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Comparison of Tzu and Seneca's Thoughts on Education

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Comparison of Tzu and Seneca's Thoughts on Education
Tzu VS Seneca
Education throughout time has been of high importance. The reasons for, and how to obtain said education have been viewed quite differently at times. From the ancient years of B.C. to modern times today education is viewed at a most high priority for everyone. Everyone strives for the ability to gain, have and obtain knowledge. How you get said knowledge is different for everyone, and the way it is maintained also. Two prime explains of how education is maintained differently are philosophers Hsun Tzu and Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Although their differences on the matter, their line thought are not all that different. Tzu and Seneca both view learning as a very important aspect of oneself, although there way of which one should learn is quite different. While Tzu is quite strict in the way of which he believes one should learn, Seneca is really laid back and believes as if anyway is a way of learning. Tzu believes learning and getting your education should be done in a set “schedule”. Example, such as, from the time you get up til the time you go to sleep at night there should be a set time for certain subjects, at certain times, for a certain time period. For everything to be right, it must have a set routine. Tzu believes that all those that do not strive to learn are all idiots, or as he says ‘evil and corrupt’. For Seneca, learning can be done in many ways, forms, and to different extents. Tzu’s beliefs show that you must have two halves to create a whole. As Tzu explains this, to get a certain outcome, something else is the cause of it. Some examples used such as wood being pressed onto a straightening board makes the wood straight. Or when metal is put to grindstone it is made sharp. Without one you cannot have the other. Without learning you cannot have knowledge, without knowledge you do not have good people. For according to these beliefs, good people are made by those who get there education and learn. Learning trains the person to be



Cited: Hsun, Tzu. “Encouraging Learning.” Reading the World: Ideas That Matter. 2nd ed. Ed. Michael Austin. New York: Norton,2009. 8-15. Print. Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. “On Liberal and Vocational Studies.” Reading the World: Ideas That Matter. 2nd ed. Ed. Michael Austin. New York: Norton,2009. 16-23. Print.

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