sihvola sees Nietzsche as a more radical philosopher than, say, Immanuel Kant.
     "It is hard to imagine that the philosophy of Kant would serve as an inspiration for evens such as those in Jokela. Certainly, it is possible in theory that a movement might emerge which violently promotes Kantian goals, but it would require that the members of the movement reject Kant's view according to which revolution is always wring, and that they would, on the contrary violently implement a Kantian utopia, in which people would be treated as a goal as such."
     Sihvola points out that most people will approve of the use of violence in certain extreme conditions.
     "The difference is not in the philosophical principles in the background, but rather in the interpretation of facts.
     
Sihvola has written high school textbooks himself. He would not restrict the handling of Nietzsche in schools because of the radical views of the philosopher.
     "Nietzsche is part of general education for high school students, and the modern world cannot be understood without being acquainted with the thought of Nietzsche. It would be like refraining from dealing with Hitler or Stalin in history class."
     Sihvola feels that it would be much more dangerous not to deal with Nietzsche in teaching.
     "That would certainly be a disaster. Those who are interested in Nietzsche would seek out information on the Internet and other channels, with no quality control."
     "The fact that high school students are engaged in thinking that radically calls into question the dominant culture is primarily a good thing. It is very important that school, as a community of some kind, offers a channel for it", Sihvola emphasises.
     Sihvola extends the same demand to Darwinism, which also inspired Auvinen, and the idea of comparative intelligence of nations, which has again raised debate recently.
     
A new book by Tarmo Kunnas will appear next spring, under the title Paha, or "Evil".
     "Our culture is very secularised, and therefore, the tension between good and evil has loosened somewhat. In such a situation, people pass through evil to get to the sacred. Young people surround themselves with symbols of evil, because they find charisma in it."
     "It is a paradox, this young man as well. Poet Ernesto Cardinale once said that even the knife of a murderer could contain the yearning for God."
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 18.2007


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Columbine principal says Jokela will need help for a long time (11.11.2007)
  COMMENTARY: Messages of sorrow and hate (10.8.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat