It is interesting that they call the various academic fields "disciplines," just as you say. Fencing, horseback riding, but also the more intense disciplines make a very fine companion to academic study.
The Philosophers' Black Iron Lifting Championship would certainly be more entertaining than the Philosophers' Soccer Match was. :) I'll have to borrow that with attribution.
If "discipline" goes back to "discipulus," or student, and to the related verb meaning to study a specific topic, then it makes good sense to call any intense field of study a discipline. (Also the related "discipline" in the sense of chastisement.)
I personally would challenge using "academic discipline" to describe certain modern fields and majors, however.
For history's sake, it should be noted that our best information was that Plato was a wrestler. Maybe also a boxer, according to the forms of his day, which were different from ours; but the Republic has some metaphors that suggest he was a fighter. "Platon" is supposed to have meant "broad."
The Philosophers' Black Iron Lifting Championship would certainly be more entertaining than the Philosophers' Soccer Match was. :) I'll have to borrow that with attribution.
ReplyDeleteIf "discipline" goes back to "discipulus," or student, and to the related verb meaning to study a specific topic, then it makes good sense to call any intense field of study a discipline. (Also the related "discipline" in the sense of chastisement.)
I personally would challenge using "academic discipline" to describe certain modern fields and majors, however.
LittleRed1
For history's sake, it should be noted that our best information was that Plato was a wrestler. Maybe also a boxer, according to the forms of his day, which were different from ours; but the Republic has some metaphors that suggest he was a fighter. "Platon" is supposed to have meant "broad."
ReplyDelete