§ 44. (3) This way of isolating a child does not touch his sense of
honor at all, and is soon forgotten because it relates to only one side
of his conduct. It is quite different from punishment based on the sense
of honor, which, in a formal manner, shuts the youth out from
companionship because he has attacked the principle which holds society
together, and for this reason can no longer be considered as belonging
to it. Honor is the recognition of one individual by others as their
equal. Through his error, or it may be his crime, he has simply made
himself unequal to them, and in so far has separated himself from them,
so that his banishment from their society is only the outward expression
of the real isolation which he himself has brought to pass in his inner
nature, and which he by means of his negative act only betrayed to the
outer world. Since the punishment founded on the sense of honor affects
the whole ethical man and makes a lasting impression upon his memory,
extreme caution is necessary in its application lest a permanent injury
be inflicted upon the character. The idea of his perpetual continuance
in disgrace, destroys in a man all aspiration for improvement.
——Within the family this feeling of honor cannot be so actively
developed, because every member of it is bound to every other
immediately by natural ties, and hence is equal to every other. Within
its sacred circle, he who has isolated himself is still beloved, though
it may be through tears. However bad may be the deed he has committed,
he is never given up, but the deepest sympathy is felt for him because
he is still brother, father, &c. But first in the contact of one family
with another, and still more in the contact of an individual with any
institution which is founded not on natural ties, but is set over
against him as a distinct object, this feeling of honor appears. In the
school, and in the matter of ranks and classes in a school, this is very
important.——
§ 45. It is important to consider well this gradation of punishment
(which, starting with sensuous physical pain, passes through the
external teleology of temporary isolation up to the idealism of the
sense of honor), both in relation to the different ages at which they
are appropriate and to the training which they bring with them. Every
punishment must be considered merely as a means to some end, and, in so
far, as transitory. The pupil must always be deeply conscious that it is
very painful to his instructor to be obliged to punish him. This pathos
of another's sorrow for the sake of his cure which he perceives in the
mien, in the tone of the voice, in the delay with which the punishment
is administered, will become a purifying fire for his soul.
III.
_The Limits of Education._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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