arithmetic, logic, grammar) exist ultimatelyrnfor the sake of metaphysics andrntheology—which is why we teach thernformer to children and reserve the latterrnfor the intellectually mature—so too everythingrnof the child exists for the sake ofrnthe whole man into which he may somedayrndevelop. Describing the place of thernchild in classical Greek education, H.I.rnMarrou writes:rnIn the first place the whole aim ofrnthis education was the formation ofrnadults, not the development of thernchild. There is no point in beingrnled astray by etymology. I knowrnquite well that it [paedeia] containsrnthe word. But this needs to berntranslated as “the treatment tornwhich a child should be subjected”rn— to turn him into a man. Asrnwe saw, the Latins happily translatedrnthe word as humanitas.rnIf the Greeks could have known thernextent to which education (at least sincernRousseau wrote Emile) has been adaptedrnto the child and the special characteristicsrnof his mind, they would have respondedrnwith amused surprise. What isrnthe point, the Greeks would ask, of concentratingrnon the child as though hernwere an end in himself? The point ofrnchildhood is that it leads to manhood,rnand the proper object of education isrntherefore not any slobbering child orrnawkward adolescent or even an up-andcomingrnyoung man, but Man, and Manrnalone; and the point of education is tornteach the child to transcend himselfrnOne sign of a secure adult is that,rnwhile he may have had a lovely childhood,rnhe does not wish (literally) to becomerna child again. The thought shouldrncause laughter, as though one were tornsay, “Quantum physics is interesting, butrnlet’s spend this afternoon going over thernalphabet.” It is fitting for women to becomernchild-like during their years ofrnchild-rearing, because they are the immediaternand intimate source of thernchild, its nurse and comforter, its firstrnteacher. But both women and men onlyrnpretend to be like children when playingrnwith them; the toys of a child should appearrnas no more than that. As Aristotlernwrites, “no one would choose to live withrnthe intellect of a child throughout hisrnlife, however much he were to bernpleased at the things that children arernpleased at.”rnFor Aristotle, the focal point of ethicsrnas an applied science is the rearing ofrnchildren into responsible adults as effectivelyrnas possible. This explains why herndevotes so much of his NicomacheanrnEthics and Politics to pedagogical matters.rnIn the Middle T^es, when Aristotle’srnideas (though largely unknown inrntheir written record) were followedrnthroughout Europe as a matter of course,rnit would not have been unusual for a ladrnto be prepared to transact local businessrnat 15, to enter marriage or religious life atrn16, or to prosecute advanced studies atrn17. Childhood merged seamlessly withrnsome type of apprenticeship, novitiate, orrnmanual labor. The curious vision of arnchild as wholly outside of the world ofrnadults, as having, therefore, nothing torncontribute to the world of his elders exceptrnentertainment, sweetness, and occasionalrnirritation, would have been ridiculousrnto the medieval. “A child is a manrnnot fully grown up,” the peasant or thernnoble would have said; and as proof, thernone would teach his son to plant and harvestrncorn, the other, to ride a horse andrnhunt a fox. As manifested in the HighrnMiddle Ages, the traditional approach tornthe child is disciplinary, pedagogical,rnand monarchical. Such an approach isrnfound wherever healthy mothers and fathersrndo not subscribe to a fairy-tale conceptionrnof youth in which the child is arnhappy stranger to the petty business ofrngrown-ups.rnThere is, needless to say, much truthrnin speaking of an intangible aura of purity,rnbeauty, and boundless life radiated byrnthe child. The child’s mad and headyrnlove for the world, for play, and for learningrnis obviously a good thing to imitate,rnespecially since adults have a tendencyrnto be dour, skeptical, and self-absorbed.rnYet can we deny that the best qualities ofrnsmall children owe a lot to their indiscriminaternand naive approach to thernworld — as if it were a garden of unalloyedrnpleasure, fully to be trusted, fully tornbe explored—than to any sustained volimtaryrneffort on their part? After havingrnspent a short time with an unruly toddler,rnthe father knows that his child is notrna visitor from a better place.rnI do not think that St. Augustine canrnbe accused of residual Manichaeanismrnwhen he candidly points out that childrenrncan be quite nasty, selfish, andrngreedy. They live, said Thomas Aquinas,rn”according to the impulses of passionrnsince they have not been sttengthened inrnrational judgment by which the passionsrnare regulated.” As Aristotle perceived.rnthey are in many ways closer to the irrationalrnanimals—with, however, the allimportantrndifference of having an inclinationrnto develop the power of reason—rnthan they are to men in whom thatrnreasoning power is active. Is it surprising,rnthen, that people treat their pets in arnmanner very similar to the way in whichrnthey speak to and pamper a tiny child?rnThe adult invests the child with a profoundlyrndifferent sentiment, signified byrna different kind of love; but that is due tornits humanity and its intimate link withrnmother and father. The humor thatrnadults see in a child’s antics is often completelyrnlost on the child himself We arernin the habit of ascribing to him the deliberativernaction we see in ourselves, evenrnwhen he is still acting according to appetite,rnimitation, and caprice.rnSocieties in which men and womenrnlive close to nature, regularly interactingrnwith it for livelihood and for leisure, arernnot often betrayed into escapist fantasies.rnChildren are there to be reared (that is,rnset up straight) into worthy representativesrnof family, society, culture, and religion.rnObviously, the extent to whichrnrearing issues in a man or woman whornmerits the name “aduft” depends in therngreatest measure on the worthiness of thernparent and the educator. The medievalrnsaying nemo dat quod nan habet—nornone can give what he does not have—isrncertainly germane. The state of affairsrndescribed by Thoreau’s well-known remark,rn”the mass of men lead lives of quietrndesperation,” is not to be marveled at,rnsince the only period during whichrnhuman roots can be deeply planted isrnnowadays squandered on worthless distractions,rnleading to a character as insubstantialrnas the materials on which it wasrnfed.rnA healthy and realistic society sees inrnthe child, in addition to more endearingrnqualities, several unfortunate traits: hisrnpropensity to self-indulgence, his dominantrninclination to sense-pleasure, andrnhis need for strict rules and guidance inrnorder to “put childish ways behind,” thernmetaphor St. Paul uses for Christians. AsrnAristotle explains.rnThe name self-indulgence is appliedrnalso to childish faults….rnThe transference of the namernseems not a bad one, for thatrnwhich desires what is ignoble andrnwhich develops quickly ought tornbe kept in a chastened condition,rnand these characteristics belongrnMARCH 1999/47rnrnrn