Musonius Rufus, Lectures 4.4

If then men and women are born with the same virtues, the same type of training and education must, of necessity, befit both men and women. For with every animal and plant whatsoever, proper care must be bestowed upon it to produce the excellence appropriate to it.

Is it not true that, if it were necessary under like circumstances for a man and a woman to be able to play the flute, and if, furthermore, both had to do so in order to earn a living, we should give them both exactly the same thorough training in flute playing; and similarly if it were necessary for either to play the harp?

Well then, if it is necessary for both to be proficient in the virtue which is appropriate to a human being, that is for both to be able to have understanding, and self-control, and courage, and justice, the one no less than the other, shall we not teach them both alike the art by which a human being becomes good? Yes, certainly we must do that and nothing else.

I was once told that there was no more need for an argument like Musonius’ on gender and education, since social trends have now left behind most beliefs that men and women do not share the same basic human needs, or that their educations should therefore be ordered toward different ends.

“It’s all sort of old hat now, isn’t it? Shouldn’t we move on to more relevant things?”

I am, however, quite wary of taking anything for granted just because it is fashionable at the moment. I am also hardly convinced that we dig deep enough to rightly understand those shared human needs, or how any education can best serve our nature.

It won’t be enough to say that men and women are somehow equal in dignity, if we can’t first define the very meaning of that dignity. We can speak all we want about equal opportunities, but it will be of no use to us if we don’t know which ones are the most fruitful opportunities.

We may readily agree that all people, regardless of their circumstances, have a right to become happy and successful. Now what is it that brings us happiness and success?

This is not an obscure or unanswerable question, the pursuit of some pie in the sky. If you tell me I deserve a piece of the pie, I also deserve to know why it is so good, and what makes it worth having. To comprehend the end is a necessity, not a luxury, for its worth is what will give purpose to all the means.

Here is where a classical and Stoic model will still challenge all of our usual assumptions about being human, and by extension all of our usual assumptions about gender, or class, or race, or creed. Here is the deeper relevance in what Musonius has to say for our times. 

Most people will tell us that happiness comes from getting bigger and better things, or that success is about winning greater status with others. Education, by extension, in order to help us be happy and successful, would then be merely a tool to make us richer and more influential.

Musonius, in contrast, tells us that virtue is the common human end, not money or power, and so education exists to make us wiser, braver, more temperate, and more just. We may prefer this or that condition, but we should not define ourselves by such outside conditions. We must learn to face them all in the same way, asking ourselves only how they can be of use to improve our character.

Following such a path will send us in a very different direction than those who pursue only fortune and fame. It will make for a rather different breed of men and women. It will demand that we measure the value of education by the currency of conscience, not by the balance of our bank accounts. It is a commitment that will meet with resistance from the powers that be, but it is the only commitment that promises fulfillment.

Teach men and women the same things? By all means, but teach them about the right things, because that is all that can bind them together in a common human identity. Should we teach them certain trades? Certainly, but put those particular skills within the context of our universal calling to virtue, because otherwise they will all be wasted.

To continue with Musonius’ analogy, is it worthwhile learning to play the flute or the harp? Yes, but not to make money, or to show off your skills on stage, or to win anyone’s praises. Play your music instead to bring joy to your friends, or to honor what is beautiful in this life, or to reveal something of what is true and good in the world.

Men and women will learn to play the flute or the harp in much the same way, though they may do so with very different goals in mind. There is still one greater goal here, one that will color our estimation of everything beneath it.

Written in 5/1999