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Stanley asked:
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What are the origin and nature of excellence?
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On what basis can excellence be demonstrated?
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Through what process does anything come to be accepted as excellent?
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Our appeal to history is losing its meaning. Our culture, especially, needs more analytical thought
about excellence.
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============
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What do you mean by "excellence"? Do you mean, a property of a product of someone's effort, or do
you mean a property of a person who produces outstanding products? Or both? Or something else?
The first philosophers I know of to write about this issue are the Greeks: Plato and Aristotle. You
might read some of Plato's dialogues; and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.You might also read some
philosophy of education; Dewey comes to mind.
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As far as the origin goes, how about the inventor, T.A. Edison's, explanation: 10% inspiration and
90% perspiration?
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I'm not going to try to expound on the "nature" of excellence; I'll let the Greeks do that for you, as a
start.
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How you demonstrate it is by producing something and letting it be judged.
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Why should we appeal to history? You want to return to the Middle Ages? I think that philosophers
and educators today have much more to say than those in the past; I referred you to the Greeks to
give you some background in this issue, not because I thought they were the ultimate authorities.
Although I do think that the educational establishment is probably 20 years behind insofar as
incorporating results from contemporary cognitive research into educational methodologies. As for
more "analytical thought" on excellence; I don't agree. I think we are probably doing too much thinking
about it and not enough application. I would like to see, rather than more thought, more moneyput
into programs designed to produce excellence. We have devalued education, not because
philosophers or educators have not been concerned about it, but because the public, and our
governments, are not concerned enough about it. What percentage of our taxes goes to education, in
contrast to the military? What tax breaks do educational institutions get relative to big business?
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Steven Ravett Brown
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