Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemQuintilian: education, language and virtue( 1988)The thesis places Quintilian's pedagogical theories as detailed in his twelve books of "The Institutio Oratoria" in their historical and social contexts. It is argued that Greek literature and ideas greatly influenced Rome and, in turn, Quintilian's concept of the ideal orator and his role within Roman society. A case is argued that Quintilian believed the education of the Roman orators should encourage a return to the homeric virtues portrayed in the Iliad and the Odyssey. It is shown that the orators of Rome, from Quintilian's point of view, had developed Greek sophistic attitudes while the Roman philosophers were basically corrupt and immoral. Quintilian's educational programme was designed to reinstate the fostering of virtue as paramount in the orator's activity. An explanation and critical examination of Quintilian's views on the intimate connection between language, virtue and knowledge is carried out. The nexus, in Quintilian's thought, between virtue and rhetoric is discussed. The point is made that Quintilian offers no definition of virtue, but that he believes that morality is learnt through observing a multitude of moral acts within society, and reading and studying moral acts portrayed in literature; only then will the budding orator be equipped to study the presuppositions behind his judgements, when his true belief will be transformed into knowledge of virtue. A particular emphasis is placed on Quintilian's theories on early childhood education and the need for a proper environment for the child over the formative first years of life. It is this stage of a child's life which is critical in his moral and linguistic development. Quintilian's view that bad habits formed in childhood are nearly impossible to erase in later life, retarding the child's moral development, is discussed.