# Who's heard of a "paideic community"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322 "2005-08-16T20:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/1 "2005-08-16T20:46:14Z")
And what is it? I am the editor, and I know a lot of words, if I do say so myself. Essentially, the view of my boss is that if I have to look up a word, the word is pretty darned obscure. I couldn’t even FIND this one. I think I found its root, though. So I’d be interested to know if this group has heard of it. If I get enough affirmative responses, who knows, I may even let the author keep it. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/2 "2005-08-16T20:49:24Z")
I’m an editor, plus over-educated and well-read, and it gets a big fat “can’t even guess” from me. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/3 "2005-08-16T20:58:52Z")
Thanks, **twickster,** I am sharpening my blue pencil in anticipation! I think this word is over the top. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/4 "2005-08-16T21:08:27Z")
> [@Hilarity N. Suze](#): > > Thanks, **twickster,** I am sharpening my blue pencil in anticipation! I think this word is over the top. No – it’s a rare word, but it’s legitimate. As long as the author is not going way over the heads of his/her intended audience, it should be allowed to stand, IMHO. _Paideic_ is the adjectival form of the noun [_paideia_](http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/difficultwords/data/d0009478.html). The root “paid-” is the same as the “p[a]ed-” in “encyclop[a]edia”, as I’m sure you have already detemined… Googling “paideic” leads to links about the book [_Paltini’s Diary: A Paideic Model in Humanist Culture_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/9639116882/102-5483142-8878536?v=glance). A synopsis of the book will help demonstrate legitimate uses of the word “paideic”: > [@](#): > > The intellectual resistance to totalitarian regimes can take many forms. This remarkable volume portrays one such story of resistance in Romania during the reign of Ceausescu: that of Constantin Noica, one of the country’s foremost intellectuals. > Noica was an original thinker belonging to the remarkable intellectual generation of important figures such as Mircea Eliade, E.M. Ciorin and Eugene Ionescu, but he chose to stay in Romania after the communist takeover when many others fled. Harassed and jailed for six years, Noica retreated to the mountains and gathered around him some brilliant young minds and future talent to challenge and nurture them in a time when communism denied them the materials of true intellectual importance. > > This group of students withdrew to Noica’s retreat for intensive philosophical sessions to debate the works of Kant, Plato, Heidegger and discuss humanistic values. The author of this volume Liiceanu, himself a brilliant philosopher, was Noica’s closest disciple and during every meeting he noted every conversation in a diary which came to be known as The Paltinis Diary. These conversations were secretly published and quickly devoured by intellectuals in Romania who were prepared to sacrifice part of their food provisions to acquire the book. The Paltinis Diary sold out within a matter of days and because of Secret Police censorship and was not published again in Romania until 1991 by which time Noica had died and the group had disbanded to help with the reconstruction of post-Ceausescu Romania. > > The Paltinis Diary is a wonderful homage to an intellectual master and to the power of intellect and freedom. The book will be of interest to philosophers, non-philosophers alike, and to anyone who seeks to grasp the true meaning of survival under totalitarian conditions. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/5 "2005-08-16T21:24:24Z")
I don’t know what it means, but I’ve heard the word. A friend of mine went to a school called Paideia. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/6 "2005-08-16T21:29:04Z")
[hijack] **vix** , is that in Atlanta? That was the first thing I thought of when I read the thread. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/7 "2005-08-17T01:10:58Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > No – it’s a rare word, but it’s legitimate. **As long as the author is not going way over the heads of his/her intended audience** , it should be allowed to stand, IMHO. (Bolding added). Context is absolutely all on this. My first assumption was that it would be way over the audience’s head – thus my categorical “don’t do it.” It does, however, definitely depend on the type of piece it appears in. **USA Today** – don’t. **Harper’s** – fine, but make sure he or she is doing a long explanation of the term up front. I like learning new words – but in my biz, obscurity is usually the sign of laziness or incompetence. YMMV, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/8 "2005-08-17T02:05:50Z")
Seems like it has a highly defined meaning in certain contexts, a meaning which is better served by this word than by others. It sounds like it has legitimate modern uses, especially in reference to an education system. From the OED: > [@](#): > > 1. U.S. Educ. A system of teaching designed to provide children with a broad and balanced education. Freq. attrib. > > 1982 M. J. ADLER (title) The paideia proposal: an education manifesto. 1989 Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 26 Nov. 1C, At Dumas Elementary School…they’ll hire part-time teachers of Spanish, mathematics and fine arts as part of the school’s Paideia program, a classical-learning experiment developed by philosopher Mortimer Adler. 2002 News & Observer (Raleigh, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 25 Mar. B1 When Adler, a professor and education reformer, introduced Paideia, the approach was criticized by many for its strict focus on Western, white culture. It now includes teachings and literature more representative of diverse cultures. Paideia emphasizes learning through student research and discussion. More than 40 schools in 12 states use the Paideia three-tier teaching method. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/9 "2005-08-17T02:08:29Z")
**bordelond,** if it’s a legitimate word, how come the _-ic_ ending isn’t given in the dictionary, as it is for, say, onomatopoeic? Also, if my reading of this word is giving the correct definition, if paideia is humanistic training in such a way as to give a broad, rounded and mature outlook, then it’s being used wrong in this case; the writer is looking for something more like “close-knit community,” I think. But the point is, I’m not entirely sure. Now, I like words, and I’m always open to learning a new one. But I’m also a fan of conveying, when writing, what you mean to convey. Granted that this writer is an academic, the audience is somewhat broader, the point here is that I am not completely sure what he meant. That’s why I thought I would ask here. Aside from the school in Atlanta, have you ever heard of this word before? ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/10 "2005-08-17T02:10:48Z")
_sigh_ > [@Hilarity N. Suze](#): > > … if my reading of this word is **correct,** **given** the definition… Did I mention that i are a editor? ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/11 "2005-08-17T02:27:02Z")
> [@Hilarity N. Suze](#): > > That’s why I thought I would ask here. Aside from the school in Atlanta, have you ever heard of this word before? Well, according to my OED cite, in 2002 there were around 40 such schools in the US. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-heard-of-a-paideic-community/317322/12 "2005-08-17T08:40:41Z")
[Read this and weep.](http://www.epinions.com/content_192654642820)